Ryo Miyaichi

Ryo Miyaichi

Miyaichi in 2013
Personal information
Full name	Ryo Miyaichi[1]
Date of birth	(1992-12-14) 14 December 1992
Place of birth	Okazaki, Aichi, Japan
Height	1.83 m (6 ft 0 in)[2]
Playing position	Winger
Club information
Current club	Arsenal
Number	31
Youth career
2001–2008	Sylphid FC
Senior career*
Years	Team	Apps†	(Gls)†
2011–	Arsenal	1	(0)
2011	→ Feyenoord (loan)	12	(3)
2012	→ Bolton Wanderers (loan)	12	(0)
2012–2013	→ Wigan Athletic (loan)	4	(0)
National team‡
2007	Japan U15	3	(2)
2008	Japan U16	3	(1)
2009	Japan U17	5	(2)
2010	Japan U19[3]	8	(1)
2012–	Japan	2	(0)
* Senior club appearances and goals counted for the domestic league only and correct as of 14:48, 22 September 2013 (UTC). † Appearances (Goals). ‡ National team caps and goals correct as of 16 October 2012

Ryo Miyaichi (宮市 亮, Miyaichi Ryō, born 14 December 1992), is a Japanese footballer who plays as a winger for Premier League side Arsenal. He has been described by team-mate Theo Walcott as a player with great pace and trickery on the ball. He has had a number of loan spells away from Arsenal, to Premier League clubs such as Wigan Athletic & Bolton Wanderers. He also played in the Eredivisie for Feyenoord in 2011. Japan's head coach Alberto Zaccheroni has said that "Miyaichi's strengths are on the flanks and creating space going forward,".^[4] Ryo currently has 2 caps for the Japanese national football team, and hopes to build on that in the years to come.

Early life

Ryo was born into a sporting family, with father Tatsuya Nomoura being a former basketball player who played for and later managed the Toyota Motors basketball club, and brother Tsuyoshi also being a football player.^[5] Miyaichi started playing football in his elementary school years at Sylphid F.C. in Nagoya.^[6] He entered Chukyodai Chukyo High School and played for the school football club. In the 2010 season, the team advanced to the All Japan High School Soccer Tournament but were defeated in the first round; the match had also been televised across Japan.^[7][8]

Club career

Arsenal

Ryo first trialled for Arsenal in the summer of 2010, where he impressed the Arsenal manager. Arsène Wenger was convinced of Miyaichi's abilities and subsequently offered him a contract with Arsenal. On 31 January 2011, he joined the club and signed a professional contract. Wenger said: "We’re delighted that Ryo Miyaichi has joined us. He trialled with us in the summer and has raw ability which has attracted many clubs around the world".^[9]

Loan to Feyenoord

Just after he signed for Arsenal, it was announced that he was set to join Feyenoord on loan. On 5 February, he played his first game for Feyenoord against Vitesse. He played the full 90 minutes and was named man of the match (the game ended 1–1).^[10] Miyaichi played against Heracles Almelo and scored the opening goal and created the second for Feyenoord.^[11] On 17 April 2011, Miyaichi scored two goals and contributed two assists in Feyenoord's 6–1 victory over Willem II, leading a revival after Feyenoord had conceded an early goal.^[12]

The Dutch media gave him the nickname "Ryodinho" after comparisons to Ronaldinho. He has also been branded the Japanese Messi.^[13]

2011–12 season

As he returned to Arsenal after his loan spell at Feyenoord, Ryo joined up with the first team for pre-season training. He was included in the 23-man squad to tour Asia in the pre-season after impressing in training. Ryo made his pre-season debut against Malaysia All-Stars XI, he started the match before being substituted for Robin van Persie in the 66th minute.^[14]

On 9 August 2011, Miyaichi was granted a work permit to play for Arsenal on the grounds of being an "exceptional talent" in view of evidence supplied by Wenger and the Japan Football Association, and was deemed free to represent Arsenal during the 2011–12 season.^[15][16] He was also included in Arsenal's 23-man Champions League squad for the fixture against Udinese.^[17] On 23 August 2011, Miyaichi featured in the Arsenal Reserves against Wigan Athletic Reserves and scored in the 83rd minute.

On 20 September 2011, Miyaichi made his first team debut against League Two side Shrewsbury Town in the League Cup third round as a 71st minute substitute. He also came on again in the League Cup as a substitute as Arsenal went on to win the match 2–1 against Bolton Wanderers.

During the reserve match against Fulham, on 7 November 2011, Miyaichi lasted 34 minutes before being forced off with an ankle injury, which would cause him to be out for 4–6 weeks. Despite being in the first team, Miyaichi admitted he still has a lot to learn.^[18]

Loan to Bolton Wanderers

On 31 January 2012, Miyaichi joined Bolton Wanderers on loan until the end of the season.^[19] Shortly after arriving at Bolton, manager Owen Coyle spoke of his admiration for the young player, even though Miyaichi had yet to play in a competitive match for the team.^[20] He played a behind-closed-doors game on 7 February against Preston North End where he scored the only goal in a 1–0 win and made his full debut when coming on as a half-time substitute for Martin Petrov in Bolton's 2–1 home defeat to Wigan Athletic on 11 February.^[21] He made his first start, and scored his first goal, the following weekend in Bolton's 2–0 FA Cup win at Millwall.^[22] He played 78 minutes of the game before being substituted. He made his first Premier League start the following weekend in Bolton's 3–0 loss at Chelsea.^[23] He was voted February Player of the Month by the Bolton fans after his debut.^[24]

Loan to Wigan Athletic

On 13 August 2012, Arsenal confirmed that Miyaichi had joined Wigan Athletic on a season-long loan.^[25] On 28 August 2012, he made his debut as a substitute in the League Cup, in a 4–1 victory over Nottingham Forest. On his debut, he was able to provide an assist for Callum McManaman. After that, however, he was limited to three appearances due to injury. On 9 March, he made his return as a substitute for Callum McManaman in an FA Cup match against Everton. Miyaichi was substituted after playing 45 minutes, after picking up an ankle injury in a challenge by Kevin Mirallas.

International career

Miyaichi has been involved in the Japanese National Team from U-15 to U-19 level having played in the prestigious FIFA U-17 World Cup in 2009. He received his first call up to the senior team for the World Cup qualifier against Uzbekistan in February 2012, however he did not feature during the 90 minutes.^[26]

He did however make his debut on 23 May 2012 in a friendly match against Azerbaijan coming on as a 60th minute substitute in a game that ended 2–0 to Japan. He made his second appearance against Brazil coming on as a substitute in loss time in which Japan had lost 4–0.^[27]

Career statistics

Club

As of 30 October 2013^[28][29]

International

Statistics accurate as of 18 September 2013

Honours

• FA Cup (1) : 2012–13

References

External links

Wikimedia Commons has media related to Ryo Miyaichi.

• Ryo Miyaichi career stats at Soccerbase
• Ryo Miyaichi – FIFA competition record
• Ryo Miyaichi – Arsenal F.C. official site