Thought it was an exciting game but we didn't learn anything we already didn't know. I wish Hasebe would have shot...
Hopefully we'll see Honda play Against Uzbekistan. And that we'll play a much better game than today.
I'd like to propose for "Best Actors in A Leading Role - Dramatic" the players of DPKR. They pretend to be injured perfectly.
Just a quick reflection on the match. Don't get the result get into your head. Zac went out with mainly a 2nd string side and was probably using this match as a test. Probably didn't go the way he wanted, but I think that he probably learned a couple of things. As for the unbeaten record, doesn't matter to me. Japan was never going to stay unbeaten forever and its better to lose in a meaningless match rather than a knockout stage. Let the North Koreans have their 5 minutes of glory because there isn't going to be anymore for a while. On the flip side, its really difficult to judge the second half. Obviously they played much better, but North Korea wasn't really pushing much and to add to that they had a man send-off. It was definitely much better than the 1st half, but the conditions were contributed to the better play. Positives: -Kiyotake: Good link-up play and looks like he could possibly be a starter or Kagawa back-up. Probably needs more self-confidence and he'll be even better. -Konno: Didn't win much in the air, but did well to clean up some of the mess that Kurihara and Inoha made. -Nishikawa: Did well under pressure -Hasebe: worked his ass off. -Team motivation: I was worried that Japan wouldn't be playing at their normal intensity because of the conditions of the match. I think that the incessant fouling definitely fired them up and I was pleased with the mentality near the end of the 2nd half. Negatives: -Kurihara: probably do well against teams where Japan has much more possession and time on the ball, but against the punt and run he was terrible. -Hosogai: good player, but not an Endo replacement. Definitely suited more as a back-up to Hasebe as he gets stuck-in well, but does not control the game like Endo. -Kengo: Kengo definitely deserves to be on the NT, but he's not suited for this kind of match. Needs time and space in order to be effective, but got none of that today. -Inoha: caught out too much. Adds nothing going forward. Better in the 3-4-3 Overall it wasn't the ideal match for Japan, but I think the best we can hope for is that the players picked up a few things from this match as North Korea are not the only team in the world that plays the punt and rush.
Hasebe talked about the hostile atmosphere, he's sorry for the fans, talked about the next games, they need to be prepared to play hard games. Hosogai was a bit cliché and Zaccheroni said his team couldn't handle North Korea's physicality, the atmosphere and the opposite team desperation to win
We need to solve the aerial battle situation asap... A world class squad would have destroyed us tonight, so i really hope zac finally realizes this team wont go much further with this defense (and yes... yoshida wouldnt make a lot of diference either, since he wasnt clearing a single ball in the past games as well)
Also, Kurihara will probably still be called up in the future. Like I said, there is literally nothing there in terms of international level centerbacks. Good thing is that this is the last international match until the Kirin Cup??? so the players will probably forget about this match.
You're failing to understand no "world class squad" plays for a dictarorial country in a packed stadium full of hostility. This wasn't a normal game at all.
doesnt matter... a world class squad would still beat us hella good with our best players simply because we cant clear a single aerial ball!! this game was useless from the beginning, aside this important factor. our defense got busted and every single team from now on will use this strategy.
Depends on the who you're talking about. North Korea's strategy was as close to a direct counter to Japan's play as anything. Japan couldn't do shit about their longballs because no one had the ability to win anything in the air. I think that Japan would probably do better against a team like Spain who pass the ball around because that isn't exactly Japan's weak point. Japan's number one weakness is probably aerial play and North Korea did well to exploit that. A team like Spain does not focus their game on long balls and the like so I feel that Japan would probably do better against them than against the long-ball strategy of North Korea. Anyways, I hope that its true that Japan is playing England in the Kirin Cup and I'd like to see a match against a team like Italy (surely with Zac's connections he could arrange one) just to see how we can do against good teams.
Saw it; move along. Japan woke up the last 20-25 min. As long as you learn fromn this game you will be fine.
You mean like Argentina or South Korea probably. Don't make conclusions just from one game. Not a lot of "world class teams" focus on the long balls and North Korea's players probably juice a lot, we'll see the difference when we'll play a regular game.
I hope I could forget about this match... This puts a dent on Samurai Blue records, but it just a dent. Lots to learn from this match, so Zaccheroni and the Samurai Blue should really get to work once they get back. Still, losing to such a team ain't exactly a happy thing. The first half saw some good sportsmanship, DPRK attack well that threaten Japan goal more than once. But it seem to all went to hell in the 2nd Half. Not only that, Japan unbeaten streak is broken, and the "Unofficial Football World Champions", probably only matters to us fans, is stolen. Next up, Uzbekistan is more of a threat, and even though both teams qualify for the 4th Round, now it's a match that would determine 1st in Group C, and also to salvage our reputation.
Mizuki Hamada for JNT CB in place of Konno (if we play a team likely to use the aerial ball, otherwise Konno is much better) !!!! That boy will go far.
They played in an abnormal environment today so I don't think it's fair to judge them based on the results. In my opinion, JNT is a very morale-sensitive team and fan support influence their performance quite significantly I think. So it's really difficult for them to stay orientated in this game. However technically, I'm surprised how they keep losing air battles. A bit disappointed with Maeda in that sense. I guess Zac didn't bring in Havenaar is because Havenaar seems to be less agile/mobile and eager than Maeda. Moreover, DPR acting and rough plays are unacceptable. It's sad that we couldn't extend the unbeaten record but as long as they keep improving their quality more records will come. Looking forward to their next match!
I understand why he doesn't choose Nakazawa as he is too old, but I still don't know why he has left Tulio out. I haven't read anything to suggest that there's some bad blood between the two so it makes me wonder if its Tulio himself who is refusing a call-up from Zac. Zac, unlike Okada, has made all the logical moves as head coach of Japan. He hasn't consistently called up useless players like Yano, Okubo, and Tamada unless he absolutely had to and he has definitely been picking the best squads. I find it hard to believe that he wouldn't choose Tulio after assessing what options he has at the back. There still is a glimmer of hope, but if Tulio doesn't get called up in the next 6 months then, in my opinion, its probably Tulio not Zac.
Whoa, whoa I thought this was two hours away. What happened? Edit: Sigh, I skimmed through the posts and I saw a lot of Maeda/Kurihara mentions. And that's never a good thing... It would been really neat to be undefeated for the whole calendar year. I'd have rather lost to the Uzbeks in the next game than this one, but it doesn't matter anyway. Have to get it together and tie up that glaring aerial weakness
Really ? Then why the bashing on Kurihara for exemple ? At the time Okada called up Tamada and Okubo, they weren't useless at all, in fact they're still having pretty good years even now. Agree on the Tulio thing. I also think the prospect of being elbowed on every aerial challenged probably softened up our players.
I agree with those two points. I think that some of the players, aside from a few, were extremely intimidated by the atmosphere and it wasn't until they had their backs against the wall that they finally overcame that intimidation. The problem with Maeda was that he did well to chase balls, but he didn't exactly win many of them. Havenaar definitely would not have been able to challenge as many balls as Maeda, but I think he would have won many more challenges.
We were definitely better in the 3-4-3 which was a pleasant surprise. The CB problem is a tough one, the U23's sort of have it too (although Hamada is doing well). I think next year, Yoshida should be one of the overage players for the Japan Olympic squad (if they qualify ofcourse). Let him partner Hamada and see if the pair can get something going for CB. Then we'll have Yoshida (188cm) & Hamada (186cm). It's such a shame Konno isn't good with the aerial ball, because he's been brilliant in every other avenue.