2014 World Cup Group C Matchday 1 Japan vs Cote d'Ivoire 14/06/2014 01:00 am GMT (June 15th). 07:00 am Japan time (June 15th). 22:00 pm Brazil time. What is your expectations/hoping? I expect and hope Japan to wins it 4-1. What about you?
Yaya is a doubt for this game...I don't think Drogba it's the real danger...sure, it is, but Kalou and Gervinho were very good at their clubs.
My bad! Yes it is starts 10:00 AM (Japan time). Thanks for the correction, I was writing this post half awake.
Their defence is probably the weaker of this group (Japan apart) then score now or never. I really wanna see Kagawa and Honda play as they are able to, cancel definitely the horrible season they had at the two devils club.
14 and half an hour remaining untill the kick off! The match will start 4:00 am in my time zone, hopefully I'll be fully awake.
Cote d'Ivoire has the weakest defence and the least organised team in this group. Add to that they, and many African teams, tend to shock under pressure, and with lot of their players aging, going to retire after this tournament and never won anything in the international level or ever pass the group stage of the WC, all of this will put a lot of pressure on their shoulders to achieve something special in this tournament, and the first match in particular will be a critical and must win for them, so they probably will shock especially if Japan take the initiative and scored first. Even if Japan happened to concede first they have to keep calm and pressure the Ivorians constantly and the breakthrough will come. That's why I consider this match as the most winnable match for Japan, all they have to do is keep calm and concentrate untill they defeat the Elephants or if they are lucky they will slaughter the Elephants.
This is how I see match going tactically wise. It does depend on the players played though I will assume Ivory coast has the gull squad. Now first question is what kind of squad to pick for this game and I would say Kawashima, Uchida, Nagatomo, Morishige, Yoshida. Yamaguchi, Hasebe (if fit), Honda, Kagawa, Okazaki, Kakitani. Now the reason I picked a) Morishige at the back is, because Drogba is going to be a handful, all of them will be, their lowest height players like Aurier are a beast physically wise. I have a feeling JNT will need height, that extra physicality and if not before Morishige I think proved to Zac in the last game he is a technically good center back good on the ball which is what Zac is looking for playing from the back. b) As for midfield. I simply think that their midfield will physically dominate JNT no matter which line up is put out there and it will come down to, whether or not Japan players can run enough, control the ball enough and pass good enough to out play them, because they will not win the fight over the ball or battle their way to it. They will have to play smart interception football and when they get the ball they will have to make sure they get rid of it fast but with a good pass, because the midfield of Tiote, Yaya Toure and Die will not only outmuscle you, they will hassle you and smack your confidence into the ground if you let them. They are not passive boys, they go after the players and you can expect some serious challenges which JNT will have to ride off. If Hasebe plays they might even try to go after his knee a bit, just to test it, so in that sense if he is not 99% fit dont play the guy, or he may be out for the rest of the tournament. On the other hand Playing Endo will mean, Japan will have a tougher time intercepting ball where it matters most and that is the midfield where deadly counters really can come off. Yamaguchi Hasebe though are just the type which will make sure that Ivorians passing the balls or being sloppy is punished. Thats why I would pick them. I forsee the likes of Yaya bulldozing over Endo through the midfield if he is fielded meaning that defensive line needs to step up, meaning central defender is left alone with Drogba, meaning full back jumps in to help meaning flanks get exposed by the likes of Kalou, Gervinho and Aurier c) As for why Kakitani? Because their back line is physically strong but rather slow and well a bit sloppy (non agile) Osako's main qualities such as height, holding up the ball (main qualities in comparison to the likes of Kakitani, because naturally Osako is technically good as well etc) will not come out to help him. He will be bullied off the ball and so will be Kakitani, forget about the hold up play scenario at the front. However. Hold up play between the attack and midfield could work and if Osako plays I expect to see exactly that. Test them, to where they are willing to go. Will slow Zokora etc follow Osako right there to the center of the pitch and let himself get exposed as Osako manages to tap the ball into overlapping runs or back to midfield only to turn and sprint behind their backs? I dont think they will... they will leave it to the likes of Tiote which would mean Osako would be physically abused as well so... my thinking here is the following. Get Kakitani, stretch them, he will make the run to the sides and nehind their asses. Through balls will become killer balls and stretching them, Tiote wont follow him to the flanks, Full backs should be occupied enough as it is, and central defender will leave his post at his own peril. And you know what will happen once Kakitani gets that ball on the flanks and runs at them full speed or even worse for Ivory coast...behind the back line of defenders. So that's about my thinking, but now tactically thinking how this game will be played out? I think Ivory coast with their French coach is not naive and overconfident. No I think they will play it smart and not put a high line or press high and expose themselves to JNT quick passing. They will sit back and pressure hard once JNT tries to penetrate and commit players forward. Thats when we shall see the strength of Ivory coast's midfield getting the ball and than the strength of their 2 wings which imo will be the key for this game. They will imo use the following three options for attack 1. Yaya's run through the middle happening as described as above. Thats why I think Endo playing can mean absolute catastrophy. 2. They will use Drogba to hold up the ball and bring the Kalou's, Gervinho's and Aurier into play. 3. They will just take the ball and send it to the wingers who will try to make sure they catch Nagatomo and Uchida off guard out of position as they bombard forward and when that happens it will be all shit, as they will try to track back, central defenders will have to commit, leaving Drogba wide open and what not And you wonder why JNT gets goals? heh High risk play + not exactly top notch central defense is the answer + when Endo plays that weakness on the defensive part of the midfield. So how does Japan plays this one? Ha, well similar to Ivory coast actually. Screw the high defensive line this time Zaccheroni, because it may end up getting your ass kicked hard. Just too dangerous for this particular game. I would say lay deep, invite a bit of pressure, get everyone behind the ball and hit on fast counters. Is it a-typical for this team? Yes. Will they play it like that? Probably not So why use it otherwise.? Well frankly speaking in a battle of defensive weaknesses the need to be clinical up front and all that jizz I think Japan will lose their game or at the very best draw if they play their regular style. Ivory coast has great means to counter all that is good about this JNT team and it's Zac's choice to risk it all on precision passing, good defending and clinical finishing. Because all those 3 need to happen in order to JNT win with their regular style game play. My 2 cents no general truth here
I see Greece as the easiest... I think our offense will eventually be able to break them down and they pose the least amount of consistent threat to our defense. CIV and Colombia could go either way... it depends on who perseveres to get the last goal, injuries, cards, etc. Can't help thinking both will likely be shoot outs.
I'm not too worried about Drogba and co, if you put 3 tough defenders on him he won't be able to do jacksh*t.