Official 2022 Nadeshiko Japan Thread [R] - なでしこジャパン（英語スレッド）

INAC already won the league. It's an exhibition match with no stakes beside bragging rights... yet both teams remian very conservative within their setup.
INAC has their own goal secure by 10 players behind the ball with only Tanaka on top. They commit mostly on counters.
Urawa is trying to run the play building up from the back up but with INAC staying deep with two rows of 5 if front of Yamashita it's hard to get clear chances.

NIce goal. Good play by Shiokoshi.

 

Ando does nothing for forty minutes, but pops up at the right time to put Urawa in front. But the goal came from Shiokoshi's hard work. Shiokoshi has been good in the first half.

If you notice Naomoto is barely seeing the ball, so she is moving further and further out of position to get the ball. Basically Itou, Narumiya and Nakajima are cutting her out of the game.

I said that Urawa would beat INAC about three weeks ago, because Urawa have a decent attack and INAC's midfield, although good in defence is not really threatening enough in attack.

We will see how it goes in the second half. INAC may find a way back into the game, but they may have to be a little bit more adventurous going forward.

 

Isn't it ironic that we seem to look to the lower placed teams for the 'excitement' in this league

 

I guess upper teams have many talented individuals than lower ones do, but the latter teams have showed more aggressive footballs.

 

I should have said that Naomoto will come into the game more in key positions, because INAC have to actually try and score a goal.

 

"Weaker" teams like Hiroshima or Nojima don't really have the discipline to lay a low block and wait for their opportunities, they would concede several goals while doing so. So really their only option is to go on the attack and try to get the upper hand.

I like that Urawa has managed to score on an INAC team that's playing the way they have most of the season. I also like that they aren't leaking goals today. I hope what we're seeing today is an indication for the next season. More teams challenging INAC would be great.

 

Ando is off, so Shibata can take a break now.

 

Fairly soft penalty, so I am glad Yamashita saved it. INAC do not look like scoring, though.

I would probably bring on Hamano for something a bit different.

 

I think VAR might have had something to say about Yamashita and the goal line on that penalty

Edit...11000 plus crowd...nice one

 

INAC have been caught in Urawa's offside trap so many times throughout this game. Credit to the Urawa backline but if INAC can't deal with it after 80 minutes of repeating the same mistake they don't deserve to score imo.

 

You have a point but VAR probably would've called off the penalty in the first place.

 

More than 11,000 in the stands today. INAC were aiming for 20,000 but it's still the biggest crowd since the league started.

 

Today's result:

We League
Nagano (Mitani) 1-1 Nojima (Sugita)
Inac 0-1 Urawa (Ando)

Nadeshiko League
Nittaidai (Morita) 1-0 Orca
Speranza 0-1 Nagoya (Kato)
Setagaya (Ohtake) 1-2 Cerezo (Koyama 2)
Bunnys (Takatsuka, Shioya) 2-1 Nippatsu (Hirakawa)

Nadeshiko League 2
Belle (Kondo) 1-1 DR Hiroshima (Nemoto)

 

Hiroshima is not a weaker team because they are even with Inac and Urawa (one win and one lose respectively).

 

Tomorrow's games:

We League
Beleza vs Mynavi 14:00
Albi vs Regina 14:00
Chifure vs Jef 15:00

Nadeshiko League
Iga vs Ehime 13:00
Ange Violet vs Harima 13:00

Nadeshiko League 2
JFA vs Kibi 11:00
Yamato vs NORD 12:00
Shizuoka vs Mie 13:00
Anclas vs Tsukuba 13:00

 

Urawa players celebrating like it was a cup final and INAC players crying like it was a cup final....The way Urawa were wasting time in the end too....I have to ask...what was this game exactly?

I was referring to the Hiroshima we saw in the first half of the season. A bit of a mess defensively back then. I honestly expect them to emulate JEF in terms of their position in the league next season once they are more "polished".

 

Well a fairly uninspiring game played by the two best teams in the land, but it does often go that way.

Shiokoshi, Shibata were very good today for Urawa. They worked incredibly hard in midfield and on the wing respectively. I thought Takahashi had a fantastic game in defence and as Ponde Ringu pointed out the Urawa back line was very good today.

Narumiya was good for INAC, but they were all pretty solid today. They just had trouble breaking down an organised defence. They did play some nice football going forward at times, but it did not come together today. This season they have ridden their luck, but I can see a lot more matches turning out like this one next season.

INAC for me are the much better balanced team, but they need another striker.

Urawa will be fine if they keep Shibata. If she leaves - cannot imagine her leaving - that midfield is in trouble, especially if Ando is still their first choice holding midfielder.

 

Looks like Hina Sugita is partially responsible for not making 20k atteendance.
She took quite a few INAC's fans with her to US

Awh look at all those 🇯🇵 flags and cheers for Hina!! 🥺 #BAONPDX https://t.co/YtrN8zSEiC

— ㅎㅅㅎ 🇩🇪🇸🇪🇫🇷 (@logbooth) May 14, 2022

Seriously though attendance above 10k it's still a good number considering showers in the night and early morning.

 

DAZN Japan You Tube free game...Beleza v Mynavi

Tommorows must draw game...Iga v Ehime

 

Whatever happened to the goalie INAC imported from Germany? Has she been seen around the pitch at all?

 

I see her here and there on INAC's social media. She was talking to the INAC players off the field after the game. She was in a picture advertising goods that were being sold at the stadium. That's about it. She's leaving Japan rather soon so I don't think she'll get much playtime when INAC already have Yamashita

We have to remember Kurishima will be back from injury next season. I think the only reason Ando was moved to holding mid was because Kurishima can't play.

.

 

It's like @Ponde_Ringu has written above she is training with the team. Small chance she will get any minutes ahead of Yamashita though.
video 2:59 and later during the match.

 

You make a fair point about Kurishima, because she was a big loss. Urawa were perfect until her injury.

However, covering her position with a 39 year old forward is troubling given how strong their youth system is. Surely there is somebody younger who could have been given a run out as a holding midfielder? Maybe there is not, I do not know, but I would have liked to have seen a little bit more experimentation there.

I bang on about this because I believe it was the key reason they lost the league, despite having the best squad. And even next year, when hopefully Kurishima comes back, what happens if Shibata gets injured, or they both get injured? I just think they might want to find another holding midfielder, especially if they are not going to play the kids.

Having said that though, Urawa were still able to score yesterday and were able to handle anything INAC threw at them. INAC, defensively were very good and they nullified Naomoto, Seike and Sugasawa, but it was at the expense of attack.

 

The 'must draw' game has had a promising start...

9 min...Iga 0 Ehime 1...Fujisawa