Alanna Kennedy scored again?!!! Is she being played up front?!
So far, Kennedy played in the midfield, box to box, with Australia. She already scored 5 goals, and is one of the best performers in this tournament up till now.
Our players looked very good too: Hasegawa (1 goal and 2 assists in 1 full game and 2 halves from 2 games), Fujino (1 goal in 2 games), and Fowler (1 goal and 1 assist in 2 full games and most of the other 2 games), as well as Shimizu (on loan to Liverpool). Shimizu played mainly on the right, but also played one half on the left and looked comfortable. I think she, with her confidence and experience, will help us significantly when she comes back.
Not much to say about Hasegawa. She is the captain and literally the heart of Japan’s team. One of the top 10, probably 5, women players in the world right now. I am so glad she plays for us.
Fujino mostly played left attacking midfielder, not right winger as she mainly plays at City. She is a very smart player and looked lively. She can definitely play a similar role behind Hemp at City, whenever needed. They will be unstoppable.
Japan won their 3 group games with a collective score of 17-0. And Yamashita played two games and was not seriously tested. I am not sure they will win it at the end because they didn’t look very convincing against the strongest team in their group, Chinese Taipei. And after that they dismantled India and Vietnam, and the two are much weaker. If they defeat the Philippines today, and I think they will, they will have to face South Korea in the semi finals. They are tough. Then Australia or China in the final, and they are tougher, and that will be the real test. I sometimes think when I see Japan playing that Nils Nielsen was not the right choice to take them back to their old glory despite that their current players are definitely better than the old glory players. But I could be wrong at the end as it is still early for him with Japan.
Another important observation is that Fowler has clearly matured in the way she approaches the game. She imposes herself and has been demanding the ball from the much more senior Australian players around her. Fowler is clearly a very gifted and smart player who is on her way to becoming a top player in women’s football. Our coaching staff need to think carefully how to utilize her skills after coming back from long injury or I can see her quickly leaving.
Regarding City’s women, the future is bright and we could win more and more trophies (including Champions League as we are no less than Arsenal) if we keep building and, importantly, insist on giving the chance to who deserves it and not to specific players despite their limitations and struggles, which in my opinion is the principle plight with the men’s team now.
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