Heh heh, just got home with a copy of this (¢«pic of mag, click on pic to enlarge). This is the Shukan Sakka- Magajin (or Weekly Soccer Magazine) one of the staples of any football fan looking for a weekly fix of football news in Japan. Most people swing back and forth between the Magazine and the Weekly Soccer Digest, depending on what articles are inside that week.

Since I already introduced the Digest, I thought this time I'd take a look at the Magazine. No, I did not choose it because there happened to be a profile pic of GK Kawaguchi, or because it included posters of FW Suzuki and DF Miyamoto (all in NT uniform). Seriously, I'm not that big of a ditz, and not 16 anymore! (the lady doth protest too much..!) And the posters were a joke anyway -- really horrid shots. But if anyone wants it email me and I'll snailmail it to ya. Just to warn you though, there are several stapler holes in the poster.) A-hem. Anyway, this issue started off with a couple "eh" interviews with Kawaguchi and Junichi Inamoto (West Bromwich, dmf).

Nothing particularly juicy, but the interview with Inamoto was a little interesting. He discussed his situation/position at his club, and at the NT level. At the NT, he admits that this may be a time to be a little patient. While he was recovering from injury, he missed out on a lot of the big battles last year and he can understand why he did not start in the last two NT qualifier games. However, he also added that he hoped that Zico would give him a chance to start in the upcoming friendlies against Peru and/or UAE -- that if he was benched again, he said jokingly, he may have to have a word with the coach. The magazine has been selling this "have to have a word with Zico" comment as some big throw-down by Ina, but I didn't read the interview that way. Of course the mag had that quote chopped up and enlarged on the cover -- giving a lot of people the inaccurate impression about Ina's attitude when he spoke the words. I've seen a number of people on the net commenting about it... whether Ina has the right to say something like that when he barely makes it to the bench in his own club and has not really contributed to the team for a year (not his fault, but other's performed while he was away, and them's the breaks). I don't think we should read too much into it, knowing Ina's personality. Ina also said that he's been working on getting stronger in 1-on-1 matchups and improving the quality of his dribbling.

There's also a "Why Tatsuhiko Kubo is so good" analysis article written by former forward for Nissan and Marinos as well as ex-international Takashi Mizunuma. (He now works in the media, as writer, football news show co-host, and game commentator.) The article about Tatsuhiko Kubo discussed his strengths.
1) His ability to be "play dead", make the defender relax, and then suddenly turn "on".
2) Balance. He doesn't use textbook methods, but is able to change gears to attack very quickly. He also has a natural sense of balance allowing him to take volley shots in the air and on the ground with a unique sense of timing.
3) He doesn't fear taking a nice big healthy kick when he shoots. Most players when they find themselves in a shooting situation shy away from taking a big ole swing for fear that it will screw up the timing of their shot and go wide. It is valuable for forwards to throw in a few big kicks like these, as it gives the opponent the impression of power.
4) His comprehensive style allows for many offensive options for the team. Kubo kind of floats around in the middle lazily, but can change gear and suddenly play post, or can slide to the side and get the ball there, or can invite a vertical pass through the defenders. His ability to not give the defenders any clue as to what he's going to do next is a big part of why he is considered so effective.

For those who are have forgotten how Kubo plays after all this time, here's a video of the two goals he scored against Iceland last year.

[Kubo is actually one of the most hilarious and interesting personalities in the J. League, being rather eccentric and media-unfriendly. But I'll talk about him in another entry at some later point, hopefully when/if he fully recovers (he's been suffering from multiple things and has been out of play for almost a year.) and returns to the NT.]

Weekly Soccer Magazine has a section called the Humane Footballer, an interview with a player in the J. The website posts portions of these interviews after the magazine comes out, so you can check there to see if any of your favorite players are featured.

This issue's Humane Footballer was Omiya Ardija's Jun Marques Davidson (I hear he's called Marques on his team, so I'll refer to him this way from now on). And... sorry! I'll get to it in my next entry.