How we can learn from the Japanese

Roar Pro

By Jesse Fink, 5 Nov 2008 Jesse Fink is a Roar Pro

Tagged:: Guus Hiddink, Japan, Pim Verbeek

On Monday evening, at a five-a-side kickaround game in my neighbourhood, I caught up with a friend, a personality manager-agent with lots of footballers on his books. He’d just got back from Japan after having meetings with J-League clubs about one of his players.

The player was perhaps short of European quality but ideal for Asia; Japan was going to be an important rung on the ladder of his career.

In the short time he was there – it was a veritable whistlestop – my friend managed to catch a J-League match live.

He wasn’t that impressed. “I tell you, our A-League is just as good,” he said.

I was surprised; mostly because in the past I have seen myself the yawning gap in technical standards between our top respective J-League and A-League teams.

“Yeah,” he went on, “but football isn’t all about technical skills; it’s also about a bit of this.”

He threw out his elbow and mimed a popping sound. “Japanese players just don’t know how to handle it.”

Which, in truth, faintly appalled me but my friend was right. In the hour that followed I got muscled off the ball repeatedly by a player, an ex pro, who had no qualms using his body to stop me getting up the
field.

It happens every minute of every A-League game. Australians are very good, it must be said, at physical football. Our opponents, club and international, have long bemoaned our style of play, especially in the days before Guus Hiddink and Pim Verbeek.

Some of our storied players were, in virtual effect, thugs.

In the Asian football firmament, we are known as the tough guys. And because of this, our Asian rivals don’t like playing us. It’s never fun to be on the wrong side of the pitch when coming up against an Australian footballer.

I’ll be the first to admit I’ve long derided this characteristic of our national football character and craved the opposite – it is a major theme of my book 15 Days in June – but perhaps there is some mileage to be gained from it when it comes to advancing our progress as a football nation.

If Japan remains the technical benchmark for Asia (which, I’m sure we can all agree on is correct; only Korea comes close), and Australia flies the flag for biff, surely some sort of mutual benefit could be derived.

Leaving aside the obvious issue that we would be aiding and abetting our main World Cup rival (and vice versa) but keeping in mind the overall aim of raising the level of Asian football in general, I think
there is room for an exchange of wisdom between A-League and J-League clubs; specifically handing over some J-League players to A-League clubs to “toughen” them up and returning the compliment so that some of our less technically adept players can improve their base skills.

Short of being regarded as official transfers as such, it could be something that is treated as a quasi-exchange program, two-way traffic that takes place in the off-seasons of both leagues.

It is perhaps fanciful, as it would involve Australia ostensibly admitting we fall short of the Japanese when it comes to o jogo bonito, but the whole point of the exercise is our young players becoming better all-round footballers, and that is worth showing some humility for, is it not?

The Japanese have shown more than enough of that since 1945. Now it’s our turn.

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The Crowd Says (45) | Page 1 of Comments

Scott B said | November 5th 2008 @ 6:51am | Report comment

I’m all for a “brother-club” system.
Free player loans,
If eg. Sydney & Gamba became “brother clubs”, then surely coaching exchange would happen also.
As well as information on ACL opponents.
Im not sure how people would except this, eg. Sydney giving advise to Gamba on how to beat Adelaide.
Back to the point, I think it can work, but not random players going to random clubs. Partnerships/friendships have to be formed.

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Millster said | November 5th 2008 @ 9:07am | Report comment

Yep I’m with Scott. I agree with Jesse’s concept but think it can do with some structure. For example:

- at the right time in each team’s off season they go and visit the other for a week of joint training and a friendly or two
- youth player exchanges and shared scouting information in each team’s home countries
- and yes, the odd senior player loan agreement as per Jesse’s suggestion

Hell, why not broaden it to the commercial side – package the two teams for sponsorship or corporate hospitality purposes, and suchlike.

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Maria said | November 5th 2008 @ 10:06am | Report comment

It just has to happen naturally, That’s the whole point of 3+1. Which we need to adopt or consider in some format!

Meanwhile, our players technical skill wont improve until our coaches get better. Technical skills are picked up between 9 and 14 years of age.

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onside said | November 5th 2008 @ 10:12am | Report comment

Re the Australian physical approach to the game.

Is this in anyway related to the quality of the pitches in Australia where the ball is often kicked in the air
rather than along the ground because of uneven surfaces.

Is it more difficult , perhaps even impossible, to play a technical game on a dodgy surface.

Is the Australian physical game more noticeable against some Asian sides that have smaller players
than it is say against either European or South American teams whose players can be much bigger .

Are the Socceroos considered a physical team despite most players being involved in overseas
competitons where ground facilities are first rate

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etat said | November 5th 2008 @ 10:31am | Report comment

Good article Jesse. I like the lateral thinking but what about investing more in the development of better facilities and coaching here. What exactly are we talking about when we say “technical skills”? Can someone define where the boundaries of these skills are? As a young fella I was coached in detail about how to check in defence, hold off a defender and challenge with the shoulder when weight was with me. I see these aspects of the game as an important technical skill. But the discussions that I see on The Roar and elsewhere always seem to frame technical skill as a slice of something along the lines of what Cristiano Ronaldo does.

Also, Jesse’s second last sentence is a good one. While I think that Aus does have a physicality about them it does relate to average size. Do we have statistics about average team weight to compare against playing styles for something like the Asian Cup?

All said, I would be worried about some express pathway / exchange to Japan as I think the J-League is a competitor to the A-League. I think the J League’s longer history and better funding would eventually wear away at the quality of the Australian league. Australian’s shouldn’t be seeking to tie their own league down too early in the piece.

I think “onside” also makes a good point about the pitch quality influencing the style of play. Through the years I’ve seen many comments about how the small game spaces in the barios (sp?) of south america develops the skill and style of their kids at a very young age. I think Australia’s generally poor pitch quality means the game becomes more about body checking for access to the ball rather than movement of the ball itself.

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sledgeross said | November 5th 2008 @ 11:46am | Report comment

The pitch raises an interesting point regarding the development of not only football players, but our sport in general. I think it may be in part also to how competitive we require our kids to be. You think about how many sports their are for kids to play, and its actually quite cutthroat, we teach our kids to have that “killer” instinct from when they are 12.
When my mates visit from the UK, they cannot believe the sporting infrstructure that we have over here. Most suburbs have at least 2 or 3 football/league grounds, complete with cricket pitches between fields here in Sydneys west. Couple that with our climate that means sport can be played all year round if needed, and we have a great base for success that belies our population. Because spaces are so limited, it means young uns have to fight to gain recognition and respect. Peter Roebuck in hsi book “In it to win it” has a fantastic analysis of the attitudes that have lead to Aussie sporting success.
Where will it all end? I have a cousin who is adept at cricket and football, playing rep standard in both. Hes 14 but will have to choose one or the other in the next year. The more success we have with teh A League and ACL means that those players who were lost to football in the past may stick with it.

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Slippery Jim said | November 5th 2008 @ 12:11pm | Report comment

Wow, what a multicultural society we have become, when we start referring to Japanese football with portugese language cliches. Not sure about the reference to the war, though…

Jesse, what the eff is going on with your latest TWG blog? Some sort of javascript error on the site is preventing me setting straight some cheeky wag who has again posted his inane comment using my username? Terribly frustrating, especially as he is getting more replies than I usually get…I have two or three days off sick and all hell breaks loose in the blogosphere!

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Greg Russell said | November 5th 2008 @ 12:44pm | Report comment

While I agree with all that Jesse has written – indeed, it’s a good piece – I would also like to say that in all walks of life, including sport, the most important thing is to be yourself rather than trying to be someone else. If physicality is a natural strength of the Australian gamel, then we should accept that as part of our style. This is not to say that we should not seek to upskill ourselves technically – of course we should do that. But such efforts should be on top of our physicality, rather than at the expense of it.

People will probably hate me for saying this, but perhaps we should strive to be the Germans of Asia? They are lambasted for their physicality, but tournament after tournament it brings them success. At the end of the day football is a game in which it takes an enormous amount of skill to get the ball into the back of the net, no matter how physical you are over the other 90 m of the pitch. The Germans score goals, quite a lot of them in fact. They are not nearly as unskilled as they are made out to be by people who are blinded by stereotypes.

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Slippery Jim said | November 5th 2008 @ 12:46pm | Report comment

One of the basic rules of any sport, Greg Russel – play to your strengths.

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Midfielder said | November 5th 2008 @ 1:42pm | Report comment

Jes, glad to see someone has finally convinced you that their is more to Football than technical skills.

Remember as I have often argued Jes …………. remember TIPS from the father of modern football ………. each letter get a 25% weighting ……….

T – technical – both ball skill and knowing how to hold shape.
I – Intelligence – above a certain level to be able to react correctly in a short time.
P – perseverance – that dog in the fight not the size of the dog
S – speed – Owens goal in the WC match say no more

Listen to Scott I like em.

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