Japan have emerged as one of the main surprise packages at this World Cup so far as they finished second in group E to go through with the Netherlands.
Japan played good disciplined football and stuck to playing the only way they knew how to. They often endured long spells of pressure from other teams but they did this well before counter attacking to utilise their strengths up front to score winning goals.
Japan will take a great deal of confidence through to the knock out phase of the World Cup. They have nothing to lose because very few expected them to make it as far as they have done already. They have enough quality in all areas of the pitch to get forward and make the most of the position they are in.
However, there are one or two worrying signs for the side and they need to make the most of the time they have to address these problems and make sure they do not surface at the critical stage of this tournament.
Strengths
It’s important to start with the Japanese strengths because there are so many of them. Discipline is very much a feature of this side and the team do very well in keeping their concentration for long spells in order to make sure that they do not concede a goal at the wrong end of the pitch.
They pass the ball very well. They do not have a big striker who they can hit the ball up to and because of this they have to rely on playing shorter passes to each other in order to move the ball forward. This means that when they attack they are actually a very entertaining team to watch.
Their set play quality is superb and this was the difference in the match with Denmark, which got them into the later stages of the World Cup. They have a number of players who can all stand over a dead ball and threaten to ping it into the back of an opposition net with pace and quality.
Weaknesses
There are a few weaknesses in the team that have to be sorted out. They almost invite pressure onto themselves during games and it’s almost as though they expect this to happen. This has to change because better teams will have more quality and the players needed to get past this stubbornness.
The side is very small and they have to be much stronger in defence and holding off opposition attacks. If they do not get a few challenges in against better teams then these teams will start to think that they can bully Japan around the pitch and they will do so easily if Japan do not stand up to it.
The defence looks very vulnerable to pace and it’s worrying that Japan play quite high up the pitch at times. They’ll have to drop a little deeper in the defensive areas to give their defenders more chance of getting the ball if a very fast striker manages to break ranks and get in behind.
Advice
Very few people are going to back Japan to get through the next match and into the business end of the tournament. However, there are a few players in the side who can play very well during the game and these players are good candidates for you to back in terms of bagging a goal.
Look at the statistics for the group games and single out the players who have been most effective. Don’t be afraid to put a bet on one or two of these players as they may well come good.
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