If that is what you want, then I can only suggest Okada. I cannot really think of other Japanese coaches that coaches defense as well as him, even Teguramori isn't that good. Pity he has retired though.
According to this article, Moriyasu planned to visit JFA academy in Fukushima and attend one J1 and one J2 matches playing nearby; Sendai vs Cerezo and Mito vs Ehime. https://www.nikkansports.com/soccer/japan/news/201807280000065.html The article claims that it is the first time an NT coach attend a J2 match. To me it makes sense as many Olympic team players playing in J2, in the case of Mito vs Ehima; Kamiya, Ryotaro Ito and other Olympic team prospects are playing as starters recently. I am optimistic about Moriyasu's hiring, his experiences and approach. Hopefully he will not let me down.
The article claims the false since Zac (or his coworkers) attended J2 matches when he was searching for a tall CB for the JNT.
It doesn't say it's the first time, but rather the first time in a while "hisashiburi" that the NT coach attended a J2 match.
I was gonna say, was Kagawa not in J2 when he debuted? I figure Okada may have taken a look up close in J2.
moriyasu japan, i hope this ends soon. he looked clueless last night, not to mention his side was hopeless in this year’s u23 championships. i just don’t see him as the guy leading the country in the asian cup and wcq.
JFA announced a friendly against Uruguay to be held on 16 October. Friendlies schedule so far: 7/Sep: Chile @ Sapporo. 11/Sep: Costa Rica @ Suita (Osaka). 12/Oct: Panama @ Niigata. 16/Oct: Uruguay @ Saitama 16/Nov: TBA @ Oita. 20/Nov: TBA @ Toyota
Moriyasu'S first senior NT squad: GK Masaki Higashiguchi（Gamba Osaka） Shuichi Gonda（Sagan Tosu） Daniel Schmidt（Vegalta Sendai） DF Tomoaki Makino（Urawa Reds） Sho Sasaki（Sanfrecce Hiroshima Shintaro Kurumaya（Kawasaki Frontale） Wataru Endo（Sint-Truiden VV／Belgium） Sei Muroya（ＦＣTokyo） Naomichi Ueda（Cercle Brugge KSV／Belgium） Genta Miura（Gamba Osaka） Takahiro Tomiyasu（Sint-Truiden VV／Belgium MF Todhihiro Aoyama（Sanfrecce Hiroshima） Hotaru Yamaguchi（Cerezo Osaka） Ryotato Oshima（Kawasaki Frontale） Junya Ito (Kashiwa Reysol） Shoya Nakajima（Portimonense / Portigal） Takumi Minamino（RB Salzburg／Austria） Kento Misao（Kashima Antlers） Tatsuya Ito（Hamburger SV／Germany) Ritsu Doan（FC Groningen / Netherlands FW Yu Kobayashi (Kawasaki Fromtale） Kenyu Sugimoto（Cerezo Osaka） Takuma Asano（Hannover 96／Germany） Age Category: 10 players from Rio generation. 3 players from Tokyo generation. Which means 13 players younger than 26, and 10 older than 26 with only 4 of them older than 30. Club representation: 8 players playing in Europe (3 from Belgium, 2 from Germany, and 1 each from Portugal, Netherlands, and Austria). 15 players from 10 J-League: 3 from Kawasaki Frontale. 2 from Gamba Osaka. 2 from Cerezo Osaka. 2 from Sanfrecce Hiroshima. 1 player each from: Kashima Antlers, Kashiwa Reysol, Vegalta Sendai, Urawa Reds, Sagan Tosu, and FC Tokyo. 8 J-League teams not represented in the squad; Consadole Sapporo. Vissel Kobe. Jubilo Iwata. Shimizu S-Pulse. Nagoya Grampus. Yokohama Marinos. Shonan Bellmare. V-Varen Nagasaki. General Notes: Moriyasu said that he considered that many NT players are settling in their new clubs in Europe or just began their season after being involved in the World Cup, so he intentionally left them off. He also mentioned considerations for club duties (either in J-League or abroad). This makes me think that Kashima Antlers involvement in ACL might be the reason why Moriyasu did not call-up Yuma Suzuki and Koki Anzai. He also stated that he selected this squad with an eye for younger generations, stating that most of them are from Rio generation (which I suppose will be the core of this WC cycle). He said that beacause of the recent club commitments, players recovering from injuries or just recovering after the WC, and players settling in their new clubs; that this is not the team he is considering as the core team, and many changes in players selection are to be expected. One last note from me: I noticed that when it comes to J-Leaguers, Moriyasu sticked with players who he already knew (Hiroshima players), and players who was previously part of the NT (Makino and Yamaguchi) or called-up previously (e.g. Genta Miura and Kenyu Sugimoto despite not having a good season with their respective clubs).
For me this must be a experimental squad? Feels kind of weird. I thought we were not going to see Yamaguchi again but we will..
very happy to see younger generation deservedly win call ups: doan, tomiyasu, ueda, miura, minamino, misao, junya ito. aoyama good choice for experience for an otherwise raw group of players. i personally would’ve liked to see fukumori (consadole), morita (kawasaki, surely rookie of the year), kitagawa (shimizu), yamanaka (yokohama), hashioka (urawa). we desperately need some new goalkeepers. i understand kobayashi has been banging in goals but he’ll be 35 in qatar, not sure what more we can expect from him. sugimoto and yamaguchi absolute waste of space.
It's an experimental squad, but stop calling Makino and Hotaru Yamaguchi. Stop it. Really happy to see new faces.
Makino and Yamaguchi are the only "available" outfield players who were part of the team in recent years and played in the last World Cup. The team needs continuity, and form (that is why former Moriyasu's players Aoyama and Sasaki are called-up, to help the team adjust to Moriyasu's tactics). If this 4 players are still around next summer then you really have to worry.
Genta Miura... bleurgh. happy to see a lot of fresh names, disappointed to see Yamaguchi and Sugimoto.
It was not long time ago Sugimoto was on everbodies lips. Topscorer and NT debut, almost scoring against Brazil plus Europe transer rumours. Things change quick. Not always for the good..
Gold medal match starting line-up: GK 1 Kojima DF ４Itakura ７Hara 20 Tatsuta MF ２Naganuma ５Sugioka 14 Matsumoto 16 Watanabe FW 10 Miyoshi 13 Iwasaki 15 Ueda Daizen Maeda is injured and will miss 4-6 weeks. A pleasure in disguise?
Ueda's movement has been good as usual but as expected Japan is forced with 10 behind the ball most of the time. Can see this only either going to penalties or Korea winning as expected.
They are playing better both defensively and offensively since the middle of the first half, they even created some scoring opportunities.
Japans' players were pretty hardworking tonight, tracking back constantly and manage to clear the dangerous opportunities by Korea in their final third. The defensive organisation were not that bad. Now it is 0-0, lets see how things progress during extra time.