27 Jul 2009(Mon)

July 25, 2009: When a player with nothing to lose except the quiet life decides to pack his bags and try his luck overseas, you can only wish him all the best.

Such is the case with Yoshiaki Ota, the 26-year-old winger who announced on Friday that he would leave Jubilo Iwata next week to seek a club in Europe.

A product of the Jubilo youth system, Ota could easily have stayed in the J.League and steadily added to his tally of 115 appearances and 21 goals.

But he has taken the decision to challenge himself, and try and find a club at the start of the European season.

Good luck to him, and I hope something works out.

Scotland would be a good start, as the stock of Japanese players is high after the success of Shunsuke Nakamura with Celtic, or Holland, where Keisuke Honda has made a name for himself after a difficult start.

Certainly Ota has something to offer with his pace down the right wing and his crossing ability, and I thought he had a fine game the last time I saw him in action, away to Omiya in a Nabisco Cup group match on May 20.

Although Omiya won 1-0, Ota caused plenty of problems for Ardija's left flank with his speedy breaks and penetrative runs into the danger zone.

These are qualities that could attract European clubs, and he has more chance of finding a club as a right winger than, say, a central defender, central midfielder or centre forward, where the physical aspect of the game is always against the average Japanese player.

And Ota does not need to be in too much of a hurry. He can give himself a few months to get sorted out, and if nothing happens he can always return to Japan next January, and join a club in time for the start of the 2010 season.

Ota has nothing to lose and everything to gain in terms of experience and adventure.

ends