Japanese Players In Europe

Shinji Kagawa struggled against an excellent Southampton midfield.

Shinji Kagawa started in the No.10 position for Manchester United in their 3-2 win at Southampton. In the opening minutes, United kept possession and pinned Southampton inside their own box with quick passes. However, after weathering this initial storm, Southampton came into the game and outplayed United for the majority of the first half. Ricky Lambert headed them into the lead, rising easily over Rafael and leaving Anders Lindegaard with no chance. If not for an untimely slip from fullback Nathaniel Clyne, allowing Robin van Persie to equalize, Southampton could’ve gone into the break with the lead. Southampton continued to play well in the second half and looked to have collected all three points going into the last five minutes with a 2-1 lead. However, van Persie scored twice to snatch the win for United and steal a first league win for Southampton.

Kagawa struggled in this game and was substituted for Nani in the 61st minute. In the Fulham match, Kagawa was brushed aside and lost possession several times against the massive Moussa Dembele. The physical side of the Premier League is something that he will, like all newcomers, take time to adapt to. While it’s not every week that he will face a midfield power/dynamo combo like Dembele, every team throws around its weight in the middle of the park, as Southampton showed. Morgan Schneiderlin and young James Ward-Prowse were outstanding and powered through a relatively delicate United midfield. It is no wonder that all of United’s goals were set up on the wing. There will be games like this for Kagawa as he gets used to the burly side to Premier League football. Tadanari Lee was an unused substitute, while Maya Yoshida was unavailable.

Stuttgart is stuck on 0 points in the Bundesliga after they were obliterated 6-1 by Bayern, a match that both Shinji Okazaki and Gotoku Sakai started. Okazaki was caught in possession by Luis Gustavo Dias for Bayern’s second goal. Gustavo played the ball to Toni Kroos who lashed in an unstoppable shot past Sven Ulreich.

Sakai was also caught in possession, for Bayern’s fourth goal. To his credit, after he was dispossessed by Kroos, Sakai raced across the pitch to heroically block Thomas Muller’s shot. However, he could only watch in despair as the ball rolled to Mario Mandzukic who tapped in.

Okazaki was subbed off in the 69th while Sakai played the entire 90 minutes. Not a great day for either of them, but it was Bayern and it is still early in the season.

Hiroshi Kiyotake started and played the entire match as FC Nurnberg drew 1-1 at home to Dortmund. Kiyotake set up Tomas Peckhart for Nurnberg’s goal with a corner. Nurnberg weren’t without their chances and did not hesitate to attack against the reigning champions.

Schalke beat Augsburg 3-1 at home, and Atsuto Uchida started and played the entire match at rightback.

Eintracht Frankfurt dealt Hoffenheim a heavy 4-0 home defeat. Takashi Inui started for Eintracht and was credited an assist for the first goal. He set up Alex Meier and the shot found its way into net, though only after a massive deflection off of Marvin Compper. Takashi Usami came on to play the second half for Hoffenheim.

Vitesse beat Feyenoord 1-0 at home to continue their excellent start to the Eredivise season. Mike Havenaar came on in the 81st minute and set up Wilfried Bony’s stoppage time winner with a shot/cross that Bony elegantly flicked into goal. Vitesse are now in second place with 1o points going into the international break.

Wigan Athletic drew 2-2 at home to Stoke. Ryo Miyaichi came on for Franco Di Santo for the last 10 minutes.

Keisuke Honda played the entire match as CSKA beat Krasnodar 1-0 away.

Yuto Nagatomo started and played the entire match as Inter were overrun by the attacking waves of Zdenek Zeman’s Roma, 3-1 at home.

Yuki Otsu has joined VVV Venlo on-loan from Monchengladbach. He will link up with Robert Cullen who was an unused substitute in their 1-0 loss at Twente.

Japanese Players In Europe

Shinji Kagawa celebrates his first goal for Manchester United with his teammates.

As the European leagues got underway this weekend, more and more Japanese players took to pitches for teams across the continent. Several players made debuts for their new teams, and notably, we had the third Japanese player to score in the English Premier League.

A week after impressing on his competitive debut for Manchester United, Shinji Kagawa became the third Japanese player to score in the English Premier League. In the 35th minute, Kagawa gave United a 2-1 lead in an eventual 3-2 win over Fulham. Playing as the No 10 behind Robin van Persie, Kagawa was again electric, at the heart of a mesmerizing 20 minute display in the first half from United that had Fulham on the ropes. His short passes and quick movement inspired the rest of the United attacking six to play at a dazzling pace that Fulham could hardly defend. There was a Dortmund-esque verve to their play. After a poor showing against Everton, Wayne Rooney was dropped, allowing Kagawa to play in his favored central position. He came on for Kagawa in the 68th but then suffered a terrible thigh gash and had to be carried off. He will be out for at least a month, which means Kagawa will likely continue playing as the No 10.

The goal itself was a tap-in, and that it wasn’t called off for offsides surprised everyone, including Kagawa. He follows Junichi Inamoto and Hidetoshi Nakata as Japanese goalscorers in the Premier League. Hopefully several others will follow him this season.

Hiroshi Kiyotake made his debut for FC Nurnberg, playing the entire 90 minutes in a 1-0 win over Hamburg.

Takashi Inui also made his debut for Eintracht Frankfurt, starting in a 2-1 win over Bayer Leverkusen. He was involved in Frankfurt’s equalizer, as his shot was only parried by Bernd Leno into the path of Stefan Aigner who finished well. Hajime Hosogai was an unused substitute for Leverkusen.

Takashi Usami came off the bench to make his debut for Hoffenheim in a 2-1 loss to Borussia Monchengladbach. He will look to break into the staring XI as the season progresses. Yuki Otsu was not included for Gladbach–more on a potential move away later.

Yuto Nagatomo played the entire 90 minutes as Inter beat newly-promoted Pescara 3-0. He also played the entire 90 minutes in a 2-2 draw with Romanian side FC Vaslui, which was enough for Inter to advance on. Similarly in Russia, Keisuke Honda played the entire 90 minutes in CSKA Moscow’s 3-0 win over Kryliya Sovetov. However, CSKA suffered major disappointment during the week, getting knocked out of the Europa League by Swedish side AIK.

In Holland, Maya Yoshida played the entire 90 minutes in a 4-2 loss to Ado Den Haag. More on him later. Robert Cullen came on in the 67th minute. For Vitesse, Michihiro Yasuda played the entire 90 minutes in a 2-0 win over Willem II. Mike Havenaar came on in the 54th minute.

In Europa League action, VFB Suttgart knocked out Dinamo Moscow 3-1 on aggregate after a 1-1 draw in Moscow. Gotoku Sakai and Shinji Okazaki both played the entire 90 minutes. Hannover 96 completed a 10-4 aggregate thumping of Slask Wroclaw with a 5-1 home win. Hiroki Sakai came on off the bench and set up the final goal with a delightful cross to Szabolcs Huszti.

Last but not least, English League Cup action. Tadanari Lee scored and played the entire 90 minutes in Southampton’s 4-1 win over Stevenage. It was a great way for him to mark his return from injury. Ryo Miyaichi came on for the last 10 minutes of Wigan’s 4-1 win over Nottingham Forest, which feature a couple great goals. Miyaichi got an assist for Wigan’s fourth, though Callum McManaman still had to beat a couple of players to score. An interesting stat from WhoScored.com: Miyaichi created a chance on average once every 32 minutes last season, 11th best in the Premier League.

Some transfer news: Maya Yoshida has completed a move to Southampton. He leaves one Japanese teammate (Robert Cullen) to join another (Tadanari Lee). The transfer fee was £2 million. Yoshida says that to play in the Premier League has been “one of my biggest dreams since I was a child.” Congrats to him on the move; that makes four Japanese players in the Premier League–let’s hope for more goals scored. Meanwhile, Yuki Otsu has been linked with a loan move to Celtic. It would be a good more for him; he’d play regularly and in the Champions League. Hiroshi Ibusuki has joined Belgian second division side KAS Eupen on loan from Sevilla.

Olympic Football Roster Announced

Kenyu Sugimoto was a surprise inclusion.

The Japan Olympic football squad was announced today, and there were some surprise inclusions/exclusions. Here’s the squad:

Keeper: Shuichi Gonda, Shunsuke Ando

Def: Yuhei Tokunaga (overage), Maya Yoshida (overage), Daisuke Suzuki, Hiroki Sakai, Gotoku Sakai

Mid: Hiroshi Kiyotake, Taisuke Muramatsu, Keigo Higashi, Hotaru Yamaguchi, Takahiro Ogihara, Takashi Usami

Fwd: Kensuke Nagai, Yuki Otsu, Manabu Saito, Kenyu Sugimoto

Injury standby: Akihiro Hayashi (keeper-overage), Kazuki Oiwa (def), Takuji Yonemoto (mid), Ryohei Yamazaki (fwd)

The notable omission has to be Ryo Miyaichi. The most likely explanation is that Arsenal were not going to release him for the Olympics. However, the fact that they posted a note on their website about his inclusion in the preliminary squad, and the rumors swirling about his imminent loan move to Southampton, indicate that a) they were at least entertaining the idea of letting him go, and b) since he is moving on loan, his participation in the Olympics didn’t matter to them at all. So, if Arsenal were in fact okay with him being in the squad, then this is a ridiculous omission. Firstly, he played regularly for Bolton last season, in the most competitive league in the world. While he didn’t start every match, he came off the bench in the ones he didn’t, and at least got playing time in most of Bolton’s matches. This is more than some of the players chosen above him can say, playing in the J. League. Secondly, he is one of the most talented players that Japan have. The Olympics are the time to test out your talents, so take your most talented players.

Another omission is Yoshiaki Takagi who should’ve been at least a reserve. He started playing regularly for Utrecht at the end of last season, which should be enough to warrant a spot on the Olympic team. Yuya Osako, Mizuki Hamada, and Hiroshi Ibusuki were also omitted. Osako has been playing well for a an underachieving Kashima Antlers side this season. Hamada is an exciting central defender, but the JFA opted for overage players in that position. Ibusuki should’ve also been at least a reserve–he could’ve provided a plan b in the Andy Carroll mold.

The biggest surprise inclusion is Kenyu Sugimoto, who has four goals this season for Tokyo Verdy…in J.2. At 6 foot 2, he does provide that plan b, but clearly Ibusuki, with 20 goals in the Spanish third division, should get in ahead of him.

I will post about the potential starting xi in the future, but for now, what do you think?

Japanese Players in Europe

Borussia Dortmund look set to retain their Bundesliga title, after beating local rivals Schalke 2-1. Goals from Lukasz Pisczek and Sebastian Kehl were enough to overturn an early stunner from Jefferson Farfan. Shinji Kagawa played the entire match. Atsuto Uchida started and was substituted for Ciprian Marica in the 85th minute. The victory, coupled with Bayern’s 0-0 draw at home to Mainz, puts Dortmund eight points clear at the top of the Bundesliga, with three matches to go. Highlights.

Ryo Miyaichi came off the bench for Chris Eagles in Bolton’s 2-0 defeat at Newcastle. The defeat put Bolton in the relegation zone along with Wolves and Blackburn, though they have played two fewer than QPR who are a point above them. Wolves will surely go down, so the fight to avoid the other two places will be between Bolton, Blackburn, QPR, Wigan, and Aston Villa. Bolton face Villa away in two weeks time.

Gotoku Sakai played the entire match as Stuttgart beat Bremen 4-1. Christian Gentner, Martin Harnik, and Cacau scored as Stuttgart came back to win emphatically. The win solidifies their hold on fifth place and a place in next year’s Europa League. Sakai set up the fourth with a well-delivered freekick, which Cacau headed in. Shinji Okazaki came on for the final ten minutes, after missing over a month through injury. Highlights.

Japan 0-1 Uzbekistan

Japan lost its final third round World Cup Qualifier to Uzbekistan on Wednesday. Alexandr Shadrin scored the only goal in the 53rd minute. It’s a disappointing result, but not one to fret too much over.

Both teams had secured qualification so it could’ve played out as a friendly, but Japan fielded its strongest lineup. Shinji Kagawa was a surprise inclusion, after initially being expected to miss out because of injury. Only Keisuke Honda was missing.

In fact, Uzbekistan was the more injury-troubled team, with 5 usual starters missing out, including captain and two-time Asian Footballer of the Year Server Djeparov and Anzhi midfielder Odil Ahmedov.

Japan dominated the first half, keeping all of possession and attacking constantly. In the 16th minute, Kagawa dribbled through the Uzbek midfield and passed to Mike Havenaar. He played a decent pass into the box aimed for Shinji Okazaki, but it was cut out by Islom Inomov, almost into his own net.

Kagawa continued to find open spaces, and in the 22nd he played a pass into Okazaki, who took out an Uzbek defender with an expert cutback, before smashing a shot off the top left corner of the goal.

Okazaki then put the ball into the net in the 36th minute, but it was rightly called off because of a foul by Mike. The sides entered the half at 0-0, with Japan undoubtedly frustrated that they hadn’t scored.

Uzbekistan scored the lone goal in the 53rd on a counter-attack. Japan seemed to have numbers back, but a perfect cross from Jasur Hasanov put it on a plate for Bahodir Nasimov. His diving header was right at Kawashima, but Alexandr Shadrin was there to slam home the rebound for his first senior team goal.

As the half wore on, Japan looked increasingly fatigued, with Kagawa and Nagatomo visibly laboring. They still attacked persistently and kept possession but were unable to create any clear chances. The best opportunity came in the 72nd, when a last ditch tackle prevented Kagawa from leveling the score after being played through by Takashi Inui.

Uzbekistan should’ve made it 2-0 in the second minute of added time when Hasanov was one-on-one with Kawashima. However his shot was tame and right at the keeper.

After the final whistle, players from both sides collapsed in exhaustion and the Uzbek players celebrated in joy. It was a deserved win for them, who defended well and looked dangerous on the counter-attack.

The message-boarders seem to agree that the players didn’t take the match seriously. I’m not convinced that was the case, and think it had more to do with it just being an off day and a lot of key players being fatigued. Most of the Europe-based players had matches over the weekend and probably felt the effects of jet lag.

Captain Makoto Hasebe and Atsuto Uchida didn’t exactly cover themselves in glory. Both looked tired and out of form, probably because neither are consistently getting into the first teams at their club sides. Hasebe looked especially tired and slow. Uchida was just uninvolved, with most of Japan’s attack coming from the left. Jungo Fujimoto also did not play his best, and was far less influential than he was on Friday against Iceland.

Takashi Inui played well, but he tended to drift inside instead of sticking to the wings. Nonetheless, he was able to play some clever passes and kept Japan attacking throughout.

We did not get the highly anticipated debut of Ryo Miyaichi, which was disappointing. Many think that Ryo would have brought that little extra to break down the valiant Uzbek defense. He might well have done that, but the creative players already on the field were doing a good enough job, and he will definitely get his chance soon. Also, Zaccheroni had made two attacking substitutions by the 66th, and was forced to make a third one because of injury to Nagatomo. He put on Yuichi Komano in like-for-like switch. Another attacking substitution might have left the vulnerable in the back, but I think Zaccheroni just wanted to see what the players on the pitch could do.

All in all, it was a disappointing loss to an under strength Uzbekistan side, but not one to worry that much about. Japan had already qualified, and many of the players were fatigued. Maybe we’ll be grouped with them again in the next round and get some revenge.

Some points: This match was good as a tactical experiment, and I’m sure Zaccheroni has a better idea of which players are better together. One thing I noticed was that Inui and Kagawa tended to get in each other’s way. Both are fantastic players, but they both like playing through the center. Inui was put on for Fujimoto as a winger in the attacking midfield trio, but he kept drifting inside and getting too close to Kagawa. Maybe Zaccheroni will think about playing Kagawa on the wing when the two play together from now on, as he plays there very effectively for Dortmund. That way the two will crowd each other less.

The people who were disappointed in Uchida said that Zaccheroni should start picking Hiroki Sakai. Also Hajime Hosogai has been touted as a replacement for the not-so-speedy Endo/Hasebe. It will be interesting to see if these two become more involved in the senior team this year. Maybe Gotoku Sakai as well?

Uzbekistan proved once again that they are in peak physical condition. You would think a team that plays the entire match chasing passes and running the length of the pitch on counter-attacks would tire, but they did not. They were just as sharp and organized in defense in the second half as they were in the first. It was very impressive to watch.

Patience. Japan needs to get used to teams sitting back and conceding possession. Uzbekistan sat back, let Japan pass the ball, and launched dangerous counter-attacks on missed passes. If Japan are patient and do not play difficult passes, they will eventually break teams down.

Here are the highlights.

Next is the draw for the fourth round, which takes place on 9 March at Kuala Lumpur.

Japanese Players in Europe

Shinji Okazaki scored for the third league match in a row, as Stuttgart beat Freiburg 4-1. Okazaki got on the end of an excellent cross from Martin Harnik in the 21st minute to make give Die Schwaben a 2-0 lead. It was his 7th goal of the season. Gotoku Sakai, on loan from Albirex Niigata, retained his place as the starting rightback, playing the full 90 minutes. The win lifted Stuttgart into 8th place as they aim for the European places. Highlights.

Robert Cullen scored his second goal of the season, as Venlo beat Heracles 3-1. Cullen came on in the 75th minute and scored in the 90th to secure the points for Venlo. Maya Yoshida played the entire match. The win brings Venlo to within 2 points of safety. The goal.

Shinji Kagawa returned earlier than expected for Dortmund, as the reigning Bundesliga champions beat Hannover 3-1 to extend their lead at the top of the table to 3 points over Bayern. He started the match and was subbed off in the 87th minute for Ivan Perisic, who promptly scored.

Speaking of Monchengladbach, Yuki Otsu made just his 3rd league appearance for the Foals, who drew 1-1 to Hamburg and dropped to third place. Otsu came on for Igor De Camargo in the 79th minute.

Ryo Miyaichi played the full 90 minutes as Bolton were smacked 3-0 away at Chelsea. The Wanderers were torn apart by a second-half onslaught from the unpredictable Blues.

Finally, Yuto Nagatomo played the full 90 minutes for Inter as they lost to Napoli. It was the 5th straight match in all competitions that the Nerazzurri have failed to score. Since the return of Wesley Sneijder, they have been in terrible form.

(Note: The picture at the top is not from the Freiburg match, but it’s just such a great picture of Sakai and Okazaki together that I had to use it.)

Look forward to the Uzbekistan match tomorrow, or later today depending on where you are!

Japanese Squad to Face Uzbekistan

The team to play Uzbekistan on Wednesday has been announced. Unlike the Iceland friendly, this match is on a FIFA date so most of the overseas players have been included. No place for Honda or Kagawa though….

Goalkeepers (rookies in bold): Eiji Kawashima, Kaito Yamamoto, and Shusaku Nishikawa.

Defenders: Yuichi Komano, Yasuyuki Konno, Yuzo Kurihara, Yuto Nagatomo, Masahiko Inoha, Tomoaki Makino, Maya Yoshida, and Atsuto Uchida.

Midfielders: Yasuhito Endo, Kengo Nakamura, Chikashi Masuda, Yosuke Kashiwagi, Makoto Hasebe, and Hajime Hosogai.

Forwards: Ryo Miyaichi, Tadanari Lee, Mike Havenaar, Shinji Okazaki, Jungo Fujimoto, and Takashi Inui.

Obviously I’m excited to see Miyaichi. He probably will start on the bench, but hopefully he’ll get some time. He’s been playing well at Bolton, and together with Nagatomo, could cause real havoc down the wings.

I am disappointed that Junya Tanaka was not retained from the friendly–he played well when he came on against Iceland. However he will get plenty of opportunities in the future.

Kagawa’s omission is definitely because of injury. He wasn’t expected to return for Dortmund until next week, but played in today’s 3-1 win over Hannover. He was likely still thought unavailable when the selections were made. I’m guessing it’s similar with Honda, though he played in the midweek against Real Madrid. I think that CSKA weren’t too keen about having their playmaker fly all the way to Japan after just making his way back to fitness, and made the JFA aware of this concern.

Despite these two absences, Zaccheroni will be able to put forward a very strong team. He will probably go with his favored 4-2-3-1. Mike will probably be the lone striker, with Okazaki-Lee-Hosogai behind him. Endo and Hasebe are near locks in the midfield. I would bet on Nagatomo-Konno-Yoshida-Uchida and obviously Kawashima in goal.

With a win, Japan would secure first place in Group C on head-to-head. The seeding for groups in the next round is done by FIFA ranking so the result from this match won’t get Japan a more favorable group, but it would still be good to finish the round with a win.

The European update will come later this week. Sorry for the delay, here’s a Shinji Kagawa highlight video to make up for it.

Japanese Players in Europe

Despite Shinji Kagawa’s injury, this was a very good weekend for Japanese footballers in Europe. The star was Ryo Miyaichi who scored his first goal in English football in a 2-0 Bolton win away at Millwall. Ryo ran past the Millwall defense and curled into the back of the net to give Bolton a 1-0 lead in three minutes in. After the match, he said that the finish was inspired by Thierry Henry and Robin van Persie: “When I was at Arsenal, I saw many times Henry score same way during training. [Robin] Van Persie also did it, from the right flank. They showed very good example for me. That’s why I could score today.” (Guardian) This was Ryo’s second appearance for Bolton, and they have both been good performances.

Mike Havenaar scored his second Eredivisie in a 4-1 defeat to Twente. Mike came on as a substitute in the 73rd minute, and scored in the 88th, with the score at 4-0. The loss leaves Vitesse in 7th place, but on the bright side Mike continues to play well! Michihiro Yasuda also played in this game

Shinji Okazaki scored an outrageous overhead kick in Stuttgart’s 4-2 defeat at the hands of Hannover. Stuttgart slipped to ninth with the loss. Still, a great goal, and the proper celebration given the score.

Maya Yoshida scored as Venlo smacked fellow strugglers De Graafschap 4-1. Robert Cullen came on for the second half. The win brings Venlo to within two points of safety.

Tadanari Lee scored his first goal for Southampton in a 4-0 win over Derby County. Lee came on in the second half and scored in the 75th. It was a great goal.

Nagatomo played well again, however Inter lost again 3-0 to Bologna. It was Inter’s third straight loss, and third straight game in which they failed to score. They are now in seventh place.

Finally, Kagawa will miss Dortmund’s next few games as he injured his ankle during midweek training. He had been in great form, which makes the injury all the more disappointing.

Japanese Players in Europe

Borussia Dortmund maintained its two-point lead atop the Bundesliga with a 1-0 victory over Bayer Leverkusen. The match was settled by a brilliant individual goal by Shinji Kagawa. After a poor start to the season, he has really hit form and, with Robert Lewandowski, has been Dortmund’s best player in the absence of Mario Gotze. He has now scored four times in 2012, leading Dortmund to top of the table and an undefeated record on the year.

Ryo Miyaichi made his English debut, playing the entire second half of Bolton’s 2-1 home defeat to Wigan. He was brilliant throughout and almost salvaged a point for the Wanderers, forcing a great save from Ali Al-Habsi. Manager Owen Coyle singled Ryo out for praise in his post-match interview.

Mike Havenaar played the entire match, as Vitesse lost 3-1 away to Feyenoord. Red-hot Man City loanee John Guidetti had yet another hattrick for Feyenoord who moved up to fourth with the win. Michihiro Yasuda was an unused substitute.

Shinji Okazaki scored once as Stuttgart smacked Hertha Berlin 5-0. The win lifts Stuttgart to 9th in the table. Makoto Hasebe and Wolfsburg are one spot ahead in the standings, winning 3-2 over Freiburg. Captain Hasebe played the entire second half. Meanwhile, Takashi Usami was an unused substitute as Bayern beat relegation-bound Kaiserslautern 2-0.

Both Maya Yoshida and Robert Cullen played as VVV beat Groningen 2-0, to climb further from automatic relegation. Yoshida played the entire match, while Cullen came on as a late substitute. Meanwhile, Yoshiaki Takagi maintained his place in the first team as Utrecht drew 1-1 Ado Den Haag.

Sorry for the long absence readers, I will be posting more regularly now.

Award Winners

Here are the winners of the three Japan Footblog Player of the Year awards.

Shinji Kagawa is the winner of the Japanese Player in Europe award. While he was injured for the second half of last season, he has played well for so far this season and has combined well with the likes of Mario Gotze and Robert Lewandowski. Early in the season, he struggled and was criticized for some of his performances; however the poor early form was probably a result of the entire team playing badly. As Dortmund has climbed up the table over the past two months, Kagawa has been in good form, scoring and creating some excellent goals. While overall his club year was not significantly better than Nagatomo’s, who has recently been outstanding for Inter, Kagawa was at the heart of all things good for the national team. He was vital to the Asian Cup triumph, despite breaking his foot and missing the final. His heroic two goal performance against Qatar was especially memorable. He was also wonderful in the 3-0 win over Korea over the summer and World Cup qualifiers so far.

Note: A reader pointed out to me that Eiji Kawashima had a very good season for his club Lierse, saving them from relegation, and should have been nominated for the award. I agree and have now officially nominated him! Sorry for my initial oversight.

Marcus Tulio Tanaka is the J. League Japanese Player of the Year. While his team Nagoya Grampus did not win the league, they probably should have. They played the best football, and he was the heart of the league’s second-best defense. He was not booked the entire season and also scored six goals. Nagoya will be the team to watch in this year’s Champions League.

Ryo Miyaichi is the Young Player of the year. While Japanese football overall enjoyed a great year, none of the senior players had a particularly incredible year for their club. This was not the case for the young players, with three or four having great years. However Ryo just shades it for me, ahead of Usami and Ibusuki. While he hasn’t played as regularly at Arsenal as we all hoped, he was incredible for Feyenoord in the first half of the year. I don’t want to understate how good Ryo was with Feyenoord–he was amazing. While he was in the Eredivisie, he was arguably the league’s best player and steered Feyenoord from relegation to respectable. All at the age of 18, freshly plucked out of high school. For his time at Feyenoord alone, he wins the award. At Arsenal, he’s played mostly for the reserves and in Carling Cup matches. He spent some time out with injury. Fingers crossed, this year he will emerge as a really special player.

Nominees for Player of the Year Awards

Here are the nominees for the inaugural end-of-year Japan Footblog Player of the Year Awards. Please let me know if there are any glaring misses or players that are more deserving.

Japanese Player in Europe: This award is for the player who was the most important for his club team. Bonus points if they were really good for the national team.

• Shinji Kagawa: After a first half of the 2010-11 season in which he took the Bundesliga by storm, Kagawa broke his foot in the Asian Cup and didn’t play for Dortmund again until this fall. His second season hasn’t been as magical, marked by some poor performances early in both the Bundesliga and the Champions League. However he was picked it up and has displayed the skill that made him the subject of many transfer rumors over the summer. He has six goals overall this season. Also, he was incredible for the national team–the single-handed rescue against Qatar in the Asian Cup and the dismantling of South Korea in the 3-0 victory over the summer are two performances that quickly come to mind.
• Keisuke Honda: Like Kagawa, Honda has struggled with injuries this year. Nonetheless he still managed to score nine goals, leading CSKA Moscow to second place and a place in the RPL’s ridiculous ‘Championship Group’. He was also pretty good for the national team, winning (probably undeservedly) the MVP award for the Asian Cup.
• Yuto Nagatomo: Again, injured for a bit, but when he played he was excellent. Now one of the first names on the team sheet for Inter, Nagatomo has become one of the most exciting players in Serie A. He has scored three league goals and has shredded countless defenses. Recently, he has been vital to Inter’s resurgence as they have managed to overcome a terrible start. Finally, he was at the center of two of the iconic moments in Japanese football in 2o11: the cross that set up Tadanari Lee’s Asian Cup winning goal, and waving a Japanese flag after Inter beat Bayern in the Champions League in support of the earthquake and tsunami victims in March.
• Shinji Okazaki: He had a good season for Stuttgart last season, and has been decent this season so far as has his team. Didn’t stand out on the club level like the other three, but he was incredible for the national team. He scored three times in the Asian Cup and has scored five goals in World Cup qualifying so far.

Japanese Player in J. League: This blog has focused on players in Europe but I promise that next season the J. League will be covered. The primary purpose of this award is to identify some of the players that could potentially make the jump to Europe, and to show some love to the J. League greats.

• Mike Havenaar: In his first season with Kofu, Havenaar led the club to promotion with 2o goals. In his second season, Havenaar took no time to acclimatize to J. League 1, scoring 17 goals (40 percent of Kofu’s total). He was unable to prevent Kofu from being relegated but his performances were so outstanding that he was called up by Zaccheroni to the national team. Naturally, he scored twice in three matches. Starting in the new year, Havenaar will be playing along Michihiro Yasuda at Vitesse.
• Junya Tanaka: Kashiwa Reysol had an incredible season. After winning promotion, they wasted no time and promptly won the J. League title in their first attempt. A lot of the plaudits were deservedly given to J. League player of the year Leandro, but equally as important to the team’s amazing success was Tanaka, who scored 13 times for the champions. He was also called up for the national team for the first time.
• Marcus Tulio Tanaka: The best defender in the J. League. He was the anchor for Nagoya as they posted the league’s second-best defensive record. He also chipped in with six goals and wasn’t booked a single time. Yes, not a single yellow card all season. Wow.
• Yasuhito Endo: Maybe the best J. League player of all time, and he was at it again this season. He was the heartbeat of a free-scoring Gamba side that found the net eleven more times than any other team in the league.

Young Player of the Year: We should get used to hearing these names, both on the club and national team level.

• Ryo Miyaichi: He lit up the Eredivisie with Feyenoord in the first half of the year, then shined for Arsenal in Carling Cup and reserve matches. Recently he’s been hurt, but everyone is eager for Ryo to return in 2012.
• Takashi Usami: On loan at Bayern Munich from Gamba, Usami has looked ridiculously out of place with the reserves, and will likely feature more prominently in the first team in 2012. So far, he has scored six times in 14 reserve appearances and has even scored for the senior team in a cup win.
• Hiroshi Ibusuki: Now playing for Sevilla, Ibusuki has scored eleven goals in 18 matches for the reserves and has recently been on the bench for some Liga matches. Don’t be surprised to see him in some cup matches in the new year.
• Hiroshi Kiyotake: Osaka’s ‘second team’ had a disappointing 2011, however Kiyotake continued to impress. He scored seven league goals from the midfield, adding four more in the Champions League. He also made his debut for the national team, playing in three matches.