Don't know how many of you watch the Scottish Premier League, but Nakamura-san would be a good replacement for Becks. He has pretty much made it clear that he going back to Japan at the end of this season. I suppose he will finish out his career in the J-League. Can't blame the guy for wanting to leave. I would imagine the Japanese community in Scotland is not that abundant, and I am sure he is leaving because he wants to be around his own culture. LA = huge Japanese community and a great place for him to fill our void. His free kicks are superb, his passes are weighted perfectly. He would be a nice replacement for DB. Any thoughts?
I think this is a good news for LAG. Should start watching him closely now that the time is running fast.
That actually wouldn't be a bad move, he's a class player, dont see it happening though, unfortunately.
I heard Seattle wanted to bring in a Japanese star because of the Ichiro success there, with the money they gave Ljundberg, I could see them outbidding every MLS team just to get their "Ichiro". I also heard LA has one of if not the largest Korean populations in the US, I could see a Korean star jumping over sooner than a Japanese star.
A) It's spelled Shunsuke B) I think he is better than Beckham C) He has already said he is returning to Japan at the end of his career. This was a suggestion made a while back by my boy Martin Rogers. Also, Shunsuke has pretty serious injury issues.
Naka is moving back to Japan a) so his kids who will be starting school soon will grow up in Japan and not have to learn another language and b) so he doesn't have to travel for Japan's matches... he's getting old and jet lag is starting to catch up with him after years of commuting from Europe. Those two things are unlikely to be solved by moving to Los Angeles.
Jebus....can you imagine as a Japanese man your kids growing up and speaking to you primarily in that heavy Glasgow accent? I cannot even imagine .
This is not happening. Yokohama Mariners want him back to end his career in Japan and are gonna bid $8 million for his services. Sure, if we sell Becks (FTP) and/or Donovan we could afford it, but it wouldn't be worth it and MLS teams rarely pay transfer fees.
Although it now would be cosmically astonishing if Beckham did not return after all, people who were interested in this thread might be interested in the following quote from Shunsuke today: "You never know, I might go to a different league and not Japan. Nothing has been decided on my future yet." http://www.theherald.co.uk/sport/headlines/display.var.2492671.0.Nakamura_hints_at_league_move.php Could some other MLS squad line him up as a DP? Red Bull? New York is the only other city where he and his kids could live a Japanese-immersion life like he could in LA/Torrance.
A Shunsuke Nakamura hat-trick helped Celtic ease to victory over 10-man St Mirren in the Scottish Premier League. http://news.bbc.co.uk/sport1/hi/scotland/7916840.stm Celtic manager Gordon Strachan talks to BBC Scotland's Chris McLaughlin after his side's 7-0 victory over St Mirren in the SPL match at Celtic Park.
http://www.sundaymail.co.uk/sport-n...o-slash-investment-at-marinos-78057-21162457/ THE credit crunch could have a silver lining for Celtic fans with Shunsuke Nakamura's summer switch to his former club Yokohama Marinos now under threat due to the global financial crisis. The Japanese midfielder is out of contract at the end of the season and he looked certain to be heading back home to sign a lucrative deal with Yokohama. But struggling car giant Nissan - which owns 93 per cent of the J-League outfit - is threatening to slash their investment in the loss-making club. That would scupper the plan to lure Naka (right) with a bumper contract. And the 30-year-old, who scored a hat-trick in yesterday's thrashing of St Mirren, admits he is now considering extending his stay in Scotland. He said: "I have options. One would be to stay in Scotland but I have not made a decision yet. I will speak to my family then decide"
Seattle is actually my first thought when thinking about MLS cities in which Japanese imersion could be possible. With good old Freddie on the injury list they could always try to trade for another DP slot if they needed one ala Red Bull when they wanted to have both Reyna and Angel......
Nakamura is one of many Japanese or Korean players who would be nice additions to the team. The one advantage any west coast team would have over another MLS team is the commute from our airports to Japan. The trip from LA to Narita (biggest airport near Tokyo) is anywhere from 9.5 to 12 hours depending on weather (I've flown that a lot). Compare that to the 20 hour flight from the UK (not including transfers) and the west coast of the US becomes a lot more inviting if the money is equivalent. As for Nakamura's quality of play. I saw him make a left footed goal from outside the penalty box on a dead run with a ball that was bouncing when he hit it. It was a thing of beauty!