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Ogasawara has always been a very cool and unassuming player, with both offensive and defensive skills. Although he is not particularly speedy, he makes up for this with a good sense of positioning that allows him to be in the right place at the right time. His greatest strenth is his body balance and strong legs, which allow him to hold the ball in the face of intense defensive pressure, or to step in and pry the ball away from and opponent on the counterattack. This allows him to contribute either in the attack, or as a defensive midfielder. However, Oga does his best work at the playmaker spot, where he can pick out forwards with pinpoint passes, or fire a long shot if he spots an opening. This position also leverages his good ability to break up budding counterattacks by the opposition. Although Ogasawara has not achieved the sort of high profile enjoyed by other midfielders of his generation (Shinji Ono, Shunsuke Nakamura, Junichi Inamoto, etc), he has certainly not escaped the attention of overseas clubs. On the contrary, for at least the past four years, there has always been some rumour about an overseas club trying to lure Ogasawara overseas, during the off-season. The Rising Sun News was even involved in one such approach, serving as interpreter for an agent from France, who had a firm offer from a well-known French club. For this reason we can speak from experience when we consider the reasons why the 27-year-old midfielder never took up such an offer in the past. First of all, the club has long viewed Ogasawara as the most crucial player on the team, and typically responds to initial approaches from overseas clubs with a flat "NO!" Even when the team wooing Ogasawara was persistent, and managed to convice both club and player to at least listen to their offer, Kashima always baulked, and did everything they could to convince Oga to remain in Kashima. Though the Antlers have accepted bids for other star players, such as Yanagisawa, Suzuki and Koji Nakata, they have always protected their investment in Ogasawara possessively. The player's own character also may help to explain why he has remained in Kashima for eight years, despite persistent courtship by European clubs. The small but powerfully-built Ogasawara was born and raised in a very rural part of Iwate prefecture, in Northern Japan, and has never been particularly attracted by the "bright lights - big city" appeal that causes many football players to seek out famous clubs in big cities. As an individual, meanwhile, he tends to be quiet and introspective. Though he always exudes confidence, and does not exhibit the sort of "shyness" that can be seen in Shunsuke Nakamura, Ogasawara seems to go out of his way to avoid the spotlight, and until this season he has constantly refused the role of team captain, despite the fact that he was clearly the most central player on the team. Though he began wearing the captain's armband after Koji Nakata moved to Marseille, the role of clubhouse captain was repeatedly passed to veteran Yasuto Honda, whose career as a player probably was extended by at least a year and possibly more, due to Ogasawara's reluctance to accept a "leadership" role. But despite his quiet, earnest speaking style and apparent "coolness" on the pitch, Ogasawara has always impressed us as a fierce competitor. It is simply that, like everything else about him, his fierce drive to succeed is introspective and carefully contained. Teammates often joke about how rarely he allows his emotions to show. Ogasawara can score a crucial goal in a fiercely contested match, and immediately start walking back towards midfield with an impassive expression on his face, while his teammates are jumping around in wild celebration. Some have mistaken this attitude for a "lack of passion". Under both Phillippe Troussier and Zico, Ogasawara was forced to take a back seat to Nakata, Nakamura and Ono despite being an arguably superior, and definitely more "complete" player. Both coaches indicated that they wanted him to show "more fire" in his attitude. But that may be akin to asking an eagle to swim, or a butterfly to crawl. Toninho Cerezo, a far wiser coach than either of the two former NT bosses, recognised this fact, and would often defend his midfield general. Why demand that the player roll his eyes and foam at the mouth to prove his determination? . . . Cerezo would observe . . . When the crucial moment of the match arrives, you can be sure that Ogasawara will be right in the thick of the action, and will rarely come out second-best. By mid-2006, however, Ogasawara was expressing his frustration at being forced to play second fiddle in the national team, just because he wasnt playing in Europe (though with typical Ogasawaran coolness, he described how "annoyed" he was while maintaining a gentle, relaxed tone of voice and a totally impassive expression). Clearly, he had also grown tired of the limited horizons at Kashima, and showed increasing impatience with his underperforming teammates. When Messina came calling in August 2006, Oga did not allow the Kashima brain trust to chase them away, and insisted on negotiating a loan deal. Unfortunately, like many other Japanese players who tried their luck in Italy, Ogasawara fell for the platitudes offered up by the club not realising that he wasa being signed almost solely for his marketing value. After scoring a goal in just his second appearance as a substitute, and then earning man of the match honours in his first start -- against AC Milan no less -- Ogasawara suddenly found himself banished to the far end of the bench. Prior to Ogasawara's experience, there were two schools of thought on why Japanese players could not get into the lineup in an Italian club -- those who felt that the players were simply not able to acclimate to Serie A, and those who suspected that the Italian clubs were not really interested in having an Asian in the lineup and only signed players as a way to generate marketing revenues in the Far East. However, Ogasawara put all doubts to rest on this issue; his sudden "disappearance" from the lineup, after two extremely impressive appearances early in the year, made matters abundantly clear. At last, Shunsuke Nakamura felt there was enough evidence to accuse Serie A clubs of quiet prejudice -- a charge that was echoed by people like Ahn Jung-Hwan and Atsushi Yanagisawa. For Ogasawara, the lack of playing time was difficult to swallow, and before the season was half over he had announced that he would return to Japan as soon as his loan contract concluded If anyone still had doubts about Ogasawara's abilities, he silenced them as soon as he returned to Japan. When he rejoined the Antlers at mid-season, in 2007, Kashima was struggling at midtable. But after Ogasawara returned to the lineup, the Antlers closed out the year with a string of 13 straight victories, to win both the league title and the Emperor's Cup. We suspect that a return to international play is also simply a matter of time. Once again, the Baby-Faced Assassin is mowing them down in the J.League. Opposing teams had better watch their backs.
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