Biography
Date of Birth / Age: 30th of December, 2000 - 22yo
Nationality: Japanese
Height: 5'9" or 176 cm
Position: Lone 6 or Double Pivot CM (played at RB and CB situationally)
Sano's overall stats for the 2023 season - transfermarkt.co.uk
Sano's positional heatmap for the 2023 season - sofascore.com
Having impressed for Machida Zelvia in the Japanese 2nd division, Kaishu Sano was purchased by Kashima Antlers, one of the J League's top dogs, an immediately made himself an irreplaceable component of Daiki Iwamasa's side. The midfielder's energetic performances and positional flexibility caught the eye of Japan manager Hajime Moriyasu, who handed him his first cap for the senior team vs Myanmar this month.
Physical Traits
Though Sano doesn't have the long legs and strides to eat up ground over longer distances, he has great burst and acceleration in shorter areas to make up for it, allowing him to jump into tackles as well as erupt past players with his first touch when carrying the ball. He is a springy and bouncy athlete with a low centre of gravity and short steps, leading to great capability changing direction, something that translates well to his jockeying when he is required to defend along the touchline; can explode laterally to keep up with quicker attackers.
While his size doesn't suggest that Sano would be adept in physical duels, he is very combative and willing to use his entire body in the duel. He has strong legs/base which, combined with his leverage advantage due to being so low to the ground often, lets him hold defenders off with surprisingly relative ease.
Aside from when he was being eased back from his injury earlier in the year, if Sano starts a game he is going to finish it, oftentimes being moved to multiple different spots on the pitch to accommodate for substitutions, showing admirable stamina and durability. There are times during games where he can be uninvolved for stretches, which can suggest that he's not always working hard to be an imposing presence on the game, but I would not in any way suggest that his stamina is the reason for this.
Passing
Averaging only 40.7 passes per 90, Sano certainly does not have the passing volume you'd expect from someone who is often the deepest lying midfielder on the pitch. While a big reason for this lack of production is due to the way Kashima Antlers play, often opting to look long and down the channels for Yuma Suzuki (fair enough considering he's the most well rounded forward in the league), Sano himself is also to blame. He is not yet used to being required to dictate the pace of the game and struggles to make himself an option at times. The technical ability and empathy on the ball is there, there is just a few mental blocks that are preventing him from acting as a metronome, and he most likely needs to play next to someone of that ilk for a couple years before he develops in this regard.
When it comes to breaking the lines and progressing play with his passing, the same issues crop up - the ability is there, no doubt, it's just about getting him to play these passes more often.
Some of these passes lack the technical empathy that is present with Sano's short passing, but the vision and accuracy is there. Being able to play these line splitting balls on both feet with the same quality opens up all angles of attack, making him a more threatening ball progressor. Maybe an argument can be made that he is being helped by exploiting the massive pockets of space found in the J League and that this wouldn't translate to a more unforgiving environment with better athletes, but there is lots of upside and natural ability on show here, something I'm willing to bet on improving over the next year or so.
With regards to passing range, Sano does not have the most expansive range, though he is certainly more adept spreading play horizontally as opposed to vertically, he almost never looks for long balls in behind. Given that he usually sits a bit deeper once Kashima make their way into the final third, he is given a lot of opportunities to switch play and keep recycling the ball. There is a tendency to play these passes with far too little power, resulting in a needless interception, though more often than not he weights his passes correctly so it is not something to be overly worried about. The fact of the matter is that Sano should preferably be used in a position where he is not required to play longer passes, partly due to a lack of a natural feel for these rangy passes, but also because his quick feet and dynamic movement and ball carrying suggest that he is someone most dangerous when connecting in tighter spaces, wriggling through defenders and playing 1-2s to progress play.
Press Resistance
Sano is naturally composed and confident with the ball at his feet, allowing him to fully assess the press and find a way to bypass it with sharp footwork and a quick first step. When it comes to carrying past pressure he is nigh untouchable currently.
While these actions are risky, Sano is able to pull them off consistently with an air of confidence and assurance. There are times where he can be too lax on the ball and not anticipate a defender coming from behind, who then dispossesses him, but I see that as a minor issue that simply comes with the territory of being an assured carrier of the ball in the face of pressure, 9 times out of 10 he is able to escape difficult situations fairly easily because of that quick burst with the ball and tidy footwork on both feet.
Where issues arise is when Sano attempts to pass through pressure as opposed to carrying past it. Again, Kashima aren't well suited to intricate build up and prefer to play in a more direct manner, making it harder for their midfielders to play through the press, but that does not completely absolve Sano of any responsibility when he fails to play the right pass, putting his side under further pressure. I think he struggles to see the full picture behind him, perhaps due to a lack of scanning, resulting in him just playing the ball back to the man who passed it to him - if there is not someone directly on his back who he can bypass with his carrying, he does not know what is happening behind him. This, combined with his low passing volume, leads me to believe that Sano needs to be situated further up the pitch, playing alongside a true 6 who can receive from the centre backs, turn, and progress play safely, allowing Sano more freedom to influence the game with his carrying without the risk of being caught out passing through pressure - this would also aid in the improvement of his chance creation ability, which is currently quite poor, not due to Sano's ability in the final third but because of his need to be stationed deeper.
Dribbling
As touched on above, Sano has the capacity to be a fantastic vertical ball carrier due to his acceleration and close control. Boasting a 62.1% dribble success rate, it is clear that he has a natural affinity for beating defenders, both on the wing or down the centre of the pitch, perhaps part of the reason he has been trusted to play at right back at times, giving Kashima a real dynamic threat on the wing who also offers defensive stability. Whether it's gliding past challenges gracefully or fighting up field with a man on his back, it is hard to pry the ball from the feet of Kaishu Sano.
He can lose traction over long distances and, because of his shorter strides, people will catch up to him and force him sideways in transition - but, the body feints and changes of pace are exceptional, giving Sano the capacity to wriggle out of tough situations and carry his team up field. The change of pace, for me, is the most exceptional part of his dribbling arsenal; it is very hard to consistently defend against someone who is able to vary their speeds, lulling you into being flat footed before exploding past you.
Goal Threat
With only the singular goal this season, it is fair to say that Sano does not pose a massive threat to the opposition goal, averaging only 0.7 shots per 90. On the whole he is a very unselfish player, despite making runs into the box or finding space on the edge of the box a fair amount he seldom takes the chance himself.
Looking at the goal, one thing stands out aside from the excellent close control dribbling: the ball striking ability is fairly decent. Though the technique isn't perfect (folds his body over too far, digging the ball out from under his feet, falls onto his shooting foot right after making contact suggesting subpar balance), Sano is still able to generate power and accuracy with this strike. His explosive athleticism when it comes to his acceleration clearly translates to his ball striking, allowing him to power through the strike and transfer all that energy into the ball. Sano has shown more refined ball striking technique too, suggesting to me that there is potential in this area of his game:
Here, in one of the few moments that Sano takes advantage of the space given to him outside the area, is an example of near-perfect technique. Everything is well balanced as he approaches the ball, allowing for proper transfer of energy.
As he makes contact with the ball there is a full follow through, with Sano even coming completely off the ground, putting everything he can into the strike at the expense of placement. Without natural elite ball striking it is difficult to score from such a situation, but he certainly made the most of this chance, ensuring the ball is delivered with pace and power potentially allowing for one of his teammates to follow in and score from the rebound.
You'd preferably want to make life harder for the keeper than this, maybe striking to the other side of the goal closest to Sano, allowing him to really wrap his foot around the ball and drill it into the corner. However, the point remains that the technique of the strike was good and, more importantly, easily replicable, showing me that there is some potential here. He's never going to be an elite striker of the ball simply because it's not something that comes all that natural to him, but in delivering a consistent and powerful strike he may be able to improve upon his goal tally if he just becomes slightly more selfish when given space.
Aerial Ability
Despite his small stature, Sano is exceptional in the air for J League standards, winning 65.7% of his aerial duels. Once again that springy and explosive athleticism shines through - Sano jumps very high, almost negating his height. He is also brave and combative in the air, willing to launch into any duel to win the ball, and when he wins the duel he makes great contact with the ball, ensuring it is sent either to a teammate or well clear of danger. If he does lose a duel he is usually competitive enough in it that the opposition player is put off and unable to control where they head the ball. The only worry regarding Sano's aerial ability is how much CTE this guy already has because he is targeted a lot by opposition teams, especially when he's stationed at right back, and thus is forced into near constant duels.
With midfielders being targeted by the opposition more and more as a means of bypassing the press, it is vital that you have midfielders who can at least be competitive and willing in the air. Against bigger and better opposition it is hard to say that Sano would continue to be as effective in the air in good faith, however his athletic ability does somewhat negate his lack of height as he is able to leap so high and his mentality towards aerial duels is admirable and not something that would disappear when matched up against more imposing competition. While having a dogged competitiveness in the air cannot completely negate any natural deficiencies, it certainly does help, and it proves to me that Sano would not be an easy target if he were to move to a European league right now.
Defensive Ability
Sano averages 1.9 tackles per 90 at a 75% success rate according to the J League's official stats database. While I'm unsure what goes in to calculating the success rate as stats like these do vary depending on where you're sourcing them from, if it is accurate then that's fantastic, but it is not something I would count on translating versus better competition. As for the volume of tackles, it's fine and something that can be improved upon, but ideally Sano would not be utilised as a destroyer where he is counted on to make 3 to 4 tackles per game.
Much like in the air, Sano is scrappy and willing in the duel, not afraid to slide in and put his body on the line, resulting in as many vital challenges as it does silly fouls conceded. There is a lack of proper technique in his challenges, in my eyes; he lacks the ability to confidently move players off the ball, getting in between the man and the ball, nor can he effectively and robustly win a standing challenge with consistency, leading him to rely on these often careless and brutish sliding challenges. While they are usually effective and certainly fun to watch, it is not a recipe for reliable success despite his success rate this season actually being good.
Due to playing at right back a couple times situationally, there's a good amount of footage to work with in regards to evaluating Sano's 1v1 and jockeying ability. Once again, he is willing, combative, and energetic in these situations, he has the correct mentality to improve and succeed here. I found his jockeying to often be fundamentally sound and this is compounded by his acceleration, allowing him to keep up with most wingers even if he makes a slight mistake and allows them to get a step on him - most likely the reason he was ever deployed at right back in the first place.
He does tend to hop from side to side too much as opposed to staying grounded, giving openings to the winger which will be exploited by better wingers, but overall he stays low in his stance allowing him to explode laterally, is always either square to the ball carrier or showing him towards the touchline / away from goal, and stays very close to the ball carrier so as to give him no breathing room - all positives that can be built upon.
At this moment in time, Sano is far more equipped defending in wide areas or tracking runners down the half space than he is screening the back 4 like a traditional defensive midfielder, he doesn't take up a lot of space due to his frame and is far too reckless in the challenge to reliably defend the centre of the pitch. Even if he calms down and becomes a more assured tackler, he still projects better in areas where he is required to cover the half space and occasionally out wide simply because of the way he's built - while he has the acceleration to cover a decent amount ground very quickly, Sano simply isn't able to cover the large spaces that a taller and more leggy player could.
Reading the Opposition / Interceptions
Another area of the game where Sano's quick first step comes in to play. He can explode of the mark to jump a passing lane and force a turnover of possession, very often catching opposition players off guard. His mentality and how he views the game also aids in this facet - he wants to play on the front foot and be aggressive out of possession, and therefore he is always on the lookout for any potential opportunities to jump a pass and burst up field.
While Sano is a very aware player, that is not the reason for the interceptions he racks up, they mostly come down to the fact that he is always primed for an opportunity to jump passing lanes. Here, against Kawasaki Frontale, Sano knows they want to play in these intricate passing patterns, and thus throughout the game he constantly positioned himself in a manner that would allow for an explosion into a passing lane - weight on his back foot, body basically side on to the lane so that he can utilise his exceptional lateral movement before breaking into a full sprint, far enough away from the lane so as to lure the Kawasaki players into thinking that this is a free pass into midfield.
This sort of straight-line acceleration into passing lanes is something opposition teams have to account for. In this particular game vs Kawasaki, a side that will always play their brand of possession football no matter who they're up against, Sano had 5 interceptions, all coming from scenarios like this one where he seemingly appears out of nowhere to jump a passing lane. In my eyes, this is something that will translate to all levels of football for as long as Sano is this explosive.
Summary
Overall, Sano is a footballer who excels playing vertically and creating transitional moments. Despite his small stature he is exceptionally athletic in bursts, allowing him to breeze past players with the ball and hound down opposition players on the ball. There are some elements of control in his game, particularly in his short passing, but make no mistake about it this is a footballer that wants to be aggressive and headstrong in every facet of the game. Sano's impact in the final third is limited at the minute but there is a lot of potential there - his dribbling and link up in tight spaces can create problems for the opposition and there is a strong foundation of ball striking technique that can be built upon. While reckless out of possession, his mentality is admirable, never shying away from a duel and always wanting to win the ball back - clean up the tackling technique in order to make Sano more consistent in the duel and there's a lot to work with here.
Positionally, Sano is not a 6 at all, he needs to be paired with someone with a more prototypical defensive midfielder build in a double pivot or, preferably, move him to the right side of a midfield 3 full time, allowing him more opportunities to carry forward, decreasing the distance between him and the attackers allowing more quick interchange between them, and also allowing for him to use his abilities in the 1v1 duel on the touchline when his right back ventures forwards. The positional and tactical flexibility is something coaches love but playing him at right back or at the base of midfield should only be done if an injury crisis occurs.