Yeah very sad for him, but normally he should be at the next WC with 34, when you consider his quality but who knows. Good thing despite this crazy injury crisis is we still have enough good players till now but of course it would be so much better if all are fit and you could choose the best of the best.
This is the year of JNT's 8th WC and things are turning very very bad: GK > Suzuki badly injured good chances to miss the WC. Defence > All the starter CBs in Europe are injured or benched or playing not as CB or not even play in a club at all. Midfield > D.Kamada injured > W.Endo injured. > A.Tanaka bench warmer Attack > Minamino badly injured good chances to miss the WC. > Celtic atrocious season > Furuhashi worst ever transfer > Ueda losing his "touch" and he can't score in crucial matches Probably I'm even forgetting someone else. I hope the other guys playing in Europe will go onfire and overperform in june. Better for Moriyasu to have a Plan B if not a Plan C.
Is expected, considering the congested fixtures of European football now. They play around 50 games per season, including club friendlies, etc. I wishes Kota Takai should have just went Borussia Monchengladbach straight, being a starter in an EPL club challenging for CL spots straight from J-League is always going to be tough.
Ueda is losing his touch? The guy is having a career season. He should be in the ++++ category. Furuhashi doesn't matter much, he never got a chance under Moriyasu even when he was scoring tons at Celtic. Used him sparingly, and then on the wing. Celtic's season is pretty irrelevant too. Hatate like Furuhashi isn't really in Moriyasu's plan. Maeda is and will be there. Minamino, yes, he will be missed, possibly. On the other hand it opens up the possibility of using Keito Nakamura and MItoma at the same time. Not one of them as wing-back (which for me is the biggest problem of Moriyasu's system) the other one on the bench. Wing Back and up front, works for me. Or then Kamada-Kubo there. You lose scoring, you get creativity. Defence, yes, the injuries are worrying. But Ito on the way back, that's a big plus. Tomiyasu finding a team... I thought we could forget about him, but let's see, if he is fit enough to play anytime soon, if he gets to play and how he performs. As for Itakura, yeah, Iran was bad, the whole Asian Cup was bad, the whole defence actually, but for the rest Itakura has been solid for Japan. No comparison to Yoshida. His situation at Ajax not perfect, playing in defensive midfield, well, Japanese defenders are technically better than your average central defender. That's why they then tend to get used in other positions too, see Tomiyasu, even Yoshida got to play left back at Southampton. Let's see if it goes better in the second half of the season. But generally I trust Itakura, he's good. But yes, everybody injured, far from ideal... Midfield: Injuries normal, they should be back. Endo a bit worrying, not playing and vs Bolivia it showed, he was basically the worst Japanese on the pitch. On the bright side, Japan is stacked there. Sano, Morita, Fujita (although I'd like to see him play further up actually, if google formations are to be trusted St. Pauli saw it the same way and use him there?) Kamada, the other Sano, Hatate, probably forgetting somebody. But yes, having a fit and in form Endo there would be great. But if he's not top, he can be replaced. Biggest worry is the defence, (including Suzuki's injury), agree, the rest for me doesn't look bad, no need to worry. Least of all about Ueda.
I said it in other threads. Endo not playing at all of course its worrying. And I find it kind of weird that he probably choose to waste another 6 months on the bench before the WC. They should do something. And Morita is not playing that much either. At least not in the important games. And there is Sano. The best player of interception of all top european leagues. Question is if Moriyasu think so.
You have also Kamada, Tanaka the other Sano and Fujita not to forget Atsuki Ito who is also playing superb. The list is endless for that position. There is absolutely no worrying.
Japan have good depth. Thats great. But to call no need for worrying I find kind of naive. Endo and Morita is still the best players. And they dont play. And Tanaka is also mostly just a bench warmer.
Morita plays way enough. He is between bench and starter. The last 4 games he was benched that's true but there are more levels of deepts between awesome and to be worrying about. Morita is far far far away (till now) from being a problem. And I am sure next game for example he will be very sure starting again cause the last 2 games they get only 1 point without him. Moritas situation is not optimal but it's totally okay to rotate between bench and first 11 in a top team like Lissabon. And to be fair, his injuries were a big part of those situation. My point is that you have a Tanaka who also played a good season till now between bench and first 11 but also have overall rock solid performances + awesome goals and a Kamada who was not of the most inform CDM of the Premier League till his injury. A Kaishu Sano who was the 2nd best CDM of the Bundesliga last season and is still very good this year in a underperforming Mainz this season. Then you have Kodai Sano who is very awesome and even into the half team of the season (Eredevise) which is a great honour. Also a A. Ito could be a great addition for the JNT. His season is very strong. And maybe it's good to have a Endo being out and maybe also a Morita. Maybe this year is the time for new young players, who are really on fire, to break into the quarter final? Endo and Morita are worldclass CDMs when they are inform, that's the reason why they are playing for Liverpool and Lissabon. No doubt about that but Plan B, C or D is very only a very similar level and thats a huge privilege not every national team has.
I still rank Morita and Endo as nr 1 and 2, thats why for me its worrying. But we see it differently. Morita being benched 4 games in a row its just a sign he is not considered as the first 11 anymore. He should also find a new club. So basically three choices will be bench warmers ahead of the WC, with Morita and Tanaka getting some minutes here and there. Going into a WC with some debutants and think it will be no problem is kind of naive also.
That's it. Moriyasu has to prove that his salary are not wasted money. He must use the spring friendlies and the month before the WC to sort things out and make a Plan B and even Plan C for defence and midfield. Probably Netherlands will win the first match, he need to secure a victory against Tunisia and then faceoff against the UEFA team with a well defined plan.
Moriyasu needs to use the remaining time to build chemistry amongst the players most likely to play in WC 26. Glad he stuck with Ayumu Seko for so long, even when he was playing in Swiss Leafue previously. Seko is now a starter for Le Havre FC as a DM, and seems to be performing well. I think he can be considered in the DM role, Itakura originally was a DM in the first place. Kuryu Matsuki if he continues to get consistent gametime, can possibly be play the B2B role in place of Endo. He covers a large amount of ground too.
Moriyasu likes Sano, wouldn't be surprised if he's a starter when the WC starts. And while I like Endo and Morita (often undervalued I think), I'm not sure they still are 1+2. Moriyasu has his players for the defensive midfield anyway. Endo, Morita, Tanaka, Kamada, Sano and Fujita. That's the 6 players that we can expect to get playing time there. Injuries, then Kodai Sano and Hatate can hope to get the call. Debutants... what, WC debutants? Like Mbappé in 18?
B and C? He's already on Plan D regarding the defence, he's been playing Taniguchi again. And while part of that can be explained by his obsession with some veterans, doubt Moriyasu would have him play if everybody was fit. Plan A: Tomiyasu-Itakura-Ito... Plan B involves Machida, once we get to Taniguchi we're at plan D Everybody injured, of course he's been changing and testing already now. The ones mentioned, plus Watanabe, Suzuki, Seko, Takai, Ando, that's 10 players in the running for the normally 6-7 spots Testing, planning, rotation, in regards to the defence he's done that well from the start. Unlike the right wing where it's still Ito and Doan, 7+ years after taking over. He should go for a Plan B there..