Guys, I have never seen the players so happy... http://www.goal.com/en/news/14/asia...-keisuke-honda-delighted-with-convincing-win-
I'm sorry for being naive, but what position does he play for the JNT and his club, Mallorca and his former J-league clubs? I don't know much about him except that he's is hailed as a possible replacement for Endo, who is a CMF, and plays amazing passes up the midfield. So is he not a CMF-like type of player? Is there a full video uploaded somewhere? I wanna watch the whole thing now. I only got glimpse of it. plus I only had a 4 hour sleep and couldn't remember all the plays.
He is a side attacker, who can play on both wing a and eventually even in the middle, below one or two striker. But a defensive midfielder with long passing skill, he is not--at least not for now. I think Kiyotake has way more chances to transform himself into an Endo the 2nd than Ienaga. The ideal heir would be Ardija's Ueda, if only he could be a bit more consistent...
I have the distinct feeling that in NT teams Endo runs more or less twice the distance he runs with Gamba and at twice the speed.
Lille, Feyenoord and an unidentified guy. But I doubt Kiyo will leave in the middle of this season. Anyway, they will all be again at the Osaka derby, so we'll see. Scouts today have surely noted down Yamada and Kiyo's names. And if the world was a fair place, they should give a chance to Endo as well. I mean, Juventus' best acquisition this summer was Pirlo, 32 and coming from a massive injury...
What impressed me was the way they manufactured goals. They are engineers of football. They never waste a control, they cleverly move together, they are altruist, master the one touch play ... They all play for the team despite the fact some have bigger statuses than some others. And that's great. Sometimes they played like the U17, this bunch of young nobodies who could shine thanks to what they were able to build together.
The goals were amazing. In the second half, at least until too many subs started to come in, Japan seemed the best Brazil or Barça... My concern is now the defense. Korean finishing was dreadful, but they had at least 5-6 clear chances to score. Just think if we could have this team, with top of the form's 2010 Tulio-Nakazawa... In retrospective, such a shame we could not play the Copa. PS = 4-2-3-1 forever!!
I agree about the defense I mean just look at the centerbacks. 1 plays in J2 and 1 should be playing in the 2nd division of the Netherlands. The problem is that there isn't much coming up right now. The U-22's don't really have any good CB either. Suzuki is the only one that is actually getting playing time at his club. The rest aren't doing anything. I know its sad, but the only young CB that I have hope for right now is Ueda. But that kid is still in high school. Although I heard that Takahashi at Kyoto Sanga is supposed to be really good. Maybe Goru can shed some light on him. Also Nikki Havenaar.
Yoshida is shaky and Makino has no business here. Komano isn't the best defender in the world either but he has a great first step. I forgot how fast he is. Konno is world class to me, you just have to find the right guy next to him. For the time being it should be Kurihara, a tough and tall guy.
Don't know about the WC but I'd like to correct what I said earlier: This was not only the best Zac-Japan-performance I have seen, this was the best performance by the JNT. Agree about the defense though, but today we first didn't allow Korean team to attack and then we were lucky.
I think that Lee did pretty well today. His combination with Kagawa and Honda worked out and helped create a "flow" between them. Probably could have had a goal too. Although, I still think that Japan could do better. These positions are the biggest concerns for me. 1. Centerback 2. Endo-replacement 3. Striker
Yet again isn't everybody so happy with Yoshida and Konno? Makino seems out of it, and I don't blame him, his situation is not that good.
Not so much with Konno, he's rock solid and don't make mistakes. The problem is the guy next to him, I think a fit Tulio is a good option to pair with Konno
Maya should put himself in a harsher environment. Somewhere where he has to play at 120%. There seems not much of an improvement since he came into the NT, except maybe for the TV appearance and number of visitors on his blog.
hahaha so true. I've laughed a lot of these boards. Can't say what post was the most funny cause it wouldn't be nice but yours is great. Too bad there's not a second friendly, I want more now.
I hope so. And to be honest I honestly think every soccerfan in Japan wants Tulio on the NT. He will 33 in WC14 , that is not a age, come on.