lol When you see Eiji saving Neymar's PK and right after that Ideguchi passes the ball to free Marcelo in front of the goal
It was a poor clearance, yes, but Haraguchi was in good place to pick it up before Marcelo or at least challenge him on the ball and not allowing him a free shot. But Ideguchi's poor clearance coupled with Haraguchi's bad coverage was the reason of Marcelo's goal. It wasn't a 100% I deguchi's mistake. Apart from this unfortunate event Ideguchi was better than Hasebe both defensively and offensively (Hasebe was totally invisible and could do a better job closing on Danielo in the third goal).
lol, Haraguchi saw it was 'under control' and started sprinting forward beside Marcelo as he was sure that he'll get the pass so he needed more space for counter. Who could have thought that someone at this level could mishandle an easy ball in his own PA standing all alone without pressure. You know why Hasebe is still playing in Buli whenever he's fit? Because he never passes those easy balls to opponents in front of his own goal. I think that Hasebe had more meaningful impact in the build ups in the second half than Ideguchi. If Ideguchi and Yamaguchi look like they have idea what they're doing on the pitch - yes, it's Hasebe's power. Otherwise they would bang each other's heads all the time and run around like headless chickens.
I thought Ideguchi was very poor with the ball today, he made several passing mistakes. Without it though he regained it a few times
If Vahid wants to go 4-1-4-1, he should go like this: ---------------------------Kawashima-------------------------- Sakai-----Yoshida--------Shoji(Makino)-----Nagatomo ---------------------------Hasebe--------------------------------- Kubo(Asano)---Nagasawa---Ideguchi---Inui(Haraguchi) ------------------------Osako(Sugimoto)------------------------ a 4-3-3 would be: ---------------------------Kawashima----------------------------- Sakai--------Yoshida--------Shoji(Makino)-----Nagatomo ------------------Hasebe------Ideguchi(Nagasawa)--------- -----------------------------Morioka-------------------------------- Kubo(Asano)-------Osako(Sugimoto)----Inui(Haraguchi)
Thats because Hasebe played in a more attacking position, wich is a nonsense from Vahid. Hasebe and Yamaguchi should always play in a defensive role, Ideguchi and Nagasawa are much better at attacking than them.
I think Makino can challenge Shoji for the other CB spot. He is a pretty versalite player, Shoji imo is a bit slow with the ball. BTW, Yoshida looks a bit shaky defensively in the past few JNT games. Ideguchi is a naturally more attacking-minded player than Yamaguchi, hence he ain't that good defensively. Still think that Vahid should try more options on Yamaguchi's position, don't really rate Yamaguchi.
Notes - I wish they had let the Yoshida foul go since it's Brazil and they are going to win anyway. Nobody on Brazil was calling for a PK. That stuff goes on all the time. I wonder if the ref signaled for the review or he just got called and had no choice but to give it? - No more Kubo, please. He's always smiling despite messing everything up and gifting Brazil a goal. That is, when he was actually onside to receive the ball in the first place. - The play at the end where Japan had 2 guys unmarked in the box and only needed a simple pullback was so typical of them. Should have been an easy tap in goal.
I was at the stadium. Granted it's Brazil and the score is always 0-3 before it even starts against them, but there was a massive gap between the teams. We were completely out of sync, constantly reacting instead of acting and with their technical maestria, they made us dance all day long. When we got the ball, we panicked right away. It's the difference between Japan and Brazil, between Japan and any other big team. The ball doesn't burn their feet, they're not afraid to play, they're not afraid to get countered and they commit to everything they attemps. Our half assed and late attempts at pressing were always punished cause Brazil know what they can do and they execute it well. The second half was better but the game was already over ... Still massive regrets on the chance for Asano at the end, I've seen him do this too many times. Time to grow a pair (but it's still better than Kubo, complete passenger in the game). Vahid taught a lesson to Ideguchi, who ran a lot and put the right kind of energy but at the wrong spots and who couldn't execute well at all today. A performance like that gets you subbed off early but he let him in there to suffer until the end, even on the verge of getting sent off. Yoshida was abject even though the FK was cool, he needs to go taste the bench for a while. Hasebe is too slow to play there nowadays. Yamaguchi was, as usual, very discreet and his touch was poor. Nagatomo wasn't fantastic but he was strong during the last international break. I see no pattern, he's still an important player. Sakai handled Neymar moderately well, I wouldn't praise him as much as some do here. He struggled a lot and a bad back pass almost cost a goal. One last note, the VAR is a terrible idea and a very distateful one for people attending at the stadium. It's random, it feels unfair, it takes forever, breaks the momentum of the play. I hate it.
That horse is pretty dead at this point. Is it no less "random" or unfair than decades of unaided referee calls? We'll bring football kicking and screaming into the 21st century if we have to.
Unfortunately I highly doubt Vahid has the balls to bench Yoshida considering it took an eternity to bench Kagawa and Honda. I nearly lost it when Asano and Kubo were half smiling after their mistakes. WTF. It was school boys vs men.
I think Asano also shouldn't be in the NT. In his place, for the right wing, Vahid should call Honda (he has been really good at Pachuca), and in the left-wing, the best player would be Nakajima. In addition, the attacking midfielder has to be Morioka.
If Vahid can somehow get Hasebe, Yamaguchi, and Ideguchi to play together, I predict our first Quarter Final appearance (if we avoid Brazil, Germany, and France in Round of 16). This Japan team can be difficult to beat. I have much more hope than 2014.
I think this midfield might get overrun by the other teams plus Japan might not be able to deal with other teams' crosses and long passes to their forwards that well. I hope Vahid can try more options for Yamaguchi and maybe even Ideguchi. Not thay I think they are bad.
Yep, to get the midfield right is essential. But for Japan to go far in the World cup, Vahid will also have to call Nakajima and Honda. I'd like to see this team for the world cup: ---------------------------Kawashima----------------------------- Sakai--------------Yoshida-------Makino----------Nagatomo ------------------Hasebe------Ideguchi(Nagasawa)--------- -----------------------------Morioka-------------------------------- Honda----------------------Muto---------------------Nakajima
Belgium's starting line-up: 11 🇧🇪 Mignolet, Vermaelen, Vertonghen, Witsel, De Bruyne, R. Lukaku, Mertens, Meunier, T. Hazard, Chadli, Kabasele #BELJAP ⚽— Belgian Red Devils (@BelRedDevils) November 14, 2017 Eden Hazard rested (not even on the bench), while Courtois starts from the bench.
Japan's line-up: Kawashima. H. Sakai - Yoshida - Makino - Nagatomo. Yamaguchi - Ideguchi. Nagasawa. Asano - Osako - Haraguchi.
Sugimoto and Inui are officially our super subs for Russia. The Tall Guy and the Dribbling Midget, a CLASSIC.