Takumi Minamino played for Cerezo Osaka in 2014 / photograph: Kenzaburo Matsuoka
In his second season with AS Monaco, Takumi Minamino is finding his rhythm again under Adolf Hütter, his mentor at FC Red Bull Salzburg in 2015.
After registering an assist in the opening game of this season at Clermont Foot, he played a key role in the 3-0 win against Strasbourg in the second round with two goals and an assist. He followed this up with a goal against Nantes and was named player of the month of Ligue 1 – the first Japanese player to win the award since Le Man’s Daisuke Matsui in January 2006 – after scoring three goals and assisting twice in three games in August.
With the 28-year-old attacker back in top form, fans are hoping for his return to the Japan national team after a hiatus since last year’s World Cup.
Minamino has had an elite career, having been trained at the academy of Cerezo Osaka, which is the first professional club for Shinji Kagawa as well. Born in Osaka, Minamino has been consistently selected for the national team, starting with Japan’s U-15 side and playing at the U-17 World Cup in 2011. Having made his debut in the top flight as a youth team player in 2012, Minamino secured a place in the starting line-up for his rookie season in 2013.
In July of that year, he broke the club’s record for the youngest goalscorer in J1 history and also scored in a friendly against Manchester United in the summer. Minamino played the full season, scoring five goals in 29 league games and winning the J.League’s Best Young Player award.
It was in 2014, his second year as a professional, that his seemingly smooth sailing career took a dark turn. Despite hopes of further progress, he failed to produce results and the team suffered a major setback partially due to Minamino’s poor form.
Minamino fell further behind when the-then ace attacker Yoichiro Kakitani left mid-season for Swiss club FC Basel. Minamino was sent off in Kakitani’s last match at Cerezo and was also filmed verbally abusing a teammate, former German international Cacau during another match.
Minamino told me how he felt at the time.
“I play with the feeling that I’m going to get the result, but on the other hand, I also feel pressure. It’s a complicated feeling that I can’t quite put into words.”
With the impatience of not being able to produce results and the pressure of carrying a team without an ace attacker, the situation was too much for a 19-year-old young player.
Even so, Minamino looked desperately ahead.
“I think about football even on my days off. I tend to think negatively, but I try to think positively in times like this. On the contrary, I think tough times are a chance for me, and if I can get results here, I will be able to improve as a person. That’s how I spend my days.”
The man who is always so bullish also said: “I have to make this difficult time a good experience. I must not let this difficult time go to waste. I don’t intend to end up like this at all.”
Finally, Cerezo finished 17th in the league and were relegated to J2, despite having a big name in Diego Forlán. And Minamino played 30 games and scored just two goals, a contrast to his impressive debut rookie season.
Nevertheless, this frustrating experience certainly helped Minamino to develop. The following year he moved to Salzburg, where he spent six seasons as a mainstay before making the step up to Liverpool in 2019.
After two and a half seasons at Liverpool, he finally failed to become a regular starter and must have experienced a lot of frustration. However, his time there was not in vain, as Minamino can attest today.
Although Minamino is well known for his highly technical skillset, calmness in front of the goal, and finishing accuracy, his biggest weapon should be his mental toughness. As proof, he stood for the first kicker in the penalty shootout in the round of 16 match against Croatia at last year’s World Cup. Though it ended in failure, he was widely praised for his courage.
Minamino’s counterattack begins here, as he continues to evolve through the twists and turns of his career.