Japan Coach Turns His Back On Beauty

[Jah Gol]

Two wins in a week is usually cause for celebration but new Japan coach Ivica Osim is just getting started with the Asian Champions and he has given notice that there will be a change from the relaxed passing style of Zico's regime.

"To make Japanese soccer even better, there is a need to play faster, more aggressively, starting at club level," the former Yugoslavia boss told reporters after seeing his new charges record successive 2-0 victories over Trinidad and Tobago and then Yemen.

"And to do that, we must make sacrifices. One of the sacrifices would be elegance. More often that not, elegance and efficiency do not coexist. The only team that has managed that is Barcelona, probably.

"There is nothing wrong with playing beautifully, but we must think about the consequences of playing beautifully. You can choose death over beauty, but you cannot play soccer when you are dead.

"Of course, it's anyone's right to choose beauty over death, but that will not cut it in football. In the modern game, there is a bigger emphasis on how many games you win, as opposed to how you play. It's unfortunate, but it's how it is." 

Osim was unhappy with the lack of urgency that the defence showed when moving the ball forward.

goal.com

"It was too slow," said the 65 year-old, "it was like a train that stops at every station."

[AB.Trini]

"To make Japanese soccer even better, there is a need to play faster, more aggressively, starting at club level," the former Yugoslavia boss told reporters after seeing his new charges record successive 2-0 victories over Trinidad and Tobago and then Yemen.

"And to do that, we must make sacrifices. One of the sacrifices would be elegance. More often that not, elegance and efficiency do not coexist. The only team that has managed that is Barcelona, probably.

"There is nothing wrong with playing beautifully, but we must think about the consequences of playing beautifully. You can choose death over beauty, but you cannot play soccer when you are dead.

"Of course, it's anyone's right to choose beauty over death, but that will not cut it in football. In the modern game, there is a bigger emphasis on how many games you win, as opposed to how you play. It's unfortunate, but it's how it is."

Osim was unhappy with the lack of urgency that the defence showed when moving the ball forward. goal.com

"It was too slow," said the 65 year-old, "it was like a train that stops at every station."

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There may be something here for  our own footballers. If is one thing I observed from the PL in TNT is that teams are not playing this thi sense of urgency. It looks like  'just a game' to some players. A professional player in TNT must play as if each game is an opportunity to audition for a place on the national team. The calibre of our game must raise to a level where our players  could get use to this high level of competition. Players cannot wait for a national  selection to elevate their game.

[Bourbon]

"To make Japanese soccer even better, there is a need to play faster, more aggressively, starting at club level," the former Yugoslavia boss told reporters after seeing his new charges record successive 2-0 victories over Trinidad and Tobago and then Yemen.

"And to do that, we must make sacrifices. One of the sacrifices would be elegance. More often that not, elegance and efficiency do not coexist. The only team that has managed that is Barcelona, probably.

"There is nothing wrong with playing beautifully, but we must think about the consequences of playing beautifully. You can choose death over beauty, but you cannot play soccer when you are dead.

"Of course, it's anyone's right to choose beauty over death, but that will not cut it in football. In the modern game, there is a bigger emphasis on how many games you win, as opposed to how you play. It's unfortunate, but it's how it is."

Osim was unhappy with the lack of urgency that the defence showed when moving the ball forward. goal.com

"It was too slow," said the 65 year-old, "it was like a train that stops at every station."

-----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

There may be something here for  our own footballers. If is one thing I observed from the PL in TNT is that teams are not playing this thi sense of urgency. It looks like  'just a game' to some players. A professional player in TNT must play as if each game is an opportunity to audition for a place on the national team. The calibre of our game must raise to a level where our players  could get use to this high level of competition. Players cannot wait for a national  selection to elevate their game.

Good talk. The lack of urgency has been the undoing of the team for a while, often resulting in us conceeding early goals etc.

The only team that has managed that is Barcelona, probably

Once he realise that its only one team that is capable.....we good.