Best Alternatives to Ko Itakura

Playing Style Analysis

Itakura is the kind of defender who wins games in the margins — not with last-ditch tackles, but with the quiet authority of a man who rarely puts the ball in the wrong place. His 93.3% pass accuracy sits in the top 5% of Eredivisie defenders, which tells you this isn't a player just lumping it clear; he's building from the back with genuine precision. His aerial and ground duel win rates both land in the top 20%, making him a reliably dominant physical presence. The three closest DNA matches to Ko Itakura:

• Tsuyoshi Watanabe(87% match) — A Ball-Playing CB. Statistically, he stands out as commanding in the air (5.0 clearances/90), meticulous in distribution (89% pass accuracy), wins the physical battle (61% duel success), heavily involved in possession (62 passes/90), central to possession (75 touches/90), strong in aerial duels (3.2 aerials won/90), uses long balls frequently (5.2/90) and active off the ball (2.1 press score/90), contributing to defensive transitions.
• Takehiro Tomiyasu(86% match) — A Ball-Playing CB. Statistically, he stands out as meticulous in distribution (86% pass accuracy).
• Josip Sutalo(86% match) — A Ball-Playing CB. Statistically, he stands out as commanding in the air (5.1 clearances/90), reads the game exceptionally (1.9 interceptions/90), meticulous in distribution (91% pass accuracy), wins the physical battle (65% duel success), heavily involved in possession (72 passes/90), central to possession (86 touches/90), uses long balls frequently (5.6/90) and active off the ball (2.6 press score/90), contributing to defensive transitions.

Similarity uses per-90 performance across playing-style dimensions. How Player DNA matching works →