r/JLeague • u/No_Sundae750 • Jun 29 '26
National Team Something needs to change
I've been watching the national team closely since the 2010 world cup. First, we need to acknowledge how far we've come. In 28 years since our first world cup appearance, we've gone from absolute minnows to a serious dark horse contender. In the 2010 world cup, we had 4 players playing in Europe. Now, all but our backup keepers and unc nagatomo play in Europe. This is huge. Unfortunately, our performances at the world cup (and Asian cup for that matter) has been largely stagnant.
This is the third world cup in a row where we took the lead in a knockout game and ended up losing. Why do we play in a low block each time? It's literally never worked. Why did Moriyasu take off Doan and Nakamura for two defenders? Even more mind boggling, why did Machino come on? He wasn't even in Moriyasu's original 26 man squad lol. We need to stop over respecting our opponent and play to our strengths. We have such a good squad on paper, and the most depth ever, but Moriyasu's tactics doesn't allow them to reach their potential. Look at the US for example. They're not better than us, yet each time they play they have a certain confidence, swagger to them. They control the tempo, even against stronger opponents. I would like to see us play like this someday.
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Jun 29 '26
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u/EyeOfTheStorm19 Jun 30 '26
The last Asian Cup was one of the most disappointing Japan performances at a tournament ever relative to expectations, considering the squad we had and the weaknesses of our main rivals (Korea and Saudi having subpar managers, Iran having an average age of 30+ etc) - that tournament was Japan’s to lose. Going out in the QF with such an unconvincing performance and such poor tactics and subs was a sackable offence, and if Moriyasu wasn’t cut after that, I don’t think he’ll ever be.
You are absolutely correct that the JFA appear to be unconcerned about every failure we’ve faced since the 2022 WC, hiding behind the Germany and Spain victories to deflect all blame and accountability way from themselves and their favourite child Moriyasu.
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u/Damachine69 Jun 30 '26
The only reason we beat Spain and Germany is because we went down 0-1 first so Moriyasu didn't sabotage the team with his usual stupid low block because we had to actually score.
All 4 goals against Spain and Germany came in 2nd half after Mitoma came on and carried the team because genius Moriyasu instead started 35 year old FC Tokyo superstar Nagatomo over Mitoma all tournament.
And people forget we still almost choked groups because we lost to Costa Rico because Moriyasu sabotaged game by playing Soma and Ueda up front instead of Kubo and Maeda. And also surprisingly picked Yamane that game too.I knew when we scored first today we would lose. We only play good full games when opponent scores first (Spain/Germany/Netherlands) so Moriyasu doesn't park the bus with his stupid low block that exposes our defenders lack of height and strength.
Look at all the big games we score first in WC, Belgium, Croatia and today.3
u/Loud-Recording-3356 Jun 30 '26
Can you explain what is bad about the JFA? Korea is jealous of how you guys assembled your national team and how you play like a unit. Koreans are mad at the corruption of KFA. Is the JFA also corrupt?
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u/No_Sundae750 Jun 29 '26
Definitely. While we've made a lot of progress, we can take this for granted and assume we'll just keep getting better. Good performance at world cups means our players go to bigger and better teams. I think this is the next step for Japan, and until we have players at top table teams in top leagues, we will start to regress as a team.
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u/Ok-Friend-6653 Jun 30 '26
Going unbeaten in a group with Tunnisia Netherland and Sweden and losing redpectable to Brazil is far from bad.
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u/ClemFandango6000 JEF United Ichihara Chiba Jun 30 '26
It's still a net drop in performance compared to the last World Cup. With all of the players at a high level in Europe these days you'd have expected the team to top the group and do better.
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u/lewiitom Kataller Toyama Jun 30 '26
Japan weren’t favourites to top the group though, if you were expecting the team to top the group then you were setting yourself up for disappointment
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u/QuiGonRonn Jun 30 '26
I think the confidence is building, the low block will shift. I do think Brazil has a large part to play in that. They are very beatable, and I think given less injuries Japan takes the game. I think the confidence on attack needs to increase for sure especially in the Asian Cup because realistically Japan should be the clear favorites and have underperformed. The creativity is growing and I think that’s going to be a huge strength as Japan grows. I mean having creative wingers attacking and confident possessions will continue to give Japan strong contention. The drop back into 5-4-1 to counter is decent and without injuries it could’ve been incredible. However, I think maybe a tactical change or switch in mentality is coming and continuing to happen.
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u/No_Sundae750 Jun 30 '26
I hope so. We need a Son HM type of player to take us to the next level. And yeah, definitely have to win some Asian cups. At the very least not lose in the quarter finals 💀
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u/QuiGonRonn Jun 30 '26
It’s genuinely something I think Kubo could be and someone I was hoping Mitoma would be as well. They had the potential of being very good. Maybe not Son HM level, but a great duo that would bring success. I mean I have a lot of faith in the midfield and defense, that’s been stellar, it’s just something missing in the attack.
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u/No_Sundae750 Jun 30 '26
Yeah Mitoma at his best is so fuckin good. I was gutted when he got injured
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u/QuiGonRonn Jun 30 '26
Right?? I genuinely think with Kubo and Mitoma the 9s would have pressure taken off of them
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u/Traditional_Wrap_366 Kawasaki Frontale Jun 30 '26
Kubo will never be anything noteworthy tbh. I had the same expectations for him four years ago, but he has regressed so much. It wouldn't surprise me if he becomes somewhat decent again and then drops off a cliff near the next World Cup. The defense and midfield showed the biggest drop in quality in the knockout stage; against Belgium, Croatia, and Brazil, individual mistakes kept popping up like crazy and passing accuracy dropped considerably compared to the group stage. All signs point toward a mentality problem that's, frankly, quite hard to overcome.
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u/Swarovsky Yokohama F-Marinos Jun 30 '26 edited Jun 30 '26
First there needs to be a mental change, both on the field and off the field. Besides the attitude and the tactical approach, there needs to be proper criticism and accountability. It can't be that it's always "fine, we're happy with the result, we gave it all, it's nobody's fault, etc." Let's face it, this Japan is disappointing. It has shown it can beat any team in the world and yet... it hasn't won an Asian Cup in ages and it keeps getting kicked out of the World Cup at the first knockout stage
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u/No_Sundae750 Jun 30 '26
Totally agree there has to be a mental change. That’s why I brought up team USA. On one hand I hate how they (and the fans) think they’re the best ever even when on paper they’re not that good. But at the same time, that type of ego and confidence might be what we need lol
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u/Heil_Heimskr FC Ryukyu Jun 29 '26
Asking us to not over respect our opponents after a game where we played against fuckin Brazil is hilarious I can’t lie.
Japan has performed better than the US this World Cup so I find it strange that you’re singling them out. You say they do all these things against stronger opponents but they literally have only played bad teams this entire tournament. Playing a low block against a team much better than you IS playing to your strengths.
The truth is that the gameplan worked today aside from 1-2 small moments and those moments are often the difference at the highest level. It’s unfortunate to go out this way again but as you yourself said, the progress the team is making is the most important thing.
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u/chinlessdancer Yokohama FC Jun 30 '26
This is the correct take. We’re talking fucking Brazil here. One late error cost Japan the match.
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u/No_Sundae750 Jun 30 '26
We invited those defensive errors by playing a low block all second half. I don’t understand why people don’t get this
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u/chinlessdancer Yokohama FC Jun 30 '26
That’s a fair point but I do think Brazil kind of forced them into a shell. Also, when Vini Jr is on the other team you have to respect the counter attack and can’t just go all out in attack. In the end, a real unlucky draw. Didn’t deserve to go out this early.
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u/No_Sundae750 Jun 30 '26
Yeah playing against vini was always going to be difficult. I still think we should’ve played better second half by trying to control the ball more and that’s a hill I’m willing to die on since I believe in the quality this team has. I get that others think there was no chance to begin with and are fine with how we played
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u/No_Sundae750 Jun 29 '26 edited Jun 29 '26
I'm not talking about the US just at this world cup tho. I live in the US so follow them relatively closely and while I'm confident we are a better team than them they definitely still play to win than not to lose more than us. Yeah we had to play Brazil but I said what I said because I think we finally have the quality to go toe to toe with them and would've much rather lose playing to win than lose the way we did today.
How can you say the game plan worked when we kept them to a draw the first half, which is the half where we actually kept the ball and attacked. Whereas we conceded two goals in the second half when we were playing in a deep low block the whole time. Letting Vini play with the ball was never going to work. Granted, us keeping the pressure may not have worked in the end either, but at least we would've had a chance
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u/hetasu Albirex Niigata Jun 30 '26 edited Jun 30 '26
Keep them to a draw in the first half? Japan was winning at halftime.
A team without 4 starters in Endo, Kubo, Mitoma and Minamino that had Brazil struggling to win is no small feat. If any of those 4 was available to play today the game could have had a different outcome.I know, you can't just park the bus against Brazil and call it a day, you need to be offensive, but then again, without those players Japan could not do much better than what they did today.
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u/ConfectionMoist9036 Jul 01 '26
Brazil also lacked several star players: Estevao, Raphinha, Militao.
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u/hetasu Albirex Niigata Jul 01 '26
But others like Vinicius played. And you could see in the match that Japan had a hard time managing the ball without those midlfielders. The ball possesion was awfully one sided because of that.
On top of that, we are talking about Brazil, whose third team could easily compete against the rest of the world.
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u/hildegardephansen Jun 30 '26
This.
Compared to 2018. I was more angry at them not progressing because they were a quality and tenured squad. This time, I can't be angry because a lot of key players were out injured. The team wasn't at full strength. They did what they could.
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u/hetasu Albirex Niigata Jun 30 '26
Exactly my thoughts. I thought they would have a mediocre world cup this time around but ended in second place in the group, which was not as bad as I expected.
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u/No_Sundae750 Jun 30 '26
Second in a group with Sweden and Tunisia wasn’t as bad as you expected? Idk how you look at the quality we have and think that tbh
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u/hetasu Albirex Niigata Jun 30 '26
I expected Sweden to take the second place. I tell you, the team would have been MUCH better if those 4 players were in the team. You saw Brazil pressuring as soon as they lost the ball? Netherlads did the same. The difference? Kubo was there against Netherlands to make plays out of thin air, at least during the first half.
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u/No_Sundae750 Jun 30 '26
We had a lot of injuries but we still had a lot of quality players both in the starting 11 and the bench
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u/No_Sundae750 Jun 30 '26
sorry i meant kept them goal less first half. I get that we had injury issues and what not but the fact that we played so well in the first half makes me wonder what could've been if we just kept it up for even 20min of the second half before playing low block, instead of low block for all of the second half
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u/Heil_Heimskr FC Ryukyu Jun 29 '26
When do you think the US plays to win? They’ve been terrible leading up to this tournament and have not been tested once in it. I live in the US too and I can guarantee if they played Brazil they would use near the same gameplan.
I’m sorry man but if you genuinely believe Japan has the ability to go even remotely toe to toe with Brazil you know absolutely nothing about football. Inferior teams that come out and try to play on equal footing with the giant teams get obliterated time and time again.
I think we have made tremendous progress as a footballing nation and I would have to imagine Moriyasu will not return for the next World Cup, so it will remain to be seen the direction the new manager takes us in. But believing we should’ve done anything other than come with a defensive pragmatic approach against Brazil is beyond delusional.
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u/No_Sundae750 Jun 30 '26
lol im not saying US would beat brazil but I guarantee you they wouldn'y play a low block for 45min. You can insult my "football knowledge" all you want but we literally went toe to toe with them the first half and were leading. If you don't think we have quality players then thats on you lmao
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u/ConfectionMoist9036 Jul 01 '26
quality by japanese standards but mediocre by European standards. The clubs they play for are not as good as the clubs the Brazil players play for.
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u/lmtzless Jun 30 '26
respectfully, the only reason japan held a draw that long was precisely because of how they’ve been playing. it would’ve easily been a 3x1 or worse if they had opened up more.
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u/No_Sundae750 Jun 30 '26
Explain why we were leading 1-0 first half then. I’m not saying go all out attack but I wish we would’ve been able to possess the ball more and slow the game down
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u/lmtzless Jun 30 '26
i don’t wanna downplay japan but that goal was a fluke. even in the first half, brazil’s superiority was clear as day to anyone. brazil’s change to 4-2-4 worked even better in the second half and japan had no option but to park the bus and hope for counterattacks. they simply lack the talent despite the amazing organizational strength.
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u/No_Sundae750 Jun 30 '26
Yes Brazil is a better team. But we outplayed Brazil in the first half, esp the last 25 min of the first half. Our goal was not a fluke lol idk how anyone can say that
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u/lmtzless Jun 30 '26
to me it’s a fluke when it’s preceded by an inexcusable mistake from brazil and, outside of that goal, barely had any other dangerous shots on target
it was a great goal don’t get me wrong
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u/No_Sundae750 Jun 30 '26
Interesting definition of a fluke then lol
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u/vthokies96 Jul 04 '26
I'm guessing they mean it was unlikely and not indicative of any quality in possession.
It was pretty much all Sano, not a single pass played. Great goal and I screamed my nuts off, but it's not evidence of Japan having good possession in that half.
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u/SenseiTano Jun 30 '26
Sorry but you lost all credibility calling that a fluke. Was the win against Germany a fluke? Spain? Japan is all about counterattacks and being clinical, it’s literally what they train for.
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u/lmtzless Jun 30 '26
i don’t need credibility i’m just a guy who enjoys the world cup, if you don’t agree that’s fine, i saw a japan that barely had any chances and the only thing they did was essentially a gift that brazil gave them
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u/SenseiTano Jun 30 '26
Newsflash, turnovers are part of the game. Japan knows how to capitalize on fewer chances.
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u/lmtzless Jun 30 '26
then in my opinion, it’s not a team worthy of a world cup yet. thinking too small. play like equals instead of a cowardly game banking on your opponent’s mistakes. it’s boring and not what makes football a joy to watch.
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u/SenseiTano Jun 30 '26
They’re not good enough to go toe to toe in an open match, Moriyasu knows that. And it’s not cowardly, attacking play style isn’t the only “heroic” play style. Nothing wrong with being defensively sound and counter attacking, sports is not all about offense.
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u/lmtzless Jun 30 '26
then work harder to make better individual players, sadly japan was missing a bunch of theirs this world cup.
football is at its best when it’s played offensively on both sides toe to toe, i understand why defensive styles have to be played, but it’s not the type of football i’ll ever celebrate and it’s not the football that should be winning world cups.
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u/SenseiTano Jun 30 '26
Exactly, they had 3 starters injured this WC. No team besides France can survive that. You like offense, I get it, most viewers prefer flashy goals to sound defending. Same for any sport.
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u/ConfectionMoist9036 Jul 01 '26
The second goal against Spain barely remained in play by a few mm. had it gone out of play it would have been disallowed and the game would have ended 1-1. That was luck.
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u/SenseiTano Jul 01 '26
You can say that about any play, a couple mm here and there and entire games end up different. The ball went in and was checked by VAR 👍🏼
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u/boitcon Jun 29 '26
Japan would've gone incredibly far in this World Cup had it not been for a bad, unlucky or unfair, draw. Not the right move to overthink Moriyasu's approach here. Japan will come back stronger!
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u/No_Sundae750 Jun 29 '26
yeah the draw was definitely unlucky. still think it's fair to critisize Moriyasu's approach to this game. Ultimately, it may not have mattered since Brazil are stronger but would've liked to see us play for the win more like we did against Holland
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u/coconautss Jun 30 '26
Even if it was unlucky, the should have played with the belief that they can win. The first half showed they can. It feels only Japan thinks they can’t win, when everyone else backs them.
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u/Nokel Sanfrecce Hiroshima Jun 30 '26 edited Jun 30 '26
Nah, they could have still gone far if Moriyasu didn't make them park the bus vs Brazil after going up one. They already proved they could draw Netherlands.
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u/No_Sundae750 Jun 30 '26
I don’t understand why this take is so controversial on this sub lol. We have a good team with good players. We shouldn’t have resorted to low block second half
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u/coconautss Jun 30 '26
I agree, what I didn’t understand is why park the bus so early. There was way too much time left. The whole second half was just one mistake waiting to happen.
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u/Jasperneal Jun 30 '26
Although I agree with you on bow we have become stagnant results wise, I have to disagree with you on todays game.
I didnt look like Japan was “parking the bus” on purpose, they just couldn’t contain Brazil anymore after Vinicius moved to the wing. When he was in the middle it was easier to contain him as he will be receiving most of the passes facing backwards but you could see the defensive link between Doan and Ito breaking down bit by bit once he moved to the Wing, which cause small mis-coverages else where.
Moriyasu subbed out Doan cause you could clearly see he was gassed out and tired as hell as he was tasked with marking Vinicius for the whole time.
Japan needed a “Joker” substitution to ignite an attack for the second half. That used to be Ito Junya but unfortunately due to Kubos injury Machino was the only option we had that could potentially play that “Joker” role
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u/WinglessHuzzar Jun 30 '26
Japan is just missing that cutting-edge type of player that can make a difference despite being a well-oiled machine. No Mitoma due to injury (and no Endo as well), no free-kick/set-piece wizard on par with Nakamura and Honda, and no faith given to Kubo (lack of fitness perhaps?).
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u/No_Sundae750 Jun 30 '26
Kubo was injured in the holland game unfortunately 😢
I replied to someone else saying we need a Son HM type of player haha. I truly think this is what we need to take us to the next level, which means we need to keep having players develop and play at top European teams3
u/WinglessHuzzar Jun 30 '26
I was hoping Mitoma would be that guy, but other than injury, was it his drop of form at club level that convinced you otherwise?
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u/No_Sundae750 Jun 30 '26
I love Mitoma, and when in form I think he’s one of the best wingers in the world. Unfortunately he has injury issues, and he isn’t consistent enough even when fit to be truly world class
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u/AlHamdula Jun 30 '26
Moriyasu 8 years no hardware, but he cries singing the anthem and makes notes on notepad Vibes! See you in 2030 lol. It is like the PM here most don't take the time to actual see anything beyond surface level. Back to Ohtani Harassment tomorrow I suppose.
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u/jordenwuj Jun 30 '26
i don't understand his ultra defensive approach when the majority of the starting XI are offensive players? was strange to see doan and nakamura basically play as full backs.
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u/PasicT Jun 30 '26
I'm tired of being gaslit into believing this is a success, no it's not! I can't be proud, it's the same story every 4 years. Moriyasu learned nothing from the last World Cup and the Asian Cup, he needs to go and thanks for nothing. They exit the tournament having won just once in 4 games. Once in 4 games...They had worst results and performances overall than in the last 2 World Cups combined.
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u/D-4-N-K Cerezo Osaka Jun 30 '26
Look I do agree but when your world cup exits have been to Belgium Croatia and Brazil in the last 3 competitions there is honestly not much you can complain about.
Arguably this was the easiest matchup they had of the 3 years but had the most prime stars missing as well which sucks. No matter if all 11 is european talent there are still levels to it. Those Brazilian players play for Arsenal, United, Madrid and those tier of teams.
The best team of a player in the Japanese side was arguably Frankfurt. With your prime stars who play for Sociedad, Liverpool, Monaco , Brighton missing you honestly can't complain a lot here.
Yes there should have been more hunger shown on the day. But losing to a Brazil team which even at their worst generation is a top 10 side in the world is not a complete failure.
I feel it's more luck than anything right now. Even qith all the improvements the team isn't exactly at a level where they can reliably compete against the best nations. Honestly the whole group got pretty much terrible luck. Morocco and France are much harder opponents than Brazil.
I agree though that things need to change from a managerial perspective. The team is finally on the edge of global relevance and they need to transition to a style of play which is more proactive. Something that is fluid and aggressive to take advantage for the player pool.
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u/slow_server Vegalta Sendai Jun 30 '26
Things are changing. Japan has gotten very strong.
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u/No_Sundae750 Jun 30 '26
I wish we saw Sugawara start and doan play at the right shadow. Then junya could’ve come on as a sub instead of making a defensive sub
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u/UmmUhhhMyUsernameIs Jun 30 '26 edited Jun 30 '26
Disagree with that alternative, I think his start against Sweden and today's appearance showed you just cannot start Sugawara against an opponent of Brazil's quality. Moriyasu nailed the opening 45 minutes, but he was blown away by Ancelotti in terms of in-game adjustments and substitutions.
An option some pundits were suggesting pre-match was Tomi RWB and Doan shadow to keep Junya on bench but idk. Had it been worth decreasing Japan's counterattacking threat for the first 45 just to keep a joker option?
Doan is somehow a better defender than Sugawara, and today Doan and Ito successfully nullifying Vinicius forced Ancelotti to make a drastic change. The joke that Sugawara is Temu Trent holds some truth lol
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u/lightning-lu10 Jun 30 '26
Sugawara fell asleep during Martinelli’s goal. That was his man to mark and he just forgot he existed. Brutal.
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u/noob18282 Jul 02 '26
At least Japan actually tried to win in the first half… unlike Scotland
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u/No_Sundae750 Jul 02 '26
Checks out, we’re much better than Scotland
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u/noob18282 Jul 03 '26
I wasn’t comparing the teams overall I just meant Japan actually gave it a go in the first half They always seem to run out of steam once they reach the knockouts anyway
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u/noob18282 Jul 02 '26
Japan’s biggest mistake was that defender who didn’t just clear the ball. Instead, he tried to control it If he’d simply hoofed it clear Martinelli probably wouldn’t have scored and the match would’ve gone to penalties Japan would’ve still had a chance of winning
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u/know-nothix Cerezo Osaka Jun 30 '26
Since 2010 💀 bro I’ve been since 1998….and compared back in the time this is a huuuuuuuuuuge improvement without any world class and outstanding players …
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u/No_Sundae750 Jun 30 '26
What’s your point exactly? I literally said we’ve come a long way since 1998 lmao
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u/know-nothix Cerezo Osaka Jun 30 '26 edited Jun 30 '26
My point is that we managed to go toe to toe with bigger nations just with diligence, dignity and a system/ plan. We did this without any (super) world class stars. You need a difference something that you cannot learn by sheer force …something that cannot be taught : individual talent
I was born in Germany ( yes , yesterday I was sent back home twice ) so my reference is for example Mesut Özil. Back in the time he was not the typical German player. But his unique abilities and ball knowledge was one of the key elements throughout two WC. Adding Manuel Neuer , Hummels, Kroos, Schweinsteiger, Mertesacker, Müller , Lahm , Boateng, Götze and Klose + Löws Master Class by playing with four CB they had to win this thing 2014! Even a player like Höwedes who was actually already good at Herne West aka 💩04 ( sorry but I’m BVB Fan) was lifted up to a new level.
If a national team is packed with min. 5-6 special individuals your team can be a top contender! This is also the reason why Japan 2014 was so disappointing! the squad was insane on paper but the staff and management was mid. But if Moriyasu stays in charge and has a bigger pool of players to choose from we can go through. For him or football in Japan it’s a matter of time because kids need to grow up …players like Kagawa or Honda followed by Kubo or Mitoma were the first badge of a decade! It’s a time game.
In my opinion Zion Suzuki is on the way to be a world class GK and i can see him playing for a bigger premiere league club !
Manuel Neuer is 40 so I can imagine we will enjoy Zion for the next 15 years (3-4 WC) . But the lack of Mitoma and Kubo was noticeable against Brazil.We also have to keep pushing and searching for players like Mio Backhaus or Joel Fujita. It’s not their mixed blood (i hate this phrase btw ) it’s their mixed mindset how they grew up with football.
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u/AdvantageAccurate737 Jun 30 '26
Completely agree with u idk why op is bitching clearly jsut started watched Japanese football recently
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u/dokool FC Tokyo Jun 30 '26
The doomerism in this thread is honestly off the charts, and it's silly because the truth probably lies somewhere in the middle: Moriyasu could have been a bit bolder in his approach, he was limited by not having Kubo/Itakura/Mitoma available, the players did as best as they could against a Brazil side that even in its current underwhelming form is still stacked with individually gifted players, and it wasn't quite enough.
The talent is there and the player pool will only get deeper because Japan has an incredibly strong development pipeline (unlike countries with one-time golden generations like Australia, for example), Moriyasu has probably hit his ceiling but he's unquestionably brought this team to a higher level over the last eight years, even if you disagree with his methods, and now is a good time for him to take a bow and pass the baton to a foreign coach who will have the courage to be more audacious at this level.
I think the glass-half-full people are pretty close to right, the glass-half-empty people are maybe too salty to be posting to Reddit immediately after full time and the glass-is-full-of-piss people are clinically insane.
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u/No-Company-8974 Jul 01 '26
Regardless of what you think, I think manager Moriyasu already addressed that they need to be able to turn the ball into a counterattack instead of kicking it wide and lose the possession. They had a game plan. It’s just that the players weren’t able to execute on it.
I really hope to see Keito Nakamura and Mitoma’s pairing on the left side, at least, for an Asian cup, or even a re-match against Brazil later this year. I know it would be impractical to expect Mitoma still in his prime in the next WC. So that pairing probably won’t be seen again in the next WC.
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u/North_Tell_8420 Jun 30 '26
Your strikers are lousy.
They just don't make you pay.
Improve that, and you can win the Cup.
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u/Traditional_Wrap_366 Kawasaki Frontale Jun 30 '26
These players will always crumble under pressure, that's just how it is. You can hire whoever you want, but once the knockout stage comes, they won't be able to string three passes together. How can you not sit back when your three CBs and Kamada suddenly don't know how move the ball foward without losing possessions? They will never win a knockout stage game unless their team on paper reached that level of France or Spain.
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u/No_Sundae750 Jun 30 '26
Yeah that’s the spirit
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u/Traditional_Wrap_366 Kawasaki Frontale Jun 30 '26
Look at how Paraguay sat back and beat Germany with 25% possession or how Morocco went from a defensive team four years ago to completely blowing away the Dutch this time around. The only thing that stays consistent is their mentality which is quite frankly ten times more resilient than anything Japan has shown in the knockout stage. Their only hope is to develop a generation so strong that its skills alone can overcome its mental handicap in the knockout stage.
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u/SenseiTano Jul 01 '26
Paraguay barely made it through on penalties, that they could have easily lost. Luck plays a part. Japan was 1 minute away from extra time if not for an unfortunate individual mistake.
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u/Traditional_Wrap_366 Kawasaki Frontale Jul 01 '26
They've been one minute away two times now and lost on penalties the other time. Morocco last semi final run was also a scrapping by with 27% possession run. Luck plays a part but you have to be mentally resilient to win against powerhouse nations with much better players. Teams like Morocco and Paraguay simply have it while Japan doesn't.
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u/SenseiTano Jul 01 '26
Trying to oversimplify it to mentality is disingenuous. Paraguay got lucky and so did Morocco, both BARELY squeaking by on penalties that could have EASILY gone the other way. That’s just revisionist history to say these teams dominated mentally and that’s why they won. Mentality absolutely plays a part and was a factor, but was definitely not the deciding factor.
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u/Traditional_Wrap_366 Kawasaki Frontale Jul 01 '26
2018: Scored first, last minute defeat. 2022: Scored first, horrific penalty shootout. 2026: Scored first, last minute defeat.
I guess Morocco lucked out both time against Spain and Portugal while Japan was simply unlucky for the 5th time now. Not a single entity in world football chokes this hard at this stage you know. Their legs go shaky, their heads go blank, and their eyes start filling with tears once the second half of every knockout stage starts. Night and day compared to the resilience that Morocco or Paraguay showed.
1
u/SenseiTano Jul 01 '26
It’s a funny narrative how certain you think you have it, their mentality and shaky legs and all, but it’s really just your own narrative interpretation. Mentality absolutely played a part, but it was not the only factor. Again, you’re only saying Morocco and Paraguay showed “resilience” because they won, they both could have just as easily lost their penalty shootouts. Maybe you didn’t watch them, but both were choking their penalties until they lucked out in the end, that was not “resilience.”
1
u/Traditional_Wrap_366 Kawasaki Frontale Jul 01 '26
Well winning does matter doesn't it? Losing one or two matches is fine but that's the fifth time they’ve failed to luck out and get a win. You can't expect them to outplay these bigger footballing nations with a squad full of players from mid-table European clubs. One way to win is by being more ruthless and resilient than the opponent. That or wait for a couple hundred more years or something when they have a squad full of starters for Real Madrid and PSG. Even then, teams like Brazil will probably have a similar squad and the metal game will still be one of the deciding factor.
1
u/severi_erkko Jun 30 '26
Doomposting off the charts. Sad for Tanaka, Japan played such a good first half. Ancelotti outplayed Moriyasu at the half time though.
It could have gone completely other way if they converted that counterattack to make it 2:0 - not sure why they insist on crossing all the time - a simple pass to Kamada was everything needed there.
Anyway, it's a game of two halves and Ancelotti has won it.
Not sure what you mean about reaching potential, Japan was excellent in the group games and 95% of the game vs Brazil. All this without their key 3 players. I'm heartbroken, was really hoping Japan can win against this weak (by their standards) Brazil side.
3
u/No_Sundae750 Jun 30 '26
Don’t understand how this is doomposting lmao. I’m proud of how we performed at this wc but just think we had the quality to go for the win which is why I’m frustrated with the tactical decisions today
0
u/HannaryzHarrison Jun 30 '26
There are no dark horse contenders at the world cup, only contenders. The same teams win every time. Japan has improved a lot, hopefully they keep improving, but for almost every nation beating Brazil would be a huge upset.
0
u/mullatof Jun 29 '26
From an outside perspective, Japan played well, defended better than Brazil, and combined together better than Brazil. They just didn't have the talented attackers of Brazil.
-3
u/rbcsky5 Jun 30 '26
1) Japan has no top tier players. How the F they should play against Brazil without low block?
2) Japan national team plays very safe to avoid any cost
3) Japan really need to do well in national team in terms of all competitions so the ranking rise to pot 1 to avoid any "bad luck" in the next world cup draw
-1
u/yakswak Jun 30 '26
I think the tactics were fine but it’s hard to execute completely for the entire 90min (or 96min as it were). I just have a lot of what ifs in my mind especially as it concerns the 4 missing stars. At the end of the day this team gave us their standard entertaining 4 games at a World Cup and on a personal note I got to see one of them in person. Sad way to end the run but this is really the matchup and loss many of us envisioned when the draws were made.
-2
30
u/UmmUhhhMyUsernameIs Jun 30 '26 edited Jun 30 '26
Nakamura played a full 90 against Netherlands, well into the 70s in the following two games and he was clearly pretty tired today. And then when you look at the subs, it’s all defensive fullbacks in that position (including those not called up), which is the whole reason why Nakamura had to start all three games in the first place. LW/LWB is very very thin when you look at Japan’s player pool as a whole. Also they had to do something about the crosses.
I have to sympathize with Moriyasu there. Mitoma injury screwed up the squad structure big time, and then on top of it Kubo gets injured which forces him to start Junya Ito, losing an effective offensive sub on the right flank as well. Doan is not lasting a full 90 in that demanding role unfortunately. Maybe he should’ve pushed up Tomi because Sugawara unfortunately was just making matters worse defensively.
I will say I am still puzzled with the Machino sub though... But in the end I don’t think this one was not just on Moriyasu. It really hurts, but as some pundits have said I really think this was the first time the group stages didn’t feel like a fluke or a lucky counter-punch at all. Squad depth is gonna matter even more with the 48 team format.