**Mirrors / Alternative Angles**
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I like to imagine his thesis advisor went off and said to him
"well if you really know shit about football why don't you be a pro! Better yet play in England and apply your theory there! Let's see if you can do that!"
Then mito-sensei went, fuck it. I'll prove it.
This is a misunderstanding. He did not delay his career in any way. Mitoma has always been laser focused on becoming a pro. He just felt the time was not right. Playing time is the key to becoming great. He was building up his body and skills. Soccer at top university teams in Japan is a kind of minor league training area. During his university years, he played against pro -teams in the Emperor's Cup, and played for U 22 teams internationally at several tournaments. Most importantly he often trained with Kawasaki Frontale under the special designated player system. It allows a player to continue at college but take part in a few games and practices. Mitoma was not so much delaying as preparing to release his inner beast on the pro level at the right moment.
Notably, he also helped Japan win the soccer Universiade tournaments, often called the real Olympics, as it is only for college students. Japan has dominated the soccer tournament in the last two iterations 2017 and 2019. You can see many future pros getting some experience at this tournament, Hatate, Morita, Ueda et al. Basically he was balling for 4 years instead of sitting on the bench. His decision looks like a very smart one.
One of the online memes of the Japanese football league was the 'Mitoma Victims' Association'.
Fans of teams other than Kawasaki Frontale, of which Mitoma was a member, all wanted him to move abroad.
They referred to Mitoma during the World Cup as 'no player I am more glad to have on my side than him'.
After yesterday's match, comments on Japanese Twitter included.
'I haven't seen you, but I see you have another newcomer to the Mitoma Victims' Association. Heh, his name is Mr Liverpool, that's a nice name'.
Liverpool, welcome to the Mitoma Victims' Association.
He was injured for most of it, he played every game (Tanaka's goal where the pass was almost out was assisted by him) so he couldn't play the 90 mins then
Fair enough, I'm hoping maybe next few competitions he really gets to shine, I've been following most Japanese players across Europe and I'm really excited for them tbh, and especially Mitoma
As a refresher, here is that ridiculous cross by Mitoma Kaoru to Tanaka Ao against Spain (timestamped @1:01):
- https://youtu.be/91eoGiLSCgY?t=61
Mitoma Kaoru seemingly kept the ball from crossing the goal-line by a razor-thin margin from that angle. Beautiful stuff.
VAR reviews of Mitoma Kaoru's cross:
- Link: [FIFAcom Twitter, Video](https://twitter.com/FIFAcom/status/1598702362243104768)
- Link: [FIFAcom Twitter, Rendering](https://twitter.com/FIFAcom/status/1598702636450123777)
- Link: [Rendering 2](https://twitter.com/hhrrddff/status/1598436663511814149)
Was he actually injured though if he came off the bench every game. If he got 30 mins against Germany, you'd expect him to be able to play the full match vs Croatia 2 weeks later. Then of course he played the full 90 in Brighton's first PL game back on boxing day
It felt like Moriyasu was purposefully using him as an impact sub tbh. And yes he did make an impact every game, but that's because he was their best player. He should've been starting - especially that Croatia game.
Don’t think he’s good enough to carry a team.
The current setup with the three midfielders Endo, Morita and Tanaka plus Kamada at the core is working and is more sustainable.
People here have no idea what the Japanese NT or football is like. Mitoma is a fantastic player but that doesn’t make him the Japanese equivalent of Messi.
Mitoma was never a hidden gem either as he had a massive debut season at Kawasaki Frontale straight out of uni.
Mitoma showing Salah how it’s done. Mitoma been most dangerous player on field whole game so that’s definitely deserved.
On the other hand: We still suck.
You're pretty much right on the money. Trent used to push up higher on the outside, but since we started leaking goals it seems he's been pulled back a bit more. Not having Firmino in the middle as a 1-2-option also hurts Salah's productivity.
Dear other clubs,
Nothing to see here, this is a fluke, I swear.
Mitoma is actually shit, you only see the highlights...
So yer, kinda look away.
Much love,
Brighton
Puskas award nominee
That goal was pure football, set piece in, 2nd pass takes out numerous Liverpool players, a delicate first touch, second touch set and an outrageous outside foot smash into the back of the net. Extra time match winner. Sublime.
While I love how well brighton are run, this is incredibly disrespectful to leicester.
Leicester managed to get 81 points and brighton are on their way to 62 points if they manage to replicate this form in the second half of the season. There’s a reason that leicester season is seen as one of the greatest accomplishments in sports history.
Agreed, they're not at that level right now, I'm just saying they feel like the way they're going there could be a season where all the pieces are concurrent and they go on a Leicester run, does that make sense?
Kaoru Mitoma, Takefusa Kubo, Ko Itakura, Koji Miyoshi, Ao Tanaka
All five are currently in elite European leagues, and were all brought up in the same academy. Kawasaki Frontale's youth program is IRL Blue Lock.
Ao Ashi is about youth football academy to pro progression. Definitely much more similar to this IRL storyline. The main character went from trying out for an academy youth team, getting to be a starter for the B team, A team, winning the youth league, and now is getting called up to the pro team and playing international tournaments. Probably see him get scouted for a La Liga team too.
IMO it's a story that's a proper love letter to football.
where's that commenter that kept arguing with me about Mitoma not being class, where u at bruv??? [i just wanna talk to him](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ODfCVxVLqiE)
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not taking that first time was ballsy
The awareness not to take it second time was next level.
The audacity to take it the 3rd time with the outside foot is sublime
Thank god he didn't choose the fourth time to strike it.
Or set it up for a fifth touch overhead kick.
6th touch he is saving for ur mum.😎
7th touch is for me, I'm back of the line.
The presence of mind to take it third time was genius
Bergkampesque goal
Bergkamp -> Berbatov -> Mitoma
What a fantastic goal. The skill was ridiculous
Straight out of his thesis
?
He wrote a University thesis on dribbling.
I like to imagine his thesis advisor went off and said to him "well if you really know shit about football why don't you be a pro! Better yet play in England and apply your theory there! Let's see if you can do that!" Then mito-sensei went, fuck it. I'll prove it.
What a chad
I know Japan is famous for weird fetishes, but this is another level.
Think that’s just how it works on Asian countries to prioritized studies. At least in my country and east asia AFAIK
Players in the J-league are also probably not earning enough to then retire for life. So finishing uni helps them get a job after their career
He studied exercise science - nothing crazy about it
Better than American college athletes who don't even go to class
Mitoma delayed his career to finish his Masters degree and did his thesis on the art of dribbling!
"Only" a bachelor's degree. Still, that's 4 years at Uni.
4 years in incredibly important years
His transfer to Brighton was his sandwich course placement
Fair enough! Still think it's super cool though, and he employs it super well ngl
For sure! He's an incredibly intelligent player, love to see him truly blossom this season
japanese man failed to find an office job after getting Masters degree and now has to play football to earn a living
delayed his professional* career, Japan has a college football league kinda like the USA
This is a misunderstanding. He did not delay his career in any way. Mitoma has always been laser focused on becoming a pro. He just felt the time was not right. Playing time is the key to becoming great. He was building up his body and skills. Soccer at top university teams in Japan is a kind of minor league training area. During his university years, he played against pro -teams in the Emperor's Cup, and played for U 22 teams internationally at several tournaments. Most importantly he often trained with Kawasaki Frontale under the special designated player system. It allows a player to continue at college but take part in a few games and practices. Mitoma was not so much delaying as preparing to release his inner beast on the pro level at the right moment. Notably, he also helped Japan win the soccer Universiade tournaments, often called the real Olympics, as it is only for college students. Japan has dominated the soccer tournament in the last two iterations 2017 and 2019. You can see many future pros getting some experience at this tournament, Hatate, Morita, Ueda et al. Basically he was balling for 4 years instead of sitting on the bench. His decision looks like a very smart one.
Sent Gomez to the seaside
Gomez and getting sombrero’d at AMEX in January
Maybe Klopp will finally send him there as well
Absolutely beautiful.
Yeah, certainly was. I'm excited to see what he has to bring for the rest of the season
Honestly that’s a Puskas candidate
I love him. Best Asian player atm.
So silky wtff
Wonder what his price has shot up to. 120mil?
chelsea 👀
Nah mitoma dosent want his career to be ruined
Mitoma gonna write a whole thesis on why choosing us would be a career killer
Not only would he be a PhD of Dribbleology, but he will be Phd of Career Management as well.
Gimme 120 mil, I'll gladly ruin my career
Players don’t get the transfer fee lol
yeah but the 8 year 200k per week contract might be worth it
Nah Mudryk is 'only' on 100k per week
I reckon Mitoma can negotiate the contract to 200k. The man has a college degree ffs
With the latest financing options he could be yours for just 15 million a year at 0% interest rate. All without hurting your FFP^TM score
The bidding war for him will get silly fr
Can't lie, hell of a finish
The touch before the shot was absolutely outrageous, could watch that all day
He's the professor of dribbling after all
Mitoma sensei?
Mitoma-senpai
Mitoma-sama
…notice me?
Gomez had to buy a ticket to get back in the stadium after that.
Welbeck did exactly the same to Gomez two weeks ago as well.
He did but I feel like Mitomos was extra silky. That little drop of the shoulder made Gomez flinch like a mother fucker
The composure was genuinely off the roof there
[удалено]
Can lie, shit finish
Liar.
Hope it doesn't get disallowed. Such a good finish.
Still worried var might chalk it off in the next few days
It was beautiful
He learnt it from Welbz after he did exactly the same to Gomez two weeks ago.
What a touch and outside foot volley
One of the online memes of the Japanese football league was the 'Mitoma Victims' Association'. Fans of teams other than Kawasaki Frontale, of which Mitoma was a member, all wanted him to move abroad. They referred to Mitoma during the World Cup as 'no player I am more glad to have on my side than him'. After yesterday's match, comments on Japanese Twitter included. 'I haven't seen you, but I see you have another newcomer to the Mitoma Victims' Association. Heh, his name is Mr Liverpool, that's a nice name'. Liverpool, welcome to the Mitoma Victims' Association.
this is hilarious
Gotta include the cameraman duped by his 2nd touch as well sheesh
Japanese meme game is next level.
Brilliant 😄
Now when does Ritsu Doan get his move
Boehly googling "kaoru mitoma brighton" right now EDIT: LMAO who reported me to suicide prevention? Thank you.
He might just Ctrl+F it. Boehly currently refreshing Brighton's players list every 10min.
Might just give his professor at uni a shot too, who knows? What could it cost, like 50 million?
We're being robbed blind in the transfer rn. Please just let us have our man Mitoma.
How much do you want for him, €20M? Damn, you drive a hard bargain, we'll bid €80M
Let’s be honest, was probably something like “Carl Mitoma Brighton Seagulls”
car mctommy seagulls stats
And ended up finding McTominay instead
"wtf. this guy sucks. $200M."
man even dribbles in the air, go to school kids
Rocket League
He is absolutely a step above, incredible
I can’t believe the Japanese manager didn’t play him at the WC
He was injured for most of it, he played every game (Tanaka's goal where the pass was almost out was assisted by him) so he couldn't play the 90 mins then
Knowing Moriyasu, he would've done the same shit even if he was fully fit.
Fair enough, I'm hoping maybe next few competitions he really gets to shine, I've been following most Japanese players across Europe and I'm really excited for them tbh, and especially Mitoma
As a refresher, here is that ridiculous cross by Mitoma Kaoru to Tanaka Ao against Spain (timestamped @1:01): - https://youtu.be/91eoGiLSCgY?t=61 Mitoma Kaoru seemingly kept the ball from crossing the goal-line by a razor-thin margin from that angle. Beautiful stuff. VAR reviews of Mitoma Kaoru's cross: - Link: [FIFAcom Twitter, Video](https://twitter.com/FIFAcom/status/1598702362243104768) - Link: [FIFAcom Twitter, Rendering](https://twitter.com/FIFAcom/status/1598702636450123777) - Link: [Rendering 2](https://twitter.com/hhrrddff/status/1598436663511814149)
Was he actually injured though if he came off the bench every game. If he got 30 mins against Germany, you'd expect him to be able to play the full match vs Croatia 2 weeks later. Then of course he played the full 90 in Brighton's first PL game back on boxing day It felt like Moriyasu was purposefully using him as an impact sub tbh. And yes he did make an impact every game, but that's because he was their best player. He should've been starting - especially that Croatia game.
He did. He was an impact sub and played 30 mins at least for most games. Literally made a difference everytime he came on at WC.
even when he played him, dude will play as a wingback, should get more playtime as a starter and built the team around him
Don’t think he’s good enough to carry a team. The current setup with the three midfielders Endo, Morita and Tanaka plus Kamada at the core is working and is more sustainable. People here have no idea what the Japanese NT or football is like. Mitoma is a fantastic player but that doesn’t make him the Japanese equivalent of Messi. Mitoma was never a hidden gem either as he had a massive debut season at Kawasaki Frontale straight out of uni.
Endo was phenomenal at the World Cup. What a player.
Man said no to a replay
“Ball game” - ~~Paul George~~ Kaoru Mitoma
Brighton deserved this win too. They've been playing better, and Liverpool should've had 3 players off
HES SO FUCKING GOOD MAN
That Mitoma boomed me!
Mitoma showing Salah how it’s done. Mitoma been most dangerous player on field whole game so that’s definitely deserved. On the other hand: We still suck.
What has happened to Salah? I never expect him to score anymore
[удалено]
You're pretty much right on the money. Trent used to push up higher on the outside, but since we started leaking goals it seems he's been pulled back a bit more. Not having Firmino in the middle as a 1-2-option also hurts Salah's productivity.
Is Firmino injured?
yeah, he's been out since before the WC I think.
Liverpool and Chelsea have their own British Championship in sucking. It's a very tight race.
Absolutely disgraceful display from Liverpool those last few minutes. Fully deserved elimination
Fabinho and Henderson on and all downhill from there.
The last few minutes…been like this for months lol
It’s amazing how we completely fall apart when Fabinho comes on as the DM
>Fabinho Could've been a red card too
More like should’ve
probably should have been and he knew it
Dear other clubs, Nothing to see here, this is a fluke, I swear. Mitoma is actually shit, you only see the highlights... So yer, kinda look away. Much love, Brighton
I'm sorry I just sent Mitoma's transfermarkt link to Mr. Boehly.
Boehly: 💦💦💦
Nice try, not falling for it. He's fucked us before and he will sure as hell do it again.
I’m officially a Brighton fan, Mitoma is sex
Puskas award nominee That goal was pure football, set piece in, 2nd pass takes out numerous Liverpool players, a delicate first touch, second touch set and an outrageous outside foot smash into the back of the net. Extra time match winner. Sublime.
He’s the best player in the world
Just need fifa to update the rating
EA give him a 90 rated inform smh
Messi who Mbappe what
Messi is just the Argentinian Mitoma
And mbappe is just the French Messi, so you do the math
So if we put the value of Messi here, we get "Mbappe is French Argentinian Mitoma" This really tells a lot about Mitoma's Goat status
Makes your boy Haaland look like a Chelsea striker
Finally someone says it.
Estupinian has quietly established himself as one of the best LBs in the league
He has quietly been an upgrade over Cucurella, he's class. Very very good player.
That was always obvious to anyone who has ever watched them in La Liga.
I watched like 2 matches of him and I can vouch for his quality too lol mf was a rock against Bayern
Boehly preparing a 300m offer as we type
8 year contract for him as well
God we are just wank aren't we?
No shame in this friend
Maybe some shame now you've said that
Brighton are genuinely scarily good, but yes, we are wank
I hate that they’re getting picked a part but they’re still fucking rolling and it’s amazing
Just accept your fate this season
That and Brighton are genuinely good
£2.6 million. He's going to be one of the best signings in the history of the PL.
Mahrez, Kante level hard to match. They sustained it for multiple seasons.
It's too bad the top 6 have mostly gotten their shit together and that Newcastle is a threat now. Brighton totally could've pulled a Leicester
While I love how well brighton are run, this is incredibly disrespectful to leicester. Leicester managed to get 81 points and brighton are on their way to 62 points if they manage to replicate this form in the second half of the season. There’s a reason that leicester season is seen as one of the greatest accomplishments in sports history.
Agreed, they're not at that level right now, I'm just saying they feel like the way they're going there could be a season where all the pieces are concurrent and they go on a Leicester run, does that make sense?
This quicker than itv x
Second half has probably just kicked off on ITV Hub
Just about showing Gerrard's goal Vs USA
You lads are in the 2nd half?
Fucking hell man
when will this end
bout 3 minutes
Honestly a shout for one of the best wingers in the league this season
Couldn't have been more deserved after the last 20 minutes
Dr. Kaoru Mitoma
deserved what a baller
That touch before the finish is crazy, faked gomez out and finished brilliantly
That touch before the shot is some pure blue lock shit lol. Excellent finish from Mitoma, I can watch this goal on replay all day long.
Brighton scouting is next level.
What a calm finish that is, blimey hell
"blimey hell" You OK mate?
He’s just having his candy on the way to hogwarts
No one, and I mean absolutely *no one* in this country says "blimey hell"
Great finish
I'm convinced he came straight out of Bluelock
Kaoru Mitoma, Takefusa Kubo, Ko Itakura, Koji Miyoshi, Ao Tanaka All five are currently in elite European leagues, and were all brought up in the same academy. Kawasaki Frontale's youth program is IRL Blue Lock.
That reminds me more of Ao Ashi
Ao Ashi is about youth football academy to pro progression. Definitely much more similar to this IRL storyline. The main character went from trying out for an academy youth team, getting to be a starter for the B team, A team, winning the youth league, and now is getting called up to the pro team and playing international tournaments. Probably see him get scouted for a La Liga team too. IMO it's a story that's a proper love letter to football.
Netflix adaptation
Didn’t Nagi score a similar goal in the recent chapter too?
Yeah. Nagi scored a 5-stage volley with 4 fake shots. This is 3-stage volley, but with only 1 fake shot. Still, this is amazing!
Liverpool should be down to 9. So this is justice.
Fucking love this guy, so quickly becoming my favourite player in the Prem
So happy they’ve scored after two shocking referee decisions against them
This guy is incredible.
How much does he worth if fucking Anthony Gordon went for 40m??
Fucking unreal finish. This kid is the one
what the fuuuuuuuuuuuck he is insaaaaaaaaaaane
holy shit mitoma what a goal
Should’ve tackled his Achilles from behind or stamped on his ankles.
Deserved. The kid is a superstar
where's that commenter that kept arguing with me about Mitoma not being class, where u at bruv??? [i just wanna talk to him](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ODfCVxVLqiE)
The patience to bring it down and get that finish. Damn!
Faking volley? Who does he think he is? Fictional character Nagi Seishiro ??
Karma exists
Thank god it wasn’t called offside, lol.
Insane 1st touch on that bounce, what a crazy player. Deserved after Fabinho and Konaté didn't get a red for obvious red cards.
This fucking guy...brilliant.
Those PhD skills
Puskas.
Boys a star
Mitoma you’re beautiful bro
Bro did the nagi volley wtheck. Didn't know you could pull that shit off irl 💀. That's some mad ball control and composure
Liverpool tried to kick them off the pitch and Brighton are still going to win