The moment me and @Saku² are agreeing on something, thanks for Ideguchi: Ideguchi is footballing herpes— MoriyasuH2Scouting (@AarinH2) December 18, 2019
Japan just played 30 minutes (after Ideguchi was subbed out). The introduction of Oshima helped the team to gain shape and possession at midfield and to launch some threatening attacks. Moriyasu deserves to be hanged alive if he ever calls-up Ideguchi again. He lost one substitution by starting Ideguchi, and lost another one by starting Morishima over Nakagawa. No offence to Morishima. However, I think a Nakagawa-Endo combination in the right-side would have been more beneficial. Ueda’s decision making is horrible, he has an excellent positioning and hold-up skills, but he lacks speed and decision making. If Moriyasu was acumen enough and didn’t lost substitutions due to his awful decisions, he could have subbed out Ueda with Ogawa. Musashi Suzuki with all his shortcomings looked better than Ueda today. This is quite a statement considering that I don’t rate Suzuki highly. Between the two, Ueda was the one who was supposed to be subbed out instead of Suzuki.
The 3 subs were exactly wrong with the current team, why they started was the problem. If Moriyasu uses this friendly tournament as a chance to filter out useless players like Ideguchi or Suzuki, I would give him a pass. Otherwise, I can't find any senses in calling them ever again. (I still don't criticize Keita Endo too much since he has workrate and can back up for various positions) Ao Tanaka has mix moments, but he showed guts and try different passes to break out opponent's defense, otherwise the only attacking option is hopeless cross from the left. Also, he had good technique, experience will teach him to utilize it. Overall, Ao Tanaka and Soma are positive points, the others are average except for some obvious useless ones. But one thing for this B team/makeshift U23 team is: it is f*cking boring to watch whenever winning or losing.
Oh, and I still rate Ueda however it's a given since I decided to be Ueda fanboy until at least after Olympics 2020
Japan was creating a few good chances the last 30 minutes or so. If they had someone who can hold up the ball better other than Suzuki who loses the ball carelessly a few times in the final third, they might have scored a goal or so. Plus Soma was pumping in a few good crosses close to the end of the match too. Nakagawa was too short to head them in at times. If Tagawa or Ogawa was there, things might have been different.
moriyasu will be sacked during the next round of world cup qualifiers. there is no way he is leading the national team to the world cup. nearly two years and moriyasu is still a ********ing idiot with a team lacking any philosophy or identity.
He didn’t do anything that merit the sacking. The good thing is that he is showing signs of changes after some of the unfavourable results/performances Japan had. His main weaknesses are: 1- Lack of tactical flexibility; he rarely does anything in terms of in-game management, his substitutions are mostly with players playing in the same positions and roles, apart from few exceptions. 2- His favouritism towards some players regardless of their form and overall contributions such as Doan, Kubo, Ideguchi, Sasaki, Shibasaki, Musashi Suzuki, Asano, and -to a lesser extent- Haraguchi, The team are not bad, and the players Japan have right now put Japan NT in the list of the top 15 or 20 national teams in the world, however, Moriyasu needs to work on his weaknesses, as well as the team weaknesses, and develop the strengths the team and players already have.
He didn't do anything to merit the sacking? 1. Lack of tactical flexibility - Ummm... if you repeatedly demonstrate a clear of lack tactical flexibility after nearly two years in charge then there is a serious issue. What makes you think Moriyasu will suddenly become a tactical genius (let alone a tactically competent manager) when stakes become higher in the WCQ? 2. His favouritism towards some players - Again, this is a serious issue. This is more serious when you consider the called up players been terrible and there are alternative players who have shown excellent form domestically for long time. This is going to cost points in the WCQ. I don't know how you can brush these things off when Moriyasu can't even show competence at low stakes level. and finally, what is Moriyasu's philosophy? For the last twelve months, I find this a difficult question to answer. And clearly the players have absolutely no idea what the hell Moriyasu is thinking or they have given up buying into his philosophy. They look unmotivated and lack anything resembling a fighting spirit. On a side note: It was infuriating watching Moriyasu have a chuckle with the fourth official when that Chinese player karate kicked Hashioka in the face in the first game.
It's just a friendly tournament. Moriyasu has delivered so far when it matters. Asian Games Won the silver medal with a weakened U-21 team and they dragged South Korea that was 2 years older than Japan into extra time. Asian Cup Only 1 week camp, no preparation games, transitional period and many injuries yet they managed to reach the final. Copa America Fielded almost a U-22 team but drew against Uruguay and Ecuador senior team. Don't forget they got robbed in the Uruguay game. WCQ 4-0-0. Perfect record. Some of you are being harsh on him.
Either an early exit at the Olympics or a disastrous start to the WCQ Final Round would get him the ax. And yeah, I, too still haven't figured out his philosophy to this day. Let's wait and see. On the other hand, I hope this whole doom and gloom vibes would end up positively just like in WC 2010.
+1 I stopped caring about friendly results after watching Japans WC successes and failures between 2006 and 2018. I think Moriyasu puts zero value on the results of friendlies. He sees them as training sessions or opportunities to judge players. Frustrating as a fan, but I kind of get it.
Couldn't care less about silver medals or tournaments being friendlies. Moriyasu is paid to win titles that are within reach in Asia, build winning habits through winning gold, and then build upon success up to the higher stage. If Japan under Moriyasu can't even win Asian-based competitions as the first requirement, then he fully deserves to shove his position up where the sun doesn't shine. Furthermore, I have to agree with KATO here. What is the team's ****ing identity right now? The man has been in the job for more enough time required for any manager to make his mark on the team, but I see the same mistakes over and over again. We don't need a clueless one at the helm.
Wow! Isn't it arrogant to think Japan should always win Asian competitions? The last time South Korea won the continental title was 1960. Irran hasn't even reached the final since 1976. On paper Japan is head and shoulders above the rest of Asia but there can be so much bullshit in a knockout tournament and the best team doesn't always win. If I'm correct, Shibasaki was the only available defensive MF in the AC final and the rest were all injured. Is it Moriyasu's fault?
Have the results under Moriyasu been acceptable given what he has to work with? Sure. Has he added value through tactical solutions to deliver those results? Not particularly, but there have only been two matches which really mattered - the Asian Cup semifinal and final. Has he promoted concepts and attributes to the benefit of the broader Japanese football world? No, in fact he hardly communicates anything in public. One could say it's an inherent drawback of hiring a product of the J.League establishment and promoting internally - part of a national team coach's job (to me) is standing up to challenge accepted truisms to bring the country up to speed.