Shogun Soccer Scouting #6: Hiiro Komori

A fox-in-the-box, classic #9 from J2!

Dec 26, 2024

Hope you all had a Merry Christmas or otherwise enjoying the holiday season! The J.League 2024 season is over and there are a lot of players to talk about. Hiiro Komori is one that made a lot of waves this season. With JEF United falling just short of the promotion play-offs, there is a lot interest from clubs both domestic and abroad!

Date of Birth: August 6th, 2000
Age: 24 years old (as of writing)
Nationality: Japan
Position: Striker (Traditional #9)
Club: JEF United
Squad Number: #10 (2024 season)
Height/Weight: 1.78m // 74 kg (Source: Soccer Digest)

Hiiro Komori is Toyama born and bred. For those closely following Japanese high school football, you might be familiar with his time at Toyama Daiichi High School where his team participated in the Prince Takamado JFA U-18 Football League as well as the Inter High School Championships (the one taking place in the summer, not to be confused with the All Japan High School tournament which takes place in the winter). Instead of going professional after high school, he went to the Niigata University of Health and Welfare where he was the top scorer in the Hokushintesu University Football League for three straight seasons.

In 2022 it was announced Komori would join JEF United from the 2023 season and was given special designated player status which allowed him to make J2 appearances for JEF in the 2022 season. Komori had a good debut season in 2023 as he scored 9 league goals, 3 assists, and was selected for the J2 Best XI. He has then followed it up this season with 23 league goals, 3 assists, and nearly pulled JEF United into the play-offs. JEF United play in variations of a 4-4-2 or 4-2-3-1 but the one constant has been Hiiro Komori up top playing as the lone striker. His partner is usually more of a #10-type player so Komori is spearheading the attack himself rather than being the support.

VIDEO NOTE: Hiiro Komori usually plays up top as the striker and wore #10. JEF United kit colors are yellow with green lettering, green shorts, yellow socks (home) and white with dark navy sleeves, navy shorts and socks, with black lettering (away).

Let’s get started!

Off-Ball Movement: (Re-)Positioning & Runs

Hiiro Komori is a very mobile striker that roams around quite a bit to help facilitate JEF United’s possession game. A typical sequence is Komori dropping away from the opponent Center Backs to receive the ball, laying the ball off, then getting into the box for a cross as the JEF United wingers progress the ball quickly into the final 3rd. Let’s go through the different situations.

Dropping Deep and/or Finding Space Between-The-Lines

Dropping deep or finding space to receive between-the-lines is how Komori gets a lot of his ball touches as JEF United have midfielders and defenders who are willing to play vertical line-breaking passes into his feet quite often. Komori provides a platform for lay-offs which then allow JEF to push into the middle 3rd to spread the ball out wide to the wingers and full backs who are the primary ball progressors out wide.

Komori is good at dropping and separating off defenders to receive rather than directly under pressure. He’s not one to be able to turn-and-roll a defender on his back. Komori can sometimes drop when not necessary or when there are no supporting midfielders ready to receive a lay-off. On top of this JEF’s defenders and midfielders might play the ball into Komori in sub-optimal situations where at best, Komori pings the ball straight back to the passer and at worst, it becomes a turnover and counterattacking opportunity for the opponent team.

Runs Behind the Defensive Line

It is not a regular part of Komori’s game to make these runs due to JEF United’s play-style preferences. Nonetheless, in these situations Komori peels off the last defender or curls his run from a distance to avoid being offside. He has decent speed so he can usually latch on to through/long balls. However, once Komori gets the ball he needs support as he’s not a dribbler nor is he adept at holding the ball up by himself for extended periods of time. Much like in other situations, when Komori has runners in support he can easily lay it off or find them in space with a pass.

Box Movement, Rebounds, & Reactions

This is the aspect of Komori’s game that he excels in. He is quite tricky to mark as he loves to flit in and out of the sight-lines of the opponent defenders. With his quick feet and agility, Komori is quite adept at slipping in front of defenders from behind or vice-versa at the last possible second as the cross/pass is coming into the box. For longer runs from outside the box, Komori makes winding, twisting movements to dis-mark the defender.

Aside from his own deliberate movements, Komori has quite the nose for rebounds and where the ball might drop. There are quite a few goals that you’ll see in his highlight reels where he is simply in the right place at the right time but also has the wherewithal to adjust his feet accordingly and quickly to put the ball in the net. When his teammates are gearing up to take shots, Komori is positioned at the shoulder of the last defender, leaning in at the ready to pounce for potential rebounds.

Ball Control & Receiving/Turning

Komori has a decent first touch but it can be inconsistent at times. Of course, the caveat being that he is often the target for a lot of passes, including awkward ones from teammates under pressure so Komori had a lot of work cut out for him to settle these to turn it into something. Regardless, he is quite adept at one-touch lay-offs. Komori is quite agile and can open his body up to receive and place the ball to shift into his next action quickly. However, under pressure he is not one to turn and roll past defenders though.

Dribbling & Carrying

Hiiro Komori is not much of a dribbler and doesn’t really stand up and beat his man 1v1 very often aside for occasional take-ons to create his own shooting opportunities. His preference is to perform quick combinations outside the box and then running onto crosses or passes inside the box to take shots.

While Komori can be the one to carry the ball forward occasionally, he prefers making movements off the ball instead. In terms of counterattacks, the progression on JEF United comes from the wingers while Komori is supporting them either by dropping and providing the pass out wide then making a run forward into the box.

Passing

Komori keeps it fairly simple with lay-offs with occasional “expansive” passes to spread the ball wide to the wingers, which can include nifty one touch passes into space while turning to speed up the attack. Aside from occasional link-up play with the wingers out wide, he otherwise doesn’t move out wide to distribute the ball and hardly ever crosses the ball nor plays long diagonals.

He is more of a possession-facilitator to keep things ticking and getting the ball to more dangerous passers rather than a ball-progressor himself. One aspect that becomes clear throughout watching Komori is that he is very comfortable with either foot and indeed this is shown in his passing as well. It’s quite rare to see him directly creating chances himself but he does lay the ball off or pass it to the teammate in the final 3rd who then does the chance creation (“hockey assist” type stuff).

Shooting

Hiiro Komori is Right-footed, as such he takes shots predominantly with his Right foot but he is very willing and takes shots with his weaker Left foot without hesitation as well.

2023: 5 with Right foot, 6 with Left foot, 2 with head
2024: 12 goals with Right foot, 9 with Left foot, 2 with head

Komori is at his best when he doesn’t need to take too many touches to shoot, like most good strikers. As discussed before, he is the type of striker that prefers to pounce on opportunities and receive rather than creating shots himself off the dribble or carry. Instinctive shots with his first touch inside the box are his primary method of scoring. Along with standard finishes, his agility and response rate to serendipitous chances means Komori has to pull the audacious when needed. In these instinctive moments he’s scored a few back-heel goals this season highlighting his quality.

Komori does have a tendency to go for ambitious long range strikes, especially if he has been starved of service up to that point in a game. In these times he charges head first toward goal and gets a bit of “tunnel vision”. His shots don’t end up being very good or often are easily blocked by the nearest defender. While on occasion, cooler heads prevail and he can deceive defenders to commit to the block then pass it off, more often than not he wastes attacking opportunities by getting a rush to the head in these situations.

Physicality & Heading

This is the aspect of Komori’s game where I have concerns with especially when projecting his career at higher levels abroad. Komori is not great in the air outside the box and indeed, JEF United don’t tend to lob the ball to him deliberately anyway. When they do, Komori is likely trying to settle it down rather than getting into aerial duels or flicking it on. On the other hand, he does have good shooting technique with his head but it comes from his smart movement away from defenders rather than going into direct match-ups with opponent defenders.

With most passes coming to Komori’s feet, he can get pushed off the ball by aggressive defenders and doesn’t come off well when directly challenging defenders for the ball. While he can provide shot-assists from inside the box with his back-to-goal, in general I do feel he doesn’t do particularly well under pressure outside the box.

In terms of his stamina though, I don’t think this is a concern as Komori is very active with lots of sprinting in both attack and defense all throughout the game.

Speed & Agility

Hiiro Komori is fairly quick over short distances, he uses his acceleration well when pushing off away from defenders to get on the end of a pass/cross, quickly close down defenders or goalkeepers in the press, or chasing after long/loose balls.

Komori is very agile as he can quickly twist and turn, to fake out defenders, and then unleash a burst of speed to throw off his mark. As seen in the shooting section, Komori’s quick reactions to rebounds and loose balls are supplemented by his agility to execute on them. He is able to contort his body quickly to take shots off-balance or from difficult positions very well.

Defending: Pressing & 1v1 Approach

Hiiro Komori works hard out of possession, closing down opponents and tracking back when necessary. In JEF United’s 4-4-2/4-2-3-1 as the striker, he is a determined presser and leads from the front. Komori knows to angle his approach and funnel the opponent off to the sidelines while also making sure to track back if he is bypassed. Depending on the situation he guards passes into the opponent’s midfield when in a block. I do feel that he sometimes goes off pressing by himself which obviously isn’t effective but this is also a team issue as teammates don’t always seem to be in sync with their pressing triggers.

Data & Miscellaneous

Komori’s data tracks pretty well with what we’ve seen in previous sections. In terms of his goal scoring in the past two seasons (according to Football-Lab):

2023: 5 with Right foot, 6 with Left foot, 2 with Head
2024: 12 goals with Right foot, 9 with Left foot, 2 with Head
2023: 2.6 shots per game
2024: 2.8 shots per game
2023: 13 goals from 11.59 xG (including 2 penalties)
2024: 23 goals from 16.27 xG (including 2 penalties)

Komori is a well-rounded striker able to score in a variety of ways. Overall, looking at his data radar:

Komori’s passing data aligns with what was shown in the previous sections. Mainly lots of short passes either from laying the ball off or combination plays with other attackers and only occasionally medium-to-long passes. He is not a direct creator with his passing but gets the ball to the teammates that do, usually the JEF Wingers. Dribbling is not his strength and his low carrying/acceleration with ball numbers are also a function of how JEF United plays as well. As clearly highlighted throughout this report, Komori excels as a penalty box striker who likes to drop off the defense line for lay-offs and quick passing combinations.

What would have caught a lot of attention outside of Japan would’ve been the hot patch of form in September where he scored 9 goals in just that month across 5 games. For added context, JEF United were one of the best attacking teams in J2 and were very heavy on using crosses for chance creation. While Komori was the main attacking threat but somewhat medium sized group of other attackers all pitching in with threat and goals as well. JEF United narrowly missed the play-offs with Komori missing a vital penalty in the penultimate game vs. V-Varen Nagasaki. Along with only being fit for one half in the play-offs last season, Komori has had a tough time not being able to help JEF United re-gain promotion back into the top flight despite his overall great performances.

Summary

Hiiro Komori finished the 2024 season as the top scorer in J2 and also earned the J2 MVP award. He is a #9 in the very traditional sense due to his great acumen for getting on the end of crosses as well as his alertness for rebounds and loose balls. The ball seems to have a magnetic pull toward Komori in the box at times. Komori is a great finisher who can use all body parts from his Left and Right foot, along with his head (at least when free from defenders). In possession he drops deep and provides lay-offs or makes passes out wide himself, further in the final 3rd he can play quick combinations with teammates to indirectly create chances.

When I was watching Komori throughout the season I thought he could make the jump immediately to Europe as I was really sold on his movement and nose for goal. However, after going deeper in the process of writing this report I am a bit skeptical in that I have some concerns, but not too many to be clear.

The type of team he is suited for are those that are short-passing, possession-heavy that can make use of his really good ability to drop and provide lay-offs for midfielders as well as his combination play in the final 3rd outside the box. Komori likes being an active contributor on the ball and getting some touches in. Playing a transition-heavy style doesn’t suit him as he is not a threatening dribbler and needs support to play off of after playing the ball longer behind defenses. Although considering his good work rate off-the-ball and eagerness to press opponents it can still work if you give him fast players to support him in transition.

As noted, launching the ball high for Komori as an alternative method of ball progression isn’t very effective due to his lack of aerial ability outside of the box as well as not being entirely comfortable holding off defenders with his back to goal. Considering this, when opponent teams were able to shut passing lanes into the center, Komori was completely cut adrift for large swathe of games.

Also, Komori thrives on the ball entering the box and needs a supply of crosses or other teammates willing to take shots to give him opportunities for rebounds. An aspect of JEF United that really perplexed me this season was how after Komori dropped deeper to lay off or combine with teammates, the team would cross the ball before he was able to get back into the box.

In conclusion, I think Hiiro Komori is a very good J.League-level striker. If he can replicate his J2 form at the J1 level next season then Europe may come calling soon. I have some concerns with Komori making a direct jump to Europe from J2 but despite some of my misgivings, I imagine a lot of suitors will focus on his clear and obvious strengths and improve his weaknesses or just play in a way that ignores/mitigates them. While I don’t put his ceiling too high, not the top 3 European leagues, I do think he can make an impact in Europe given his fantastic skill inside the box.

Thanks for reading!