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The story
News that Ritsu Doan of Bundesliga side Eintracht Frankfurt has started eight straight league matches this season without scoring a single goal became a hot topic on 5ch’s Geisports Sokuho+ board. Last summer, Doan had reportedly been on the verge of a move to Saudi Arabia’s Al-Ittihad for an annual salary of roughly 1.59 billion yen, but the deal collapsed at the last minute and he stayed in Germany — a move manager Adi Hütter said he was glad about at the time. Having racked up between 7 and 11 goals in each of the past four seasons, his current scoreless streak stands out all the more. Opinions in the thread were split, ranging from “the national team should just go with the Premier League contingent” to questions about why he turned down the Saudi move in the first place, to claims that national team manager Hajime Moriyasu’s tactics are to blame.
Japan international midfielder Ritsu Doan’s starting spot at Bundesliga side Eintracht Frankfurt may be in jeopardy.
Last summer, Doan was on the brink of an eye-popping move to Saudi Arabia’s Al-Ittihad, with a reported annual salary of 9 million euros (roughly 1.59 billion yen), but he turned it down at the last minute and stayed in Germany. Manager Adi Hütter spoke of his trust in the Japanese midfielder, saying, “I’m glad Doan didn’t leave the team and go to Saudi Arabia.”
And yet, despite starting eight straight league matches this season, he still hasn’t found the net. Doan has otherwise piled up goals consistently — 11 in 2021-22, 7 in 2022-23, 9 in 2023-24, 10 in 2024-25, and 7 in 2025-26 — which makes this sudden drought all the more striking.
Source: tokyo-sports.co.jp / Original article here
What people said
Exactly this.
For the national team, Sakamoto or Daizen (Maeda) from the Premier League crowd is fine.
Maybe Doan tried to go to Saudi Arabia because he wanted off a sinking ship.
The defense has been a disaster since last season, leaking goals constantly.
Meanwhile his old club Freiburg is rock-solid at the back.
Blame Moriyasu.
Can't even stand out in a 'low-level' Bundesliga — that's pathetic.
Honestly, I think he should have.
It'll be tough to earn that kind of money down the road no matter how much soccer-related work he picks up.
Agreed. Hopefully Japan gets stronger in like ten years or so.
That's exactly why he wanted to go to Saudi Arabia.
He realized Frankfurt is his ceiling.
Maybe it's not about Doan at all — something's just off with Frankfurt as a team.
Sitting 10th with no European competition to juggle is rough.
He's clearly past his peak.
He probably thinks he's contributing through selfless defensive work, but really he's just running from the problem.
I'm not even a fan of his, but Takefusa Kubo still wears the No. 10 shirt better.
Right now Sakamoto's in better form.
Even a player as skilled as Doan ends up like this.
Yeah, the textbook blue-collar type.
That was probably the only way for him to survive.
Inui and Haraguchi both ended up the same way in the end…
I get that guys like Minamino contribute too, but remember Moriyasu himself cut players nearing 30 like Kagawa and Honda when he first took over.
Guess sponsor pull didn't work this time, huh? (lol)
Four years from now looks rough for both of them.
They might get cut early.
What has he even been doing all year?
You're kidding, right?
The season only started in August.
He used to say things like 'I really want to focus on scoring, I'm confident I can do it,' but once that stopped working he switched to nothing but convenient lines like 'defense matters' and 'everyone needs to drop the ego.'
And now that there's a real chance he gets dropped from the squad, suddenly it's blatant flattery: 'Moriyasu is amazing, I really respect him.'
He never quite reached Honda's level.
Background and Key Points of This Discussion
Doan has been a reliable source of goals for four straight seasons since 2021-22, scoring between 7 and 11 each year — which is exactly why this season’s scoreless run stands out so sharply against that track record. Last summer’s move to Saudi Arabia had reportedly been all but finalized, with an annual salary of around 1.59 billion yen on the table, before it fell through at the last minute, and the original report never clarifies which side backed out or why. The thread split between those who argued the lack of goals alone justifies benching him or dropping him from the national team, and those who saw it as a temporary dip caused by a heavier defensive workload — with no clear consensus on which view is closer to the truth. Judging a player’s overall contribution for the season by goal count alone may also be premature.
*This article is compiled from excerpts and a summary of the 5ch (Geisports Sokuho+) thread “[Soccer] Ritsu Doan Scoreless This Season — ‘Should He Be Benched?’ Sparks Heated Debate.”
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