I wanna give a shout-out to Consadole's Miyazawa and Tokura. Even though I'm also a Cerezo fan, I don't see how the likes of Yamaguchi and Sugimoto deserves a call-up to the NT. In the holding midfielder role, Hiroki Miyazawa imho offers much more than Yamaguchi have ever done. He's a great ball-winner, natural leader, strong(er) in the air and his vision/overview of the game is on a completely different level than Yamaguchi. He very rarely makes mistakes ( compared to Yamaguchi who makes a huge blunder every 1-2 games) and is as calm as it gets on this level. He's already 29, and it's true that he spent most of his years playing in J2 but his play in J1 the last 2 seasons have been very impressive ( he were their most important player for years before that too, but have taken big steps under Yomoda and Petrovic). It might be a controversial suggestion, but check him out next time you watch a Consadole-match. Even yesterday against players like Iniesta and Podolski he kept his cool and barely had a single missed pass. If we compare Tokura to Sugimoto as well, I struggle to see a single thing that Sugimoto does better than Tokura. Maybe better positioning skills in front of the box ( as a poacher, which is not the kind of striker Japan needs), but in everything else he's inferior the way I see it. His finishing skills is mediocre, he's not strong in the air despite his height, his hold-up skills is several levels below the likes of Osako and Tokura and he's never been a hard worker. The only thing going against Miyazawa/Tokura is their age, but do we really expect Yamaguchi/Sugimoto to improve much compared to their current level? Unless some brilliant coach comes around? With the Asian Cup coming up in a few months Japan needs players that can have an impact now. I'm not saying that necessarily have to be Miyazawa/Tokura but I think they both have done enough to at least be considered. And when players like Hotaru and Kenyu keeps getting call-ups something's not right.
Hotaru Yamaguchi and Ryota Oshima is replaced by Jun Amano (Yokohama Marinos) and Hidemasa Morita (Kawasaki Frontale) : http://www.jfa.jp/samuraiblue/news/00018655/ Happy to see Yamaguchi dropped, but feel sorry for Oshima after suffering yet another injury (how many injuries he is suffering per year?) . As for Morita, he has been spectacular for Kawasaki this season, single-handedly benched Eduardo Neto and caused his transfer to Nagoya Grampus. Given the fact that he is just 23 years-old, and this is his firs season as professional -being totally unknown 6 months ago-, his call-up is quite promising for things to come under Moriyasu.
Good comment and reflection. As you are a Consadole fan, I would like to ask you about Akito Fukumori, I think he and Itakura (although he is not a Consadole player) could be good options in CM/DM, as they are always dangerous when they surge forward with good shooting accuracy. Fukumori in particular in addition to his shooting accuracy is an efficient set-piece taker and his passes and crosses are razor-sharp, I think the NT could benefit from him in the DM position especially with the current NT is lacking players who can deliver efficient set-pieces, as I don't see Fukumori is good enough in CB role, unless the team adopts a 3-back formation. Tokura and Miyazawa might be old for the next WC, but I would like to see Kazuki Fukai called-up in the NT, he is such a very good defensive midfielder, although his career has been halted by injuries. I guess this is the first season he stays injury-free, am I right? (well, at least he avoided picking up long-term injuries as it was the case in previous seasons). I really would like to see Fukumori and Fukai playing together as double-volante in the Japan's defensive midfield.
Moriyasu is training with his old 3-4-2-1 formation. If this formation is kept for the WC, than I think this would be the best team in 2022: ---------------------------------Osako---------------------------- ---------------------Nakajima---------Doan------------------- Yamanaka-----Fukumori-------Shibasaki--------Ito --------Tomiyasu---------Yoshida-----------Sakai-------- ---------------------------------Schmidt---------------------------
Still too early to say if they are the starters for 2022 imo. Players like Yuma Suzuki and Koya Kitagawa, etc. at the rate they is developing, have a pretty decent chance of making it to the WC in 2022.
Numbers for the upcoming two friendlies: GK: 1 Schmidt. 12 Higashiguchi. 23 Gonda. DF: 2 Ueda. 3 Muroya. 4 Sasaki. 5 Kurumaya. 6 Endo. 19 Miura. 20 Makino. 22 Tomiyasu. MF: 7 Ito Junya. 8 Minamino. 10 Nakajima. 14 Ito Tatsuya. 15 Misao. 16 Morita. 17 Aoyama. 18 Amano. 21 Doan. FW: 9 Sugimoto. 11 Asano. 13 Kobayashi Yu.
Cancellation Notice: International Friendly Match in Sapporo (KIRIN CHALLENGE CUP 2018: Samurai Blue vs Chine National Team, 7 September 2018, Hokkaido/Sapporo Dome) We send our deepest condolences and sincerest sympathies to those affected by the earthquake that struck the central-eastern part of Iburi region in Hokkaido. Due to the effects of the earthquake, Japan Football Association has decided to cancel the KIRIN CHALLENGE CUP 2018 match between SAMURAI BLUE (Japan National Team) and Chile National Team, scheduled to be played at Sapporo Dome on 7 September 2018. This decision was made upon careful evaluation of the magnitude of damages incurred, including damages to critical infrastructure such as power outages and significant transportation disruptions, as well as to ensure the security of all spectators, including the supporters of the visiting team.
Nice first match for Moriyasu, especially the 2nd half. Very happy for Nakajima, Doan and even Junya Ito.
Japan vs Costa Rica match was a good start for Moriyasu Japan. Here are my takeaways and notes: Moriyasu's philosophy: Moriyasu began his career as a coach at Sanfrecce with a 3-6-1 formation, while some might argue that he built on the system he inherited from Mihailo Petrovic, some might argue on the other hand that he was part of Sanfrecce's set-up before Petrovic joining the club, and he might be the real architect of the 3-6-1 formation adopted by Sanfrecce. However, since taking over as Japan's Olympic team head coach he used 3-6-1 mostly but with a new system. In this "new system" most players -apart from the CB- are systemically changing their places as the game progressed depending on how the match improves. For example: if the 3 defenders are (from right to left) : Hara - Tatsuta - Itakura there are many scenarios Moriyasu are using: 1- Itakura advances to the midfield to either play as another central midfielder as the team is attacking, or he might progress more forward to support the attack with his shooting skills and physical prowess (this was evident in last year's AFC U-23 chamnpionship). 2- This leaves the defence with only Tatsuta and Hara as the centre defenders with support from either one of the wing-backs or central defenders. 3- In some occasions Tatsuta (or Tomiyasu if he plays) remain as the only CB, as Hara also advances to the midfield to form a 3-man advanced line of defence along with either one of the wingbacks and central defenders (depending on which side of the field the Japan's attacking thrust is taking place. This can be understood as a 1-3-2-3-1: Tatsuta (Tomiyasu). Hara - Matsumoto (or Inoue) - Hatsuse (or Fujitani). Fujitani (or Hatsuse) - Inoue. Iwasaki - Itakura (or one of the CMs) - Endo. Maeda. This system is quite complicated, and players have to develop a positional awareness to cope with it, as not even the 3-backs have to switch their positions systematically, but even the central midfielders, the wingbacks, the attacking midfielders/wingers, and the striker. While in some ocassions, when the team is defending, one of the wingbacks (Fujitani, Hatsuse, Naganuma, or Sugioka), has to drop back to form a 4-back. For example: Itakura and Tatsuta (or Tomiyasu) would be the 2 CBs, and Hara (or Hashioka) and one of the wingback will be sidebacks: Hara - Tatsuta - Itakura - Hatsuse. To make things even more complicated for the players, sometimes one of the central midfielders (Nakayama or Matsumoto) has to be the CB alongside either Tatsuta or Tomiyasu. While Itakura stays as a CM, to utilise his pace to launch counter-attacks. What is said about defence could be said about midfield and offence in Moriyasu's system, in which formation and player positions are changing systematically, which makes it hard to adapt for new players unfamiliar with the system and lacking positional awareness or players who are not savvy tactically. That is why Moriyasu tends to call-up some of his former players at Hiroshima, or players who had already played under him for the Olympic team such as Iwasaki and Kamiya. That is why also a player like Sugioka struggled in his first match against Turkey in the Toloun tournament and costed Japan two goals and a match they could have win easily. However, his performances inproved remarkably as he got used to Moriyasu's system and he was one of the top performers in other matches of Toloun tournament and Asian Games. Eventually, it seems that Moriyasu saw his system too difficult for players to cope with, and starting from the Asian Games he used 3-6-1 or 3-4-3 with players being more fixed and limited to their supposed positions. This carried out to the senior NT's first match against Costa Rica, but with a 4-2-3-1 formation, as players are not required to change their positions so often. However, in some instances, we can see this philosophy in place, as one or both of the wingbacks moved towards the centre to provide cover and numerous advantage (especially Sasaki), while the responsibility of covering the wings is carried out by the retreating attacking players. There are also other instances for "positional fluidity" in Costa Rica's match but it was not being used so often as it was the case for the first few months in the Olympic team under Moriyasu's guidance. The advantage of this approach is that positional duties is no longer left for one player at one position, as more than one player are taking the responsibility of securing and fortifying a particular position. In this case we cannot expect to see goals that Japan conceded last year due to a player not taking full responsibility of his own position, as Ideguchi recklessly costed Japan goals against Brazil and South Korea last year and no one was in place to make up for his mistakes. This also has something to do with Moriyasu's approach of having the lines playing close to each other whether while attacking or defending. The disadvantage of this system or philosophy (whether it is used extremely as in pre-Asian Games matches, or moderately as in post-Asian Games matches), is that players have to maintain a great deal of positional awareness, be observant and attentive, and developing good understanding, harmony and chemistry in between them. If they do not it might has negative consequences on the team. This is my take on Moriyasu's philosophy, I will have a brief analysis of each player on the next post.
Squad announced for Panama and Uruguay friendlies: GK: Higashiguchi Gonda Schmidt DF: Nagatomo Makino Yoshida Sasaki H. Sakai Muroya Miura Tomiyasu MF: Aoyama Haraguchi Shibasaki W. Endo J. Ito Nakajima Minamino Misao Doan FW: Y. Kobayashi Osako Asano 6 changes from last month's squad: OUT: Ueda, Kurumaya, Morita, Amano, T. Ito, Sugimoto. In: Yoshida, Nagatomo, H. Sakai, Haraguchi, Shibasaki, Osako (All of them are WC players). Surprised to see Haraguchi, Shibasaki and Yoshida, since they are not playing regularly for their club teams. I was hoping to see Yuma Suzuki called-up, but I think it is beneficial for him and Kashima not to call him up now as they have a very busy schedule this month.
yawn. making bench warmers haraguchi, yoshida, shibasaki fly halfway across the world for two friendlies really in the team’s and their best interests? would’ve liked koya kitagawa, ryosuke yamanaka, naoki maeda.
Squad numbers: GK 1 Higashiguchi 12 Gonda 23 Schmidt DF 5 Nagatomo 20 Makino 22 Yoshida 4 Sasaki 19 Hiroki Sakai 3 Muroya 2 Genta Miura 16 Tomiyasu MF 17 Aoyama 8 Haraguchi 7 Shibasaki 6 Wataru Endo 14 Junya Ito 10 Nakajima 9 Minamino 18 Misao 21 Doan FW 11 Kawamata 15 Osako 13 Kitagawa