With renewed determination, they will face the 2026/27 season, marking their tenth star earned during this special season.
To experience once again the joy, excitement, and exhilaration of reaching the pinnacle,
What kind of evolution will the Gamba Warriors undergo to help the team achieve victory?
What kind of strength and resilience will they demonstrate on the pitch, and how will they bring joy to their fans and supporters?
This season's WE ARE GAMBA OSAKA is,
This session explores the "philosophy of evolution" that resides within each individual, revealing their determination for growth.

In addition to his inherent strengths of overwhelming speed and dribbling ability, his precision in play has improved even further from last year to this year. His team-high "5 goals" in the AFC Champions League(ACL) Two 2025/26 is evidence of this, as are the two assists he provided that led to the winning goals in the opening match of the J1 League this season and in the ACL Elite 2026/27 Premier Stage.
"Numbers are one of the things I've always been conscious of. I believe that the experience I've accumulated and my daily practice have led to those numbers. But it's still not enough. I believe that if I continue to watch various plays, steal them, and make them my own, I can continue to evolve."
However, he himself never uses past records or statistics as a barometer. To borrow Ryoya YAMASHITA's words, "I don't want to." That's right. All he ever thinks about is giving his all to win the match in front of him. Therefore, he doesn't envision what the perfect professional soccer player should be.
"Basically, I try to stay in a negative state as much as possible. So, rather than focusing on matches where I feel I made many good plays and achieved good results, I want to remember matches where I didn't play as I had envisioned, or where the performance was far from ideal, or where it was a bad match. In fact, the better the result, the faster I try to get it out of my memory. If I only remember the good plays, I might start to think that's my perfect form, but if I keep the bad plays in mind, I can think more deeply about each play and about this job every day."
What's interesting is that those negative aspects of myself naturally disappear on the day of the match. That's why I can face any opponent without hesitation, and bravely confront them with the feeling that "I have nothing to lose."
"Perhaps it's because I push myself to the limit on a regular basis that I can be strong during matches."
His refreshingly headstrong and single-minded approach has now become a signature feature of Gamba Osaka. The moment he starts running, the stands spontaneously erupt in cheers.
"I joined Gamba in 2024, and this is my fourth season, including the special season. My sense of responsibility to leave something behind for this club has grown year by year. I don't know how it looks to others, but I always put myself with the responsibility that 'the team's results depend on my play,' and I stand on the pitch with the feeling that I'm carrying Gamba on my shoulders. The more I experience the behavior of the senior players at this club and the passion of the fans and supporters, the stronger my sense of mission to win and take titles becomes."
What fueled his further ambition was the title he won in the ACL Two 2025/26. The joy he experienced is etched into his soul, and it motivates Yamashita to be even stronger.
"ACL Two was a chance to experience the joy of winning a title, and to truly understand the meaning of achieving it and the difficulty of getting there. I felt that winning a title allows the club to grow significantly, both in visible and invisible ways, and I realized for the first time after winning a title that once you've tasted that feeling, you want to experience it again and again. That's why this season, I want to focus on winning each and every match. I want this to be a season where we can transform the expectations, hopes, and voices of many people into great joy at the end."
To achieve this, I will challenge them again and again, leave them far behind, and aim for the goal.

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Interview and text by Misa Takamura

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