Official 2011 Japanese NT Thread [R]

What the heck with you ? He is a great forward in a good form this season, scored more than a hundred goals in J. League and he isn't too old.

Come on man. Show some respect. I know haven't created and score so much for the NT, but I think it's good Zac tested him.

Ya I agree, Zac should give the J-league best scorer a chance every year(the one that can play for JNT of course). I think its great he gave Maeda a chance. Hes a solid player, nothing special. He can exploit weak teams but when it comes to creating his own shot hes useless.

Zac should use Usami up top I think hed be the best option as a striker. Lee I suppose too..need to see him play more. All I know is Usami is going to the Bundesliga to play for Bayern, maybe he should get to play ahead of Lee.

Usami is not a striker

He's not a centerforward, certainly. "Striker" is kind of a vague concept.

Zac gave him too many chances, he just can't carry the weight of NT jersey

He could be a top scorer playing for Jubilo but he clearly sucks when it comes to the JNT, plus, he's almost 30. Which means they need to search for a potential striker and give some chances to the young players

I have to read the comments after Japan - Ghana again. I think everybody wanted Nakazawa out.

Who cares, it mattered in the WC not in the fkcing friendlies, and in the WC Tulio-Nakazawa was rock solid, some of the best defending I've seen.

LOL!
"not in the fkcing friendlies".

I get it. These werent fkcing friendlies. They were gnikcuf friendlies!

The defence had some trouble in the first half. Not surprising. With only three backs if the ball gets sent deep and the midfield line doesnt help out, there is a lot of space for opponents to run into. By the second half Uchida and Nagatomo had figured that out, and were lending support. Was it perfect? I dont think so. But then, this wasnt the WC, was it?

I really think the people who are orgasming about Tulio and Nakazawa need to watch a few more J.League games. Nakazawa took his OWN name out because he has a bit of pride, and realises that he cant keep up anymore. Tulio gets injured at least twice every six months and even if he is still in consideration I guarantee that Pixy would pitch a fit if he got called up for a friendly. But the bottom line is, if they DID get called up, are you really so short-sighted that you cant see how badly theyd get schooled? Lets face it, if Kentaro Shigematsu can make Tulio look foolish, what will happen when he faces a top international?

Age creeps up on EVERYONE. If you dont realise that, then I envy you, because you must be young enough to still have illusions. Take it from womeone who knows a bit about age creeping up . . . its time to forget about guys whose NT careers are over, and start focusing on people who actually could make a contribution.

Personally Id like to see Jubilo's Fujita get a shot, followed by Kamata and Sugai of Sendai. But thats getting too far ahead of the game. Has it really been only five days since I pointed out that ALL the backs called up this time were guys with actual experience playing a 3-man line? You have to start somewhere and it makes sense to start with people who have at least some minimal experience.

Do you guys even follow the news?
Come on! Leicester has been saying for over a year that they do not intend to let Abe leave for ANY matches except ones that are covered by FIFA requirements to release players. They didnt even release him for the Asian Cup!

I agree he would be a good inclusion. But there are a lot of indications that he does not even WANT to play for the NT

http://uk.eurosport.yahoo.com/11052011/63/abe-boost-foxes.html

If thats the case, Id much rather call players who are really motivated and happy about being called. Maybe thats just me ? ? ?

So much criticism of the defence......and we didn't concede.

In recent times there appears to be an influx of pessimistic posters here (its been 2 real Zac-Japan games ffs, the Czech game was NOT that bad at all), to the point where A-Kaka is almost in the 'optimist' category

I'm keen to see Ienaga get a chance to start with Hasebe in the centre.

Man, you know the forum is ********ed up if that is the case!

One last thing:

Thats a bit hard to clarify, since three guys all deserve part of the credit: Kurihara, Moriwaki and Makino.

All three saw Kazu making his cut and immediately came to a dead stop, and didnt move again until Kazu had already flicked the ball past the keeper. I thought it was fantastic play by all three of them to recognise the situation and contribute to a play that would boost morale for people all over Japan. . . . . but I dont think that the ability to do "Yaocho" effectively should be a qualification for being on the NT.

I agree with those who believe that these matches are used for experimentation and the such.

For me the result doesn't really matter, to be honest there are lots of positives to take from these matches.

The defense looks much better as opposed to the AC when they let in a goal almost every game.

Not that worried about Lee's performance. The fact that he had many scoring chances is a real plus because it means that he can create goal scoring opportunities and the Czech game was just a bad match for him. I would be much more worried if he had almost no chances in the match which would mean that he's not up to it.

edit: the only thing that pissed me off was that Usami did not play.

I take the words from fans who watch J League week in week out with high credit.
I admire Nakazawa and Tulio but I can understand they're Nakazawa and Tulio from 1 year ago that I admire, not now.
And I think with the way JNT plays now, even if Nakazawa finds his form back, it's too hard for him to be called. Only Tulio has slightly chance.

Yoshida, Konno and Inoha must feel lucky to have clean sheet last 2 games. Reading comments from this thread make me think if they let just 1 goal in, they would be eaten alive =))

If you are telling the truth it must be sad for Tulio and Nakazawa, they have gotten so much worse in a year??? Damnit.

If they are going to get schooled by top players, imagine Yoshida, Konno and Inhoa haha.

Yet again I have nothing against these 3 men but there must be better japanese players out there? I personally think Makino is better than all of them.
Iwamasa got his chances last year but he is to slow.

Korea has found a new great CB in Hong Jeong-ho I hope Japan will do the same soon.

Hi.

You don't need to be 190cm, with a good haircut, and to score goals to be a good CB.

You are Konnos biggest fan boy

They must feel lucky to have Kawashima as a keeper.

The three of them had equally embarrassing moments, especially Yoshida (not reassuring at all during in the Asian Cup and we were facing the likes of Jordan and Qatar, not to mention the massive avalanche of goals at club's level).

Nothing against the man, but it must be said that we have plenty of guys (other than the WC pair, admittedly no longer fit for NT action) who are actually better than him defensively : Uemoto, Kondo, Moniwa...I don't remember him playing in a 3-men's defense with Nagoya.

The great thing about Tulio and Nakazawa is they had size and good aerial ability. Japan really lacks that right now, its not a huge part of their game but its adds another demension to their game with players like that. Now when you look for players to cross to on corners or set pieces, who are the option? There is nobody on the team whos 6'0 ft tall I believe. Not even the CB. That to me is a huge problem not just offensively but defensively as well. Tulio and Nakazawa are getting old and most most likely both will not be included in WC 2014...definitely not Nakazawa. These two wouldnt have saved Japan from their awful performances vs Peru and Czech Rep though.

I think its funny to see everyone try and play down the fact that Japan played like s###. Come on people be real, we all watched the same game. Its not a matter of looking at it half glass full or half empty, they just stank up the pitch. The players themselves know it, you think theyre happy with those game? I think not, athletes play to win the game cant stress that enough. Friendlies, Charity, WCQ, WC it doesnt matter. Sure these games give the coaches more flexability for experiment and personel(which is why they play against weak teams like they did). But even teams like South Korea, Spain, Mexico, the list goes on do the exact same thing and get results. All against inferior opponents. I for one wont be content with a draw against these sorts of teams and until the day comes when they perform up to their potential I wont shut up about it.

Japan needs to get results, the players, the coaches, the fans. Theyve all got to demand more from one another and not be content with mediocrity. Japan is better than this...

Agree. But here they really think these three are the best. Damn weird . Talk about blindness.

@SugarDaddySean: You're one year late. Go and find the topics about NT from April/May/June last year. Read it. I wonder what were Your thoughts after watching Japanese NT preparing for WC (especially about Tulio and Nakazawa) if You had occasion to see those games

Excellent call. Really, the EAFC games against SKorea and China or Kirin Cup challenges against Serbia and SKorea must be the cure for a lot of people.

What about the WC? That is the real Nakazawa and Tulio.

" noo nono they sucked there alsooo I wanted Yoshida to play in the WC bubuub bibbuu"