2012/15 Gotoku Sakai @ VfB Stuttgart (GER/EL)

Whispered11 · Aug 16, 2012

seolseol · Aug 20, 2012

Is he loaned out for another year?

BigDnm01 · Aug 20, 2012

From what I remember, Alberix Niigata loan him to Stuttgart for 1 1/2 years back in December, so... yeah, a year to go.

seolseol · Aug 21, 2012

Oh yeah. Thanks man.

Ventilan · Aug 24, 2012

It's 9 days old but since I haven't seen it posted

Gōtoku Sakai - Stuttgart's Rising Star

Ask any knowledgeable football fan. They’ll tell you that if you want to see the future stars of the football universe as they develop, the Bundesliga is the place to go. From Bernd Leno to Marc-André ter Stegen; Mats Hummels to Holger Badstuber; Julian Draxler to Mario Götze; the Bundesliga is rife with burgeoning talents to keep an eye on.
Understandably though, a few young players slip through the cracks of the ever watchful mainstream football media. This is where the Bundesliga Fanatic comes in. To find out about all of those young stars in the making that aren’t yet burning as brightly as those above, this is the place to go.
Right now, we’ll take a look at VfB Stuttgart full back Gōtoku Sakai.
Be prepared for Philipp Lahm comparisons. Sakai himself tries to emulate the German standout. And though their similarities haven’t been talked up in the papers yet, they may be coming soon to media outlets near you.
Born in New York City and bred in Japan, Sakai made his start in football in 2009 for the J-League’s shining example of fan culture, Albirex Niigata. After 86 appearances for Albi, he made the move this past January to Stuttgart at age 20 (much like a certain Herr Lahm) on an 18 month loan. (Stuttgart do have an option to buy. Sakai’s current valuation on the tranfer market is estimated between 2.6 and 3 million euros). Slight of build though he may be Sakai is comfortable at either full back spot, running out eight times at right back and six times on the left owing to his competency both feet, his threatening forward runs, and maturity surpassing his age in defence.
Making his first appearance for die Schwaben in February, Sakai went on to hand out an impressive four assists in 14 games, all while pacing Stuttgart in pass interceptions and successful tackles since his arrival. If WhoScored.com is to be believed, all of this led to Sakai being outperformed by only Borussia Dortmund’s Lukasz Piszczek and the ambidextrous legend Philipp Lahm himself as far as full backs go with an average match rating of 7.27. Not bad company.
Naturally though, there is room for improvement. His pass completion percentage is middling at 74% and sometimes he finds himself foolishly caught out. Happily, things such as these can be improved with match experience; and while both issues saw steady improvement as he became integrated with the team, further progress can be reasonably expected in his upcoming first full season in the German top flight.
With an eye cast toward the future, it is safe to say that the body of work he has created since making the switch to European football should see that he stays in the southwest of Germany long after his loan expires next summer. VfB Stuttgart appear to have found themselves a fixture at the back for years to come.
As to which country the young Sakai will pull a shirt over his head for internationally, nobody knows as of yet. While he did represent Japan at the U-20 and U-22 levels, not to mention playing excellently at this summer’s Olympic Games for the Samurai Blue, because he has not yet turned out for the full national team, Sakai remains also eligible to play for the United States (his place of birth) or Germany (the country of his mother’s passport).
No matter whom he represents though, Gōtoku Sakai is going to do some country proud—just as he does already for the VfB faithful, whether you, the media, or indeed Phillip Lahm knew it already or not.
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SamuraiBlue2002 · Aug 25, 2012

http://headlines.yahoo.co.jp/hl?a=20120825-00000008-goal-socc

Sakai open to playing for Germany.......

karolb · Aug 25, 2012

I read the original german article ... im not sure if he really said those words although i can understand if he was frustrated after Olympics and that friendly against Venezuela

http://www.stuttgarter-nachrichten....and.940d0d49-4298-4d7e-87ca-7254ae2ea6c1.html

Blue-San · Aug 25, 2012

I would and will name-slag Zaccheroni if it were to happen

1 minute is all it is needed to bind him to Japan and not Germany or USA

AKITOD · Aug 25, 2012

Blue-San said: ↑

I would and will name-slag Zaccheroni if it were to happen

1 minute is all it is needed to bind him to Japan and not Germany or USA
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He's just being a little bitch if he thinks he should be playing ahead of Nagatomo, Uchida, Komano and Hiroki even. I'm not for giving a player a minute just for the sake of binding him to us just cause they have a little sulk.

He seems to think he's entitled to play for Japan simply cause he's had one decent half-season with Stuttgart.

Blue-San · Aug 25, 2012

I dont think he says he will play for Germany just doesn't exclude the option which is smart and fair, if no one wants him to play for Japan than...

and he sure wont wait for it till 25 if other options come first

uhdfkwncvbgtyhu89 · Aug 25, 2012

Blue-San said: ↑

I would and will name-slag Zaccheroni if it were to happen

1 minute is all it is needed to bind him to Japan and not Germany or USA
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Yeah, Zaccheroni can be frustrating sometimes

Dax · Aug 25, 2012

AKITOD said: ↑

He's just being a little bitch if he thinks he should be playing ahead of Nagatomo, Uchida, Komano and Hiroki even. I'm not for giving a player a minute just for the sake of binding him to us just cause they have a little sulk.

He seems to think he's entitled to play for Japan simply cause he's had one decent half-season with Stuttgart.
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finally someone speaking the truth.

I found these articles pathetic. I mean, Sakai's bitching is pathetic. Why didnt he play? Because he isn't good enough. It's very simple.

What's even more fun is his talk about Germany.
Except that Germany is not going to call him up anyway.

Majster2 · Aug 25, 2012

Dax_ said: ↑

I found these articles pathetic. I mean, Sakai's bitching is pathetic. Why didnt he play? Because he isn't good enough. It's very simple.
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Then why was he even called up? He heaven't been with his team since... what, 40 days? In a pre-season? And he wasn't also playing for Japanese U-23 and senior NT? That could ruin his entire season. What's that for?

For me that's his bitching is well grounded. He's frustrated to the point that he's thinking about giving up Japan...

Dax · Aug 25, 2012

Giving up for a single call up? Holy shit, caring about the nation, uh?
He was called up because Uchida is DQd, so he may even be called up again. He's a reserve, it's to have backup players for injuries. If I remember right, Makino got in against Venezuela. Why didn't he get in? Probably because Zac thought that Makino was in a better form. I didn't see Havenaar (can't even remember the last time he played) or Iwamasa bitching.

Ah, the good times when it was an honour. Well, he can give up all he wants, unfortunately for him Germany's not giving a f*uck about him... he better lower his expectations.

Lol at ruining his season, wtf. He trained with the NT anyway, played in the Olympics, he's fit. He has to get along with the squad again but come on, then Lee's season is already over since he just recovered from an injury? Lol.

Majster2 · Aug 25, 2012

That's frustration as he, literally, wasted the most meaningful time of the season. Nothing more. Of course he won't represent Germany. He's Japanese. Everyone have tough times in their lives. That's a hard one for Gotoku and he speaks that loud. He should sort out his problems soon I hope.

Dax · Aug 25, 2012

He should've simply told it to the coach, and not the press...
p.s. if that was the "most meaningful time" then you wouldn't see players coming on the 31th of august in squads

teioh · Aug 25, 2012

I didn't see Havenaar (can't even remember the last time he played) or Iwamasa bitching.
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Yeah cuz Mike and Iwamasa are weaker than the weakest that's all, while Gotoku did pretty good in Stuttgart and deserved (probably in his opinion) something more.

However for me it's not impossible a call from Germany for him if he will leave JNT. Actually their SBs are? Lahm and Shmelzer? He can be a good sub and in a near future a pretty good starter. The point is I hope he will be it for Japan not for Germany! So please give the boy some confidence AT LEAST in the next friendly against UAE please!

AKITOD · Aug 25, 2012

Put it simple. If Gotoku is good enough to be in Zac's WCQ squad then he will be called up. And if he's considered in the top 4 SB's currently (which I don't think is the case just yet) then he will maybe get some minutes in a friendly. At the moment he is only good enough JUST to get a callup to the squad (when Uchida is unavailable).

teioh your reasoning on Havenaar in particular makes no sense (who also travelled several times from europe only to train and warm the bench). The point is, "deserving" or "expecting" isn't up to Gotoku to decide. Not only that but if he's going to the press about it he's being very unprofessional.

It's Zac's decision. The whole "confidence" thing with the NT is getting the callup to the squad (cite; Usami, Kubo, Haraguchi & Miyaichi's first call-up).

Whispered11 · Aug 30, 2012

Time to shine in Europa League!

Dax · Aug 30, 2012

http://www.sponichi.co.jp/soccer/news/2012/08/30/kiji/K20120830004008100.html Hara being stright and clear that the boy will play for Japan
(this in reference to the previous controversy involving Sakai)

SamuraiBlue2002 · Aug 31, 2012

Stuttgart
Copenhagen
Steaua Bucharest
Molde

Dax · Aug 31, 2012

easy. Molde's been a surprise though. Or well, they're the stronger team there (norway I think) now

seolseol · Sep 2, 2012

Starts!

seolseol · Sep 2, 2012

Holy shite what a disaster. 4-1 totally Sakais fault.

Dax · Sep 2, 2012

Well, in a 6-1 I guess you can't really blame only him
I saw part of the match, all the team lost focus after Bayern's first goal.