give up. He won't be called, and I'm more and more convinced that there is some reason that it has nothing to do with the value of the player :/
No, it's Kengo. (sorry for the double post, can't edit anymore my previous post) I take the first alone.
Yoshida yes; he's likely to be in and around the NT for the next 8 years or so (or until a better thing comes along) and certainly the next 2. So he could do with that experience a whole lot more than Konno who already is an established player. The other position in question may be CM, but I think Yamaguchi & Ogihara can hold that position themselves. I'm not sure having 3 OA players is worth it. All the OA players considered I think should be no older than 24 max (i.e. people who we'll be thinking about come 2018 still). I don't like the idea of giving that team the option of looking to 28-30yo's for leadership & mental strength when they should be finding it within their own team.
Saku problem is people saw Tulio as some kind of pillar of defence and nowdays they cant seem to find a reliable replacement for him. I on the other hand say, Japan has a bright future. Tulio gave a lot to the NT but it's time for the new stars. Really young one's
The problem is more that people are never satisfied. Once a player is good they're already thinking about the 14 years old prospect who's supposed to be even better.
I hope they scrap the idea of the veterans playing as OA. IMO it'd be a whole lot more worthwhile for OA spots being given to players who are slightly older (Around 1987 and 1988) but are good enough JNT prospects and need international experience. Thinking guys like Yoshida, Inui, Hiroki Yamada, Yasushi Endo or Junya Tanaka.
You can't understand that people are worried? That Japan can't find a replacement? You are Konno fanboy so of course you're satisfied.
There's a worrying shortage of quality CB between Beijing generation and London generation, the fact that Yoshida starts every match....ignoring Tulio is insanity at this point.
yeah... that's what's scary and must be improved in the NT. the fact that the other CBs look bad against him when compared.
the comparison isn't fair as everyone's making sure they're not watching Nagoya on a daily basis, he just looked bad against Kawasaki, and they also tried to forget what happened before the WC and the fantastic games against Ghana, Netherlands ... It's really been too long since the last NT game.
I'd been in Japan last October - November and tried to watch some J League matches or highlights. And I must say Konno was looked like a better CB than Tulio at that time, even he was far from sensational. Tulio now is slow and likely to make odd mistakes now and then.
The FC Tokyo version of Konno is pretty much a beast, remember he got the J2 MVP award last year and he could have got it even at 50% of his capacities, and remember how he controlled Farfan when Peru came to Japan. The same Farfan who's one of the best players of the Bundesliga, a very strong and explosive one. He's stuck in this situation in Osaka and it's really to difficult to work a way out of it at the moment. You gotta hope he comes back on track because Tulio spends more time asking for offsides than actually defending these days. BTW, he just happened to be on the list of pre-called players, I wouldn't have asked for his presence otherwise. I will be fine with whoever goes.
For me, Konno is a good player. Tulio is better than Konno, but - until someone else shows up - Konno can be in the starting-XI. I'm sorry for Nakazawa, i would have liked to see him again with the JNT's shirt, but he's getting weaker and weaker, making more mistakes than ever in the last two seasons.
Nakazawa was a lord for Japan, and I think that moment in March 2007 when he came out of retirement for Japan was one of the most important moments of the 2006-2010 cycle. However his career is done as far as his JNT career goes. I can't actually make a judgement on Tulio vs. Konno only because I haven't watched them both in J.League recently. It'd be cool to see Tulio get a shot, but I think he doesn't want it anymore.
It will take years before Japan gets a Nakazawa-Tulio duo again. They fkced up sometimes but when it counted the most they were world class.
Probably won't be matched for a very long long time. Leading up to WC 2010 they were struggling, but when it really counted on the big stage they showed their abilities. Yoshida-Konno combo still has two years to develop, except Hamada/Yamamura can't see anyone replacing them if Tulio is ignored.
... and I'd let the newbies play on the big stage before stating they cannot be as good as Tulio - Nakazawa. Don't forget that Okada Japan 2010 was a very defensive minded team, it helps.
Why are people talking about Konno and Tulio as if it's one or the other? If anything, Tulio would replace Yoshida, not Konno.