Although the title of "Asian Brother" is firmly held by South Korean player Son Heung-min, if there is a question of which Asian player is now the most numerous in Europe's mainstream league and plays the best overall, it must be Japan. According to incomplete statistics, there are dozens of Japanese players playing in mainstream european leagues today, and many of them can serve as the main force, among them there are both defensive backbones and forward cores, of course, there are also frontal sharp knives like Takushi Minamino, although he is not the main force in Liverpool, but he has also completed double-digit goals with his limited playing time this season, and in the Japanese national team, he has obtained the main position, and the size of Japanese players in Europe is growing, and the level of personnel is still improving.
24 appearances, only 9 starts, but can score 10 goals, such a report card can really say a lot of problems, and this is the performance of Japanese star Takumi Minamino in Liverpool this season, although since joining the team, the identity of the substitute has basically never changed, but it has to be said that the number of times he has appeared this season has been greatly improved in the previous season, more importantly, this season he has become a relatively fixed rotation player, and has not been loaned by the team, to know the past two seasons, He briefly played for his old clubs Red Bull Salzburg and Southampton, respectively, but did not play particularly well.
This season, Klopp has more trust in him and has also repaid the manager with one goal after another, and the data shows that counting this goal with Southampton, the Japan international has scored 3 goals in the Premier League this season, 4 goals in the League Cup and 3 goals in the FA Cup. He also became the first player this season to score more than three goals in the Premier League, The League Cup and the FA Cup. He is also liverpool's fifth player to score a double goal after Salah (30), Mane (22), Jota (21) and Firmino (11). His total playing time is only 1008 minutes, so it seems that the Japanese striker's goal efficiency is quite high, and the performance is not outstanding.
In addition to him, the relatively familiar Japanese players are basically playing in the Bundesliga, the first of which is the current Bundesliga captain Of Stuttgart, Whose outstanding ability contributed to the final round of the game and helped the team successfully relegation.
It should be noted that it was also his compatriot, young centre-back Ito Yoshiki, who had just passed his 23rd birthday a week ago, who gave him a header ferry assist.
In addition to these two, Bochum's No. 10 shirt owner is also a Japanese player, his name is Takuma Asano, he has made 33 appearances for the team in all competitions this season, has been a main position; in addition, in this season's rising Bundesliga team Berlin United, there are also Japanese players, 31-year-old Haraguchi, although no longer young, is still the core player of this team, after he played in Germany for many years, Hertha Berlin, He was left behind in both Düsseldorf and Hanover 96.
Of course, it is not forgotten that the post-00s youngster Kubo Kenei, who has been in Europe for 3 seasons, has played for The Mallorca team in La Liga for the second time this season, although the number of goals is not very small (2), but considering his age and physical factors, such results are not really impossible to take. The players mentioned above, with the exception of Yoshiki Ito, are basically the main players of the Japanese team under Moriho.1.
In fact, people who know Japanese football know that in addition to occupying a place in europe's top leagues, they also have a good performance in other mainstream European leagues. At present, the Japanese team's most relied on the "sharp knife" figure Ito Jun is also the best representative, this capable frontcourt all-rounder plays for Belgium's Genk, so far this season he has made a total of 47 appearances, including 45 starts, contributed 8 goals and delivered an amazing 19 assists; and in the Soviet Super League Celtic team, there are Japanese double stars, they are forward Maeda Daran and midfielder Flag Bearer Pity Yang, although the two are not as dazzling as Jun Ito in statistics. But considering that this is the first season of the duo's debut in the top European league stage, it is already good to get a relatively stable playing time.
Compared with the large number of players in Europe in the midfield, the Japanese team basically relies on players who play in domestic leagues in the defensive and goalkeeper positions, but in fact, most of them have had quite good Experience in European games before. For example, the veteran Yuto Nagatomo, who is about to turn 36, and the main player of right-back, Hiroki Sakai, who have left their mark on the mainstream and even the top giants in Europe, especially Nagatomo Yuto, who won the Italian Cup with the team during his time at Inter; but it should be pointed out that the only player in the Japanese team who can play the main and semi-main player in the five giants is Kenyo Fuan from the back line, and he can be said to be the most reassuring defender of the team when he currently plays for the Premier League Arsenal. However, unlike playing right-back at the club, under Moriho's rule, he was basically fixed in the position of center-back, to partner with the same European captain Maya Yoshida.
With such a staffing and advanced technical and tactical concepts, the Japanese team does have its own huge strength advantage in Asia. Japanese players like Takumi Minamino are still improving and improving themselves, and almost no one can shake the leading position of Japanese football in Asian football.
Text/Beiqing Sports Zhang Kunlong