Australia squandered their chances when they drew f**kin' China and KSA at home. I also don't see them qualify directly. And tbh, they are Asia's best representative against the 5th team from CONMEBOL.
Wait what did you mean with that? Aussies are, being honest, "the best asian representative" against the 5th conmebol team? You meant the best between the 3rd ranked or the best of ALL the asian team? If the latter how is it possible that a team that draw against China and ended 3rd despite evenb an easy last match vs the already qualified KSA, is "the best from asia"???
I kinda worded it badly but yeah, I meant between Aus and Uae, the former is better. They have the best chances winning against the 5th Conmebol team. Historically speaking, they did oust a Conmebol team i.e. Uruguay in a WC playoff before, 2006 I believe, that Australia was much stronger.
The depth of centre backs is incredible. Even the untested duo of Itakura and Taniguchi toyed with Saudi easily. I hope Japan will try 3 CBs after the qualification..
Yeah they really should consider a 3-back formation with the faster Tomiyasu and Itakura on the outside of old man captain Yoshida. Maybe trial it in a friendly or two.
They don't lack talents in CBs, and with 3 back formation they can try more adventurous WB options like Soma, Hatate or even Ito. Yamane also looks impressive pushing forward. However, they still have to find a stable CMs couple. The reason they have to switch from 4231 to 433 is the 2 CMs for the last year were never convincing and were too easily overrun at times, even against the like of Oman. They may use Morita + Tanaka, but that duo only thrived in Kawasaki, never tested elsewhere. And it leaves Endo out, since Endo + Tanaka alone didn't work, and I don't think Endo + Morita would work. If they use 3 back formation and a trio in midfields, which means they have to deploy 2 CFs, the position that Japan never looked convincing. Also, I doubt some of Japan's supposed stars like Kubo, Mitoma or Doan would perform in this formation.
Funny how things here get quiet once the JNT finishes its matches. Can't say the same for the Nadeshiko thread .
This thread was far more active (and passionate) at Zac Japan time. Maybe some people stopped follow JNT after 2014 debacle and 2015 bad figure in Asian Cup. Maybe when the golden generation (Honda, Kagawa, Nagatomo & Co.) went down the hill and the new youngsters in europe failed (Miyaichi, Usami, the poor Kitotake etc) there were no expectations to follow JNT anymore. At the same time (more or less) Nadeshiko were WC Winner and always end in the first 2 places in WC/OG winning the other trophies. Let's hope that the dudes in Scotland and Minamino will do something remarkable to push back some fan and maybe make new ones too.
I guess you are right. Its normal. And I think this new generation will put some more light on JNT, but Moriyasu is big part of it not being as popular anymore Im sure. And they need a big result again soon.
Guys, the real reason is that the Nadeshiko have a thread for everything. It's not the national team thread.
My idea for the CM trio: Hatate left, Tanaka center, Morita right. Hatate would be great at confusing wide opposition players with his movement, and helping out the left wing back in defense. I was impressed by Soma at the Olympics, so, maybe he should be LWB? Or course, Hatate himself could be LWB. CF: Osako plus Maeda or Furuhashi. Holding the ball up works best when there is immediate support.
what are your predictions for the last 4 games of group B? here are mine. China 1 - 2 Saudi Arabia Australia 1 - 1 Japan Saudi Arabia 1 - 2 Australia Japan 4 - 0 Vietnam
Mine would be: China 0 - 2 Saudi Arabia Australia 0 - 0 Japan Saudi Arabia 1 - 2 Australia Japan 3 - 0 Vietnam Japan should avoid loss at all costs against the Aussies.
I hope that China will draw against Saudi Arabia. I have the impression that China will be able to cause problems to this Saudi Arabia team, despite their humiliation against Vietnam.
I hope so but this China team is really poor, I don't see them winning. But they might take the advantage of Saudi playing under pressure and repeat what N. Korea did in WCQ 2010 when they played a frustrated Saudi team that played poorly due to the immense pressure put on them. Just park the bus and frustrate the F out of them
Tomiyasu probably will miss the match. Furuhashi probably don't even called since he will be out of injury after the calls. If we don't wanna fall into a nigthmare situation (ala Agony of Doa) vs Vietnam we can't lose this match, even a draw it will be fine. Let's hope Maeda will play and delivery. I think this is the last chance for the Aussie so they will fight in berserk mode. We need people with balls there.
Here is the list without surprise against Australia and Vietnam. Japan Squad Goalkeepers: Eiji Kawasahima, Shuichi Gonda, Daniel Schmidt, Kosei Tani. Defenders: Yuto Nagatomo, Maya Yoshida, Sho Sasaki, Hiroki Sakai, Shogo Taniguchi, Miki Yamane, Naomichi Ueda, Ko Itakura, Yuta Nakayama. Midfielders/Forwards: Yuya Osako, Genki Haraguchi, Gaku Shibasaki, Wataru Endo, Junya Ito, Takuma Asano, Takumi Minamino, Hidemasa Morita, Kaoru Mitoma, Daizen Maeda, Reo Hatate, Ayase Ueda, Ao Tanaka, Takefusa Kubo. Yoshida back for Japan's crunch tie against Australia (the-afc.com)
Well, there are little surprises. Sasaki back in to me surprising, I thought with Nakayama having established himself as no 2 even Moriyasu would let Sasaki be, but no, he's back. While Muroya now seems out... Yes, Sakai, Yamane, Muroya, Japan IMO looks very good there, but why bring Sasaki for the left if you have the 700 times superior Muroya on the right? Plus I like Muroya a lot, might even have had him start at times last year, when IMO Sakai looked rather bad. He was back to his old self vs Saudi Arabia, so no problem with him starting of course, but Muroya IMO has been very reliable, good, solid when he got to play. Other surprise, Doan out! Finally. Negative surprise, no Kamada again. Yep, he doesn't really fit that well into the new system, but still, you bring Asano who is completely useless? But no Kamada?