Hope y’all had a happy holiday. Today I’m back with another Shogun Soccer Scouting feature… on Haruya Fujii.
Date of Birth: December 26, 2000
Age (as of writing): 23 years old
Nationality: Japan
Position: Center Back (Back 3 and Back 4)
Club: Nagoya Grampus
Squad Number (2023 Season): #13
Height/Weight (Source: Soccer Digest): 1.87 m/82 kg
Haruya Fujii is a local of Nagoya and came up through Nagoya Grampus’ youth system from the U-12s. He made his professional league debut in 2019 and had played a small role in various cup competitions from the 2018 season. Fujii really started to emerge in a starting role as a Center Back in a Back 4 early in the 2022 season and from April of that same year, manager Kenta Hasegawa switched to a Back 3. Fujii has since established a foothold in the starting XI being able to play anywhere across a Back 3 but predominantly as the Right-sided Center Back.

If you would like a “spark notes” or “too long; didn’t read” summary, a few months ago I did a smaller analysis of Fujii based on his performance against Gamba Osaka on October 21, 2023 (Twitter Thread).
First Half:
Second Half:
Most of this analysis is from watching matches in the 2023 J.League season (as that’s what footage I have available). Any feedback, comments, etc. will be greatly appreciated. More details about the resources used, extent, and limitations of this analysis can be found in the section at the very bottom of this newsletter.
NOTE #1: As usual, I don’t have enough annotations on Metrica Play to highlight Fujii in every clip. He is the tall lanky fellow with slightly wavy hair usually wearing orange, black, or white boots playing on either side of the Back 3 (yeah, I wish he’d stick to one color too…). Nagoya’s kits are red with yellow marking or white with red marking. He wears #13.
NOTE #2: Special thanks to Carlon Carpenter & João Miguel for providing me with some match footage!
Let’s get started!
Defending
Block Defending (Line management, Covering, Tackling, Interceptions, Loose Balls)
Fujii diligently sticks to the height of his line with fellow defenders. While Nagoya are usually are set in a low or medium block, with his attributes (especially physical which I’ll cover later) I do think he’ll be comfortable in a more regular high line as well.
Within the block Fujii’s body orientation is set sideways, sensitive as to which way he’s facing depending on how the opponent is attacking. He is rarely caught square on and shuffles with quick small steps to set himself up as the attack builds in front of him. Fujii is alert to jumping out of the block to close down players drifting between the lines, or chasing long balls over the top in his own zone or to cover for other defenders.
In central areas Fujii tracks players well, sticking close to them upon ball reception and prevents them from turning to face forward. He has the agility to stretch, turn, lunge, and poke the ball away with long legs among a variety of defensive actions which is enhanced by his quick reflexes and reactions. Fujii also doesn’t dangle his legs out and make silly cheap fouls either.
One concern I’ve seen is that he’s not the best 1v1 defender when it comes to defending in wide areas. Fujii seems (at times) too eager to close down with lots of speed (although this may be more of a side effect of having to come across to cover and Wing Back or fellow Center Back) and clever attackers can use a switch direction to cut inside or in front of him by using Fujii’s momentum against him. At times he jumps in a bit too early or tries to anticipate the opponent’s next move and commits, which allows clever players to cancel their action and slip past Fujii. He’ll need to work on how he approaches these situations and not get caught flat-footed or judging the proper distance to start slowing down. On the other hand, when Fujii is already “set” in position then it’s much more difficult for opponents to dribble past him due to Fujii’s agility and speed.
Transition Defending (Tracking runs, Positioning)
Haruya Fujii is alert in transitional situations, scanning for potential threats and immediately tucks in to protect the central areas first, if needed. Like when defending in a block, he shapes body to react to threats from either inside or outside and attempts to get goal side of closest opponent runners. With his experience playing in all positions in a Back 3, he knows how and where to cover for his teammates in nearly every situation.
In the counter-press, he can jump forward quite aggressively, even if he fails to win ball outright, he usually can delay opponents enough for teammates to backtrack. For quick long balls forward by the opposition, his aerial ability allow him to header clear with ease.
Box Defending (Marking, Challenging, Shot Blocks, Clearances)
In the box he marks his opponent diligently and also making sure to scan periodically (including over his shoulder) if he isn’t marking anyone in particular. There usually aren’t any miscommunications between him and his fellow defenders either as they pass off their markers to each other without issue. Fujii makes his body big to block shots, standing tall or in more desperate cases sliding across the box. In less immediately threatening cases, Fujii gets between his opponent and the goal so as to prevent the opponent from deciding to take a shot in the first place. Only some really good dis-marking movements by opponent attackers allow them to escape Fujii’s sights (some examples seen in clips below).
When he can use his speed to get to the ball first, he can shield the ball competently but in 50-50 duels on the ground he can get beat for strength. In the air he can header clear the ball with a lot of force, rising highest either unopposed or against opponents. Fujii is one of the best aerial defenders in the league with consistently good performances against top J1 strikers like Yuma Suzuki, Diego Oliveira, and Yuya Osako.
Perhaps a slight nitpick is that he doesn’t always get the ball far away enough on his clearances in the ground or in the air in all the types of defending situations mentioned here. Nevertheless, after the clearance he is quick to move out and close down opponents who have latched onto a second or loose ball, or simply move back into his line.
Passing
Haruya Fujii is involved in a lot of Nagoya’s possession play. The pass sequences that he starts or is a part of frequently lead to final 3rd entries for Nagoya, if not outright create chances in due time. He has a cool head to cancel a pass and play it simple to other options instead if the opportunity disappears as well as the patience to wait for the right moment for teammates to get into spaces to receive his passes. However, Fujii still plays the occasional very risky pass that doesn’t come off and results in a counter-attack.
A big bonus is that he is comfortable with both feet, the fact that Fujii gets handed the Left Center Back spot in a Back 3 when the usual Nagoya left footers (Maruyama & Kawazura) aren’t available highlights this. However, his best or most difficult passes are still done with his stronger Right foot. His ambipedal ability does afford him with the ability to play passes from more angles, as he can go outside or inside even when receiving the ball out wide.
One aspect that is easily identifiable is that Fujii lofts lots of long balls down the channels as a result of Nagoya’s play style. He can be accurate but these kind of passes are always going to be difficult to consistently get right. For what it’s worth, Fujii is able to get the ball consistently in the general area of his target regardless of what the evident low completion % statistics may show. Fujii can also play more driven balls to feet or into space that are more difficult for opponents to block or intercept. He has a good awareness of opportunities especially when it comes from long diagonal switches across Nagoya’s Back 3 and Wing Backs. As a result of the team’s play-style (and Nagoya’s limitations…), the passes that don’t find their target are still opportunities via second/loose balls or simply a chance for Nagoya to push their often beleaguered lines up-field.
Ball Control & Dribbling
I would say this is Haruya Fujii’s best attribute in possession. His ability to identify space to carry into is extremely good and then is able to take the right strong touch to build up the speed to take advantage of entering that space too. Fujii insistently calls to his teammates for the pass when available. On receiving the ball he has a good positive first or second touch to set himself up for different types of passes. Fujii uses this time to think ahead, head is always up during that touch to scan for options to pass or simply continue carrying forward, showing his confidence in his ball control ability.
He takes the ball in his stride quite well as his bursts of speed don’t unbalance him and can also use his upper-body strength to shield the ball and shrug off defenders when driving up the field. Fujii only occasionally overruns the ball or mis-controls it but with his long legs he can win it back immediately at times to continue the attack. This good control is also evident in tight spaces as he executes quick little touches to shift the ball swiftly between his feet to find the right pass under pressure. Otherwise, he uses mostly shoulder feints and change of direction to get past opponents, nothing fancy. He’s more suited to ball carrying rather than taking opponents on 1v1. Of course, sometimes he does dribble into trouble when there aren’t any teammates available to pass to, he may prefer to keep the ball rather than clear it away in these situations… which can be risky at times.
Movement & Physical Attributes
A quality you’ll notice about Haruya Fujii at first glance is his speed. He has a quick recovery pace that is suited to a Back 3 where one has lots of responsibility to cover behind teammates pushing forward to challenge opponents or simply tracking back quickly in transitions. His speed is also an asset in possession too as his quick acceleration allows Fujii to take advantage of open space after knocking the ball forward on his first or second touch. In terms of agility and flexibility I’ve already talked about in the defending section so I won’t say more here.
As mentioned previously, he has very good heading ability which is aided by the big leaps that he can make. Fujii has decent upper-body strength to keep the ball while on the move and has good balance to keep himself upright against oncoming tackles and shoulder-to-shoulder duels. Overall, he has very good stamina as he can continue to play long balls, make sprints, and keep jumping for headers up to the very end of games.
2022: 28 starts, 29.3 90s played.
2023: 34 starts, 33.9 90s played.
In terms of his off-the-ball movement and ball receptions, in the build-up phase around the box Fujii makes quick steps backwards to create some separation between himself and the closest pressing/marking opponent to receive facing forward. Fujii’s forward runs are either overlaps or he arrives at the top of the box in the half-spaces to receive cut-backs. Fujii will go forward to support the attack mainly when he was the one to initiate the attacking transition or ball progression from deep himself. A common sight is him continuing his run forward post-carry after he passes the ball off to a teammate to maintain the momentum of the attack. Generally, he keeps his runs simple and nothing very complicated, this aspect may be one reason why I don’t think it would make sense to convert him into a Full Back if he goes to Europe (it would also restrict his passing angles which would be a waste).
At times though, this does lead him to get caught up-field especially when Nagoya’s next pass forward is immediately intercepted or blocked. I do think he can be a bit better at choosing when to continue moving forward or not after his own action (although this will depend on who is covering, the team’s rest defense structure, etc.). Nevertheless as mentioned in the transition defending section, his recover speed usually makes up for this in any case…
Data & Miscellaneous
While the numbers don’t really stand out in terms of his “active” defensive contribution, this may more be due to how Nagoya defend deep in their Back 3 / Back 5 with contributions being spread out through more people (on top of the activity from the energetic double pivot of Sho Inagaki and Takuji Yonemoto right in front of the defense). His low duel won % is a concern which was covered in previous sections. Fujii is very well disciplined with low cards and fouls as he doesn’t dangle a leg out or make dangerous tackles. With his ball carrying ability he can also win lots of fouls as well. As highlighted, his ball carrying ability ranks extremely highly within J.League Center Backs.
With Fujii’s aerial ability, he does go up for Corner Kicks and Free Kicks. He took a total of 12 shots from these situations in 2023 and scoring one against Gamba Osaka. He does have the occasional long distance shot including one memorable goal against Vissel Kobe early in 2023. Fujii’s direct shot contributions usually comes from situations where Nagoya are desperate for a goal and Fujii has pushed up to the outside of the opponent box. Overall in 2023, Haruya Fujii took 23 shots leading to 2 goals from 1.74 xG (according to FotMob). Improving as a goal threat from set-pieces may be another way for Fujii to provide more value to his team.
Summary
Haruya Fujii is one of the top Center Back prospects to come out of Japan in the past few years. Indeed, he was given his national team debut on January 1st, 2024 in a pre-Asian Cup friendly vs. Thailand (although ultimately not chosen for the tournament squad). He still has quite a ways to go to reach somebody like Takehiro Tomiyasu’s level though, of course. A first step into Europe in the coming months will be a good litmus test for his future potential.
Haruya Fujii possesses a combination of physical traits that allow him to be a very effective player. He is very daring and confident in his own ability to carry the ball forward as a result of his good touch giving him time to think ahead and play passes of varying difficulty. For the most part, his judgment is quite sound and provides a lot of value to his team in either the build-up or in more transitional moments. Fujii is a consistent and steady presence that gets the small and big things right, winning a regular spot in 2022 and appearing in every game in 2023 being a testament to the trust the manager and his teammates have in him. The skill-set exhibited by Fujii should make him a useful asset in a team that plays a high line more often than Nagoya and the fact that he can play multiple positions gives a manager a lot of tactical flexibility as well. He will be one to watch closely as he acclimatizes to European football with my main concern being how he can handle more physical forwards on the ground in 50-50s.
I personally had a difficult time figuring out how to write up this analysis as I am rather inexperienced in judging Center Backs. Compared to my Kuryu Matsuki piece where I focused on types of actions, for Center Backs I thought it made more sense to categorize a player’s skillset by the situational context and so I divided the defending sections up into block, box, and transition defending this time around. This was quite an educational experience for me and I hope to write more about Japanese Center Backs in due time.
Thanks for reading!
Resources, Limitations, etc.
Video analysis: Metrica Play, DaVinci Resolve 18
Tactical diagrams: Tacticalista
Time period: 2023 Season only (mostly from July onward)
Footage: Broadcast footage, no tactical camera
Stats: FBref, Transfermarkt, FotMob, WyScout
Player radars: Ben Griffis