For NZ, expect focus on balls into Chris Wood the premier league striker. Yoshida and Tomiyasu will need to deal with lots of 45 degree balls into the box. They've also scored a couple of long rangers so our attackers/midfielders cannot slack off on close them outside the box. Having said that, NZ is the type of opponent Japan must beat well consistently and should be expected to. Lastly want your guys thoughts on Nakayama as permanent solution to LB after Nagatomo. He is the most of obvious candidate right now, my main concern with him is lack of speed, but his defensive positioning and physical attributes are his positives. Also I would of thought Higashi at Sanfreece as a good candiate to develop, altho he plays more as LWB for club, but seems Moriyasu doesnt rate him as LB option this generation (surprisingly)
For the time being Nakayama shall be the option ahead of the likes of Sasaki, Anzai, and Ogawa. There are younger players from the next Olympics generation, but until they mature Nakayama is the best possible option.
Yuta Nakayama. He’s been dreadful whenever he’s pulled on the JNT jersey but what a tournament so far from him. Good to see Koji Miyoshi and Daizen Maeda score to give the bench some depth and confidence. Daiki Hashioka was solid as well.
Big loss for Japan now that Sakai is out. Maybe this means that Tomiyasu might be moved there to cover him, hence may need to rely on itakura/Yoshida for CB pairing again. If not, then Hashioka can be an option. Anyway, don't rate Hatate that highly overall even though he wasn't that bad thus far.
Nakayama played very well in the senior NT matches last year, playing as a LB in the absence of Nagatomo. He completey outplayed Nicolas Pepe in the match against Ivory Coast. Honestly, as a CB and as a defensive midfielder he is not convincing, and tends to make costly mistakes from times to times, but as a LB he has been very solid.
Absolutely brilliant game by Japan! In contrast to the Mexico game, they were so much more in control, and being dangerous almost every time they go forward. Was a joy to watch this game.
As long as Moriyasu stays, it's Sasaki all the way. He's more likely to drop Nagatomo than Sasaki for Qatar... well, hopefully not, but he's shown such devotion to Sasaki that it's kind of hard to imagine he drops him now. After Qatar, well, we'll see then, I'm really more concerned with Qatar and the qualifiers. Nakayama, not fully convinced, good against France, but who wasn't? But I'd take him over Sasaki. And I still don't know what's wrong with Yamanaka for example...
I can't wait for tomorrow's match. I hope we'll see the same display the boys showed us against France. No room for complacency, please. I don't want to see a repeat of WC 2002 R16 against Turkey and the more recent Asian Cup Final 2019. Good luck.
Nakayama has been a nice surprise this tournament but much like Itakura it remains to be seen where his club career takes him - he's been playing CB for Zwolle. But the 1v1 defending combined with a good left foot is a nice foundation, arguably lacking in any of the other left backs in the player pool. Nagatomo is far from undroppable at this point, and Hatate will likely end up being more useful elsewhere on the pitch.
I like him and I was hoping he would become a NT regular when he debuted, but unfortunately he is a defensive liability.
Agree on Hatate and to some degree on Nakayama too. Nice foundation, yes. Nagatomo? Considering the competition... for me he's still undroppable. Haven't seen him play for club teams for ages, but in his last outings for Japan he still was lightyears better than Sasaki. (Well, who isn't?) Had one rather bad game, forgot which, otherwise he still was solid.
Nakayama has been playing as a CB, LB, and DM for Zwolle. Most of the time he is playing as either DM or LB, recently more as a LB. The least position he played in for Zwolle is CB.
Japan's starting 11 for the QF vs. New Zealand: GK: Tani. DF: Hashioka - Yoshida - Tomiyasu - Hatate. DMF: Endo - Tanaka. AMF: Doan - Kubo - Soma. FW: Hayashi. 3 changes from France's match. Hashioka, Soma, and Hayashi in for Sakai, Nakayama, and Ueda, respectively.
A blatant elbow to the stomach while in the air. If that is not a yellow card, I don't know what that is even though some will say it's too early for such.
Honestly they are playing much better than the South Africa game. Much more urgency and pace which is why there were chances already. Just gotta score first...
Our boys need to start penetrating the penalty area by the side with the ball at their feet instead of engaging into a crossfest. That is not going to cut it against the Kiwis.
Crosses are fine, but must be low, along the ground. When one wide player is crossing, the opposite side one must attack the far post.
Japan are missing too many chances, NZ's defence are pretty alert and look dangerous on counterattacks. Their defence are hard to break down, Moriyasu perhaps need to tinker a bit to find someone to get on the end of those chances.
Long shots are never a bad idea. I do believe New Zealand will tire out, and then substitutions can break them.
Japan need to improve their decision making upfront, Doan goes for goal too often and Kubo should also try for long-range shots more, he passed when he could have shot earlier.
The problem here is that Japan are stereotyped in their attacking patterns. It's always the same: get the ball, send it on the wing, cross in a highly difficult ball, miss or hit a Kiwi's head, rinse and repeat. There's a need for more variety to their attacks.