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Hidemasa Morita, who transferred to Hull City, posted on X with a Japanese flag emoji saying, “I’ll definitely be back there, I promise,” hinting at his desire to return to the Japan national team — right after making his post-transfer debut in the Carabao Cup away at Stoke (a 1-1 draw settled on penalties).
On the thread, plenty of posters expressed regret that Morita had been left out of call-ups under former manager Hajime Moriyasu, while others were more skeptical — noting he still hasn’t played a Premier League match and finding his performance against a second-tier side underwhelming, with opinions split further by comparisons to Ao Tanaka’s track record.
MF Hidemasa Morita (31), taking on his first challenge in England’s Premier League, updated his X (formerly Twitter) account on the 26th, hinting at his intention to return to the Japan national team.
Morita, who moved to Hull City from Portuguese powerhouse Sporting, made his first appearance since the transfer in the away match against Stoke on the 25th (the 26th, Japan time).
On X, he shared his feelings: “After six years in Portugal, in an environment where not many people got to watch my matches, I’m happy to have come to England, where people can cheer me on even from Japan. But I recognize the Japanese supporters who checked in and cheered for me every match even back when I was at Sporting, and I’m truly grateful.” He then added, alongside a Japanese flag, “I’ll definitely be back there, I promise.”
Source: nikkansports.com / Original article here
What people said
Fire him already.
Exactly this.
Eight years under Poichi (nickname for manager Moriyasu) was way too much.
And there's still another six months left.
He must have been so frustrated.
Morita's Hull only drew 1-1 with second-tier Stoke and needed a penalty shootout — that's not exactly praiseworthy…
Also, this morning's match wasn't the Premier League, it was the Carabao Cup.
Well, that's about right for his level.
Because he never finishes chances like this.
https://youtube.com/shorts/WkTA-kb5FO0?si=AeM0oOh4siiH81bb
The current national team roster is full of players who are too well-behaved and don't speak up enough.
No, the stats already show Tanaka beats Morita in physicality, defense, and attacking output.
Morita plays a different position from Tanaka — the guy whose position actually overlaps with his is Sano.
It looks like Morita stopped getting call-ups right around when Sano got in, as some kind of swap.
This was his first match for Hull, and YouTube is flooded with videos making it look like some next-level performance, but honestly it wasn't that impressive — I felt the same kind of underwhelming vibe as with Tanaka.
Even when he gets the ball, his movement is just sideways, and his dribbling to carry the ball forward looks sluggish.
Moriyasu, just go away already.
Morita's Hull only drew 1-1 with second-tier Stoke and needed a penalty shootout — not exactly praiseworthy…
There's actually data showing Japan tends to lose more when Morita starts.
He's just being conveniently used as a stick to beat Moriyasu-haters with.
Barely anyone was even watching his matches before this anyway.
People probably dislike you because you write stuff like this every time trying to stir things up.
Skipping the sinking ship that is Moriyasu's Japan.
It's all Tashima's fault.
No chance for Morita there.
Can't bring myself to like Poichi.
The eight years spent with Moriyasu weren't wasted,
but it was such a waste — essentially zero titles.
For a golden generation of players often called the strongest in Japanese history
to have no title they can be proud of with the national team
is just abnormal.
Moriyasu — J.League
Morita — Premier League
Endo — Premier League
Even the players who don't get picked are playing at a higher level than he ever did.
That's exactly why Moriyasu was so attached to Nagatomo.
On the surface, Nagatomo was positioned as some kind of spiritual pillar, but really, since Moriyasu doesn't have much of a playing career to back him up, he kept Nagatomo around to help win the other players over on his behalf.
He actually said as much himself, in a conversation with baseball manager Kuriyama — that players based overseas are strong-willed, so how you get your message across affects squad selection.
Kuriyama used Ohtani to hold the team together, but Moriyasu was just using Nagatomo the same way.
Even giving him the benefit of the doubt on having no game plan, the way they just holed up in the second half and kept hoofing the ball forward at random whenever it came at them was deflating.
No, the guy whose role actually overlaps with his is Kamada.
Kamada?? Morita doesn't have anywhere near the attacking output that Kamada or Tanaka have.
Morita even got scolded by Mitoma, who told him, "Hide, you're dropping too deep!" (Hide-kun being Morita's nickname)
Ao Tanaka is on another level — he's dominated against top Premier League sides and earned real praise for it.
Morita, meanwhile, has only played as a sub against a second-tier side and in a cup match so far.
He still hasn't played in any of Europe's top five leagues.
Ao Tanaka played the full 90 minutes on his Premier League debut and was Man of the Match, putting in a huge, highly praised performance in a win.
He's also scored against powerhouses like Chelsea and Liverpool, and got great reviews for dominating against Man United too.
Tanaka's relentless pressing won a penalty and set up the goal that won the match.
Even TV news reported him as Man of the Match.
https://imgur.com/eOFBvzg.jpeg
https://x.com/lufc/status/1957897908142870766
Man of the Match according to Leeds' official channels too.
Man of the Match according to media outlets like the BBC too.
Ao Tanaka beat the very Everton side that beat Mitoma, Kamada, and Tomiyasu.
Background and Key Points
Hidemasa Morita spent six years at Sporting CP, one of Portugal’s “big three” clubs, before this summer’s move to Hull City — a transfer the article’s headline frames as “England’s Premier League,” but Hull actually play in the Championship, England’s second tier. That distinction matters: the Carabao Cup tie at Stoke, settled by penalties, was a domestic cup match between two second-tier sides, not a top-flight showcase. For readers unfamiliar with Japan’s setup, Hajime Moriyasu managed the national team for roughly eight years through the 2026 World Cup cycle, guiding a group widely called Japan’s strongest-ever generation (Mitoma, Kamada, Doan, Endo, Tomiyasu) to knockout-stage relevance without ever winning a trophy — hence posters’ frustration despite the individual talent involved. Kozo Tashima, mentioned in passing, is the Japan Football Association president who oversees managerial appointments. Go Oiwa is referenced as Moriyasu’s likely successor, expected to favor a younger core.
The thread’s real fault line isn’t whether Morita deserves sympathy — it’s whether his Hull debut actually proves anything. Sympathizers treat his exclusion as proof Moriyasu mismanaged a proven qualifier-era midfielder; skeptics counter that a Championship-level penalty shootout says nothing, and that Ao Tanaka’s Man-of-the-Match Premier League performances for Leeds against Chelsea, Liverpool and Everton make the comparison lopsided.
What the thread never addresses: Morita and Tanaka aren’t really direct competitors for one slot — posters disagree even among themselves on whether his positional overlap is with Tanaka, Sano, or Kamada — so the “who’s better” framing may be comparing players who wouldn’t be fighting for the same shirt anyway.
*This article was compiled as excerpts and a summary from the 5ch (Geinou/Sports News+) thread “[Soccer] Hidemasa Morita: “I’ll Definitely Be Back There, I Promise” — Hinting at a Japan Squad Return? Adds the Japanese Flag“.
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