Okey thanks. Yeah Okadas line ups scares the shit out of me ahead of WC. I don't know what the fck he is doing. Playing Okubo etc. Shit, he keeps pissing me off.
yeh, I couldn't figure out what Okubo was trying to do when he had a wide open shot but instead pushed the ball to the endline and tried to beat the south african defender to it.. Thats probably why Honda stopped passing. Overall, the passes were horrible though. Honda lost possession several times because nobody could pass to his feet from a few meters away...
0-0 is not a bad result, now Japan's goal has been unbeaten in four games, which is excellent news. But a strong team, in a game like yesterday has that one forward who scores the three-point goal... Sato did it many times for Hiroshima, but of course if Okada thinks Okubo is better... I believe that the only hope for Japan is to have Morimoto and Okazaki healthy and in good shape. Besides that, considering Okada's preferences, in the front I see a HUGE void, with Sato coming after Tamada and Okubo, Maeda very shy on the international stage, and Maki and Yanagisawa dead and forgotten.
I think okada has to at least give okubo a chance before dismissing him. Obviously Tamada is preference before Okubo in Okada's mind but he gave Okubo a shot which means he was testing him and giving him a chance to move to no.3 in the pecking order which he obviously failed. I'm sure Sato's chance will come. They're playing DPR Korea and Korea Rep in January/February. I think Tamada's a different type of forward than both Morimoto and Okazaki while Sato is more a (give or take) direct substitute for Okazaki. Also we were missing 3.5 players (Naka 1st half), Japan are loads better than South Africa.
The games against the Koreas will be exciting and hard, but they're not necessarily good tests toward the WC...
Give him a CHANCE? WTF . . . you mean the other 39 chances that he had already werent really enough of a chance, and now he has to be given a REAL chance? Okubo has had 40 NT caps and played something a shade over 2700 total minutes for the Japan NT. Are you serious? You really think he needs to be "given a chance"? Hell, at least Tamada has managed to score 14 goals in his 2800 or 2900 NT minutes. What has Okubo managed to do? And if you want to give someone a chance, how about guys that still have less than 180 minutes (ie less than two full matches) of playing time? There must be a few of them around . . . . hey, how about we make a list of all the strikers in the J.League that scored more goals than Okubo this season? Naahhh. Better not. Itll just fill up the thread and Gora will have to open a new one.
We can discuss this in eternity, we all know Okada will choose Okazaki, maybe Morimoto and then 2-3 more useless strikers for the WC.
That doesn't cut it at the world cup though. Japan would be lucky to get into a group with a team they are loads better than, and if they can't win that match...
I don't think Sato Hisato would be useless. He has ket Hiroshima attack going by himself in several games. Maybe, just like Maeda, he'll fade away in International games, but we'd never know if Okubo plays instead.
All right, its time to stop biting my tongue and trying to avoid the conflict that Im bound to create by discussing this matter in detail. The situation has gone on for far too long and now I think its about time to say what I really think about this whole situation with Okada and his player selections. So here goes: Name . . . . . . . . 09 Goals/games . . . . NT Caps Ryoichi Maeda . . . . . 18 (31) . . . . . . . . . 5 Naohiro Ishikawa . . . .15 (24) . . . . . . . . . 2 Shinji Okazaki . . . . . .14 (31) . . . . . . . . .13 Kazuma Watanabe . . .12 (26) . . . . . . . . . 0 Hisato Sato . . . . . . . 12 (31) . . . . . . . . 27* (mostly for Zico Japan) Yu Hasegawa . . . . . . 10 (28) . . . . . . . . 0 Shinzo Koroki . . . . . . .9 (26) . . . . . . . . 4 Kisho Yano . . . . . . . . 8 (30) . . . . . . . . 14 Keiji Tamada . . . . . . . 8 (26) . . . . . . . . 63 Yoshito Okubo . . . . . . 5 (29) . . . . . . . . 40 Naohiro Takahara . . . . 4 (21) . . . . . . . . 51 In the immortal words of Forrest Gump: "thats all Ive got to say about that"
Yeah? Am I the only one that wants him to try for instance Hasegawa and Watanabe? I mean they can't do worse than Okubo, Yano, Ogoru etc. It is funny that most likely it is the bottom of that table that will go to the WC. ************
If you take away penalties (he won't take penalties in SA), Tamada is level with Okubo. Going by Tamada & Okubo you could easily make a case for bringing back Takahara . I'm on the fence with Watanabe, this is his first season really lighting it up and he almost always scores at home (for the record, Okazaki is guilty of this too) but I'd like to see him in some ACQs (along with maybe Koroki and Hasegawa).
Am I the only one that doesn't mind Okubo. We all know he can't finish but neither can the rest of the strikers. He was terrible yesterday but he usually puts himself in the right position, makes clever runs, works really hard, and for me, he is the best link player we have. He creates the most chance for himself out of anyone else on the team. The big problem is that he doesn' score any of them so I can see why you guys don't want him but I still think he has a role to play. He is a bad version of Yanagisawa.
...this is his first season really lighting it up... Usually these things make more sense if you read the whole sentence. I know you don't have the time to waste reading, but you could at least try to make it through a single phrase. Last year I thought Okubo was doing good, but he's disappeared since Wolfsburg. That highlights why I'm on the fence with Watanabe. A bad version of Yanagisawa? -- that's painful just to think about. =(
This is his first season. Period. How many goals did you EXPECT him to score in the J.League last year? (on edit: Wow. Its even funnier now that you wrote a whole paragraph. Maybe YOU are the one who needs to read and comprehend, eh ? ? ?) (on second edit: OHHH! Its YOU! Sorry, I didnt even notice before. That explains a lot. )
Who said I expected anything from him? The point is one good season isn't always enough to say "Hey, he should be on the NT". Otherwise we'd be playing Ganaha and Akamine right now.
Nice try, but no cigar. You made a mistake and now want to pretend you "knew it all along". Watanabe was Universiade scoring leader at Waseda and has been "lighting it up" for years now. Soccer Digest was featuring him as a "rising star" aｌｌ the way back in 2004, when he was a senior at Kunimi. Normally I would agree that a rookie might be risky to name as a NT player, but Watanabe is 23, and has a very solid pedigree. Id prefer not to turn this into a pissing contest since we both know who would win. If you cant admit you made a mistake, then at least just let the matter drop. Thats all I have to say about that.
If we're going to count University then I suppose I should also take back my statement on Ganaha since he played well at J2 level. Is "lighting it up" at Waseda really your criteria for getting on the NT? Or is this just you being obsessed with some kind of "gotchya" moment? If you want to make an exception for him, that's your opinion. I stated why I was on the fence. I didn't state everyone else should be on the fence. But, as usual, you are more concerned with looking like you have the only valid opinion here. Carry on.
OK, if you insist. You wrote: "This is his first season lighting it up" . . . as if he could have done something better prior to this season. I responded by simply correcting the statement to make it accurate. "This is his first season." Nothing else. I didnt ask for a fight, or disagree with your opinion, or anything else that might be viewed as provocative. I just made it clear -- to ANYONE who might not be aware of the actual situation -- that Watanabe couldnt have done any better in a previous season, because he wasnt a J.Leaguer in any previous season. . . . You replied by going off on a rant about how I need to read better and how I have an attitude problem. As if clarifying the actual situation is somehow a terrible, cruel and unkind thing to do . . . SOMEBODY clearly has a problem here. If you want to pretend to yourself that its "all Matsu's" fault, because I am "rude" enough to make simple statements of fact, then I guess that problem is going to persist. Now . . . I know you cant resist so go ahead and have the last word. Whatever. Ive had enough.
Please do argue without insulting each other. It is cooler if you stick to your opinions and let us decide who has it right, no...? Also, I suggest postponing feuds to January-February, when there is not much else going on... Besides the jokes, I have no problems about people exchanging strikes around here, but please keep them over the belt.
Inukai wants to prohibit the use of vuvuzela, this little trumpet, during the world cup. I'm with him.
heard about this. playing Serbia in Nagoya on a date that ISN'T a FIFA match date. it's asking for disaster as there's no way Serbia will send their best in April to japan.