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National Team Match: |
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Though the result of Japan's opening Confederations Cup match, against Mexico, should come as no real surprise, it was nevertheless a bit disappointing. Although we had strong suspicions that Mexico would prove too technically proficient for the lackadaisical Zico Japan to handle, in actual fact, the gap between the two teams was not that great. Japan ended up on the short end, but played well enough that there would have been few in the stands who went away amazed if they had managed a draw. Having said that, the factors which did separate the "men from the boys", in a very literal sense, were very clear. In some ways, we were almost glad to see this happen, since the result provides us with further ammunition to press home the points we have been making for he better part of two years..
First, it was clear that Zico needs to begin looking for a few tall and powerful defenders to deal with the situation when Yuji "Bomberhead" Nakazawa is not available (did I hear someone screaming "Iwamasa"?). Mexico dominated the aerial game in Japan's penalty box all night long, and with that much freedom to operate, it was only a question of time before they used it to produce goals. Surely things would have been different if Nakazawa had been available, and we suspect that Japan could have managed at least a draw if that had been the case. But that is just the point. He WASNT available, and there is no guarantee that he will be available in 2006. Why Zico cannot see this glaring weakness and address it properly is a question that strikes at the heart of his weaknesses as a coach.
But that is hardly the only problem. The defence in general seemed very fragile, and part of the problem was the lacklustre play of Takayuki Chano (filling in for Nakazawa) and Makoto Tanaka. We have been discussing the latter player's shortcomings for two years now, and still he finds himself in the starting lineup. Well, that might not be exposed for the error that it is against opponents like Bahrain and North Korea, but against a team like Mexico, Tanaka's shortcomings were cruelly exposed. Jose Fonseca took him to school at least half a dozen times in the first half alone, and midway through the second half Luis Perez finally punished him, waltzing right past Tanaka as easily as dribbling around a plastic pylon during a practice session, and providing the cross which gave Mexico the winning goal.
And worst of all, without the powerful aerial dominance of Nakazawa to protect him, Yoshikatsu Kawaguchi's weaknesses were stripped naked for the entire world to see. We lost count of the number of times he failed to react to high crosses into the box. Both Mexican goals exploited his lack of stature and weakness in the air, and if not for some lucky bounces, he might have allowed two more soft goals due to the same weaknesses. Again, the Rising Sun News has only pointed out these problems a few thousand times in the past two years. Maybe a few thousand more will suffice to convince Zico to consider selecting a keeper who is at least a shade OVER 180cm, and who knows how to jump!
But singling out individual players for scorn will not address the entire problem. No doubt, Japan would be a better team if Zico would replace some of the marginal players who continue to see regular time in the starting lineup. However, what really created the disparity between the two teams was the lack of aggressive play, energy and determination among all eleven Japanese players, in comparison to the relentless pressing and constant movement of the Mexicans. Even the players who turned in reasonably good performances for Japan -- such as Atsushi Yanagisawa, Mitsuo Ogasawara and, yes, Hidetoshi Nakata -- were guilty of lazy play, poor concentration and general lack of effort at key moments. Several of the key members seemed to lack the stamina to go the full 90 minute. Shunsuke Nakamura, for example, was substituted early in the contest after showing clear signs of fatigue and sluggish play after the restart. Yanagisawa played very well over the first 60 minutes, and produced all of Japan's most dangerous shots, but was clearly out of gas by the final 15 minutes. Alex Santos was uncharacteristically invisible -- as marginal on defence as ever, but also making few meaningful contributions at the offensive end. Takashi Fukunishi often seemed to be on a stroll in the park, shying away from hard challenges, dribbling into danger on several occasions, and displaying none of the aggressive pressure that one would expect from a defensive midfielder. If the entire team had played with the same intensity as their opponents, the result would have been very different, since the disparity in technical skill did not seem to be that great.
Not to take anything away from Mexico, of course. The Aztecas were clearly out to prove that they are a world-class team . . . . and that is exactly what they are. Not only did they display the technical precision and vision that one expects to see in a top-tier football team; they also played with world-class intensity, running hard, tackling hard and displaying an uncompromising work ethic. As we have already said, Japan simply didnt match this intensity, and at the end of the day, that is what made the difference in the final score line.
As for the positive considerations, we hesitate to even mention them, for fear that it will promote more complacency, which is the last thing Japan needs right now. On the other hand, lest we be accused of excessive pessimism and one-sided reporting, it is true that Japan did display some positive signs. First and foremost, the 3-4-2-1 (or 3-4-3) formation that Zico adopted against Bahrain, and stuck with against Mexico, did seem to address some of the team's traditional weaknesses on offence. Yanagisawa looked very effective moving off the ball and looking for space, and he displayed a much-improved ability to put his shots on net, as well. Ogasawara and Nakamura combined well in the set-up, switching positions and roles with one another and with Hide Nakata with a flowing and dynamic ease that might have created even more scoring chances against a team that plays a less punishing, ball-trapping defence than Mexico. If Nakamura had the stamina to keep it up for the full 90 minutes, and if Zico would replace the one-dimensional Fukunishi with a more active defensive midfielder (like Junichi Inamoto, Koji Nakata or --dare I say it? -- Jun Marques Davidson), the formation could be even more effective.
If we consider the fact that Japan has only played this formation in one previous competitive international, it would seem that the strategy is a sound one. The problem is that Zico wasted two years before finally abandoning his futile efforts to find two effective strikers for a 3-5-2, despite the fact that Japan's weakness in this formation were apparent even back in the Troussier era. It is nice to see the team finally making progress, in that respect, but there is precious little time for Zico to find out which players can be most effective in the new alignment.
Japan's new effectiveness on offence was demonstrated early in the first half, when Mitsuo Ogasawara shredded Mexico's defence with a through pass to Kaji, whose centering pass to Yanagisawa was shuffled home by the Messina striker to give Japan an early lead. Later in the first half Yanagisawa nearly doubled the advantage but was shouldered to the ground in the penalty area and the play was waved on by the referee. When Japan did gain possession, their creativity and movement in the offensive zone gave Mexico trouble. The problem was that a general lack of hustle (and talent) on the defensive end ensured that the offensive opportunities were few in number.
At the end of the day, the loss to Mexico was not a major tragedy. Mexico are a very good team, and they played a very good match. The important issue is whether or not Japan turned in the best performance that they are capable of, and whether the team seems to be moving in a direction that will allow t hem to win matches like this one, a year from now at the 2006 World Cup. The answer to the first question is a resounding no. The loss of Nakazawa to injury obviously hurt, but there is no excuse for not having backups who can provide the same sort of power in the box. It is not as if Japan lacks players with this ability (Iwamasa, Kurihara and Tulio all spring to mind immediately). Furthermore, even with Nakazawa, Japan would be weak on defence, due to the immobility of the aging Tanaka and the inability of Kawaguchi to reach high balls. These are problems that have been obvious for a long, long time, and there is no excuse for not having addressed them. But more important than anything else, Japan simply lacks intensity. Not a single player on the pitch on Thursday night showed the sort of hunger and energy level that you saw in every single player on the Mexican squad. As any coach will tell you, and as Australia demonstrated against Germany on Wednesday night, the team that runs the hardest usually wins, even when they are inferior in technical skill. Japan are certainly not at a technical level where they can afford to be outhustled. On the contrary, unless they can win the battle of intensity, they are not going to win ANY matches, either in this competition or at the 2006 World Cup.
On the second question, the evidence is a bit more mixed. After two years of yelling at a brick wall, the Rising Sun News is pleased to see that Zico Japan is FINALLY starting to consider their strengths and weaknesses, and examine possible changes in formation, personnel and strategy that will emphasise the strengths while helping to offset the weaknesses. But clearly there is a lot more that needs to be done -- particularly in terms of player selection -- before we can truly say that the team is "moving forward".
And without a great deal of forward movement, Japan is not going to produce good results against world-class opponents.
National Team
Overseas Players
Japan 1 - 2 Mexico 