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The story
The Japan Football Association announced on the 17th a 31-man squad for four international friendlies in September and October, the team’s first activity since the North/Central America World Cup. Four players — MF Shunsuke Saito, MF Kyuma Matsuki, FW Kaina Tanimura, and MF Shuto Nakano — earned first-ever call-ups, with 10 new players joining from outside the World Cup squad, while five players including DF Yuto Nagatomo and DF Shogo Taniguchi were dropped. On 5ch, some praised the generational turnover driven by the veterans’ age, while opinions were split over call-ups for players with limited playing time and the selection of players tied to manager Moriyasu’s former club.
The Japan Football Association (JFA) announced on the 17th a 31-man Japan national team squad for four international friendlies in September and October — the first national team activity since the North/Central America World Cup.
Four players earned their first-ever call-ups: MF Shunsuke Saito (Westerlo), MF Kyuma Matsuki (Southampton), FW Kaina Tanimura (Yokohama F. Marinos), and MF Shuto Nakano (Hiroshima).
Along with those four first-timers, the following made the squad from outside the World Cup group, 10 in total: DF Tomoya Ando (St. Pauli), MF Yuki Soma (Machida), MF Koki Kumasaka (Kashiwa), MF Sei Tanaka (Schalke), MF Kota Sano (PSV), and MF Ryunosuke Sato (Valencia). DF Yuto Nagatomo, DF Shogo Taniguchi, DF Yukinari Sugawara, FW Shuto Machino, and FW Koki Ogawa were all left out.
Source: news.yahoo.co.jp / Original article here
What people said
Sugawara and Machino deemed surplus to requirements!!
Taniguchi's technically carrying an injury too
Don't call up Ryunosuke Sato right at this critical moment of managerial transition
Sato's situation at Valencia is about as bad as it gets right now
Getting a chance to shine with the national team is better for him
Itakura's getting torn apart at Borussia, but no young center-backs are stepping up to replace him
Ichihara's on the bench at AZ, Takai's on the bench at Sint-Truiden, and Kita's still stuck with the U23s
And Kubo doesn't look like he's turning things around even if he stays at Sociedad lol
With Sato in his current form, Kubo's spot is safe
Doesn't matter either way — once Oiwa takes over as manager, there's no continuity anyway
Feels like they weighed Kokubo against Tani and went with Kokubo
Hayakawa's out of form, but with Kokubo and Zion Suzuki around it should be fine
Yep
So it's survival mode for the players now
If you want to make the Asian Cup squad, you've got no choice but to deliver results
Ritsu Doan (Frankfurt) → Kyuma Matsuki (Southampton)
Kaoru Mitoma (Brighton) → Shunsuke Saito (Westerlo)
Also, 20-year-old Kosugi (Frankfurt) is the biggest prospect from the 'LA generation' (players age-eligible for the 2028 LA Olympics), but this time he's been picked for the Asian Games squad instead
He's a left-back who's started 4 full Bundesliga matches this season
Yuta Matsumura might eventually be the one to replace Junya Ito
Seems likely he'll get the call once Oiwa becomes manager
Footballers really don't seem to have any sense of urgency
Is he already back out and about? (joking use of slang usually said of someone just released from prison, here meaning 'back from injury')
Still injured
Hasn't even been playing matches for his club
If you're gonna pretend to be a fan, at least know his injury situation
It's a calf injury
Can't something be done about using roster spots for personal favoritism?
It's totally normal for national team managers to pick a lot of players from clubs they used to coach
Favoritism like that isn't exactly rare lol
That's usually only excusable right when a manager first takes charge
How many years has this guy been in the job now?
That was like 10 years ago, and besides, Nakano only joined Sanfrecce after university
10 years ago, this Tokyo-born Nakano was just a high school freshman
his dribbling is excellent
he's got real speed
his crossing is excellent
Basically he's the left-footed Junya Ito
His free kicks are good too
I'll admit he's on another level in the J.League
But between that and the rough edges in his play, he feels like a wide attacker straight out of the 2000s
Who's making these picks?
Hayakawa's been rough this year
Though the defense in front of him has been rough too
They dropped Osako because he hasn't been playing
Dropping Hayakawa on top of that would leave the defense's understanding of each other shaky outside the regular starters, so they just couldn't go that far
It just means the new manager gets six fewer months to build the team — that's a handicap, plain and simple
Is there any actual upside to this?
Everyone's thinking that
Because Oiwa's up next and they're prioritizing the Olympics
And yet they're still calling up a lot of players whose age doesn't exactly scream 'the future'
Background and Talking Points
Manager Hajime Moriyasu’s contract has been extended through the end of September even after the North/Central America World Cup, with Tsuyoshi Oiwa confirmed to take over next year — this squad announcement comes against that backdrop. This time, five players were dropped from the World Cup squad, while 10 players, including four first-time call-ups, newly joined from outside the World Cup group. On the thread, some referred to the call-up of Shuto Nakano — who came up through Sanfrecce Hiroshima, the club Moriyasu once managed — as a ‘Hiroshima quota,’ and there was speculation that Hidemasa Morita’s exclusion came down to a ‘personal grudge,’ though both are just speculation within the thread, with no official explanation from the JFA or the manager. There were also strong voices questioning the call-up of Takefusa Kubo, who has seen limited playing time. Some see the six-month-only extension as compressing the handover period before the next manager’s regime, and it’s being watched as a litmus test for squad selection heading into the Asian Cup.
*This article is excerpted and summarized from the 5ch (Geinou/Sports News+) thread “[Soccer] Moriyasu Japan: 31-man squad announced for 4 home friendlies after the World Cup! Matsuki, Saito, Tanimura, Nakano earn first call-ups.”
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