Personally I expected a 0-3 in which we would have been completely outlcassed, from A to Z. I much prefer this 0-4... Which goes to show that the final result score is not everything. Moreover, the last two goals conceded in the very end of the game are almost a detail.
Other than Shoji and Tomiyasu and at best Ueda, I don't think Japan have a lot of CBs options at the moment imo. Japan still have someways to go before being able to say that they have a bunch of good young CBs. I agree that the situation has improved tho. Still, the most worrying position imo is CF. If Osako gets injured, I am not sure who can play his role of holding the ball up and playing with his back to goal. Closest I can think of is Yuma Suzuki, but he gets injured quite a lot. Japan need to test more alternatives in the position. Maybe Koki Ogawa can be tried due to his build. For Gks wisd, I think maybe Nakamura and Wakahara can be tried. Obi and Osako are also decent alternatives.
The main difference between Ajax kids and these JNT kids is that the dutchs were paired with some older players able to finalize what their young mates build up. Plus they had a full preseason to know each other and training togheter not 4 days. Anyway I like Daizen Maeda so much, I wanna see him play as offensive FW vs Uruguay instead of the defending FW he roled vs Chile.
Horrible mistake to not include some veteran players in the line up. Someone should be fired for this sense of arrogance.
Arrogance??? It's the opposite: Moriyasu went to Brazil with the Olympic Team to train them for Tokyo2020 ignoring any thought about winning the group or reaching the ko stage.
Rather see them go to smaller leagues and clubs that rotting in a big club B team. Seen it to many times.
Why is it naive? The games are in Tokyo.. nothing wrong with aiming to win the whole damn thing. Better yet, this should be the approach for every tournament regardless of how outrageous & difficult it may sound.
Agree, it is better for them to get used to top level opposition before the WC than at the WC. Japan's success before the 2006 WC & 2014 WC may have contributed a little of their false sense of security imo and they crumbled in these 2 WCs. Qatar's recent success in the Asian Cup may also help to serve as a reminder that there are also strong teams in AFC and other teams are also catching up to Japan.
Olympic Games are always a different story especially for the host country. From the big China to the little Greece, all host countries greatly improved their performance and number of medals in front of their compatriots maybe even with the help of some judges. Nadeshiko is top tier women football and they must always aim for the 1st place. Samurai Blue are not but by 2020 they will have a more experienced team (even thanks to this Copa America?) with a couple or more of (we hope) worldwide famous players. So aiming for the gold is nothing idiotic by JFA, certainly less moronic that the 2005 declaration joke.
Yeah what's up with side-backs......who is taking the mantle after Nagatomo/Sakai? This must be the outcome of the increase in 3-back systems in Japan last 8 or so years.
Yuta Nakayama was uncontestedly Japan’s poorest performer against Chile. His reckless tackle on Vidal and the yellow-card he he received after that challenge might made him traumatised and afraid to challenge Chile’s players. In all of the first 3 Chile’s goals he is the one to blame for all of them: 1- In the first goal he somehow missed the player under his mark, Pulgar, and just stood Idly in front of the goal; not jumping to clear the ball, not marking any opposing player, and leaving Pulgar alone to head the ball home. While a desperate Naomichi Ueda last moment jump to close down Pulgar and clear the ball was not successful as he was not the one responsible of marking Pulgar to begin with, and just tried to surge into his path after Nakayama mis-marked him. 1140809966426574848 is not a valid tweet id 2- In the second goal he was moving after the ball from the centre of the field all the way to Japan’s penalty area, not trying to close-on any of the players in possession, nor challenging them, nor marking one of them which made his teammates distracted and did not know what to do as Nakayama was blocking their path by his amateurish movement, which left Vargas completely unmarked with enough time and space to score Chile’s second goal. 1140776090312429568 is not a valid tweet id 3- In the third goal he was in a perfect position to clear Chile’s cross on the left-side of Japan’s penalty area, but he hesitated, allowing Aranguiz to seize the ball, and then he didn’t challenge Aranguiz, neither he blocked his cross, which resulted in Alexis Sanchez heading the ball home in the right post. 1140782625692372992 is not a valid tweet id I don’t know what is the problem with him, and whether the early yellow-card he received made him afraid of challenging Chile’s players as he could have got another yellow-card and got sent-out, but he was literally Japan’s worst player, and his lackadaisical performance made fellow debutant Sugioka look awful because he was playing on the same side of the pitch. Perhaps if another player was playing in Nakayama’s place, Sugioka would play better and look better, but he was certainly not the one to blame for his own below-par performance. I hope Matsumoto will start next match against Uruguay, or even Itakura, but please: NO MORE NAKAYAMA.
https://betweentheposts.net/japan-c...-result-young-clinical-edge-makes-difference/ More credible insight than some rant by random Korean Youtuber
moriyasu came to get the draw against Uruguay which will give him a better chance to qualify in the 3rd game. he also says they came here not only for experience but also to win and he announced that there will be changes in the eleven compared to the match against Chile because they only had 2 days off. here are the main lines of this article in french : https://fr.besoccer.com/info/le-japon-signe-pour-un-nul-face-a-l-uruguay-657711
in 2011 Mexico sent a U-22 to Copa America, the went 0-3. One year later that team won the 2012 London Olympics as a U-23 team. Nothing they faced in London was a good as those Copa America teams. This young Japan team played well and will only get better.