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The story
Ayumu Seko of Le Havre has visibly raised his standing after gaining experience at the North/Central America World Cup. At a press conference on September 30, manager Hajime Moriyasu praised the improvement in his defensive intensity and speed of judgment. With Koki Itakura and Takehiro Tomiyasu sidelined by injury, Seko has now started in two straight matches. On 5ch (formerly 2ch)’s Geinou/Sports Breaking News+ board, posters expressed surprise at the turnaround of a player once harshly criticized, and the discussion expanded to cover the similarly once-maligned-turned-prominent midfielder Ao Tanaka, as well as a clash of opinions over the national team’s goal tally and how players are used.
Japan national team defender Ayumu Seko (26, Le Havre) has seen his stock rise rapidly.
Seko, who made his first appearance on the big stage at the North/Central America World Cup, is a regular for the Japan squad but hasn’t locked down an undisputed starting spot, facing competition from defenders Koki Itakura (Borussia Mönchengladbach) and Takehiro Tomiyasu (Crystal Palace). Still, in the restart after the World Cup, a string of injuries along the back line has helped him start in two consecutive matches. He could also start in the October 1 international friendly against Ecuador (at Nissan Stadium).
At his September 30 press conference, manager Hajime Moriyasu offered praise: “I’ve really felt him growing. He keeps improving, steadily building toward the top world standard. We’ve had injuries, but as the central figure in our defense, he’s not losing out physically even against high-intensity attacking opponents, and his quality has risen in reading the game early to snuff out danger before it happens, winning individual duels, covering for teammates, and anticipating the play to cut off the opponent’s attacking chances.”
Source: tokyo-sports.co.jp / Original article here
What people said
Zion too, but once guys step up to a Big 5 league, they become different players
Tanaka Ao has been incredible too, great on both ends
No wonder — he's a starter for a top Premier League side, had a Man of the Match showing, and keeps scoring against big clubs
His physical development has been amazing
And his movement off the ball has leveled up too
Seko really was awful before… glad he's grown
Tanaka Ao used to constantly clean up Seko's messes and took the blame for it, poor guy
And on top of that, the commentator would mix up names during Seko's blunders and say 'Tanaka' instead, pinning the blame on him unfairly — brutal
It wasn't so much Tanimura — it was Suzuki Yuito missing shot after shot that was the problem
Tanaka Ao threads an amazing through ball → Tanimura → Suzuki Yuito, and it just wouldn't go in — painful to watch
https://x.com/98sep10/status/2105637314286477595
A samurai in looks too
That's huge
Oh, you mean Tobias?
But it's always the same guys
Call up someone new for once lol
In that case, better to develop Seko and Junnosuke instead.
The opponent's jersey was torn.
You guys would be screaming bloody murder if a Korean player did that, but you conveniently look the other way when it's a Japanese player
Playing him like that with only 3 days then 2 days rest between games is rough, no?
Glad he didn't get injured
Hope he keeps it up
Tanaka Ao has great overall vision and picks up on the small details
He constantly fills the space the opponent wants to exploit, snuffing out their attacks before they start
He also moves to make things easier for teammates and creates space with his runs to open up our attack
Last match too, Toda was explaining on the broadcast how Tanaka Ao created space and threaded a vertical pass that led to a goal
But he didn't score though?
I said the goal was from the last match
This match too, Suzuki Yuito kept missing shots, but Tanaka Ao was creating chance after chance
If Ueda had been on from the first half it would've been a goal
Why did Tanaka suddenly stop shooting?
That's what's bugging me
every time you guys pile on and rip a player apart, they suddenly level up
Is it because they got bashed online,
or because they weren't satisfied with how they were used at the World Cup —
which one do you think is actually what drives a player to grow?
Tanaka Ao shoots for his club and scores in almost every game, so there's gotta be a reason he's stopped shooting entirely for the national team
Back when he was on a scoring streak for Japan too, Moriyasu dropped him for the Asian Cup
Since then he's clearly been holding back on shooting and instead fully committed to defense, chance creation, and being the unsung glue guy who organizes the team
Tanaka Ao is one of the best finishers on the national team, yet
some weird thing with Moriyasu keeps forcing him to hold back
It's genuinely sad seeing his best quality get suppressed like that
You can tell just watching the Premier League — he's clearly a better finisher than Maeda or Kamada
Not that he's not needed, but if you can't count on him to be available, it gets tough
I honestly thought he was garbage, to put it mildly
Can't blame you, he really was awful before
guess pros can spot the raw talent underneath even when it's rough
like, 'once he gets used to matches and his head's right, he'll be fine'
Tanaka Ao scored against Australia right after joining the senior national team and won the game as the hero, so he delivered results immediately
Before he joined, the national team was on the brink, losing games — he really was a savior
Which cap was that goal, though?
Don't lie, that was Tanaka Ao's first senior cap goal
Before that he'd only played in the E-1 Championship
The E-1 Championship counts as official A-match caps, newbie
So you're saying he couldn't even score against weaker teams like China in E-1?
"World Cup qualifier debut MF Tanaka Ao scores the opener! First goal in his 3rd international A-match"
https://www.nikkansports.com/m/soccer/japan/photonews/photonews_nsInc_202110120000879-0.html
https://video.twimg.com/amplify_video/2071673269783318528/vid/avc1/1056×636/F9QD2K44obwDTwWt.mp4
This guy needs to be banned from the national team
Don't make me laugh, this isn't even close to overuse
So far he's played in all 3 matches, every single one
Tanaka did it in his 3rd cap
That's the official record
Must sting for you Tanaka stans defending the worst-rated scapegoat
Background and points of discussion
Before the North/Central America World Cup, Ayumu Seko was a defender who faced harsh criticism on social media, and posters in the thread repeatedly note that “he used to be truly awful.” As detailed in the article, he turned things around after helping his club Le Havre survive in Ligue 1 and gaining World Cup experience, to the point where manager Moriyasu now praises his defensive intensity and speed of judgment — a shift that also comes against the backdrop of expanded playing time due to injuries to key defenders Koki Itakura and Takehiro Tomiyasu. In the latter half of the thread, discussion shifted to midfielder Ao Tanaka, who similarly rose to prominence after past criticism, with opinions split over his national-team goal tally and how he’s being used. Posts disagreed on the timing of Tanaka’s first national-team goal, but a linked 2021 Nikkan Sports article confirms it was “the opening goal in his third A-match.”
*This article is excerpted and summarized from the 5ch (Geinou/Sports Breaking News+) thread “[Soccer] Ayumu Seko grows rapidly through World Cup experience — praise from manager Moriyasu, Ritsu Doan, Takefusa Kubo, and others“.
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