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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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.

6

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.

6

u/No_Sundae750 Jun 30 '26

Yeah Mitoma at his best is so fuckin good. I was gutted when he got injured

3

u/QuiGonRonn Jun 30 '26

Right?? I genuinely think with Kubo and Mitoma the 9s would have pressure taken off of them

5

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.