2016 Hotaru Yamaguchi @ Hannover 96 (GER)

Here is one analysis suggesting that Yamaguchi was subbed off due to a lack of positional discipline, moving too far laterally when the opposition had possession on the opposite side as he was accustomed to in a double-six role, rather than the "narrow diamond" midfield played by Schaaf. This left a wide gap on Yamaguchi's side of the field and leaving him out of sync with teammates. It also says that he hasn't yet had a direct conversation with the coach, which will hopefully be rectified soon.
http://sportiva.shueisha.co.jp/smart/clm/wfootball/2016/02/08/35/index2.php

 

To me it looked like he was running a lot in between, not getting involved properly and poor positioning etc like the analysis said. He had 1-2 good seasons with Cerezo in J1, but failed to stand out even in J2 last season so like Saku Im far from convinced he has what it takes to play in Bundesliga.

 

So bench expected against Dortmund on saturday?

 

Both Kicker and Bild expect that 96 will play in the 4-3-2-1 "Christmas tree", with Gülselam, Schmiedebach and Sané lining up in defensive midfield. Looks like Hotaru will be on the bench.

 

Yeah. :/

 

On the bench against Dortmund (Hiroki starts, Kiyo is still out).
@Dax: would it make sense to combine these threads?

 

Sané has been battered all over the pitch, Hotaru is warming up

 

Scoring Rating of HA is good,very good 121 Bundesliga games 42 goals + 14 assists. This guy is a monster. Sure like we said some posts above his last 2 seasons werent that good but he was 2 times in a new league,new country,maybe chemistry with team was bad we dont know. But most of his time he is a goalscoring machine,that`s a fact.

 

Surely he changed a lot in the past few weeks...

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Hahaha

 

wait what! why is Saint-Maximin wearing his jersey lol

 

Starts against Stuttgart. Kiyo and Hiroki are also in the starting eleven.

 

A good way to bounce back from the unceremonious subbing off in his last appearance. High work rate and positive forward passes, though it seems like he still needs to adjust to the pace of the league to become more effectively defensively - he finished with 0 successful tackles against Stuttgart and was often too late in arriving to catch the ballcarrier. Still, you see that he brings more offensive quality than the likes of Sané and Gülselam, which is why Kiyotake lobbied so hard for the signing of Yamaguchi.

 

Totally agree with you.

He was good in this game and worked very hard, and hopefully he will improve by the time.

I think his transfer to Hannover came in the right for him, as it will surely help him to develop himself as a player instead of stagnating in Cerezo Osaka.

 

I think you're being harsh on Sané though, he's their best player when Kiyotake is on the sidelines (99% of the time)

 

That's true, Sané is a key player. However his qualities have more to do with breaking up the opposing attack and winning challenges in the air and on the ground.`

 

Same lineup - 2nd consecutive start for Hotaru.

So starten wir in das #Heimspiel gegen den @VfL_Wolfsburg! #H96WOB #H96 #NiemalsAllein pic.twitter.com/JSWzKj3lpV

— Hannover 96 (@Hannover96) March 1, 2016

 

Even though conceding an unnecessary goal against just now I have to say I really like the improvements 96 is already showing compared to the last match. Hope they manage at least one point.

 

Aww damn, looks like it's Schürrle's break through match today...

Edit: Sane is so bad as CB, randomly advancing with the ball and making bad decisions when passing, exposing the whole defense.

Edit2: Easily the worst passer tonight. Yet another goal. Is he even trying?

 

They were good in the first half, but Schaff made a suicide move at HT by subbing out Hoffman by Szalai, leaving the team with only one DMF (Hotaru), That is why Sane was advancing to make for the void left after Hoffman's subbed out.

I think Hannover had a chance to at least draw if Schaff didn't made this kind of adventurous move at half time.

 

Sane didn't need to advance as the team as a whole did pretty well staying compact today. He also didn't need to make the kind of risky passes he continuously did.

Take away for me was that 96 needs another decent CB next to Schulz and hope that their upcoming opponents better not have a player explode like Schürrle did tonight.

 

I think Schaaf would have been better served taking off Wolf instead, inserting Gülselam as a CB and moving Sané into DM to win balls in midfield. Hannover created good attacking opportunities in the first half, but had trouble gaining possession in the first place. This would have at least channeled Sané's roaming into something productive.

 

Yamaguchi is not in it. He's that split second late that makes all the difference. Hopefully he learns and applies it next year in B.2.

 

Yeah, on the defensive end he is often too late to meaningfully affect the opposing ballholder - hopefully that improves as his anticipation adjusts to the Buli tempo and he becomes comfortable interpreting his role. I thought his passing was excellent though, paired with an enforcer like Sané the midfield could function decently. Perhaps a 4-3-2-1 would work?