Jim SpearsI still call Japan home.
October 19th 2008 13:30
With a national team full of local players it could be argued that Japan represents the ideal footballing nation, with the domestic league providing the bulk of national team members. Japanese football has been blessed with famous managers like Pim Verbeek, Arsène Wenger, Carlos Queiroz and Luiz Felipe Scolari cutting their teeth in the J-League before enjoying global glory. Japan and Australia have developed a fierce rivalry and with an Australian/Japanese champions league final looking beyond the names of Japanese football seems appropriate.
It is all about the players right? Few players have made a successful transition to European football, so far, but Shunsuke Nakamura has succeeded at Celtic. Japanese players are easily unsettled in a physical contest and before every game against Australia there is a media frenzy against physical football. Nakamura recently downplayed the importance of the physical approach against Australia but against Uzbekistan they looked unsettled. Nakamura is slight, 68kg, but has adapted to Scottish football with Celtic. In this the national team suffers as a majority of players are not used to playing against physically big teams. It is a shame Australia doesn't have dual sport professionals like American Deoin Sanders. Imagine Eric Grothe Jr, Willie Mason or Mark O'Meley challenging for the high ball against Japan in February.
It is not just a case of physicality; unscrupulous teams will always carry a talented but lazy player and not all European leagues are equally demanding physically. High profile players like Junichi Inamoto (Eintracht Frankfurt) and Makoto Hasebe (Vfl Wolfsburg), former J-League stars that featured in Best XIs, have had decent opportunities in the Bundesliga but both seem on the outer with just a handful of games between them. Both started against Uzbekistan but their inability to carve out a winner speaks to their rustiness. After the 2002 World Cup Japanese and Korean players were signed rapidly but since then fewer have been making the move; after a successful Word Cup a nation's domestic league is raped so transfers around 2002 are a poor guide. Inamoto spent time with Arsenal and Galatasaray but peaked with Fulham playing 41 times in two seasons. On the surface it would seem Japan's current national squad are not top-level European players. Wasting away in Europe is every footballer's worst fear but when it starts to hurt the national team it is treasonous.
Arsène Wenger has been complimentary of the J-League in terms of discipline and diet but few players have reached the Arsenal squads yet. When Arsene Wenger poaches some youngsters you know your football is heading in the right direction. Wenger poachings in Australia and Japan remain tied at 0 but young players are starting to move across both Sho Ito (20) remains at Grenoble but Tsukasa Umesaki (22) made his way to Urawa Red Diamonds via Europe. Australia's Nathan Burns and Bruce Djite have had mixed experiences since moving to Europe; Burns awaits his first squad call-up and Djite has scored once for Genclerbirligi since his move. Graduates of both the A and J-Leagues are having to adapt to top-flight European football rather than seamlessly integrate with the team and competition.
A-League clubs have competed well against J-League opponents in the Asian Champion's League (ACL) but J-League clubs have ultimately won most contests. Adelaide United are history makers. While Melbourne looked good against Gamba Osaka and Sydney against Urawa the Japanese teams had the edge. Australia has two deputants up for entry in next year's ACL which will give another good indication the A-League's development. Australia's national team is, arguably, stronger but the squad is European heavy and is not a natural advantage. The A-League is still young but the signs of growth have been encouraging with the technical development receiving a more encouraging assessment from Pim Verbeek. The technical, football improvements will continue but the JFA's strength is based on more than football; the prudent planning and financial responsibility of the JFA makes their domination of the confederation realistic.
The Japanese GDP in 2003 was $U.S. 4.32 trillion. Australian GDP was $U.S. 509.2 billion. There is only so much we can take from these figures with out considering other factors but it helps us understand how small we really are. Gossip pages often a good barometer for a club's ability to pay high wages players like Figo, Michael Owen have been rumored targets of J-League clubs. Differences in population aside Australia has four football codes, Japan two so the money available to football in Japan is naturally higher. The absence of a salary cap is balanced by wage structures that are: linked to club revenue and highly regulated by the J-League; a salary cap, a natural one, operates in practice if not theory.
All professional contracts come in one of the following forms: ProA, ProB and ProC. J1 clubs are limited to 15-25 ProA contracts, 27 for teams involved in continental competition, J2 clubs can offer 5-25 ProA contracts; there are no roster restrictions for ProB or ProC contracts in either division. The structure of all contracts splits the wage in to basic and fluctuating wages. ProA contracts have ¥4.8 million ($AU69000) minimums; although it is limited to ¥7 million ($AU101,000) in a player's first season. ProB and ProC contracts have no minimums but both adhere to a ¥4.8 million ceiling. Wages have been shown to increase with seniority and experience as, in keeping with Japanese corporate structure, profit sharing increases with age. In 2003 the average basic J-League wage was ¥18 million ($AU257,000). As in most leagues seniority is hard to achieve so contract bonuses, AKA fluctuating wages, form a significant boost to basic wages.
As to be expected fluctuating wages come under the categories of game, win and performance premiums. Matchday squad members all receive a game premium, playing subs and starters get win premiums for a win or come from behind draw and performance premiums are for man of match (MOM) type performances. Wage structure is closely linked to club finances which is monitored by the J-League to ensure financial responsibility and transparency. The J-League approach is informed by the financial crisis that engulfed the game in 1999 and seems prescient given Japanese baseball clubs are undergoing financial strain and global football finances are destined for strain.
With decent money available in the J-League players face no financial imperative to move. Nationally finances are the least of the threats the JFA poses to the FFA's dreams; Australian football has been fueled by high participation and European success stories. Japanese football is just starting and already they've proved the strongest confederation competitors Australia has faced. Japanese players might not play in Europe but Japan are building and as the stereotypes fall so shall transfer barriers. Nakamura's success proves the physical stuff is a red herring and any psychological edge is wearing thin.**
** Sorry for the 2003 figures. These were the best available. The 2008 J-League All Players Guide published by The Sport Nippon was unavailable but is the definitive J-League resource.
It is all about the players right? Few players have made a successful transition to European football, so far, but Shunsuke Nakamura has succeeded at Celtic. Japanese players are easily unsettled in a physical contest and before every game against Australia there is a media frenzy against physical football. Nakamura recently downplayed the importance of the physical approach against Australia but against Uzbekistan they looked unsettled. Nakamura is slight, 68kg, but has adapted to Scottish football with Celtic. In this the national team suffers as a majority of players are not used to playing against physically big teams. It is a shame Australia doesn't have dual sport professionals like American Deoin Sanders. Imagine Eric Grothe Jr, Willie Mason or Mark O'Meley challenging for the high ball against Japan in February.
It is not just a case of physicality; unscrupulous teams will always carry a talented but lazy player and not all European leagues are equally demanding physically. High profile players like Junichi Inamoto (Eintracht Frankfurt) and Makoto Hasebe (Vfl Wolfsburg), former J-League stars that featured in Best XIs, have had decent opportunities in the Bundesliga but both seem on the outer with just a handful of games between them. Both started against Uzbekistan but their inability to carve out a winner speaks to their rustiness. After the 2002 World Cup Japanese and Korean players were signed rapidly but since then fewer have been making the move; after a successful Word Cup a nation's domestic league is raped so transfers around 2002 are a poor guide. Inamoto spent time with Arsenal and Galatasaray but peaked with Fulham playing 41 times in two seasons. On the surface it would seem Japan's current national squad are not top-level European players. Wasting away in Europe is every footballer's worst fear but when it starts to hurt the national team it is treasonous.
Arsène Wenger has been complimentary of the J-League in terms of discipline and diet but few players have reached the Arsenal squads yet. When Arsene Wenger poaches some youngsters you know your football is heading in the right direction. Wenger poachings in Australia and Japan remain tied at 0 but young players are starting to move across both Sho Ito (20) remains at Grenoble but Tsukasa Umesaki (22) made his way to Urawa Red Diamonds via Europe. Australia's Nathan Burns and Bruce Djite have had mixed experiences since moving to Europe; Burns awaits his first squad call-up and Djite has scored once for Genclerbirligi since his move. Graduates of both the A and J-Leagues are having to adapt to top-flight European football rather than seamlessly integrate with the team and competition.
A-League clubs have competed well against J-League opponents in the Asian Champion's League (ACL) but J-League clubs have ultimately won most contests. Adelaide United are history makers. While Melbourne looked good against Gamba Osaka and Sydney against Urawa the Japanese teams had the edge. Australia has two deputants up for entry in next year's ACL which will give another good indication the A-League's development. Australia's national team is, arguably, stronger but the squad is European heavy and is not a natural advantage. The A-League is still young but the signs of growth have been encouraging with the technical development receiving a more encouraging assessment from Pim Verbeek. The technical, football improvements will continue but the JFA's strength is based on more than football; the prudent planning and financial responsibility of the JFA makes their domination of the confederation realistic.
The Japanese GDP in 2003 was $U.S. 4.32 trillion. Australian GDP was $U.S. 509.2 billion. There is only so much we can take from these figures with out considering other factors but it helps us understand how small we really are. Gossip pages often a good barometer for a club's ability to pay high wages players like Figo, Michael Owen have been rumored targets of J-League clubs. Differences in population aside Australia has four football codes, Japan two so the money available to football in Japan is naturally higher. The absence of a salary cap is balanced by wage structures that are: linked to club revenue and highly regulated by the J-League; a salary cap, a natural one, operates in practice if not theory.
All professional contracts come in one of the following forms: ProA, ProB and ProC. J1 clubs are limited to 15-25 ProA contracts, 27 for teams involved in continental competition, J2 clubs can offer 5-25 ProA contracts; there are no roster restrictions for ProB or ProC contracts in either division. The structure of all contracts splits the wage in to basic and fluctuating wages. ProA contracts have ¥4.8 million ($AU69000) minimums; although it is limited to ¥7 million ($AU101,000) in a player's first season. ProB and ProC contracts have no minimums but both adhere to a ¥4.8 million ceiling. Wages have been shown to increase with seniority and experience as, in keeping with Japanese corporate structure, profit sharing increases with age. In 2003 the average basic J-League wage was ¥18 million ($AU257,000). As in most leagues seniority is hard to achieve so contract bonuses, AKA fluctuating wages, form a significant boost to basic wages.
As to be expected fluctuating wages come under the categories of game, win and performance premiums. Matchday squad members all receive a game premium, playing subs and starters get win premiums for a win or come from behind draw and performance premiums are for man of match (MOM) type performances. Wage structure is closely linked to club finances which is monitored by the J-League to ensure financial responsibility and transparency. The J-League approach is informed by the financial crisis that engulfed the game in 1999 and seems prescient given Japanese baseball clubs are undergoing financial strain and global football finances are destined for strain.
With decent money available in the J-League players face no financial imperative to move. Nationally finances are the least of the threats the JFA poses to the FFA's dreams; Australian football has been fueled by high participation and European success stories. Japanese football is just starting and already they've proved the strongest confederation competitors Australia has faced. Japanese players might not play in Europe but Japan are building and as the stereotypes fall so shall transfer barriers. Nakamura's success proves the physical stuff is a red herring and any psychological edge is wearing thin.**
** Sorry for the 2003 figures. These were the best available. The 2008 J-League All Players Guide published by The Sport Nippon was unavailable but is the definitive J-League resource.
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