Genki Haraguchi

chaileyjem said:

If, as it looks like, we're signing another winger then where does that leave the under contract; Murphy, Skalak, Lua Lua let alone March & Knockeart .
especially as Hughton hinting he's not going to stick to 4-4-2 in Prem...

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I think KLL's time is up at the Albion. He's not a PL quality player. Simple as that.

I have question marks over Murphy and Skalak. They have had some great games this season but far more average games in my view. Not convinced they have the potential to be good PL players. Knockhaert and March on the other hand, have the potential to be great in the PL.

peterward said:

the more you think about it the more sense it makes, not only a potentially good new signing, but the club may have one eye on expanding the commercial side. A Japanese player is bound to draw a lot of interest and potential new marketing/advertising revenues..... guessing there may be a fair few Japanese potentially watching us if it came off.

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Adding to the shrine that is the Amex, after Japan beating South Africa in Rugby World Cup. Isn't there a plaque in the north-West corner to denote where the winning try was scored?

Kaiser_Soze said:

I think KLL's time is up at the Albion. He's not a PL quality player. Simple as that.

I have question marks over Murphy and Skalak. They have had some great games this season but far more average games in my view. Not convinced they have the potential to be good PL players. Knockhaert and March on the other hand, have the potential to be great in the PL.

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Im very happy to have Murphy as one of our winger options. Under-rated for me. Good counter attacking winger which will suit us next season, KLL and Skalak will struggle to make our squad i would imagine.

I'm finding it very difficult to keep up with who on earth these players are being linked to us/bought by us!

rabbitmaddie said:

Adding to the shrine that is the Amex, after Japan beating South Africa in Rugby World Cup. Isn't there a plaque in the north-West corner to denote where the winning try was scored?

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Absolutely right. The Amex is already big news in Japan; a country that is preparing to host the RWC in 2019. Big commercial market for the Albion to look at.

Urchin said:

I believe he's out of contract.

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Expires 2018


Sometimes right, sometimes wrong but ALWAYS certain

Marshy said:

Im very happy to have Murphy as one of our winger options. Under-rated for me. Good counter attacking winger which will suit us next season, KLL and Skalak will struggle to make our squad i would imagine.

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Think Murphy is a fine option at home but has really struggled in away matches. Skalak was class towards the end of last season and though he hasn't been up to scratch this year (and got a lot of flack for it on here), with a full pre-season, I reckon he could be a good option next year.

https://sandalsforgoalposts.com/2017/01/20/sfgtop100-8-genki-haraguchi/

8. Genki Haraguchi (New Entry)
Hertha Berlin (GER) / Japan / Attacking Midfield

Words by*Martin Lowe

While others have floundered around him, Genki Haraguchi has been Japan’s stand out player of 2016, with his goals alone contributing to 5 extra WCQ points the Samurai Blue wouldn’t have without him. His ascension from a player on the fringe of a call up, to regular squad player, to regular starter, to their most potent weapon has really took full flight this past year, so much so that his inclusion ahead of the likes of Shinji Kagawa and Keisuke Honda (who were both benched against Saudi Arabia in November) hardly raised an eyebrow.

While he made a couple of telling impacts in Round 2 of World Cup qualification, it’s been Round 3 where Haraguchi’s come into his own.*From four starts, he’s scored four goals, a goal in each match. The only match of Round 3 he didn’t notch in was the one he only appeared from the bench (against UAE). Since then, with Haraguchi featuring from the start, Japan are unbeaten, only dropping 2 points in their away draw against Australia.

It’s strange that we’re placing so much emphasis on his goalscoring figures, as apart from*a one off season for Urawa Reds back in 2013, Haraguchi has failed to hit double figures in any single club term. In fact, despite featuring heavily for Hertha Berlin in the German Bundesliga, Haraguchi has only found the net 3 times in 3 seasons. His all round game instead is the contributing factor to his selection, that of intensity, direct running and quick thinking that is a different option alongside the likes of Kagawa and Honda in the national team.

One of Samurai Blue coach Vahid Halilhodzic’s main gripes with Japanese football has been that they’ve lacked fight and direction, to this day he still points to that as an area in which the country’s football must improve.*“In Japan – you have a lot of time. You have so much time you could drink champagne and sake. You could even eat because you have so much time on the ball. There’s a difference between Europe and Japan with regards to fighting spirit, just a sheer lack in the number of challenges made in Japan.”

Haraguchi has embodied what is needed for Japan to push forward, the spirit to act quickly, close down the opposing defence and directly run at the back four. Considering the impact he’s had in the latter part of this year, it’s clear that him and Halilhodzic fit ideally together and without a designated and firing number 9 at present, Vahid will again be relying on Genki’s goals to fire Japan towards World Cup qualification.

Highlight of the Year: Two important goals in October’s World Cup qualifiers

It’s been a stressful end to 2016 for Japan followers, after losing their Round 3 opener against UAE at Saitama Stadium, the pressure was on for them not to drop any more points if they were to qualify for Russia in 2018. September was seen off limply with a win, albeit an unconvincing one against Thailand but October was seen as the make or break period.

Results*against Iraq*followed by Australia needed to be positively achieved, and*while the rest of the team did little to answer this emphatically, the all round game and crucially the goals from Haraguchi helped*them on their way. He opened the scoring in his hometown of Saitama*against Iraq, with a cute back-heeled finish (don’t mention that the assist came from an offside position), while he did the same again*against Australia*in Melbourne, breaking the defensive line before slotting past Mat Ryan. Two big goals, two big results; a narrow 2-1 win over Iraq followed by a 1-1 draw in Australia. Japan have a huge debt of gratitude to pay to their all action midfielder.



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Kaiser_Soze said:

I think KLL's time is up at the Albion. He's not a PL quality player. Simple as that.

I have question marks over Murphy and Skalak. They have had some great games this season but far more average games in my view. Not convinced they have the potential to be good PL players. Knockhaert and March on the other hand, have the potential to be great in the PL.

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Agreed. March has England international potential.

If he's now replaced kagawa and honda in the Japanese international team who play for Dortmund and AC Milan. He must be pretty special.

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chaileyjem said:

If, as it looks like, we're signing another winger then where does that leave the under contract; Murphy, Skalak, Lua Lua let alone March & Knockeart .
especially as Hughton hinting he's not going to stick to 4-4-2 in Prem...

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4-2-3-1 for me potentially. Gross, Haraguchi would be ideal for this sort of formation. Knockaert, March, Skalak, Murphy and Baldock could all play as one of the 3 behind a target man. Makes me think that Ulloa would be a great signing now as competition with Murray and Hemed as the one target man.

Courtesy of Google translate!!

The other day of birth. Dinner with my wife.
#Thank you
Always
Please support me
# 26 years old
I will make a good year.

chaileyjem said:

If, as it looks like, we're signing another winger then where does that leave the under contract; Murphy, Skalak, Lua Lua let alone March & Knockeart .
especially as Hughton hinting he's not going to stick to 4-4-2 in Prem...

Click to expand...

My friend has a theory of who is going based purely on relative body language at the parade medals giving. Based on that Murphy is out and so is Norwood (I know he's not a winger) and Skalak is iffy. KLL isn't good enough for the Premier League and I'm sure we'll listen to offers or loans.

clippedgull said:

Courtesy of Google translate!!

The other day of birth. Dinner with my wife.
#Thank you
Always
Please support me
# 26 years old
I will make a good year.

View attachment 85661

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I saw this - she looks good

EDIT - He also doesn't look too bad himself

He's going to love the Downs.

[tweet]848916776947765250[/tweet]

Tapatalk link: https://twitter.com/haragen24/status/848916776947765250

Okazaki at Leicester has done well, not prolific but terrific work rate

Sushi Piglets Pie special?

peterward said:

the more you think about it the more sense it makes, not only a potentially good new signing, but the club may have one eye on expanding the commercial side. A Japanese player is bound to draw a lot of interest and potential new marketing/advertising revenues..... guessing there may be a fair few Japanese potentially watching us if it came off.

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Agreed. As much as I don't want any player signed purely for marketing/revenue reasons a quick look at his twitter account shows 221k followers. That's huge when you compare that to our existing players. He looks a real talent. Fingers crossed for this one.

The Japanese Paddy McCourt.

(on the field)

BensGrandad said:

Not impressed with his goal scoring record which isnt as good as even Skalak's and far inferior to Murphy's

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BensGrandad said:

We are going intro reputedly the best league in the world so he would need to be fairly good. The only Asian doing any good in the Premier is the one at Spurs but our recruitment team will know more than us that post on here. Oh I am sorry I forgot many play Championship Manager or whatever its called so they know better.

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Oh the irony of these two posts.