The way you put it made it seem like he rejected a chance to play for Consadole in favor of playing in Europe. What I'm saying is that he wasn't good enough to play for their first team. If he wants to forgo Uni then fair play to him. It's a high risk-high reward option, but if that's what he wants to do then good luck to him. I always see Uni as the best option for those players who aren't good enough to play in the J-League after high school.
I didn't know that he was not promoted to the first team. So he's trying to take the Ibusuki-road, who wasn't good enough also.
Of course J-League clubs aren't perfect, there are several prominent examples of good players who couldn't even make their local team's youth side. -Kagawa (Vissel) -Honda (Gamba) -Shunsuke (Marinos) -Nagatomo (Ehime) But I feel that, in general, the level of coaching is improving. I think that bigger barrier for Nakagawa is the position and play style that he has. There are so many midfielders in Japan that the competition must be incredibly fierce. You have to be an incredible player in order to stand out in this position within Japan and he maybe good by other nation's standards, but not good enough from Consadole's perspective.
Besides Sakai to Hannover I would extremely surprised if there was another one. No one really stands out at the moment. But one to look out for the future would probably be Toshiyuki Takagi for several reasons. 1. He's young 2. Doing well in the league 3. His brother already plays in Europe 4. He's not getting a look for the U-23's and may feel the need to move in order to get attention If you asked me who I would place a bet on it would be him. Maybe Genki Omae in second.
Agree, Nakagawa is a rare species in Germany at this level while in Japan/at Consadole (as stated in your article) they have lots of players like that coming through their youth. He reminded me of Inui a bit. Still, his lack of height might be really a problem to land him a contract even at a U19 team.
Thanks. Yeah I was counting Sakai for being done so. Omae is interesting. Maybe a surprise move from nowhere?
My opinion: in time: Genki Haraguchi Hiroki Yamada Yuji Ono Shuichi Gonda Manabu Saito Toshiyuki Takagi Kakitani (if he develops) Just to name a few. I see all of them playing in Europe
Honestly, if a player posses technics, broad field of vision etc, the dominating above all of countries in the world right now, German agents knows what's important. He could learn new things in a month at this stage of develompent. BTW, Samurai, you only mentioned the top-flight players. Those were exceptional and unrecognized talents. And many smaller ones are creating the league at the moment. Many of young players are promoted to senior teams because they are strong enough at the time. But after few years, when those weaker ones mature and even still being small (like Saito)...
The German agents might like Japanese players, but its difficult to say the same for the teams. I think the overwhelming feeling is "Why should we develop this Japanese player when we can develop a German one?" From a footballing perspective it makes much more sense. With ever increasing "home-grown" rules and the added advantage that fans in general like the idea of youths developed by the club its really a no-brainer. Clubs want Japanese players that are ready for the first team not ones that they have to wait several years for. Of course, some players are not ready for the first team and still need several years of development, but how can you tell? Unless you have some kind of time machine it is difficult to know who will be good in the next 5 years and who will not be good. You can't really blame teams for cutting players who don't look up to standard at the time because it is much safer to promote someone who is doing well at the moment rather than someone who may have potential in the future.
you know an agent told me the opposite, that clubs were looking for the next 18-20 y old star to have more years of control on him.
Daejeon Citizen had a friendly match this week against a Mexican Club team called "Club Atlas" and Baba assisted the first goal. The match ended 2-0 to Daejeon. Highlight:
Borussia Dortmund - Werder Bremen Hannover 96 (Sakai)- FC Schalke 04 (Uchida) Mönchengladbach (Otsu) - Hoffenheim (Usami) Stuttgart (Okazaki, Sakai) - Wolfsburg (Hasebe) Freiburg - Mainz Augsburg - Düsseldorf Hamburg - Nürnberg (Kiyotake) Frankfurt (Inui) - Leverkusen (Hosogai) Greuther Fürth - Bayern Munich They scheduled all the teams with Japanese players against each other in the first week (except Nuremberg because there's an odd number of teams) .
so no more live broadcast of every match of Dortmund in Japan now that Kagawa is gone probably Stuttgart will get most of the attention from now on
Well, I'll stick with Frankfurt, Hoffenheim and Nurnberg mostly. Will watch Hannover's Sakai too to see how he starts.
Depending on the Olympics I think well it could be to second tier and Bochum since they are interested in Yamada and all. But Bundesliga I think Olympics could cause someone else to come to Bundesliga
I would be surprised if at least another Japanese player doesn't go to the Eredivisie. (Apart from VVV I mean)
Out of those, I only see Sakai/Uchida and maybe Inui/Hosogai being on the pitch at the same time. I predict Hasebe and Otsu will not make an appearance. Bundesliga is almost like an honorary Japanese league at this point. Would've been even better if Kagawa stayed around for another year. Predictions on which Japanese player will be most successful in BL this season, both in personal performance and team's place on the table? Individual: Kiyotake or Inui Team: Stuttgart BL Champions: Dortmund