Mitoma mania comes to Art of Football
Mitoma mania is gripping the world and to celebrate, the guys at Art of Football have released a new design based on Brighton & Hove Albion’s very own Japanese university graduate.
Dribbling Thesis is available as either a t-shirt or a jumper and as you can probably tell by the title, it is centred on Kaoru Mitoma writing a thesis on dribbling.
The story by now is well-known but never becomes any less fascinating. Having spent eight years in the academy of J1 League side Kawasaki Frontale, Mitoma turned down a professional contract aged 19 because he did not feel ready to become a full time footballer.
Instead, he enrolled at the University of Tsukuba to undertake a degree in physical education. His specialism was dribbling in football.
Mitoma studied diet. He sought the expertise of Japanese Olympic 110m hurdler Satoru Tanigawa for tips on running.
He put cameras on the heads of players in his university team to discover where they looked and what at. Conversely, he wanted to know how opponents looked when being run at with the ball.
The strapline which accompanies Art of Football’s Dribbling Thesis comes from Mitoma’s own description of his discoveries.
“I am conscious of shifting the opponent’s centre of gravity. If I can move the opponent’s body, I win.” And Mitoma has certainly done a lot of winning over the past two years.
After handing in his thesis, Mitoma returned to Frontale. He notched 13 goals and 12 assists in his debut J-League campaign and 18 months later became a Brighton player for just £2.7 million.
Mitoma spent the 2021-22 season on loan in Belgium with Union Saint-Gilloise. He arrived at the Amex in the summer of 2022 and after three months of lively cameo appearances from the bench, was handed his full Premier League debut by Roberto De Zerbi when Glow Up Graham Potter and Chelsea came to Sussex.
Since then, there has been no looking back. Mitoma has seven goals from 22 appearances in all competitions and was one of the stars of an exciting young Japan side who beat both Germany and Spain at the World Cup.
Dribbling Thesis ✒️📘
“I am conscious of shifting the opponent's centre of gravity. If I can move the opponent's body, I win." New design now available online #BHAFC https://t.co/OMA13kcQY3 pic.twitter.com/HI6VjV5aK2— Art of Football (@Art_of_Football) February 8, 2023
And now he has his own Art of Football design, an honour rarely given out. Antony Knockaert was immortalised after Brighton won promotion to the Premier League in 2017, but for a player to be saluted after less than a season at a club is unheard of.
The good news for anyone wanting to buy Dribbling Thesis is that WAB readers can claim a 10 percent discount on every purchase made through the Art of Football website.
Simply click here to use this link. Once you have Dribbling Thesis (or any other Brighton design for the matter) in your basket, enter discount code WAB10 at checkout to make the magic happen.
