Interesting battle for positions is forming at the moment. The current JNT squad has depth in most positions. I presume both Musashi & Daichi Kamada will start a game each.
Good squad, more talented than the one at Asian Cup, especially in midfield. All we need now is Osako.
He has been in good form for Vissel Kobe lately. Perhaps playing alongside World Cup winners like Iniesta, Villa, and Podoloski helped in tuning down his ego and complacency, and made him work hard and being more attentive and proactive.
FC Tokyo’s Hashimto replaces Hidemasa Morita: 【#SAMURAIBLUE 選手変更のお知らせ】守田英正 選手（川崎フロンターレ）がコンディション不良のためチームを離脱し、代わって #橋本拳人 選手（ＦＣ東京）を招集することになりました。#daihyo👇守田選手コメント、橋本選手プロフィールはこちらhttps://t.co/QMR3MnxfN0— サッカー日本代表 🇯🇵 (@jfa_samuraiblue) March 19, 2019
For me it's a matter of ideologies. Nakajima has been part of (based on a single glance at wiki) the U17 setup, U20, and U23 setups by the JFA. He's spent his youth career at Tokyo Verdy for however long. Japanese football at the moment, and one thing I love about Japanese football is that all routes are sort of angled towards the Japan NT. Even the greatest players Japan have produced are often quite modest and consistently talk about the objective which over the long term is a FIFA World Cup title. Youth development, league development, and commercial developments have a fairly direct link towards Japanese football as represented by the JNT and its ongoing success/longevity/sustainability. Therefore I don't appreciate when a player affronts the work put into him by the system set up by J.League founders, those at the JFA and his coaches at youth level within Verdy, his school, and so on just for a big pay-check in the Middle East. I think he had a certain responsibility knowing full well he is one of Japan's most key NT prospects/individuals over this next 4 year period to improve his game and ability to compete at the highest level possible. The greatest Japan NT greats before him would never have done such a thing. Imagine Nakata having gone to Al Ahli or something (no disrespect) around 2000 or Nakamura going to Guangzhou Evergrande in 2007. If one does choose to go for a completely money-driven move then I think the JFA/JNT setup should not then be used as a tool to develop them further, they should focus their efforts on the other players who do still want to become the best they can for not only themselves but for Japanese football. As far as I'm concerned, Nakajima has made a huge mistake and Japanese football should tell him to sort it out or go get f**ked.
I got your point but this is a little bit too extreme. I don't think Nakajima as a kid or young teenager had this kind of thinking. Now, sure, he thinks more of the paycheck but that's a very natural thing for someone who pursues a professional sport career. Not calling up a player because he performs badly in his club is understandable. Not calling up a player because he chooses to play for a rich club is not a convincing argument for me. Am I disappointed when he chose to come to Qatar? Yes of course. But using JNT position as some kind of "punishment" for him is, for me, pointless. I think the only arguments when calling someone to national team are form, performance, suitability for tactics.
Squad numbers for the next 2 friendlies: 1 Higaahiguchi 2 Miura 3 Shoji 4 Sasaki 5 Muroya 6 Yamaguchi 7 Shibasaki 8 Nakajima 9 Minamino 10 Kagawa 11 Usami 12 Nakamura 13 Musashi Suzuki 14 Inui 15 Hashimoto 16 Tomiyasu 18 Kamada 19 Anzai 20 Hatanaka 21 Doan 22 Nishi 25 Yuki Kobayashi Number 17 is not used. I am not sure what such thing might signify, but I think either players are hesitant on filling Hasebe’s shoes and be compared with or Moriyasu thinks that nobody deserves to take Hasebe’s shirt among these players.
So far Qatar doesn't seem to ruin Nakajima that much. Definitely should be back to Europe ASAP. If Neymar indeed goes to Real, He will fill the gap perfectly.
Unlucky call, but i like at how we play so far. Nakajima in particular is just exquisite. Glad to see Shibasaki bounce back from horrid display at Asian Cup and his problem at Getafe.
You seems so Japanese talking like that. Maybe too much. This speech, cutting all the football reference, could be made by some ultranationalist general from the WWII. Nakajima is first a man than a footballer not the contrary. This talk in a western side has no sense at all. Maybe Nakajima spending his time in Spain has turning a bit european. Good for him since the best footballer/s in the world come from there.
From what i watched during some awful streams, nakajima was the star of the show, what a huge difference he makes to this team. Colombia tried to double up on him but hes so hard to stop. Suzuki can't finish, should have scored a free header from a beautiful nakajima cross. When japan brough on kagawa and inui together with nakajima they looked so good, definitely good signs for the future, but colombia got their revenge win in the end with a very debatable penalty.