Nishino\u2019s selections gives the impression he does not follow European football closely, as there is no other logical explanation for the omissions of Doan, Morioka and especially Nakajima. Others\u2019 performances were fairly considered. Takuma Asano and Yosuke Ideguchi, who scored the goals which clinched Japan\u2019s participation in Russia, were cut from the final list after earning almost no playing time for their clubs this season. In addition, his selections from the J.League were good overall. Let\u2019s take a closer look at each position of the squad:<\/span><\/p>\n <\/p>\n Goalkeepers<\/b><\/p>\n There is no discussion here. The best ones were picked. <\/span>Eiji Kawashima<\/b> comes from a solid individual season in France (despite his team\u2019s relegation) and has been the undisputed starter for Japan, although his errors in the Ghana friendly made his situation questionable.<\/span><\/p>\n Kashiwa Reysol\u2019s <\/span>Kosuke Nakamura<\/b> and Gamba Osaka\u2019s <\/span>Masaaki Higashiguchi<\/b> are still below in the pecking order, but above all other Japanese goalkeepers in the J.League. Nakamura has been the best of his position domestically for the past two years and is the leading candidate to take over Kawashima\u2019s spot in the next cycle. The Gamba Osaka shot-stopper is in great form and having a reliable season.<\/span><\/p>\n Side-backs<\/b><\/p>\n Hiroki Sakai<\/b> and <\/span>Yuto Nagatomo<\/b> still have no rivals, which is worrying as Japan lacks new talent at this position but reassuring in terms of sheer talent. Sakai is at the peak of his career and comes from two fabulous seasons at Olympique Marseille. He has always played on the right, but has recently discovered he can also perform well on the left. Nagatomo recovered his form in his semester on loan at Galatasaray, earned a morale boost by winning the Turkish league.<\/span><\/p>\n The ambidextrous <\/span>Gotoku Sakai<\/b> has been the first option at either side, but he is far from meeting the standards of the starting duo. <\/span>Genki Haraguchi<\/b>, originally a midfielder, is being tested as an option at right wingback.<\/span><\/p>\n Centre-backs<\/b><\/p>\n After plying his trade for many years in one of the strongest leagues in the world, <\/span>Maya Yoshida<\/b> has reached a level that no other Japanese centre-back can come close to approaching. Yet despite the untouchable status, he has committed several mistakes in recent internationals.<\/span><\/p>\n Tomoaki Makino<\/b>, in contrast, failed in Europe and is not a stand-out even in the J.League, but he\u2019s second to none in terms of \u00a0\u201cfighting spirit.\u201d Halilhodzic awarded him a starting spot for his performances in the friendlies against Brazil and Belgium as well as in the 2017 ACL title winning campaign with Urawa Reds. Until then, <\/span>Gen Shoji<\/b> was by far the best centre-back in Japan, but his 2018 season is unimpressive so far and he has been committing more mistakes than he should.<\/span><\/p>\n Wataru Endo<\/b> is a wild card who can cover many positions. In domestic play he\u2019s used as a right-leaning centre-back, but for the national team level he also performed volante and right side-back roles. <\/span>Naomichi Ueda<\/b> is in more for his potential than actual capabilities. He is too error-prone and the weakest link in Kashima Antlers\u2019 defence.<\/span><\/p>\n Defensive midfielders<\/b><\/p>\n Makoto Hasebe<\/b> is going to his third World Cup as captain and key player for the Samurai Blue. In the last two seasons at Eintracht Frankfurt, he has also been deployed as a sweeper in a three-back defence and received a lot of praise for his performances. He is likely to perform the same role for the national team in Russia.<\/span><\/p>\n Hotaru Yamaguchi<\/b> is doing well at Cerezo Osaka and is the main defensive option in midfield, besides being a fine ball distributor. He should be paired alongside a passing midfielder like <\/span>Ryota Oshima<\/b>, the Kawasaki Frontale jewel whose national team progress has been hindered by injuries, or the more hyped <\/span>Gaku Shibasaki<\/b>, a Kashima fan favourite who has already scored against the two Spanish giants, Real Madrid and Barcelona. Both are candidates for being the heir of Yasuhito Endo.<\/span><\/p>\n If Nishino opts for a more defensive approach, he can field Wataru Endo together with Yamaguchi, or even Gotoku Sakai, who has experience as a volante at Hamburger.<\/span><\/p>\n <\/p>\n Offensive midfielders<\/b><\/p>\n With Nakajima, Doan, and Morioka absent, this is the most delicate and controversial position on the team. If Nishino continues with the 3-4-2-1 system, only two offensive midfielders will play. If he returns to Halilhodzic\u2019s 4-2-3-1, one additional spot opens.<\/span><\/p>\n Keisuke Honda<\/b>, who rebelled against the Bosnian manager, is still the biggest name. He had a fine season in Mexico, but has not scored in his last 13 international matches, his longest-ever drought in a decade of service for Japan.<\/span><\/p>\n Shinji Kagawa<\/b> may have the talent to be the brightest star of this team, but the reality is that he has not done well for Japan in the last four years. At Dortmund, he has been nothing more than a shadow of his former self.<\/span><\/p>\n Not much different is the situation of <\/span>Takashi Usami<\/b>, a genius at Gamba Osaka who has yet to succeed in Germany\u2019s top division. His teammate Genki Haraguchi, who can play on either side, brings Nishino\u2019s desired versatility as a playmaker. <\/span>Takashi Inui<\/b> would be a sure starter if his performances for Eibar were taken into account, but knowing Nishino\u2019s methods, he is more likely to remain a substitute.<\/span><\/p>\n Forwards<\/b><\/p>\n Another complicated position. Has Yuya Kubo, the Japanese striker with the most goals this season (11), been called? No, of course! While Kubo is versatile enough to have even replaced Honda in a wide position under Halilhodzic, Nishino appears uncommitted to improving Japan\u2019s finishing, the team\u2019s biggest problem since\u2026 ever!<\/span><\/p>\n None of the three chosen centre-forwards are in great form. <\/span>Yuya Osako<\/b> has been starting recently; his ability to hold the ball up front with his back turned to the goal and \u00a0assist in in collective play is his greatest asset. But his low goal production weighs against him and he must be more decisive.<\/span><\/p>\n Shinji Okazaki<\/b> would be the undisputed starter if he were able to keep the pace that made him Japan\u2019s third best all-time scorer with 50 goals in 112 matches, but his current form is the worst among the three strikers.<\/span><\/p>\n Yoshinori Muto<\/b> had the most prolific season amongst the trio, but he is yet to establish himself in the national team and his missed goals against Ghana will not help his cause either.<\/span><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" Who was the best Japanese player in the European football season? Many would certainly say Shoya Nakajima, who rose to stardom at Portimonense and has been attracting interest from several big clubs, from Portugal\u2019s big three to the likes of PSG and Dortmund. Others would say it was Ritsu Doan, Groningen\u2019s ace in Holland and the rising star of the next Olympic cycle. Ryota Morioka, who in Belgium had the most fruitful year of his career, led Japanese in Europe in both goals (14) and assists (13) and is also worth mentioning. None of them, however, made Japan\u2019s 23-man World Cup squad announced on Thursday by Akira Nishino. Nishino opted … Continue reading “ANALYSIS: Japan goes to Russia with big names, not big talent”<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":90,"featured_media":11885,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[32],"tags":[637,1465,960,549,95],"class_list":["post-13628","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-japan","tag-2018-world-cup","tag-analysis","tag-column","tag-samurai-blue","tag-slider"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/football-tribe.com\/asia\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/13628","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/football-tribe.com\/asia\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/football-tribe.com\/asia\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/football-tribe.com\/asia\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/90"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/football-tribe.com\/asia\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=13628"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/football-tribe.com\/asia\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/13628\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/football-tribe.com\/asia\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/11885"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/football-tribe.com\/asia\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=13628"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/football-tribe.com\/asia\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=13628"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/football-tribe.com\/asia\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=13628"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}![\"\"](\"https:\/\/football-tribe.com\/asia\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/8\/2018\/06\/GettyImages-955563892-800x533.jpg\")
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