Gaining Insight into Kaoru Mitoma’s Football Philosophy in His Latest Book, “Understanding Brighton’s Approach” – Great

The feats just keep on coming for Brighton & Hove Albion winger Kaoru Mitoma.

His goal against Bournemouth at the Amex Stadium on Sunday, within 16 seconds of his introduction at half-time, was the earliest scored by a substitute in the Premier League for almost nine years.

And Mitoma’s contribution to the 3-1 home win didn’t end there. A 77th-minute header turned what had been a 1-1 draw when he came on into a comfortable victory for Roberto De Zerbi’s side, the latest example of the Japan international’s stunning impact on English football.

The 26-year-old has three goals and the same number of assists in the first six league games this season, after 10 and eight in 41 outings across all competitions in his debut campaign for Brighton a year ago.

Mitoma reveals the secrets of his success in a book that was published in his homeland in the summer and quickly became a bestseller. The book, titled Vision, sees Mitoma reflect on his journey so far and what he wants to accomplish.

Although aimed mainly at children with dreams, it is proving popular with readers of all ages in Japan, where 18-cap Mitoma is a household name.

Summaries of the book translated into English by publishing company Futabasha for The Athletic highlight the techniques and attitudes which are enabling Mitoma to fulfil his dreams with Brighton.

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Reverse thinking

This is a method Mitoma has relied upon throughout his rise, ever since childhood. It involves a goal being set for what you want to achieve and then you think backwards from that, establishing tasks for yourself, which are constantly updated.

Mitoma says daily notebooks are helpful in reaching goals through reverse thinking: write down what kind of practice or training you did, what you thought about it and how you can improve. This makes you aware of your growth and creates a feeling of accomplishment.

During eight years in the academy at Kawasaki Frontale, the Tokyo-area club Brighton signed Mitoma from in August 2021, he learned self-improvement techniques he still uses now, such as maintaining written sheets breaking down short, medium and long-term goals.

He knew he was shorter and smaller than a lot of world-class footballers. To overcome this disadvantage, he practised using his dominant right foot to perfect that skill from an early age. This is reverse thinking compared to the customary concept of working more on your weaknesses (in his case, the left foot).

It’s certainly working for Mitoma as an inverted left-winger with Brighton, often cutting inside onto his stronger foot, which he has used to score 10 of his 13 goals for the club.

Wing wizardry

Mitoma showcased his biggest asset — dribbling at speed — last month with the solo score away to Wolverhampton Wanderers that was voted the Premier League’s goal of the month for August.

Absolutely SENSATIONAL from Kaoru! 🤩💫 pic.twitter.com/OuYa3UeSpA

— Brighton & Hove Albion (@OfficialBHAFC) August 19, 2023

When Mitoma combined playing occasionally for Frontale with studying physical education at university in Tsukuba, an hour’s drive from Kawasaki, he strapped cameras to the heads of team-mates as part of his work on a thesis about dribbling. From the footage, he noticed that the “good players weren’t looking at the ball.” Dribbling while looking down at the ball as little as possible and using indirect vision — being conscious of keeping the ball in your field of vision rather than staring at it — have become mantras for him.

He also focuses on blindsiding the opposing full-back by making runs behind them, being aware of situations on the right side of the pitch to anticipate what might happen on his opposite flank and getting close to team-mates to create numerical advantages.

Mitoma urges youngsters hoping to make it to the top as a winger to develop a sense of ball touch, watch the sport’s stars repeatedly on video and create a habit of playing while looking at the opponent rather than the ball. He says practising movements until you can do them subconsciously should be done with and without the ball, so you can make the most appropriate moves for situations on the pitch.

Substitute role

Mitoma’s immediate impact from the bench at the weekend was indicative of his attitude and approach on those occasions when he isn’t in the starting line-up.

It’s something he’s had to get used to in European football.

Twelve of his 29 appearances in his 2021-22 debut season after that move from Japan, on loan at Royale Union Saint-Gilloise in the Belgian top flight, were as a substitute — but he still scored eight goals and provided four assists. A further 12 of his 48 Brighton outings have been as a replacement.

He just continues his daily training routine, calculating backwards from the date of the match and deciding what should be done beforehand, picking a day to train the upper or lower body muscles and repeating the process.

Language

Mitoma was determined to overcome the language barriers that lay along the road to stardom, working on his grasp of English during that season on loan in Belgium. After every Brighton game, he speaks in Japanese to a huddle of reporters from his country, but he is capable of conducting interviews in English as well.

Mitoma says listening carefully and insisting on giving your opinion is the key to overcoming language barriers. He believes you need strong opinions to communicate with team-mates and that apologising too easily is to admit mistakes.

He says you need to show your ego to be a top player.

Diet and preparation

When he was with Royale Union Saint-Gilloise, who play in Belgium’s capital Brussels, there were plenty of Japanese restaurants in the city for dining out, although he also tried local delicacies such as mussels and Belgian fries.

Since moving across to England, Mitoma has used meals provided by the club’s nutritionists to improve his performance.

He eats a range of dishes, including chicken, pasta, rice, salad and fruit, available to the players from the club’s catering team at the Amex Stadium on matchdays, at the training complex in nearby Lancing and on flights, at hotels and on the team buses for away games.

Mitoma says what you eat every day is necessary to build body strength, while a well-balanced diet increases performance intensity.

His advice to youngsters aiming to become a professional footballer?

• Read a book on nutrition, rather than just collecting information from the internet
• To improve running and shooting, clarify what you need to do by monitoring daily data on sleep, fatigue and practice intensity
• Working on a combination of a good diet and strength training will increase muscle and the power of your play

Mitoma showed impressive reserves of energy and endurance to harness his abilities last season, making 51 appearances for club and country from August to June, including all four of their matches at the World Cup.

There is no sign of him slowing down in this one either. He has already played eight times for Brighton and Japan, lasting the full course in half those matches.

(Photo by Eddie Keogh/Getty Images)