The Chinese men's soccer team lost 0-2 at the Saitama World Cup Stadium, ending its journey to impact the 2022 World Cup ahead of schedule. Friends who have watched the game are very clear that the Chinese team was in a passive situation for almost all 90 minutes of the game, and the Japanese team's 2-0 victory was a reasonable result. So after this match, what do Japanese football celebrities and commentators, as well as online public opinion, think about the outcome of the game? It may come as a bit of a surprise, as it's almost one-sidedly "dissatisfied."
The Great International Celebrity has been questioned
As a former main player at Inter Milan, Yuto Nagatomo is undoubtedly an extremely experienced player in the current Japanese team, but in recent years, whether in the European League or after his return to the J-League last year, his competitive state has declined very significantly. Especially last year, it was in a state of no ball for several consecutive months, which made its state decline more rapidly. This does not need to be tested on a stage like the Round of 12, even if watching J-League matches, the left side of FC Tokyo, guarded by Nagatomo Yuto, is often the target of opponents' onslaught. Coupled with the excellent performance of Yuta Nakayama, who came on as a substitute against China, assisted Jun ito's header to score, and after the game, there were many calls that Nagatomo Yu was no longer suitable for the start.
In his commentary to Yahoo, former Japan international Shoji Joji clearly wrote in the last paragraph that "Nagatomo Yudo may not be able to get the starting position in the future." He believes that the former Serie A player's performance and status after returning to FC Tokyo last year is a visible decline, and then the saudi arabia should decisively start with Yuta Nakayama, because the latter has the ability to advance with the ball and can provide more room for change for Takumi Minamino in the front. In the match against China, one of the problems of the Japanese team was that the attack could not pull away the width, and if yuta Nakayama could be used to repeatedly impact the opponent's right side defense, the effect would be significantly improved.
Football ZONE's post-match score also gave Nagatomo Yudo the lowest score in the whole game, believing that his state and peak had slipped too much, that neither the offensive nor defensive ends could help the team, that there was a lack of presence on the field, and that there were many problems with conceding goals. Football Channel commented that the gap between Yudo Nagatomo and Yuta Nakayama is getting wider and wider, and it is necessary to make a new and old replacement. Fans also generally believe that the 35-year-old veteran is the time to let Hyun, after all, his performance on the field has not been convincing.
The offensive end can't be opened, too little 2-0
This match is the first time that the Japanese team has been able to win more than 1 goal in the round of 12, and considering that the team can often play a large score of more than 4-0 in the round of 40, and even have a 10-0 performance, it can be seen that the gap between the qualifiers in these two stages is very large. Interestingly, the vast majority of Japanese media and fans were dissatisfied with the 2-0 victory, not because they "had to sell cheaply", but because MoriHoichi's team had some chronic problems that had not shown signs of being resolved for a long time.
For example, the Japanese team's offensive routine is relatively single, the team can not form a multi-point blossom situation in the midfield, the actual result is that there is no possession of the ball, can grasp the situation, but the real threat of the number of attacks is not very much. This was extremely evident in the first half, with Nagatomo on the left in poor shape, little decent coordination in the middle, and almost all of the attacks being passed through the midfield to Jun Ito on the right. Ito Jun also has a great advantage over the defenders of the Chinese team, but if he changes an opponent and strangles this offensive point, he is likely to face a long period of bitter fighting.
In the 38th minute of the first half, Tanaka Bi took the ball in midfield and shoved it forward to Hidemasa Morida, who saw the timing and posed a threat to Takumi Minamino who inserted into the big box, which is probably rare and can play in the small range of the front field. In addition, although the role of Daqiang Yong as a fulcrum in the penalty area is obvious, the cooperation between him and his teammates is always slow and half a beat, resulting in even if he creates some opportunities, he cannot grasp it, and the difference with the goal is not a centimeter, and the situation cannot be opened for a long time. These problems will become hidden dangers in the face of Saudi Arabia. Sergio Echigo, a special commentator for Nikkan Sports, wrote an article that was even more straightforward, titled "Winning Only Because the Chinese Team Is Too Weak, the Offensive Routine is Single, and There Are Concerns About Saudi Arabia..."
In general, there is a reason why the japanese media and fans continue to be dissatisfied with MoriHoichi, not a simple emotional vent, because the latter is too conservative in the selection and employment of people, his coaching style is "like his name", and many adjustments are passive adjustments made under objective unfavorable circumstances, so it is difficult to bring positive changes to the team. Moreover, the biggest problem of this team is still in the attack, with many attackers in the front court who have been recognized for their performance in the Europa League, but the offensive end has always been very sluggish, which is regrettable.
Text/Supine Braces - Yangyuan Zhang