Shouldn't be so negative=) Both Osako and especially Kakitani ( sorry Saku) are probably capable of being a regular goalscorer also in one of Europe's top leagues. It's not like when they sent Yano to Freiburg, Okubo to Wolfsburg, Yanagisawa to Italy, Nishizawa to Espanyol etc, who all were players everyone who followed J.League even the tiniest bit knew had some shortcomings. Okubo scoring 24 goals this season kind of contradicts that of course, but both Osako and Kakitani are very different players from him, and in my opinion could be regular starters in for example Bundesliga. Their performances in these 2 games shows that they have that "international touch" that lots of other Japanese strikers have lacked, or atleast have the potential needed for it. Also, you dont HAVE to play in Europe to be considered a top striker. Muriqui could probably have been a starter for 14- 15 of the EPL clubs, yet he plays in China.
Kakitani doesn't contest for the ball against stronger CB, which is always going to be a problem if he wants to play as a striker.
Messi doesnt contest for the ball against stronger CBs see what I did there? Sorry to yank your chain, but just saying there are different type of strikers. He is not an all around striker and typical number 9 for you who would hold off balls and wrestle defenders deep. Osako is closer to that and aint one as well. What he does offer however is imo potentially world class link up play, vision, creativity and spark which make him a nightmare to deal with. Osako is closer to the the guy you want contesting, holding up balls and what not, but also posses some technical stuff. All around I absolutely love the combination of the two in JNT. Not to mention to Kashima+Kakitani fanboy in me. And god, if one thinks, we had Maeda, Haveenar not so long ago. This team now just needs as much matches as possible to get those new pieces settled in a bit more
If you had to compare Osako to a top striker in Europe in terms of style of play, who would it be ? Lewandowski ?
Yeah I guess that is a reasonable comparison. Only that one is world class and other is just a star in J-League
Kakitani is close to Suarez in terms of playng style, even thugh he is no where near Suarez's level obviously and Zac should still try out other CBs like Tatsuya Yamashita and Kazuya Yamamura, the defence of the JNT would no hold up very well with the current state imo.
what?? i'm sorry, i'm a big fan of Kakitani as anyone in here but no.. not even close in terms of playing style between Kakitani & Suarez.
Cant read that. Sorry but this is shit !!!! The Striker Position is never sooooo great fo JNT like this. Kakitani, Osako,Okubo,Kawamata, Toyoda ,Sato,Kudo,Watanabe...they are scoring like hell and it is no matter if J-League or top european league. A goal is a goal and they are scoring like crazy. Japan have never such a luxus problem like this time. Kakitani and Osaki show that they are close to world class so dont talk shame to be. I thins doesnt matter who of this 8 FW are Playing ...this Team has a worldclass problem on this and iots very important to use J-League Player for this to combine European class and J-League Class to show how strong is japanese football. Kaktitani,Osako and test can really be as good as Bundesliga Players,they are soooooooo srong, so please dont talk shit. Score and assist against Netherlands and Belgium ( even friendly) is wordclass,no matter and with this Japan is even stronjnger then before Even Okubo has the best season of his live and its never to late to call him back. I think if he can hold this he is the best option for WC2014. He is a beast and when you guys see 8 japanese Players who are closre to score so often like they have games. This 8 players are absolutely crazy. Cant understand how you are talking likge this. You want Yano,Yanagisawa,Tamada times back ? Dont get me wrong these 3 are okay but now Japan has very very good strikers and its not even enough ???? How can it be ???
And how strong neeed a FW to be for you to get any positive. 1 Assist and 1 goal for Osako against Netherlands 1 Assist and 1 goal for Kakitani against Belgium Japan is not Barcelona or Bayern Munichbut they are still a great team.How stront Kakitani and Osako need to be to accept the fans. Belgium and Netherlands are such worldclass teams and both Fw have them the biggest troubles so they are good enough to be this good. I get terms of hate when I read this. You guys want to be that Japan has 1 Ronaldo, 1 Mess and 1 Higuain or what ? Soooo funny. The Most National Teams would be sooooooooo happy to have the same strikers like we have. These 2 Nations are one of the best teams in the world and even if this is only a friendly they shown that they can compete to the best. I Hate to read the line you are talking. Japan is on the best way so enjoy it !!!
Yes the Sushi Bomber who scored 19 goals in 42 games for Frankfrurt/Japan 2oo7 and dont get any attantion =).
Well, it's nice to see reckless optimism in the forum for a change of pace, I guess... But seriously, even those of us who LIKE Okubo would be hard-pressed to share your enthusiasm about what he could offer...
I follow Okubo since his Wolfsburg days, cause I am a german.But at the moment he is a goal scoring machine and you only need to look for the moment for NT and at the moment he is the best of the best and need to be regognize for NT. The goal in the J-League is as big as in Brazil and he show very very impressive performances. And even without him there are 7 more very very good,solid and talented FW who are more then good. The FW in Japan is nothing to worrie about like the last years. This is no
What matther is this ? I Know he was no goal scoring machine the holw carrier but know he is the KING and it need to be given a chance. I hate guys how compare something. Since years he was not the best but now he is the BEAST and only now is counting. You dont score 26 goals + 6 assists in 37 games cause the league is bad and you are bad. Absolutely Bullshit. Okubo plays the season of his live and we need this. Same like Sato. SInce years he is a monster and he gets no attention...this is wrong ....this is even a wrong signal for youngsters and hole japanese players. You can score like Messi and dont get any answer and now it seems to change. Kakitani and Osako shows the players from Japan that you can compare to the european elite and do the difference and thats the THING
Are we talking about Yoshito Okubo? Oh no, he's too old and had his chance. Time for Kakitani and Osako shine next year
Yeah i know, but it's time to move on with the older generation of players and move onto the next generation of players that will set up Japanese football in the future. Endo seems ok starting on the bench and coming on maybe in the second half (like cahill is going to do now for Australia).
I agree with Naohiro, the pessimism after this game is puzzling. The most encouraging result of these last two games is that a clear improvement to the DMF situation has emerged -- Yamaguchi starting and Endo coming in to provide an offensive spark off the bench. This new role is one that suits Endo at this particular stage of his career. Gotoku had a decent game besides the one mistake. He kept Mirallas quiet most the night and made several lung-busting runs down the wing, as he is wont to do. He's a high-energy player who suits our pressing style. He needs to work on the defensive side of his game but he's a useful player to have on our bench and as a backup to Nagatomo. Hiroki Sakai was useful in defense. At times he was marking Lukaku or Fellaini when Belgium sent in long balls. Imagine if Uchida were there -- they might as well have had free headers. Sakai at least is a physical presence. He's not as good as Uchida going forward, but he's still pretty good. That said, our defensive MVP was certainly Yoshida; he didn't look like a player who's been riding the bench. Overall, these past two results should give us confidence that we can play our game against quality European opposition. That's very valuable -- confidence has been lacking for this team at times and it's a factor that can make a big difference in football. Given that they're trying to reach a level that's unprecedented for an AFC team, it's to be expected that there will be doubts about whether they can play with teams like Belgium. But obviously they can if they're on their game; this was no fluke win, even if Belgium were far from their best.
I agree with this. I just think they could gain a bit more experience and "toughness" if they had been playing in Europe.
Its not that we are pesimist about it, but we are staying realistic. In terms of, we know that the guys can play against any team in the world and show good football, but we also have seen this same team struggling with the likes of... well go two matches back and start naming opponents + add to this horrors in defense and you have plenty of reasons to stay grounded. Me personally I already said, that for me as long as they play well and make sure they give anyone really hard time in WC I ll be happy and enjoy the football JNT produces no matter the result. I just aint getting hyped up because of these two games. Happy yes and optimistic towards future, but I still see problems which need fixing and I think we all do. We aint saying they are crap, we are expressing our worries about certain areas of the game
I'm thinking both Osako and Kakitani are low budget versions of a younger David Villa. (you know, the version we saw at Valencia) All three small and quick, with great balance and footwork, but Osako and Kakitani still lacking the intelligent movement and killer instinct around the box at the top level, that Villa used to showcase all the time while at Valencia; but hey, I'm sure some of that will come with more experience and age too, so...