A round of mixed results in the AFC Champions League will have left A-League fans scratching their heads this week. Hopes were high after Newcastle Jets held Nagoya Grampus to a credible draw at Mizuho Stadium. But with Kawasaki Frontale dishing out a footballing lesson to a stunned Central Coast Mariners, the question remains: can A-League clubs ever compete with the Japanese?
A few home truths need to be faced before A-League clubs can think about bridging the gap.
Without wishing to employ the words “technical and tactical,” Australians need to see beyond the impressive budgets and Brazilian wizardry available to many Japanese clubs and start recognising what ideas we can borrow to improve our own football.
And we should start by looking at training methods.
Is it any wonder that Kawasaki Frontale employed two converted midfielders in the form of Yusuke Mori and Kazuhiro Murakami to play as attacking wing-backs?
It’s not just because Mori and Murakami have spent most of their careers as midfielders that they looked so accomplished going forward.
Instead it’s the fact that Japanese players are drilled incessantly in the art of close control and ball skills.
And when I say drilled, I don’t mean a few training sessions a week by the time they are in their twenties.
Japanese players are considered by FIFA to be the most technically accomplished in the world at age sixteen because by that time they have been practicing ball skills for at least ten years.
The school system helps – Japanese children are used to drilling endlessly in any number of topics – and that kind of regime helps condition young footballers to put in the practice required to become a professional.
And the kind of football demanded by Japanese coaches, with players interchangeable and adept at playing any number of positions, is what encourages teams like Kawasaki Frontale to play the combination football that so embarrassed the Mariners.
Elementary mistakes don’t help, of course, and after Hiroyuki Taniguchi scored most of his ten goals last season with his head, you’d think a Central Coast defender might have picked up the little midfielder in the box.
It’s not like Lawrie McKinna even needed to watch last season’s DVD – Taniguchi scored from a header against Nagoya Grampus just last week.
Speaking of Nagoya, they looked fairly uninspired against Newcastle Jets, with Gary van Egmond’s side slightly unfortunate not to go on and win their clash at a balmy Mizuho.
I’m not sure where “Dutchy” pulled the idea that Nagoya are one of the favourites to reach the final from – personally I thought Grampus might struggle to get out of the group stage – and they were comfortably beaten by Kawasaki Frontale in the J. League last weekend.
But once again it was a Japanese player in Keiji Tamada – not the much-vaunted Davi – who did the damage against Newcastle, and the Jets were slightly fortunate that last season’s J. League Rookie Of The Year Yoshizumi Ogawa was in unusually quiet form.
All the imports in the world don’t change the fact that Nagoya’s exciting teenager Sho Hanai or Kawasaki’s one-club man Kengo Nakamura are locally produced.
Even Kawasaki’s Chong Tese is a product of the Japanese youth system. He may be a North Korean international, but the star striker was born and raised in Nagoya.
Football Australia has taken steps to redress the issue by introducing a much-needed Youth League, but it’s of little value unless Australian clubs start to implement some of the training regimes that are bringing Japanese teams so much success.
And having joked a couple of months ago to Simon Hill that I could see Kawasaki putting ten goals passed Danny Vukovic, I’m a little alarmed that my facetious prediction wasn’t that far off the mark.
It took the Socceroos thirty-two years to make a second World Cup finals appearance.
I hope it doesn’t take that long before A-League teams can compete on a consistent basis with their Japanese counterparts.
Recommend this story.
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April 9th 2009 @ 11:47am
Eamonn said | April 9th 2009 @ 11:47am | Report comment
Manfred..the Milko..Why do you think Japan has failed to get through a group at the World Cup apart from Japan/Korea 2002?..if they are coming from such a wonderful league with such gifted players there must be a reason.
And for the record I don’t think the J-League is “weak,” merely limited in what it produces. Look at Gamba and co in recent World Club Champs, look at the Japanese national team..it’s good in Asia..but never that good World wide.
Would Australia settle for just qualifying?
Clearly one (asyou say) as ignorant as myself wouldn’t have a clue why Japan fails to qualify from the World Cup group stage..but you should be able to enlghten me.
after three of four times of trying…and I’m not counting the home World Cup for obvious reasons..why do they underperform?
And because you are so rude…I’m going “dairy free” from now on:)
April 9th 2009 @ 12:01pm
NUFCMVFC said | April 9th 2009 @ 12:01pm | Report comment
Well done to Kawasaki, combined very well at times and were good to watch. Worht remembering though that CCM and Mrdja had some decent chances at times, and there was one shot cleared off the line so the Mariners could have gotten 2 or 3 themselves.
We have to remember also that they are not Championship teams playing in the ACL on A Leagues behalf and the team that has won the title often looks very different from the one playing in the ACL given issues of player retention, the Jets would do much better if they still had Bridge, Musialik etc who left as well as Joel and Adam Griffiths who are playing with their opponents, could have seen them beating Nagoya on Wednesday with those players
And CCM have struggled quite badly once Jedinak has left
Another issue you have to remember is that we were amateur a few years ago, a lot of the A League players have come through Amateur systems, it’s worth noting those systems also produced much our 2006 World Cup team including one of our best exports in Viduka, Kalac etc, and as Eamonn has noted many of the more potent ones who could trouble some of the Asian teams have either gone to Europe in terms of our youngsters like Burns and Djite who did do well in the group stage last year ()although AUFC weren’t playing a Japanese team int eh group stage) and then of course there are others like Jade North, Milligan, Griffiths brothers who are leaving for “rival” Asian teams in this sense.
A good point about drilling technical ability into the players from a young age, and the Japanese players do seem to have that edge in technical ability over many of the A League players at this time, but the impression I have got is that in the early stages of the J League it wasn’t quite the case and this ability has come from developing their youth development systems, a process which Australia is undertaking. Another issue is that you can “drill too much” to the point where they lack any kind of creativity or capacity for spontaneity. I recall Rob Baan saying of Holland is that their system is over-structured, to the point where the Eredevise has to get Brazilian players to provide the creative element, so we can’t over structure our youth system
Generally speaking, I can see the A League teams be able to be competitive a little bit, in the sense that Australia as a nation has a strong sporting mentality that has ensured we have always been competitive and punched above our weight despite not having the same level of funding as other countries, what we lack in funds we can make up the difference in this capacity, even if I am sounding a tad cliched. But it would only work well if we are fundamentally well focused, with competent technical development and we lose the tactical naivety, which you can see from time to time in A League teams shocking ability to retain possession at times
As I have said before, I think A League can be to Asia what the French and Dutch leagues are to Europe, whereas the majority of competitive teams at ACL level would be coming from the West or from Japan etc from the East, I think the A League will be able to produce a few teams like Ajax, PSV Eindhoven, Lyon etc that are able to get to the latter stages on a semi regular basis despite not having the same resources as some of the bigger leagues and losing much of their players to Spain, England etc. The trick for the A League would be to have good scouting and feeder systems like the French and some smaller European leagues from Africa (think of Drogba and Ronaldinho playing in France and I think in A Leauge terms Hernandez, Lopez, Dadi, and perhaps some of SFC’s central European internationals) as well as good development systems to mix these quality imports with, add to that some returning Socceroos who have had accomplished careers in Europe and bring good experience – someone like Viduka and Craig Moore and in the future Josh Kennedy could perform potently at A League and ACL level – then we can have the capacity to be quite competitive
April 9th 2009 @ 12:08pm
Art Sapphire said | April 9th 2009 @ 12:08pm | Report comment
Eamonn, I can tell you why Japan underperforms in the World Cup. They don’t produce world class strikers.
April 9th 2009 @ 12:37pm
Eamonn said | April 9th 2009 @ 12:37pm | Report comment
Art thanks mate…thought with a brilliant domestic leauge, loads of resources and technically wonderful players they were way ahead of us…seems not!
April 9th 2009 @ 1:02pm
Robbos said | April 9th 2009 @ 1:02pm | Report comment
Eamonn,
he said ‘they don’t produce world class strikers’ and I would also add they are not as mentally tough as say the Aussies.
We in Australia have great attributes, we have same great athletes, we have a very displine well drilled side, especially the socceroos who are all very highly paid professionals.
But what most of the other posters are saying is that we do not develop many highly skill technical players, the coaching here in Australia has more an emphasis on stamina & phyiscal dominance instead of technical players who are able to move the ball around.
Look at all those players you mentioned in a previous post, how many of these players are playing for the socceroos or in one of the top Leagues of the world. Most of the top young players from Brazil, Spain, Argentina are all playing for the big teams. We have the natural attributes, now we need the players to spend more time with the ball & the only way is a whole revamp of our coaches & coaching system.
If the Aussie players can get to be as technically proficent as the Japanese, we have the other attributes, strong mentally, phyiscal height & strenght & highly discipline to compete quite adequately with the rest of the world.
April 9th 2009 @ 1:25pm
Art Sapphire said | April 9th 2009 @ 1:25pm | Report comment
Eamonn – you can also apply the lack of world class strikers observation to South Korea as well. For all their wonderful build up play the Koreans and Japanese struggle in front of goal. Thats why you don’t see any of their strikers playing for the really big clubs in Europe.
The Japanese already know that their fellow countrymen suck in front of goal. They have to import all their strikers from Brazil for their domestic competition.
Top Scorers J-League
2008
Marquinhos Kashima Antlers 21 Brazil
Davi Consadole Sapporo 16 Brazil
Chong Tese Kawasaki Frontale 14 North Korea
Atsushi Yanagisawa Kyoto Sanga 14 Japan
Alessandro Albirex Niigata 13 Brazil
2007
Juninho Kawasaki Frontale 22 Brazil
Bare Gamba Osaka 20 Brazil
Edmilson Albirex Niigata Brazil
Ueslei Sanfrecce Hiroshima 17 Brazil
Washington Urawa Red Diamonds 16 Brazil
Leandro Vissel Kobe 15 Brazil
April 9th 2009 @ 1:27pm
ohtani's jacket said | April 9th 2009 @ 1:27pm | Report comment
Japan can’t hit home runs either. Didn’t stop them from winning the World Baseball Classic.
I live near a sports school where kids practice football all day, every day… and at all hours of the day. It’s incessant. In actual fact, they’re training to make up for their shortcomings, or perceived shortcomings, but I can’t see the type of training regimes Japan employs ever flying in Australia.
Japan is a country where, after school, most kids attend cram school. It’s not unsual for them to get home at 9, 10, 11pm. It’s not the way I grew up.
April 9th 2009 @ 1:31pm
Timmo from Adelaide said | April 9th 2009 @ 1:31pm | Report comment
yeah it wasn’t a good performance by the Mariners but as a football fan it was an absolute pleasure to watch Kawasaki Frontale play last night. The way they pass the ball from left to right, right to left, their crosses into the box, combination of short and long passes was fantastic and in a way football should be played.
With regard to ACL representative this problem will probably rectify itself within the next two years. I wonder how many Adelaide United and Melbourne Victory supporters will complain that their ACL campaigns will begin during the A-League Finals series since we will have a 27-game season and the Final Series is in March? Possibly 33 after that? So the waiting time between ACL quailfication to playing group stages will be shorter.
Secondly the salary cap maybe an issue but I’m sure this is for players. Coaching Staff doesn’t come under the salary cap so what are teams like Melbourne Victory doing with their profits to enhance and hire and invest in foreign coaches to develop technical and tactical play. With the salary cap do we need all A-League clubs to operate on a $20 million dollar budget to compete? We can pay what the game in Australia can generate and so clubs don’t go broke. If we do have one or two super financial clubs would other supporters of A-league clubs bother to show up knowing from the beginning you have absolutely no chance of winning the league? Maybe the $20 million dollar budget for player payments is far-fetch but to increase the cap ticket prices and prices for season tickets and tickets in general will go up so are we as football supporters and especially curious half-interested fans going to fork out that money?
Do we see in the near future clubs operating on a player payment budget of lets say between $5-10 million dollars a year. Would this be reasonable in Australia? Television rights would have a big say on this.
Lastly I guess until the FFA work out how many teams will be in the A-League? How will a NATIONAL second division promotion/relegation system work? How we bridge the gap between A-League and various State league bodies can we work at the monetary system of a fair player payment system. Then we can look to bridge the gap of the Japanese J-League.
April 9th 2009 @ 1:39pm
Art Sapphire said | April 9th 2009 @ 1:39pm | Report comment
ohtani – you don’t have to hit the ball out of the park to score in baseball.
April 9th 2009 @ 2:05pm
Sammy C said | April 9th 2009 @ 2:05pm | Report comment
Some would see alot of our quality A League strikers hit the ball out of the park moreso than into the back of the net?