It seems Moriyasu doesn't have any fans on this board, which is strange since I don't recall a time when Japan's NT was as highly regarded and respected as it has the past few years under Moriyasu. When it comes to coaches, my attitude is 'if it ain't broke, don't fix it'!
I praised him for his tactical awareness for most of the World Cup 3 years ago when he effectively found a way to shut down Germany in the second half but I am frustrated by his inability to adjust to changing situations during a game which was most obviously during that Iran game at the Asian Cup last year. Japan's national team is highly regarded and respected because of what happened at the last World Cup (among other things) and because there has never been this many Japanese players playing in European leagues notably in England and Germany, this has little to do with Moriyasu. Most people outside Japan don't even know who he is unless they're actively following the Japanese team.
Every player, every coach, every team...has some poor days: what counts are the overall results. Japan is ranked around #15 in the world per FIFA's rankings, reflecting how well Japan has done overall. Of course, Japan is respected, not because of Moriyasu, but how well they have generally done as a team, especially in games football fans outside of those just in Asia have watched. The results against Germany and Spain in WC22 plus the performance against Croatia in the R16 (where Japan was arguably the better team despite going out on pks), plus a string of great results in friendlies against credible non Asian teams under Moriyasu, has allowed people to credit Japan's talent and large number of Euro based players in a way that is very different than many other teams elsewhere (e.g. in Africa or even among UEFA teams) with similar or even better European club pedigree. If it ain't broke, don't fix it.
I read somewhere that they aim to win the rest of the qualification matches so that they get into pot A in the 2026 WC draw; is winning the last three qualification matches enough to achieve that goal?! If yes, then they should aim for maximum points.
I believe so but it will depend also on what happens in other FIFA confederations. Either way, the more games you win, the higher you move up the pots.
It's just that there are various discussions and debates that Moriyasu may not get the maximum out of this team, that's all. I had hopes that they would finally reach at the very least a World Cup quarter-final yet they were knocked out in the round of 16 again with each of those penalties against Croatia being absolutely horrendously and unbelievably bad. Then there was the very average performance overall at the last Asian Cup (loss against Irak, getting knocked out by Iran) with Moriyasu failing to adjust his team.
Japan did have a mediocre Asian Cup and that does put some legitimate dents on Moriyasu's overall record, which has been otherwise rather excellent since 2022. But no matter how horrendous a side performs in a penalty shoot out, it is hard to blame it on a coach unless you can point to something a coach did or didn't do to prepare his side for penalties.
According to the way each penalty was shot in that shootout against Croatia, it was quite clear to me that Moriyasu didn't prepare the players for the possibility of a penalty shootout. Every single penalty Japan took looked exactly the same and was easily saved by Livakovic.
Lots of stuff here... A bunch of ex-coaches could be suitable? And no, Sacchi isn't coaching anymore, since forever basically. As for Okada. Yes he was good, he knows his football. He was a joy to listen to during the WC, co-commentating on Abema. But it doesn't matter, since he won't come back, he made that clear. And a third time would be too much anyway, time to look forward, not backwards. I follow Japan since 98, my opinion on the coaches: Okada 98: Completely irrelevant who was the coach, Japan never was going to go anywhere. Showed guts leaving Kazu out, can't say if that was correct or not, since I arrived in Japan that year and have no idea how well he was playing up to the WC. Troussier. A "teacher", with fix ideas about his formation, that the then adapted (finally) during the WC. Not a fan, not a fan of rigid system coaches (sad thing if I was a coach I probably would be one of those) but in the end he did well enough. Again, Japan in 02 was nowhere near where it is now. Zico: Never should have been hired, that was on name alone. The guy can't coach. Get Toninho Cerezo if anything. Impression was that under Troussier every single step any player took was planned, while Zico just said: Have fun and play... He knew Japan yes, but 0 experience as a coach. Ok, you might get lucky once in a while and get a newcomer to coach great, but most of the time you want somebody with actual coaching experience. Should never ever have been hired. Confederations Cup was good I thought, WC nothing Osim: Perfect. A guy who knows the J League. That was what was needed. Then out health issues. Missed most of his tenure, being out of Japan at the time, so not much to say, not winning the Asian Cup is always bad, but didn't see it, no idea how they played, but on paper he was exactly what Japan needed. Okada 2: Again, only saw the last friendlies and the WC. First qualification to the second round, he wasn't "saved" by his changes, he DID those changes. Kawashima in, Abe anchor etc. (Kawashima played well except that one goal). Zaccheroni: Another guy that IMO wasn't needed. Another system-guy. 3-4-3, successful for a very limited period of time in Italy, Udinese then 1 year at Milan, followed by years of not achieving anything. Not needed. But he kind of earned my respect actually. He didn't really go for the 3-4-3 with Japan, or then I missed it...mostly was the usual 4-2-3-1. WC too. For me the 2014 team is still the best Japan had, the year that a lot more should have been achieved. Why not do a change like Okada and put in an anchor? Especially since his central defence was nowhere near as good as the one Okada had 4 years earlier. Tulio and Nakazawa were 100 times better than Yoshida and Konno etc. Big mistake, but somehow I respect him for that, he stuck to his plan on that, let Japan play offensively, it didn't work. It could have. Japan in the end only really played well vs Colombia, still lost, badly, but there IMO they played well. Confederations Cup? Result, who cares, but they did play well. Vs Italy would have deserved at least a draw. Aguirre: Seemed ok, then was gone soon, thought a Japanese coach would have been better, or at least somebody with knowledge about Japanese football. No, not Arsène Wenger... Halilhodzic: Seemed a very good choice, but ok, he clearly has issues with players everywhere he went... The successes of 2018 of course are still partially his, the long balls was very Halilhodzic, but I wasn't a big fan of how his team played either, and not of his player selections either. Shibasaki was basically unused, would seem to fit in quite well with Halil-ball, but... weird. Nishino: Did well, but the final goal vs Belgium... that simply shouldn't happen. Yes, something about Olympics whenever people told me, he was accused of being too defensive then, since then wanted to have his teams play more positively? Still you can't lose a game like that, counter after a corner deep in lost time. Play it safe. Moriyasu: Keep it short, vs Germany there was no brilliant Moriyasu, that was pure and simple luck. Nothing else. Completely overran in the first half, still overrun in the second one, but got lucky and scored twice. Good vs Spain, good vs Croatia (well, substitutions..) but ok ok enough Who should be next: Poyotaryo will be happy to hear I have no objection to Bielsa. But no preference for him either. Actually small objection, he's kind of old... otherwise, why not. If he actually wants to coach Japan... So who? No clue. But at this point don't think a Japanese coach is necessary or preferable anymore. That was more important 10 years ago, get a coach with Japan experience, foreign J League coach like Osim ok, Japanese ok. Majority of players were playing in Japan at the time. After Okada IMO Japanese coaches or guys like Osim would have been better. In 2026 after the WC, when we'll finally be rid of Moriyasu (even if Japan wins the WC I think he'll have enough...) with countless japanese playing in Europe... not really. 10 years ago it then took 6 months for a coach to figure out which players he liked, which not... now with everybody overseas he'll already know some, J-League knowledge has become less important. Enough if he follows it once appointed. While before IMO somebody with already some (recent) knowledge would have been better.
I do want to clarify that I never said Okada should come back, just that he was a very good coach for the team in 2010 and got the best out of the players, something some other coaches (Zaccheroni mainly but also Zico) were not able to do despite having perhaps even more talent at their disposal than that World Cup 2010 squad did.
Haha, you could say Bielsa is a complete fraud, I would listen to your opinion. On the other side, saying he has no previous valuable experience to be in charge of Japan is just some generic bullshit I can’t stand anymore. Anyway, Okada´s heritage was somehow saved by putting Honda as a 9 right before the WC. That was genius because the year 2010 (before South Africa) was a complete pain as a japanese supporter to witness and Nakamura farewell was far from what one could expect. You are right about Zac 4-2-3-1, he didn’t use the 3-4-3 that much but he did, and I discovered that system I fell in love with at a time no one was daring to try it. Japan didn’t have the right players yet. Konno, argh… But let’s not forget that the only trophy won in the last 20 years was under Zac. My only regret is the misuse of Honda/Kagawa on the flanks instead of on the n10 position. We should have done much much better in 2014. I agree with the rest of your opinion at the exception of Nishino. I will never forget nor forgive the fact he humiliated Japan in the face of the world during the 15 last minutes against Poland. What happened next against Belgium was the right karma we deserved. Thank you by the way for having the intellectual honesty not to talk about a ‘94 Falcao Japan you never witnessed or heard of. Some should take notes.
If you have something to say, it's better to say it. I never mentioned Falcao's Japan team in 1994 other than to say that he didn't do particularly well and that in general foreign coaches didn't tend to perform particular well with the national team.
Oh, you still want more? Alright, so please tell us, out of the 4 Asian Cup Japan won, how many were under foreign coaches? This one should be easy enough for chatGPT to give you a clear answer, and prevent you from spreading random generic opinions in the future.
I want nothing, you're the one harassing me here as if I threatened your life or something because you don't like my opinions. I don't know why you keep getting so worked up over my comments, it's frankly starting to look ridiculous. I don't need ChatGPT for anything and least of all for a sport I have been following for over 25 years so you can stop now with the passive-aggressive and arrogant assumptions. The Asian Cup is not where you show your worth on the international stage, it's at the World Cup. Not to mention that Japan won the Asian Cup 4 times back when it was a weaker tournament for the most part than it is today. Winning the Asian Cup again in the near future will mean little to me as long as they fail to go beyond the round of 16 at World Cups despite often having had the talent needed to go far beyond that and despite weaker teams than them on paper managing to go further over the years (Morocco, Uruguay, Russia, Sweden, Costa Rica).
Lol. I really don’t know why, despite trying to make the question as simple as possible, I was sure you would struggle answering it. Looks like I wasn’t wrong. Answer was 4, my dear. All the trophies won by Japan were under foreign coaches. See you tomorrow for the game. Good night!
Ok and? Why the arrogance, why the condescending undertone? Is there any reason to believe Japan stopped winning the Asian Cup because the team no longer usually had foreign coaches in Asian Cups? No, absolutely not. Either way, the Asian Cup is a weaker tournament than the World Cup. A third place at a World Cup is worth more than an Asian Cup trophy which Japan won back when it was a weaker tournament than it is today. Since they won it in 2011, they were knocked out in 3 consecutive editions by the UAE, Qatar and Iran, all weaker teams than them. Japan could win 10 Asian Cups in a row and it wouldn't matter if they keep getting knocked out in the round of 16 at the World Cup in the meantime. That's how I see it and I'm sure that's how a lot of fans see it.
Well, sorry to cut this interesting topic (I have a similar point of view about coaches for Japan) but I come here to continue a topic from Nadeshiko thread about the male team. Well, sorry if I'm replying a little late but, to make this answer "less subjective" (if that can be possible) I talk with some friends that follow the J-League and we make a list of some players that can "qualify" for this topic. Well, some of them maybe are more young prospects, but you (or anyone here) can judge. Ueda, Suzuki (Kashima) Muto (Kobe) Ichimori (Gamba) Hosoya (Kashiwa) Brandon Nozawa (FC Tokyo) Kato, Germain (Hiroshima) Kawasaki (Kyoto) Wakizaka, Tachibanada (Frontale) Watanabe (Marinos) Like I say, this is a list make by some J-League followers and is totally subjective, you can think different than us, so feel free to express yourselves.
You were right about the Asian Cup, but honestly speak pre 2011 other than Japan/Korea the other NTs were not as good as not. Right now, the likes of Qatar, Saudi Arabia, Iran and Australia have all massively improved. Even UAE and Uzbekistan were better than 15-20 years ago. Asian Cup back then never really had the same weight as AFC countries did not value it as much as Euros. Japan did not even brought Hidetoshi Nakata during the 2004 Asian Cup in Beijing back then. Even Copa America were only really valued by South American teams in last 15 years. Back then Brazil and other countries wouldn't even send their 1st team to take part in the Copa America. Actually, I feel JFA should reference from Spain. Spain NT's manager Luis De La Fuentes right now came from managing the youth teams previously. Nowadays, there are more and more wonder kids maturing earlier and getting discovered by top clubs and thus getting alot of playing time. Spain had a lot of players under 23 years old in their Euros in 2024. Players like Nico Williams and Lamine Yamal there whereas Pau Cubarsi and Fermin Lopez, etc. did not participate due to Olympics happening concurrently. By selecting the youth coaches who works closely with the grassroots, perhaps they can identify young players with potential and possibly fast-track their inclusion into the Senior Team. Thus, I think that Go Oiwa and Yoshiro Moriyama, etc. can be options too. If Yuzo Funakoshi can at least progress Japan to the knockout stages in the U20WC in Chile later this year, will also be a viable option in 2026.
You're right about Japan not bringing Nakata to the 2004 Asian Cup, I had forgotten about that. Clearly there was a time were the Asian Cup was considerably weaker and viewed as considerably weaker than it has been in recent editions.
You never answer to simple questions but you never fail to impress, though. The same way you repeatedly talked about Bielsa being too unexperienced in Asia to take the job in Japan and finally dodged the simplest question I asked you three times with a « it’s obviously up to JFA to decide not me blahblahblah ». In french we’d call this way of having a debate « dancing » or « speaking chinese ». Anyway, after the « asian experience needed on a resume to coach Japan », I was answering to another one of you random generic opinion: To that, I am telling you 100% of trophies won by Japan - 4 Asian Cup - were under foreign coaches, and nothing more. I am not saying any of the absurdity you are trying to make me say regarding Japan no longer wins the Asian Cup or the global level of football in Asia now and then, or the comparison between ACN and WC worth. I am simply telling you, objectively, no, you are wrong, foreign coaches did not tend to unperform with Japan, they in fact brought home the only trophies Japan ever won. Asian (we could as well say global…) football being on the rise, the general level is much stronger than it used to be, we can obviously agree on this. And since you seem to enjoy it, please let me offer you another ride: Pre-2011, when Asian Cup level was considerably weaker and viewed as considerably weaker than it has been in recent editions, how many japanese coaches failed to bring the trophy back home, in comparison to the 4 foreign coaches that did lift it? And well, since we are getting to know each other by now, I’ll simply add this: 謝謝你的表現。請繼續跳舞。
J'en ai rien à foutre de t'impressioner ou pas et encore moins de répondre à tes questions stupides auxquelles j'ai déjà répondu. Je ne souhaite pas poursuivre cette discussion avec quelqu'un d'aussi condescendant et imbu de lui-même. Now back to topic!
Well, maybe my inner teenager took it personally from the moment you said Zac should have been fired, it was a disaster and the Italy 4-3 Japan was only appreciated by ignorants… I might be totally biased about Zaccheroni as I owe him my first moments of glory in the stadium, witnessing Japan crush France, Belgium, Netherlands, along with my local skeptical friends in the japanese stands. Making thousands in the process, betting my weekly student wages on ridiculously high odds Japan had back then, like 8, 9, even 10+ sometimes… (Betting is a scam though, should I recall it) One of the first games Zac was in charge, if not the first, against Argentina, I told my highschool teacher I was sorry but I would have to skip classes to watch the game. She told me it was out of question, but of course I sneaked out of the school. On the next day, as I apologized but told her I had no choice to miss this kinda one life opportunity, expecting to get heavily sanctioned, she actually congratulated me for the victory as her own son, big fan of Argentina, watched the highlights and told her Japan did win in the end. She never referred it to the disciplinary council, as I was already in trouble, and from that day she would always cover my back for my absences on games day. Japan would win Asian Cup a few months later and funny thing was she actually started to follow the results. I offered her japanese sweets and snacks after every game. I am still extremely grateful to her, and well, all those memories might explain my sometimes irrational and unconditional love and respect for big man Alberto Zaccheroni. My apologies for that
To each his/her own, personally for me I also associate Zaccheroni more with the World Cup 2014/Confederations Cup crashing out. Main gripe is that he did not experiment as much as he should in the friendlies like what Okada did before 2010 WC. He would play practically the same formation/tactics. Even players wise, he only did experiment new players in the EAFF Cup 2013 after being pressurised then he used Osako in the 2014 WC. Other than that, alot of people had been mentioning for him to try alternative CBs other than Yasuyuki Konno. His tactic of substituting Hasebe for Endo in the 2nd always resulted in Japan losing the midfield battle. The Ivory Coast game was a classic example. Drogba just overpowered the team when he was substituted on. I feel now JNT is alot more stacked thus Moriyasu has more flexibility with his tactics/formation as he got more quality players at his disposal. Plus, he as a local coach who also coached in the J league understand the Grassroots well. It is similar to Spain selecting Luis De La Fuentes who came from the youth levels to lead their senior team. Thus, I feel that Japan can consider going down this route and perhaps consider Go Oiwa/Yuzo Funakoshi/Yoshiro Moriyama/Koichi Togashi as Moriyasu 's successor. Toru Oniki is also a suitable option too. As of now right now though, from the looks of it Japan will most probably stick with Moriyasu till the 2026 WC. Cannot see them potentially making changes for now, since Moriyasu stayed after the 2022 WC.