Japan 2 - 0 Bahrain 
|
 |
It was nice to see the comfort level that Okada Japan played at on Wednesday evening, with all of the European players present. But despite the positive reviews that commentators began offering as soon as the final whistle sounded, the disparity between this match and the recent East Asian Cup contests, particularly in terms of ball control and sheer fluidity, has to generate at least some concerns about the lack of any "second string" players capable of turning in similar quality performances. Furthermore, it is important to keep in mind that this was Bahrain - a somewhat competitive Asian opponent, perhaps, but no comparison to the teams that Japan will face in South Africa. So despite the generally positive feeling that this performance will have generated among fans of the Samurai Blue, we have to look at the result as more an indicator of how bad Okada Japan's recent play has been, rather than a sign that "everything is all right now".
More importantly, for all the good things that the Samurai Blue did on Wednesday evening, there were also plenty of reasons for fans to grind their teeth and pull their hair. The team's finishing remains atrocious, and in this contest particularly, the number of bad decisions by players with the goal at their mercy was rather difficult to swallow. Yasuhito Endo stumbled over a ball after he had been sent through for an uncontested shot, Daisuke Matsui ignored two teammates standing completely unmarked at the far post and instead slammed a ball right into the keeper's chest, and both Shinji Okazaki and Keisuke Honda flubbed wide-open headers.
But for all those concerns, we have to admit that watching the first string team was a huge relief in the wake of Japan's pathetic showings in February. Matsui may have wasted a few opportunities by trying to do too much by himself, but when his incisive runs and razor-sharp penetration are compared to the futile gyrations of "Headless Chicken" Okubo and "Tom Turkey" Tamada, its like comparing a bottle of 1989 Dom Perrignon to a pint of Night Train Express. Of the four European midfielders that Okada brought in for this contest, Matsui probably acquitted himself the best. The others were all a visible step up from what we saw in the East Asian Cup, but there is clearly plenty of room for improvement. Shunsuke Nakamura was visibly out of condition, and not as sharp with his passes as one usually expects. Makoto Hasebe was solid and effective at everything he tried, but he didnt show much initiative, and seemed to be coasting on auto-pilot throughout the second half. Keisuke Honda was only a little bit less effective than Matsui, and he managed to score a late goal to boost his ratings. But there were several long stretches where he seemed to be working at cross purposes to the rest of the midfield, and he needs to channel his power and ball control in ways that produce chances for teammates, rather than just long-distance shots of his own.
Yet the most disappointing player on the pitch in this match was the one who usually is solid and reliable. Yasuhito Endo looked very sluggish and not at all sharp throughout the contest. In addition to the ill-timed stumble we already mentioned, he also played a "hospital pass" to Uchida which created Bahrain's most dangerous scoring opportunity of the night. Hopefully this is just a sign of early-season rust, or maybe fatigue (he has played two competitive matches in the last week), but his performance was certainly the most disappointing of all the eleven starters.
As they have done so often in recent months, Japan created a lot of pretty offence in the opening half without managing to score any goals. The combination work on the wings in particular - Matsui and Nagatomo on the left, and Shunsuke and Uchida on the right - produced a lot of high-percentage crosses and dashes behind the Bahrain back line. But each time the final pass or the attempted shot were miscued, and Bahrain were given an undeserved respite. It wasnt until the 36 minute that Shinji Okazaki finally managed to finish off one of these opportunities. The Shimizu S-Pulse striker was the beneficiary of a nice exchange of passes in the left corner which sent Matsui away on an uncontested dash around the flank. He fired a line-drive cross to Okazaki at the far post, and the 174cm striker demonstrated his deceptive strength in the air by shouldering away his defender, leaning away from goal, and deflecting the ball into the top right corner.
Japan should have doubled their advantage on the stroke of half time, as one of Nakamura's most incisive passes of the evening sliced open the Bahrain defence like fresh salmon and sent Matsui racing towards the left post. But with the keeper out of his net and covering the near post, Matsui should have flicked the ball on to the far post, where both Honda and Okazaki were camped out, with no defender in the same bancho. Instead he tried to squeeze the ball past the keeper himself, and was stopped cold.
The second half was rather disappointing, as several players - Hasebe, Nakamura and Endo particularly - seemed to coast along without putting in any real extra effort. Against a speedy and opportunistic opponent like Bahrain, this was a dangerous tack to take. And though the defensive unit did an excellent job from start to finish, the crowd began to grow restless as Bahrain saw more and more of the possession. At this point Okada made matters worse by taking off Matsui and inserting Takayuki Morimoto. Though Morimoto had a few good runs, and showed a degree of individual power on the attack that few other Japanese strikers can even imitate, the loss of Matsui and a formation reshuffle which put Honda at the point of attack proved ineffective. Honda is not a real dribbler or penetrator, and though he has great power on the ball, he doesnt seem to react quickly enough, or release the ball into space with enough savvy, to create gaps in the defence. With Nakamura, Endo and Hasebe just drifting along, it was up to the two wingbacks - Nagatomo and Uchida - to provide the most dangerous penetration.
Shortly before the final whistle, Okada made perhaps the only substitution I have agreed with in three full years. Surprisingly, it involved bringing on Tamada for Nakamura. While this writer has expressed his opinion of Tamada's shortcomings many times in the past, there is no question that he does work hard, and run tirelessly to try to create space. With the Bahrain back line on their final legs, his sudden injection of pace and movement (especially after the sluggish play of Nakamura in the final quarter-hour) created immediate havoc. But Tamada was not involved in the goal which capped off the contest. It was Uchida, whose runs down the right flank had caused danger on several previous occasions, who delivered the final sword thrust. Okazaki played a one-two exchange with Uchida and the Kashima wingback flashed past his marker and into the corner. His cross looped over the head of Morimoto, who drew both central defenders, and dropped for Honda, who was completely unmarked in the eddy left by Morimoto's run. Honda stooped to head the ball home, as the clock ticked into injury time, and that was the cue for the final curtain.
All in all, we feel reasonably happy (or at any rate, relieved) by the performance of the "first string" in this match. But there is plenty of room for improvement, and if anything, this performance just accentuates the need for Okada to find backups who can play with at least a weak imitation of the starters. The performances we saw in the East Asia Cup simply will not do.
