They did , but they lost and they counted cards right. I dont think they went into the Poland game with the thoughts on losing the game. So I really don't like this strategy. It looks bad, it is bad , and you barely win. This wont last for long.
I wonder how Honda and co. would've reacted if they are still playing. They had a "role" in Halilodzic's dismissal before the WC due to his overly conservative tactics.
Good point. They have frustrated me many times over with how they close out matches. I think part of it is a lack of killer instinct.
Do you guys think Japan will still play conservatively against Vietnam? I do acknowledge everything is possible in football but still, it's fu**ing Vietnam!
Don't underestimate them. Iraq was almost defeated by Vietnam. Iran was just physically dominant and defensively strong for them to handle. Vietnam plays a similar style to Japan and new Japanese players are not that much physically dominant. Jordan took the fall too.
https://web.gekisaka.jp/news/amp/?264796-264796-fl Moriyasu might rest Minamino and Doan tomorrow as he fear that any of them might recieve a second yellow card and becomes suspended for the semifinal. Supposedly the attacking line will look like this: J. Ito - Kitagawa - Haraguchi Osako Hiroki Sakai, Gonda, and Shiotani might also miss the semi-final if any of them gets a yellow card against Vietnam.
Interesting. I would love to see Ito start obviously. Rather see Inui than Kitagawa or Haraguchi though. Even if he is not himself.
if he does start this is the moment for kitagawa to stand up and be counted. ito can’t do everything by himself.
Vietnamese media reported that Sakai has fitness trouble and Muroya might play. There may be some lost in translation but Shiotani is basically roasted in Vietnamese media, since he is reported to say: "I will crush this Vietnam team"
He should sit out anyway because we don't need him getting another yellow and missing the semi-final.
If they're talking about his Japanese interview it is definitely lost in translation: 第3戦目のウズベキスタン戦ではスタメンフル出場、決勝トーナメント一回戦では後半終了間際に出場したDF塩谷司はベトナム戦に向けて「自分にできることをシンプルにやって、周りにうまい選手が沢山いるので任せるところは任せて球際のところだったり、相手を潰すところだったりで自分のよさを出していけたらっていうイメージですね」と自分の持ち味である球際の強さを発揮すると意欲を見せた。https://www.footballchannel.jp/2019/01/22/post306190/ 相手を潰す -> direct translation would be "crush the opponent", but in this context it just means to break up their plays / stop them from playing their game. Basically he says he hopes to show his strengths including stopping the opponent from playing their game.
The defense was solid in the rest of the World Cup too. They conceded only 2 goals (1 goal if we don't count that bs penalty in the Denmark game) in 4 games. I remember Xavi was prasing Japan's defense on ESPN. They can park the bus but it isn't their culture. Tbh, I don't want to criticize Moriyasu for resorting to defensive football when he can't use tactically the 2 most important attackers (Osako and Nakajima). It isn't a bad idea to rely on defense. There is a big gap in club status between Japanese defenders and other Asian defenders. Even a Ligue 1 starter (Shoji) isn't guaranteed to start for Japan anymore.
yeah, that what I reckon it is too After Japan-Saudi match, all of the sudden the common opinions in Vietnam now become optimistic. There're even some predicts that Vietnam may go pass Japan this time. The story is completely different just 1 year ago. We had confidence facing West Asia team, but every time we faced Korea or Japan, everyone felt hopeless.
That's not what I meant. I mean from a narrow winning position and grinding out the result. Nobody disputes the defence was fantastic that World Cup as I pointed out it was their tactical set up. But the other games like the Denmark game Japan was never in threat of losing, the Paraguay game was 0-0 and the Dutch again unfortunately didn't get into a winning position. Cameroon Japan got into a narrow winning position and despite fairly significant pressure closed them down and ground out a win.
imho the asian cup is not the place to experiment. if the jfa wants the defence and game management to improve why don’t they have the balls to organise some friendlies overseas instead of the kirin cup.
This picture implies that all of these players with their respective team won't win this competition.
Starting line-up against Vietnam: Gonda. H. Sakai - Tomiyasu - Yoshida - Nagatomo. W. Endo - Shibasaki. Doan - Minamino - Haraguchi. Kitagawa.