Text/Huang Sijun
Augsburg, the bundesliga's most "East Asian" club, today announced the signing of another East Asian star, this time not by the South Korean international, but by Japanese winger Takashi Usa, whom Bundesliga fans have known for a long time. Augsburg signed a four-year contract with 24-year-old Usaomi. Usami will finish playing for Gamba Osaka in this Saturday's away league against Kashima Antlers before embarking on her journey to Germany. According to Kicker, Augsburg paid a transfer fee of around €1.5 million for Usami.
As early as the summer of 2011, Usami debuted in the Bundesliga and transferred from Gamba Osaka to Bayern Munich on loan. But this step was obviously too big, and Usami, who was not yet 20 years old at the time, did not get a chance at bayern, who was so strong. In one season, he made only 5 appearances in all competitions, for a total of only 224 minutes. In order to maintain the rhythm of the game, he can only represent the second team in the regional league, and in 18 appearances, he has scored 6 goals and 2 assists.
*Usami Takashi chose Bayern as his first stop in the Bundesliga, which was obviously unwise.
After a season of frustration, this talented teenager with an arrogant personality did not give up. The following season he joined Hoffenheim on loan. Just arriving in Hoffenheim, Usami was heavily used by then-coach Babel, contributing 2 goals and 2 assists in the first 5 league rounds. However, the good times did not last long, huo village was turbulent with the deepening of the season, and it was only after changing the coach three times that it was lucky to be relegated. Under the last manager, Gisdor, Usami was sent to the Cold Palace and had to return to Gamba Osaka at the end of the season.
In the past three years, Usami has made great progress. In the first six months of his return, he made 18 appearances in the J2 League, scoring 19 goals and returning to J1 with The Bar, who had been unexpectedly relegated the previous year. Under Usami's leadership, Gamba reenacted the "Kaiserslautern Miracle" in the 2014 season, and also won two cups, becoming the triple crown of Japanese football. In both the 2014 and 2015 seasons, Usami was named to the J1 Team of the Season, including the third top scorer of J1 in the 2015 season – an efficiency of 19 goals in 34 games by winger standards.
All in all, 24-year-old Usami waited for the right time to go abroad again. Augsburg's competitive environment is more relaxed and competitive, but the pressure is much less than that of giants like Bayern or the chaotic Hoffenheim. Moreover, Augsburg has three South Korean internationals - Ko Ji-jeol, Ji Dong-won and Hong Just- and Gu Zizhe has become the team's top scorer in the league with 8 goals in the past season. In Augsburg, Usami's main rivals are Brazilian Kayubi and German veteran Tobias Werner. Kayubi has played well this past season, contributing 4 goals and 5 assists in 26 league appearances. But he is not a natural winger and can also play as a center or shadow forward. As the fans grew older and injured, Verner did not have many appearances in the past season, and his performance declined significantly, only giving 1 assist in the league. Compared to the two competitors, Usami won in terms of vitality and ability to grasp opportunities. But whether his thin body can withstand the impact of a group of strong men, as well as whether his team consciousness and defensive ability can meet the requirements, it will take time to test.
*Augsburg is the first club in Bundesliga history to have three Korean players at the same time. Gu Zizhe, Hong Zhengzheng and Chi Dongyuan (from left) have all been given stable playing time over the past season.
The small character of Augsburg has been built by the young marshal Weinzier for several years and has already occupied a place in the Bundesliga. But the problem is that Weinzier has just jumped ship to Schalke 04 and replaced it with Dilk Schuster, who led Darmstadt from the Bundesliga two consecutive levels to the Bundesliga and miraculously relegated. Schuster's first Bundesliga season was stunning, but his play at Darmstadt was simple and crude, completely counter-trend. Once in Augsburg, he will definitely change his coaching style, which is a risk for both him and Augsburg, as well as for the newcomer Usami. The good thing, of course, is that Schuster attaches great importance to attacking from the flanks, and his use of the two wingers, Heller and Rausch, at Darmstadt has been impressive.
At the same time as Usami returned to the Bundesliga, Hotaru Yamaguchi, who had only transferred from Sakura Osaka to Hanover 96 at the beginning of the year, returned to China and rejoined Sakura. In this short half season, Yamaguchi's performance can be described as unbearable. Of course, his luck was very bad, encountering Hanover into a pot of porridge and eventually relegating at the bottom. Under Schaaf, Yamaguchi made six Bundesliga appearances, two of which were substituted after playing less than halftime. According to Kicker magazine's ratings, the former Sakura captain averaged just 5.33 points (note: best 1, bottom 6). His best game was a 2-1 away win over Stuttgart, in which he played 90 minutes but only scored four points. It was also the only game that Schaff did not lose during his time. In fact, Hanover didn't want Yamaguchi to leave, but the Japan international wanted to return to his family and his familiar environment. General manager Badr said: "As a Japan international, he definitely has the strength to compete in the Bundesliga. But Hotaru wanted to go back to Japan no matter what. ”
*Hiroshi Kiyotake fought in the Bundesliga for 4 years and made a good impression.
Hannover originally had three Japanese players, but with the relegation to the Bundesliga, the "Japanese group" fell apart completely. In addition to Yamaguchi's return, Hiroshi Kiyotake and Hiroki Sakai also decided to leave the team. Qingwu is about to switch to the Europa League three-time champions Sevilla, and the two clubs negotiated as early as the beginning of this month for 6.5 million euros, of which 10% belongs to Qingwu's former owner Nuremberg. Since Qingwu was still playing for the national team at the time and then had to take a vacation, he had not yet gone to Spain for medical examinations and signed a contract. But if there are no accidents, Qingwu will play in La Liga in the new season. In the past season, Qingwu has made 21 appearances for Hannover in the Bundesliga despite two metatarsal injuries, and has delivered 5 goals and 6 assists, which is remarkable. Kiyotake, also from Sakura Osaka, played in the Bundesliga for 4 seasons, making a total of 117 appearances, scoring 17 goals, plus 30 assists, and the set-pieces, dribbling and long-range shots were all a must, which impressed The Bundesliga fans.
In contrast, Hiroki Sakai, who also played in the Bundesliga for 4 years, performed mediocrely. Despite being Hannover's main right-back, the former Helios player lacked bright spots on both ends of the road. In total, he made 92 appearances in the Bundesliga, scoring 2 goals and 1 assist, and that's it. Since Sakai's contract with Hannover expired, he was free to transfer. He will reportedly travel to Marseille on Thursday for a medical examination, most likely to play Ligue 1 in the new season.
After one in and three outs, there were only 8 Japanese players left in the Bundesliga – Shinji Kagawa (Dortmund), Tachio Uchida (Schalke 04), Yoshiki Muto (Mainz 05), Genki Haraguchi (Hertha Berlin), Isamu Ōki (Cologne), Takatoku Sakai (Hamburg), Makoto Hasebe (Frankfurt) and the newcomer Takashi Usami. Last September, Ingolstadt signed 18-year-old Watanabe, but the front-liners are currently only practicing in the second team (22 appearances in the bavaria region of the regional league last season, scoring four goals) and have not yet officially landed in the Bundesliga. Returning to the Bundesliga in Freiburg also has a Japanese player , 21-year-old Kosuke Kinoshita. The 1.88m centre-forward joined Freiburg as early as early 2013 but has been playing in the echelon and is currently only a second-team player.
*In the 2015/16 season, Shinji Kagawa delivered a record of 9 goals and 7 assists in the Bundesliga, and the statistics look quite eye-catching. But in fact, his main position under Tuchel is not stable, and the state is up and down.
In fact, the Bundesliga boom in Japan has shown signs of receding over the past season. Last summer, Mainz's top scorer Shinji Okazaki moved to Leicester City, Frankfurt midfielder Takashi went to Eibar in La Liga, and Hosobe, who couldn't play in Hertha Berlin, went to Bursa. Although Yoshiki Muto, who replaced Shinji Okazaki, scored a brilliant first half (seven goals in the Bundesliga, including a hat-trick), a serious knee injury in the early part of the second half forced him to end his debut Bundesliga season early. Top shinji Kagawa's main position at Borussia Dortmund has become less stable as the season progresses, and his personal performance has fluctuated. Takato Uchida was reimbursed for a knee injury for a full season, Ōtoshi was unable to play in Cologne, Makoto Hasebe's Frankfurt was almost relegated, and Takatoku Sakai sat on the cold bench for almost half a season after moving from Stuttgart to Hamburg before regaining the opportunity to play. Only the original mouth of the fringe of the national team was able to swim against the current and won the main position in Hertha Berlin. It is not known whether Japanese players will be able to make waves in the Bundesliga again in the upcoming 2016/17 season.