He's missed the last JLeague match and the Levin cup too A NT coach can't "develop players" with like <5 trainings per year , he can build teams. The clubs develop players. He has to build the best possible squad to bring the results. Honda hasn't played and I wonder if he will start but he still brings it to the NT. Plus, you have to keep in mind team-social factors too and it might have destabilized the team at this stage, a huge risk with such important matches. Didn't understand your comment on Shoji and Ueda, why would they have to be replaced by new CBs ? No new faces? Not like Kurata and Takahagi have been with the NT for a while. And I hope Nakamura isn't Kengo lol... Anyway, Kiyotake is a risk and I'm not sure, but Kurata, Takahagi and Usami make me shake head
Because Morishige isn't reliable, that's why. And Makino in a 4-men defence isn't either. Nakamura is Kosuke, of course. Actually I'm happy about Takahagi, because he could be a new kind of Aoyama/Endo, since in Tokyo his position is really beyond where he used to play with Sanfrecce.
Vahid said that he doesn't feel Oshima, Yuki Kobayashi and Ideguchi are ready for this high-pressure situation. Leaning on his veterans makes sense to me, though I'm not sure what the team is going to get out of Takahagi or Kurata. Inui would have been nice, Kubo is ready, and I don't give a shit who the #3 goalkeeper is.
Kobayashi isn't ready, eh? Riiiight.... anyway about Honda and Nagatomo Vahid said something along the lines of: "I know they aren't playing much but they play in big clubs and are still training. I know I can count of them being ready, they've been part of this team for long and their presence is important for the group too"
Wow I am speechless. After the last match I actually thought that Vahid had learned his lessons and would be able to lead the National Team into the right direction. Yet Vahid seems to make the same mistake again. Some of the call ups are ridiculous
Btw Naoya, do you know what happened to Vahid's usual translator ? Aguirre's right hand manned it today (who knew he also spoke french !)
Heshould replace Usami, Asano and Honda with Yuma Suzuki, Inui and Kubo. Kawashima shoyld be replaced by Nakamura. Yamaguchi, Konno and Takahagi should not be there. Isn't Hasebe injured by the way?
I bet Honda, Kawashima and Nagatomo are guaranteed pre-owned for Vahid but Honda (back from an injury?) and Kawashima didn't deserve a call at all. Nagatomo can still do the job and between the three he's the one that played the most (in his club). I think the newcomers will play only few minutes, it seems Vahid wanna play the veterans and the lineup will be depressively similar to the one of the last 2 years. I would really like to see Kubo keep scoring as in his club. If he will ever play.
I think they wanted someone more polished for public appearances to put Vahid's utterances through a filter and prevent the unnecessary conflict between the coach and certain tabloid reporters which we saw after the UAE loss. His usual translator is more suited to on-field translation for training and matches, with his experience coaching in the PSG academy - but he's not a professional translator. I imagine he's still around?
According to media reports the standby list includes the following: Kosuke Nakamura Yuichi Maruyama Kensuke Nagai Ryota Oshima Yu Kobayashi Yuki Kobayashi Yoshinori Muto Mu Kanazaki
Lol Oshima. He is too lightweight to hold his own in a physical match. Ideguchi might be more suitable.
Oshima and Ideguchi are very different players but both should be brought along by Halilhodzic when the timing is right. More to the point, Ideguchi is injured.
How do you guys think/feel about upcoming matches? March 23, 2017 Iraq vs. Australia Thailand vs. Saudi Arabia UAE vs. Japan March 28, 2017 Australia vs. UAE Japan vs. Thailand Saudi Arabia vs. Iraq I have a strange feeling about this group. I am feeling that the final outcome of this group will be something that no one could expect it before the start of this round. My feeling is a non-bias feeling.
It looks more seriuos than it seemed at first sight after all. I thought that was simple laceration, few stiches and it's done. Now an operation. But it's good timing for him as he should be ready for action soon and some time for recovery after long season.
http://www.sponichi.co.jp/soccer/news/2017/03/22/kiji/20170321s00002014312000c.html Okazaki and Osako forward? We shall see
my prediction (not my desired lineup): H. Sakai Yoshida Morishige Nagatomo Konno Yamaguchi Kubo Kagawa Haraguchi Osako my main doubt is Nagatomo or Gotoku
Who you feel should be tried in place of Morishige then? I also feel Morishige to be pretty average but there aren't much alternative, maybe Shoji I think. Ueda still make a couple of individual mistakes every now and then. Not too sure about Iwana. Nakatani is not ready yet imo. Kobayashi's club is battling relegation, pretty sure he can handle pressure. Besides, there are not much CM options and imo Kobayashi has one of the best passing skills among Japanese CM but he seems to be lacking in the defensive department from what I seen of him at his club. Hasebe might still be needed for his defensive skills at Russia.