NEWS
NEWS
2024.5.13[TEAM]
[ WE ARE GAMBA OSAKA ]DF33 Shinya NAKANO
Pride. Literally, it means pride or self-esteem.
Although it is something that every professional soccer player has in their heart,
the way each player holds it and thinks about it is very different.
This season's WE ARE GAMBA OSAKA will unravel the pride that boils deep in the hearts of
the players.
For Shinya NAKANO, the pride that he "certainly has" inside him is equal to the "confidence to fight on the pitch as himself."
"Since I was a member of Sagan Tosu's academy, I was allowed to play in J1 League matches as a registered player, but two years ago, I gradually started to lose my participation in matches and I began to have doubts about my own play. The Head Coach changed and I had a hard time assimilating the team tactics, so I started to play while wondering if this play was okay, if this choice was correct, and there was a period when I was no longer able to express my own style. Through that experience, I realized that before I could play on the pitch with confidence, even before I knew about the team tactics or my role, I couldn't perform well, so I started to think about always being someone who could play with confidence."
When he moved to Gamba last summer, he vowed to never lose his confidence. Every team has competition, and it's not always possible to play, but he came to think that this fact doesn't mean he has to deny everything about himself.
"There are many skilled players at Gamba, but I have my own strengths. I think I can play with dynamism because I compete on my own merits, not by imitating others. That's why I want to keep playing without losing sight of my core, no matter what the situation."
However, in recent years, while still sticking to that core, he has also come to understand that if he wants to play his part in the team, he needs to play in a way that brings out the best in those around him. This is also to broaden the scope of his own play and his chances of being on the pitch.
"I'm good at playing on the outside and attacking vertically, but in the current style of football at Gamba, or in combination with the other players, I don't always have the opportunity to do that. For example, when WELTON is playing on the left MF , in order to make the most of his dribbling skills, it's better for the left wing back to play with his arrow pointing inwards, rather than taking a high position, and depending on the opponent, I may take a lower position to draw out the opponent's wing MF. However, I haven't been bothered recently about not being able to compete with my own strengths. In modern football, even though I think that wing backs are expected to play various roles, I think it's fine if I can expand the scope of my play by making use of the people around me, and then I can show my own strengths. I think that if I can change my play flexibly in this way, my own possibilities will expand even more."
This season, Nakano has been assigned to play as a left-wing MF depending on the situation, but even there, his bold plays stand out because of this mindset. He entered the pitch in the 72nd minute and played as a left-wing MF in the 9th Sec. J1 League match against Urawa Reds, where he showed off his defensive skills to steal the ball and become the starting point for the winning goal. It was a scene that showed his pride in a straightforward manner.
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Text by Takamura Misa
Back Number
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