Everyone is trashing Ueda and Maeda, rightly so, but this is literally the best Japan has at this age level so don't blame them for being bad, blame everyone else for not being better than them. Much better match by Itakura. This dude is not a centerback, play him in DM.
Hard luck, but Kubo is so joyful to watch, so mature on the ball, and i absolutely like how he screened the ball, shame that Nakajima couldn't combine much with him. Trying too hard sometimes, but i have a very big hope in them. And as always, there will always be a random Korean sore loser, couldn't accept that LKI is currently no better player than Kubo.
I was saying "why you wait so much before send in Ueda and Maeda, we need to score!!!" Then... The curse of JNT continue with the next generation. Silly thing with a tired Okazaki on the pitch in the last minutes we could have more chance to score.
I must really do my own spoof of Goal 2 to vent my frustration at Ueda. "When you see that Ayase Ueda (Gavin Harris in the movie), tell him he's shite."
Its the frustration that hurts more than anything. But we are kind of used to it. Ueda could have been topscorer hehe.... Well well. Overall there is potential no doubt but still. You gotta score to make it big.
Checking the numbers we didn't make it cuz Parsguay scored 3 and taken 4 while we scored 3 and taken 7. If only Ueda could score 3 of his 5 chances (4 Chile + 1 Ecuador)... Anyway don't forget that VAR stole us 2 points against Uruguay.
It is a fact that Kang In is leagues above Kubo (Kang In is worth 20x more than Kubo - kinda like comparing Mbappe to Kang In). IMO Nakajima and Doan have a higher talent ceiling than Kubo, just a shame that Nakajima had to take the Qatar move.
What was more disappointing is the fact that the broadcast didn't even show the VAR replays for the viewers at home.
Tomiyasu is the future captain. One of the only players with any passion during the game on both teams.
I have to say I disagree. He did track back and press, although not as intense as Abe did. Problem was Japan played too deep after getting the first goal. The gap between midfielder line and front line is too large but the coach insisted with 2 top formation, if one of Kubo or Okazaki kept tracking intensely, they could not last till 90 minutes. I think it's better to maintain a high midfielder line or they should tell Kubo to stay at the middle to form 451
Yep, Itakura was surprisingly good after being shambolic on the ball against a more talented Uruguay side.
🔎| FOCUS:Our #CopaAmerica player of the day is Takefusa Kubo🇯🇵90' played65 touches3 shots4/6 dribbles7 key passes2 big chances created---8.0 rating✅Was involved in 53.8% Japan's created shots✅Completed 15 passes in the final third, more than anyone else#ECUJAP pic.twitter.com/jp3qntSe5K— Sofascore (@SofascoreINT) June 25, 2019