he's starting for Hertha Berlin, not Real Madrid. He does what he does, a lot of tackles, fouls, useful but pretty unidimensional. He's done great as a CB because it doesn't involve any technical prowess. Singing the praise of Hosogai when we're used to the likes of Endo, Hasebe, Ono, Ogasawara, etc ... sorry that's impossible. Good depth ? He's lucky to get 5 minutes at the end of a match.
It`s simple, when a players gets as good ratings as players like Schweinsteiger or the Bender brothers in this moment he is on the same level. If he doesn`t he didnt recieved this ratings. So everybody can say what he want`s like he is technical limited or does stupid fouls, that`s only your view of the situation but the ratings are fact. Fact is that he is on place Nr.14 from all Midlefielders of the hole league and that`s f.....g awesome , the rest doesnt matter. He is waaaaaaaaaaay better then Endo at the moment or Hasebe. He is outstanding at this season and he was even solid at Leverkusen and good at Augsburg. He shows us for 3 years that he is very solid and he would play in every most of every team with this form if he earn the trust there.
Endo? Talk about unidimensional. The guy is as much a physical non-factor in midfield as I've ever seen. I think what is going on here is obvious -- you rate technical ability and ignore all other aspects of the game, like positional sense, which Hosogai excels at. The thing is, this overemphasis on technique runs counter to the interests of the JNT, since technique has historically been our strength. If we want to succeed at the WC, it's the other aspects of the game that must be emphasized. Look at the current squad -- a technical wizard who can ping the ball around the field is not what is needed. A strong CB with good physical and positional qualities is.
Endo a non physical factor ? He's one of the few guys not to get bullied off the ball. He should run like a mad dog instead of being cautious with his work rate, that would make him look better I guess. But that wouldn't make him better. Obviously his physical ability has decreased with age but even on a wheelchair, he's more useful than Hosogai. The game is played with a ball and a national team player, nowadays, needs to be able to manipulate it. It's all I ask.
I don't know why you compare a classic 6 (Hosogai) with Endo who surely never did too good in defence and is even more forward oriented than the classic number 8. Moe can be dropped even to CB position if the situation is urgent. Other Japanese DM who could play in NT who can do that is Yamaguchi but haven't seen that on reasonable level to say it would be a hit. Endo is not an utility player. He plays like he's the guy on around who you can build a team, but in a team that worked well before he would get tough time to adjust his play (if it's even possible). Ok, so what Hosogai can't do? He can get the ball for his team, play agressive football, pass the ball higher to the midfield and don't have a problem when he has to switch sides with 30-40 meters pass and decide the tempo of action thanks to his great passing accuracy rate. He can play a through ball breaking the lines too but rarely he finds himself in the area of 20-25 meters in front of the opposite team's goal.
I talked more in depth about Endo because that's where Marten48 was headed. Hosogai played CB a few times but let's not overreact, he's an emergency one, if he were to play more at this position he would certainly be exposed. It's not a shame or a critic, he just isn't a CB. He can get the ball yes, give it away too, play agressive football for sure, but the rest of your description is really stretching too far. His technical skills are poor, which limit him to a certain style of football and he has the intelligence to play it and not expose too much his deficiencies.
Captain today. Anpfiff gegen den @svroedinghausen. Hajime #Hosogai führt unser Team als Kapitän aufs Feld. #hahohe pic.twitter.com/ExpkYbBhP2— Hertha BSC (@HerthaBSC) July 15, 2014
the match ended 2-0, crossbar hit by Haraguchi. Da wäre fast das dritte Tor für @HerthaBSC gefallen. Aber Neuzugang Genki Haraguchi trifft in der 24. Minute nur die Latte. #hahohe— Hertha BSC (@HerthaBSC) July 15, 2014 The initial lineup was Jarstein, Pekarik, Heitinga, Hosogai, Allagui, Ronny, Hegeler, Langkamp, van den Bergh, Haraguchi, Wagner.
The Berliner Kurier relates a nice story: a 10-year-old Hertha fan came to a test match against Sevilla with a homemade sign requesting Hosogai, his favorite player, for his shirt. When Hosogai was substituted off the kid approached the bench with the sign and the player obliged - upon receiving the gift he fell into his dad's arms crying. He said: "Hosogai is my favorite player - he's such a team player. I play in the same position and hope to play for Hertha when I grow up."
Die Aufstellung gegen @kasimpasa! In gut einer halben Stunde geht es los! #hahohe pic.twitter.com/Wh6ubEt18e— Hertha BSC (@HerthaBSC) August 8, 2014 Hosogai is not in the squads today. Was it an injury?