A hearty hello to you all! Today I’m (finally) back with another Shogun Soccer Scouting feature… on Rion Ichihara.
Date of Birth: July 7th, 2005
Age: 18 years old (As of May 2024)
Nationality: Japan
Position: Center Back (Back 4 or Back 3)
Club: Omiya Ardija (J3)
Squad Number: #43 (2023 season), #4 (2024 season)
Height/Weight: 1.85m // 77 kg (Source: Soccer Digest)
Born and raised in Saitama City, Rion Ichihara was brought up all the way from the Junior youth, U-15, U-18 teams (as a captain), and finally up to the first team in 2023. He made his league debut on July 16, 2023 at the J2 level and played every league game for the rest of that season, however Omiya Ardija were relegated to J3. In 2024, Ichihara has been a starter, only missing games due to rotation and joining up with the U-19 Japan National team.
Rion Ichihara can play as a Center Back in Back 4 or Back 3. He can feature on the Left or Right side as well as the Center of a Back 3, highlighting his versatility across a variety of defensive roles. In a 4-4-2, he’s usually the Left Center Back. On rare occasions he might be shifted out to Right Back when Omiya need to shift from a 3-5-2 to a 4-4-2 mid-game.
NOTE: Rion Ichihara wore #34 in the 2023 J2 season (these will be the footage in most of the earlier parts of every clip) and then for the 2024 J3 season he switched to #4. Be careful as in 2024, Yosuke Murakami is wearing the #34 now.
Let’s get started!
Defending
Block Defending (Line management, Covering, Tackling, Interceptions, Loose Balls)
An aspect that really pops up when watching Rion Ichihara is his skill in covering and intercepting. Ichihara is alert to dangerous opponent runs and reacts accordingly, he rarely gets caught unprepared by runs behind Omiya’s defense line in his zone or covering for his fellow defenders. One will notice that Ichihara, despite his young age, communicates with his teammates a lot. Ichihara is keenly aware of his position along the defensive line and will order the line to step up after a clearance from a cross/set-piece and when the ball is passed backwards by the opposition. In the block, Ichihara’s body shape is faced toward the sidelines, he makes small quick steps to adjust then can react quickly to danger.
While he doesn’t go sliding in very often, Ichihara times his tackles well and strongly plants his foot to take the ball. He doesn’t swipe at the ball loosely or dangles a foot. This is a key thing about Ichihara’s defending, that he doesn’t make these kind of errors as he has good control over his body and is disciplined (as evidenced by his low amount of fouls).
1v1 defending is another strong point of Ichihara’s. His speed allows him to close down opponents quickly but is careful to maintain an appropriate distance and keeps his body shaped low to react to any sudden changes of pace from the attacker. Ichihara can make mistakes in timing when leaning into or putting his body between his opponent and the ball, which can allow opponents to nip inside him to take control. His strengths in this aspect is why he is often tasked with shutting down the opponent’s biggest threat as the manager likes to shift him to the Center of a Back 3 (like vs. Fukushima United where he excelled) or sometimes even to Right Back.
Transition Defending (Tracking runs, Positioning)
As in the previous section, Rion Ichihara has the speed to recover/cover in a block and this obviously applies to transitional situations as well. When Ichihara is near the point of turnover, he makes sure to guard central areas first (making his body big, block the most threatening passing lanes) then slowly shift over to approach the oncoming attacker in his zone or otherwise tracks his nearest runner. His approach is to contain, wait for support to arrive, and ideally to force them out wide. It’s rare to see opponents being able to cut inside Ichihara on the dribble.
Unfortunately, some of these defensive transitions are of Ichihara’s own making (poor passes in build-up being the usual culprit…) but to his credit he keeps a calm demeanor and doesn’t rush into tackles to compensate for his mistakes.
Box Defending (Marking, Challenging, Shot Blocks, Clearances)
Inside his own box, Rion Ichihara is usually diligent about scanning and shifting his feet as the play evolves in front of him. Nevertheless he can be caught ball-watching or remain stationary in a poor position, especially after the initial ball has been cleared away. Ichihara’s physical attributes come to the fore in the box as he can use his long legs to lunge and get his body in the way to make a block on a shot or cross. He also has a big leap in him, as seen in other sections, that makes him a clear winner in most aerial duels (and the data backs this up). Similar to when Ichihara is defending in a block, he is disciplined in that he keeps his line next to his defensive partners, pushes up when ball played back and communicates to his teammates to do so as well.
On the other hand, Ichihara’s clearances aren’t always far enough out of the box or at least out of harm’s way (this is of course, even taking into account the difficulty of various situations to generate enough power to do so) and his propensity to try to immediately play out from picking up a loose ball or intercepting a pass can in turn invite another attack. Smart opponent strikers can get on his blind side especially from multiple movements as he doesn’t always scan both sides behind him.
I do think this is the aspect of his defending that needs the most improvement. The foundation is there as he does scan a lot and his physical attributes allow him to make necessary actions but his concentration can be lacking at crucial points or he may misjudge the flight of the ball, which has led directly to goals conceded.
Passing
While Rion Ichihara is nominally Right-footed, Rion Ichihara is often played as the Left Center Back in a Back 4 or Back 3 as he is comfortable with both feet. With his dual-footed ability and his body shape when receiving the ball, he is able to keep himself open to spraying passes from a lot of different angles. This serves him well as he is excellent at finding players between-the-lines, even in tight spaces. He can often find players with a one-touch pass, highlighting his ability to read the situation before he receives the ball. Ichihara has the accuracy to transport the ball straight to a teammate in a way they can receive comfortably to shift to their next action. One of the moves you’ll see Ichihara make a lot is pulling the ball back across his body and passing the ball against the grain of the opponent’s press to evade pressure.
Besides in the build-up phase, he likes to pass straight from his interception action into a counterattack instead of just thumping it forward. However, this eagerness can sometimes give the ball right back to the opponent which can lead to an intense transition-filled period in games. There are times I feel he can make the decision to make a longer clearance or simply recycle it instead. Recognizing the right time to turn his defensive interventions into immediate attacking opportunities should be something Ichihara can improve over time as he matures.
Ichihara will play more lofted balls but given the right situations he can be adept at playing more driven low(er)-trajectory passes. However, as explained before, it can lead to transition moments as those types of passes are easier for opponents to intercept. Overall, his long ball passing accuracy can be a bit hit-or-miss. In terms of through-balls down the wings, he doesn’t get the right weight on it a lot of the time so compared to deeper areas he’s not nearly as threatening as a passer in the final 3rd as you might expect, especially compared to his more effective low-to-medium range diagonal balls out wide to the Full Back, Wing Back, or Winger in the build-up.
Nevertheless, he has very good vision on top of being able to execute passes either stationary or on-the-move. Ichihara can twist his hips to kick the ball in the opposite direction of where he’s facing, and along with his ambipedal-ness can keep opponents on their toes as to where he’ll pass it short or long if they allow him the time and space.
Ball Control & Dribbling
Rion Ichihara is very calm and confident on the ball. He makes quick touches to move ahead of an opponent’s press or marking and is adept at inviting fouls to relieve pressure as well. In the build-up phase, Ichihara opens his body up to receive and frequently sets his first touch up well to set up his next action demonstrating his ability to think ahead under pressure. The confidence in his ball control is also what allows him to keep his head up to look for options. There still are moments where the ball bobbles away from him or he loses sight of the ball because he was checking forward, which can lead to dangerous counterattacks. Rion Ichihara has the agility to make quick turns to evade pressure in tight spaces and the body balance to support these kind of movements.
Ichihara doesn’t often get a chance to carry the ball forward in the build-up phase in the 2024 J3 season and his ball-carrying/dribbling happens more from interceptions and launching the counterattack himself in transition situations. Most of his dribbling are quick turns and the pull/drag-back (the move Sergio Busquets was famous for) to evade pressure and switch the direction of the build-up. His ability is fairly evident and I don’t think Omiya are fully taking advantage of Rion Ichihara’s capability in terms of driving forward with the ball from the back and the team seems to prefer his passing ability as a more “safer” option in the build-up.
Movement & Physical Attributes
In terms of his off-ball movement and re-positioning, Rion Ichihara takes notice of his surroundings. He makes quick steps backwards to create space for himself in anticipation of the ball being recycled around the back-line in the build-up phase or a back pass from a midfielder. Ichihara has good awareness of the spaces he occupies and calls for the ball when open, he doesn’t move if already in an optimal position. Of course, once he makes the pass, he immediately shifts position relative to the ball again.
Rion Ichihara doesn’t often go forward ahead of the midfielders but there are a few examples in the video below. Mainly some simple under/overlaps in support and mostly when the ball is kept in play after coming up for a corner kick or set piece. While he has played at Full Back a few times (ex. 2nd Half of May 3rd, 2024 game vs. Gainare Tottori), I can’t see him making that position permanent given it would limit his passing range/angles. In these situations he’s mostly being asked to defend and there’s not a whole lot of scenes where he’s bombing down the flank and chucking crosses into the box or other creative actions in the final 3rd.
Rion Ichihara has fantastic aerial ability with the data to back this up as he wins the majority of aerial duels. He has the strength to get clearances far away and the stamina to make large leaps even late into games. As mentioned before he can struggle at times when it comes to clearing crosses into the box far enough but this seems more of a misjudgment of the flight of the ball rather than a physical issue.
In duels, Ichihara gets his body between the ball or lunges with his long legs but doesn’t dive in unnecessarily. As mentioned in previous sections, he has good body control which is highlighted by his lack of fouls despite his regular playing time as a Center Back. Ichihara goes into shoulder-to-shoulder charges well but can sometimes mistime leaning into his opponent and give them the momentary advantage to take control of the ball ahead of him. He was usually starting on the sides of a Back 3 but in recent months, he has been played as the center of the trio and tasked with shutting down strikers. This is a sign of confidence from his manager that he can handle these tasks often against much more experienced opponents. Indeed, Ichihara relishes the physical battle and doesn’t lose challenges/duels often, mostly only to veteran Japanese strikers with prior J1 experience or foreign strikers.
Rion Ichihara is adept at covering for his teammates using his natural speed while his mental attributes in scanning and alertness compound on this to give him a good start on chasing down balls over the top or through-balls behind the defense line. As mentioned before, Ichihara is agile, can turn easily, and executes quick movements with his hips to skip past opponent challenges or press, along with body feints when dribbling out of tight spaces.
In terms of his match fitness, as you’d imagine as a Center Back, Rion Ichihara plays a majority of the minutes:
2023: 17 starts, 17 90s played (after debut in mid-season).
2024: 11 starts, 9.97 90s played.
Most of the games missed in the past two years have come from international duty rather than any medium-long term injuries.
Data & Miscellaneous
Below is Rion Ichihara’s data radar from the 2023 J2 season where he made his mark playing the majority of minutes in the 2nd half of the season. The things to note from this season in terms of the data were his aerial ability, clean wins in duels and tackles, and his ability to progress the ball via carries.
Interestingly enough, in J3 this season the data shows a considerably different picture. What has been consistent across seasons though, are his aerial ability and lack of fouling. There are quite a few reasons for this besides the fact that this is still a small sample size. Omiya’s team style changed due to a new manager and simply put Omiya are the top dogs in J3 by a considerable distance and they don’t really need to rely on Rion Ichihara’s skills to progress the ball as much or defend intensely as much in general. J3 sides don’t nearly play with intense and coordinated pressure against back-lines so Omiya’s midfielders (Kojima, Ishikawa) can receive the ball or drop into the back-line to dictate tempo far more easily.
Rion Ichihara’s role has changed as well, even throughout the 2024 season so far, he’s gone from a Center Back on the sides of a Back 3 or the Left Center Back in a Back 4 to the Center-most Defender of a Back 3 so he’s not tasked with ball progression as much compared to his partners like Niki Urakami or Yosuke Murakami who are positioned in the half-spaces to push forward with the ball and link up with the Wing Backs or Center Midfielders. Regardless, there are times where Ichihara could even push forward a bit more and attract pressure, open up his teammates a bit more but hesitates to do so and makes the simple pass instead. The raw technical quality is there for coaches to build up his confidence in these areas and also have teammates make tandem movements to create opportunities for his dribbling/carrying to have a bigger impact. The impact of the small sample size due to these changes are also exacerbated by the fact that Omiya also switch formations during games as well (see May 3rd game vs. Gainare Tottori).
I do believe Ichihara is at his best playing the role he had in J2 where he was one of the Center Backs on either side of a Back 3. This gives him the room to carry the ball forward in the half-space channels and play forward passes with impunity as he has cover from the other two Center Backs as support.
Summary
Rion Ichihara is a Center Back (in a Back 3 or 4) who possesses a variety of technical and physical skills that have allowed him to regularly start at the professional level from a very young age. He is positive in his thinking and tries to control the ball with an eye for passing/carrying it forward. From there Ichihara has the vision to see good passes and attempts to execute them with both feet.
For all his skills you can still see more than a few misjudgments and errors especially in the box, which makes sense considering his youth. Even from his own mistakes, Ichihara doesn’t panic to try to make amends and simply gets back into position. The trust from various managers and teammates in Rion Ichihara’s ability is evident through the responsibility of being a vocal leader in the back-line at a young age and being given the captaincy on occasions.
For now, I think Rion Ichihara should stay with Omiya Ardija for at least another year so that he can continue to regularly start games. Omiya are likely to get promoted back to J2 in 2025 so he can continue to gain professional experience going forward at a decent level. Upon graduating from the U-19/20 squad, progression up to the U-23 Japan National Team ranks will also provide an opportunity for Ichihara to deal with physically stronger and more varied strikers at the international level. Rion Ichihara shows a lot of the hallmarks of a promising ball-playing and physically dominant Center Back so there is plenty of reason to keep monitoring his progress going forward as I think he can be a true asset for a Top 5 League European club (perhaps around Europa League level to start) in the next couple of years.
Resources, Limitations, etc.
Video analysis: DaVinci Resolve 18
Tactical diagrams: Tacticalista
Time period: 2023 J2 Season & 2024 J3 Season
Footage: Broadcast footage, no tactical camera
Stats: FBref, Transfermarkt, WyScout
Player radars: Ben Griffis