Yoshida is not playing for his club a lot recently if I am not wrong. I really fear for Japan's defence. Not sure if Yoshida is not match-fit by then, will Vahid still insist on playing him or he will play pair either one of Ueda/Shoji with Makino. Hasebe and Honda are also slowing down a lot recently, really worried for their stamina for the full 90 mins in Russia.
Defence is one thing, sure but the Honda/Hasebe thing another. We know Honda gets slow and that he has Problems on the wing, but now he plays in Mexico and he plays very good on playmaker position and wing. So he switches often. But Vahid used Honda only as a winger so no wonder he plays bad. Hasebe isnt slow, this looks only cause the hole team plays shit. Hasebe is playing outstanding for Frankurt the last 3 years and gets better and better. He could even play for big clubs with this performance. The problem is Vahid has no clue how to use and motivate this team. So much potential but defence football with counter and long balls to the forwards would never be Japans style Vahid do the worst out of this JNT and doesn't see his failures. Of course at the end the players are on the pitch and perform but this team isn't bad, the have only a bad coach.
What ? Dont think my post is that wrong. I only list more or less facts. It was a pure analysis of this team and the perfomences. Nothing delusional and no reason to be mad.
Haha, I have to agree with you about this @Saku² But, hey, you shall have great memory if you remember these small details. I am now wondering what do you remember about me?
Guys you need to be objective a little. No reason to be mad to others to say they are delusional. Most guys are very emotional in football, me too but I have a very obective look on it cause I used ratings, statistics or critics of players,coaches and media. - Hosogai: I didnt say he his overall a japanese Schweinsteiger but I said , that there were times that he was close to his level. In Season 2013/2014 Hosogai was on his absolutely prime. He gets praise praise and praise from german media and experts and his coach Luhukay was even more full of him. Even Heynckes coach of Leverkusen and now Bayern was telling that Hosogai reminds him of Vidal. On End ot the season Hajime Hosogai has an overall rating of 3,36 which is very great. Schweinsteiger has a 3,16 in this time but played sometimes on other positions. After the Season Hosogai was named on germanys top 10 of DM`s. He was listed on place 8 from 17 DM`s and Schweinsteiger was not in it (of course cause he played to many games out of position). For example he was close behind players like Sven Bender,Granit Xhaka or Nuri Sahin and at this time these guys were all national players and the top shit. So when you are in a top 10 no matter where it has to stand for something. And that was not his only place in this top ten. The 2 years before he was also in there at his Augsburg time. And again I dont say he is in his whole career a Bastian Schweinsteiger. But in 2-3 years he was at top form and it doesnt matter how his name is. Even when I would start football next season and nobody knows me, when I am at the end of the season in this list i am top class no matter what else. Now you can say "its only kicker magazin" sure...you can but the point is, this magazine is the biggest in europe and even if Hosogais ratings are to good this is a tendency. My point back then was, that a Hosogai in this form need to be at the WC 2014 cause in this year he was playing close to Schweinsteigers level and that was or less a fact. Another thing is that his coach Luhukay told the media, that Hosogai could choose much bigger clubs before moved to Hertha cause he is great and that his team can be proud to have a player like this. Or when the media in germany jerk off to him when he takes down Kagawa at his prime or Ribery. That was very very good. Muto: Same thing here. A Yoshinori Muto is one of the best strikers in Europe but there are round about 30 other strikers who be to be there. Of course he is no Suarez or Lewandowski or Aubameyang but I dont compare them to him. 2017/2018: This season Muto has till now 26 games and 9 goals + 3 assists (12 scorer) which is quite good, cause he produces every second game a goal. He played 1788 minutes (19 games) and produces every 149 minutes a scorer point. 2016/2017: He played 21 games and scored 6 goals and 2 assists (8 scorer). Very good when you consider he was injured almost the half season. He played 1172 minutes (13 games) and produces every 146 minutes a scorer point. 2015/2016: He played 21 gamed and scored 7 times 4 assists ( 11 scorer). More then every second game he produces a goal. Played 1516 minuted (17 games). Thats every 137 minutes a scorerpoint. Same here, he was injured half a season. Overall: Muto has 68 games for Mainz and scored 22 goals + 9 assists. Play 4476 minutes (50 games) and produces every 140 minutes a scorer point. This is a very very good rating even when you compare his injured times to it. Also Mainz is since he arrived transformed into a very bad team which makes it harder for striker to score or asisst cause they get less balls. With this rating you are easilys one of the best 30 strikers in Europe and thats pure class. Imagine how good he would be in a good funtional team. And dont forgett that many worldclass striker like Lewandowski take the penaltys. Of course its not given you score then but its the biggest chance you will get to score and that will increase your goal rate dramaticaly. A Muto or a Okazaki never score penaltys (maybe they arent bad,who knows) but his goal by game rate are good. Little thing between. Okazaki scored 2013/2014 15 goals without a penalty and was on place 8 in scorer top ten in germany. Lewandowski was place 1 with 20 goals but scored 4 penaltys. So Okazaki was only 1 goal out of games behind Lewandowski. 2014/2015 Shinji scored 12 goals and was on place 9. Lewandowski scored 17 goals with 1 penalty on place 2. you see how strong a player like Okazaki was out of the game. The same line takes Yoshinori Muto. Even more impressive when you watch Mainz how bad they are at the moment and that Strikers there gets no balls. So hard to score cause Muto is no dribble Messi. For me the performance in terms of playing style or attractive playing has nothing to do, to be a good offensive player. You can become every game a rating of 5 but when you score every game you are world class, point out. On the other hand you can score less like Okazaki at Leicester City but when you played like a beast and help the team you can be also a good offensive player. Thats the 2 ways to be a good striker and Muto does it. Hasebe: Overall you can say the same about Him as about Hosogai only that Hasebe is better. He wins the Championsship in Germany with Wolfsburg (he was a big part of it) and he plays Champions League. He was a beast at Wolfsburg but in Frankfurt the last 2-3 years he is pure class. Almost every week german media,coach and critics are jerking their brains out of his head about his performence and thats for round about the last 100 games. Last year many articles and guys compared Hasebe to german Legend Beckenbauer which is a great honor. And again, I dont want to say that he is a Beckenbauer but the point is, when much much media article said this then there is a thought to it. And if threre is a thought then its no completely 100% bullcrap. So theres something on it. Frankfurt is a very good team. This season one of the best in germany. The last 3 years they are getting better and better. And coach Kovac told that Hasebe is a main part of it. And to be a defender in Fankfurt is way more hard then for example for Bayern cause you dont have to face so much offensive pressure cause your team is normaly attacking the most. 2017/2018: Till now Hasebe has a overall rating from 3,26 and he is the 5 best player in his team. Thats really awesome. He is actually on place 22 of all defenders (include CB and LB/RB). and close behind David Alaba with 3,16 which is playing alot in CB or DM from time to time. Hasebe is before players like Ginter from Gladbach or Orban from Leipzig which are pure class also. This shows how strong Hasebe is. Frankfurt is on place 6 now only 3 points behind second tier Dortmund. 2016/2017: He has á rating of 3,31,very good. He was on place 23 of all defenders (include CB and RB/LB). A David Alaba was on place 20 with 3,27. Which shows Hasebes spheres on this level. A Sokratis from Dortmund with 3,06 (place 7) and Schmelzer with 3,16 (place 16) are not far away. Coach Nico Covac told the media yesterday that he is a pure professional, that he can do everything with his awesome skills and that every team needs a player like Hasebe in his team. http://www.kicker.de/news/fussball/...el_kovac_hasebe-ist-ein-richtiger-soldat.html So I know my post is long as hell but I used over 2 hours to get it,maybe someone will read it. Sure you can discuss about it, its football but at least my thoughts of Hosogai,Muto and Hasebe are not that absurd like some poeple thought here. My point is that players who are not the super stars get into really good form, they can compete with superstars as long as the hold this form. No matter how they are or how theyre names are. A Hasebe for example isn`t praised with gold for 2-3 years for nothing.
http://www.espn.com/soccer/club/jap...g-as-they-get-closer-to-the-world-cup?src=com John Duerden article: Japan's form and style lacking as they get closer to the World Cup
Of course it stopped something. Even if Hosogai is not as good as I told he was a good solid player. He playes over 100 Bundesliga games ( you dont do this for nothing) and played for Augsburg,Hertha and even Leverkusen which is one of the best teams in Germany and normaly every year in the Champions League. So Hosogai was no bad footballer, thats for sure but after his injury 2014 something happened like his coach Dardai said. He also loved Hosogai and tried everything to get him back on track but failed.
Saku always hated Hosogai. Fact is he was fantastic at his best. Also very underrated and forgotten player. I watched almost every game back then.
Its one thing when you dont like a player. I hate many players but I can see if someone is at least solid no matter what I think. For example many people said Mario Gomez is bad but he was at his prime maybe in top 5 of the best strikers world wide cause at Bayern he scored 41 goals in one season. Only Messi and Ronaldo scored more back then. There are more things which speaks for Hosogai then against. How can you say a player was average when he was 2 or 3times in a row in kickers top 10 of DM and many media, critics and coaches praises him? That has something to do. They gave him even a special name in Germany. Hosogai the Chain-Dog which means he is like a dog you can't escape. He always take down the big players like Kagawa, Robben or Ribery. Why should even Heynckes praise him when he was average? By thr way, I think when you are average in on of the best leagues in the world, you are also great cause not much players can be average. Average means solid and solid is good. Hajime is a player with the right attitude. Agressive and cocky. He was a alpha beast like Honda, Tulio or Nakazawa. That was missed at WC2014. A player who can cut into the enemy and earns respect. A dirty one.
According to twitter, Halil might be gone. Presser tomorrow. Spoke to someone at JFA 3-4 weeks back who admitted “concern about current manager (Halilhidzic) nobody likes him”. I suggested a few names then :-) After last week games thought it has to be now or never but didn’t think they would. But TV saying Halil is gone? Presser tomorrow— JSoccer Magazine (@JSoccerMagazine) April 8, 2018
He claimed based on some TV gossips that Vahid is sacked and a press conference will take place tomorrow.