Official 2021 Samurai Blue thread

whelp, that sucked

 

Im actually starting to think they wont make this. Easy first group in the last round but excellent performance. Now it is all dark. Tragic really. Even the play off spot is in danger.

Im tired of Moriyasu.

 

Interesting how fast they turned out be a better team than Japan.

 

Perhaps because they had a BETTER coach?! It also shows that having so many players playing in Europe doesn't mean jack shit. Saudi has none and they're on their way to qualifying.

 

At this rate, Japan MUST win all of its remaining matches to even have a chance in qualifying. They brought it on themselves, really.

 

Of course they have. But its not all about him.

 

It will not happen.

 

I think their biggest motivation is that the WC 2022 is going to be held in Qatar, their neighboring country which more or less is like playing at home.

 

I was always against Moriyasu because I've never seen him as a good coach or anything. His team playing a peculiar type J League 'senyou' football never did anything in Asia. The same story with another team that dominated J League in recent years, although I think that Kawasaki had (as it's the dawn for them, they won't win the league next year) more individual quality. Unfortunately Moriyasu proved me right...

 

Same, and I will go even further: I'm even tired of hiring Japanese head coaches for this job as well. If Moriyasu is supposedly the best that the JFA have, then we're ****ed for a while if they try others down the pipe. Success in club management rarely translates into the same for national team management, and that is a mistake that too many countries often make. Nah, I say we go with another foreigner who won't be swayed by internal politics and yet doesn't have a history of toxic behavior (Halilhodžić) before.

 

I liked him as a JNT coach but sadly he wasn't favored by the press nor some of the senior players IIRC.

 

Its hard, because replacing the coach in this time of the qualifiers aint always positive but I dont want to see him anymore.
His stubborn idiotic behaviour is preventing the NT to use the best attacker. And he stick to the same old players. I mean Osako has been good but come on. And although Shibasaki has been good in La liga 2 this season he cant do shit anymore in for the NT.

 

Pretty even teams actually IMO. The difference was Shibasaki's back pass today. But not all of Shibasaki was bad, but certainly not his best game either, even without the back pass.

The problems remain the same though, Japan in the end doesn't create much. Moriyasu and his speed fetish. Rather have a fast guy with no skill than one that is slower but can actually play football. Asano, please.
Better to axe Moriyasu now then wait for after Tuesday. Starting ASANO? Seriously?
What he did right today is the changes, early enough, Asano and Minamino out, Furuhashi and Haraguchi in, IMO they should have started, even if with Furuhashi on the wing it's a bit of the same problem as with Minamino, you really want him more in the middle probably. Then didn't really understand why Owainu in... I would have taken out Osako for Itakura, put Yoshida up front for the usual Japanese desperate long ball to him, that actually works surprisingly well usually.

But looks like a fight for third place and 2 playoffs now... Yes, beat Australia, win the other games too, all fine, but the team just doesn't look like it has it.

And no, Moriyasu's reign shouldn't have an effect on who the next one is. I think getting a guy with recent J League experience is much better than somebody with basically 0 knowledge when he starts.

 

The results until now are carbon copies from 2018. Which means Japan has to win against Australia. After that, a must win against Oman at their home.
Sorry but at this rate I even feel the match against Japan is the chance for our national team's first point.

 

Word !!

 

After cooling down a bit, I agree that the match was even and it should've been a draw at least if it wasn't for that utterly stupid backpass by Shibasaki, but still, I'm doubtful of Japan's chances with Moriyasu still at helm.

 

Well, I remember when England fired Kevin Keegan albeit the official version says that he stepped down. It was fairly early in the qualifying campaign for 2002. We can say anything we want about Sven-Goran Eriksson in retrospect, but getting rid of Keegan was the right thing to do for them.

I don't know what kind BS Moriyasu is selling to the higher-ups, but one (except the manager) cannot be blind at all about the disasterous effects of persisting with the same old players who have no business playing right now. Not playing an in-form Kyogo is already a crime by all standards, but to play with second division players will only lead to where Japan is right now.

 

Meanwhile in Group A, Korea and Iran seem to have wrapped up their group, deservedly so, with almost no resistance from the other 4 teams.

 

Refusal to have any transitional plan from the previous generation is the biggest problem right now.

After 2018, Shibasaki, Nagatomo, Kawashima should have been told to pack it up and retire. Now because of their influence Moriyasu cannot drop them because of their seniority. If Kagawa and Honda wanted to keep playing for the NT, they probably would still be called up despite being garbage.

Good teams know when to cut their losses and make changes, but it will never happen for Japan unless the players themselves retire. The coach is too chicken to drop senior members and introduce new ones.

 

I would rather ask a question since when Japan stopped having higher ball possession than their opponents in Asia? Japanese team lost all of it's peculiar style of ball possession after 2018 - Moriyasu maybe thought that if Nishino went with a little bit more conservative and defensive approach during WC then he will do the same against Asian opposition in the final round and it will somehow work.

Well, he took Japanese NT back to '93.

 

Japan so far has the weakest offense in this round of WCQ with only a single goal from 3 matches. Things really need to be shaken up.

 

He rely on Osako.

There must be slight panic in the group now.