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Okazaki = Class

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Tired of people slating this bloke lately, he deserves his own thread of appreciation because he has been an unsung hero. His work rate, effort & enthusiasm epitomises our team more than anyone! We all know about his defensive contribution, but whilst you all complain he's always on the floor, he won the most free kicks in the league out of any player, which helped relieve pressure on our defence. He's not going to score 20 goals a season, or get 15 assists, or skin a defender. What he will do is give us 110% every game & continue to help us defensively but also help others score goals through his running & movement off the ball.

 

And for anyone questioning his contribution attacking wise, this is what I posted in the Deeney thread:

 

Whilst Mahrez & others have been fantastic for us ON THE BALL, Okazaki's work OFF THE BALL has been just as important. Now go watch our 68 goals on youtube, Okazaki is involved in nearly a third of them, either through running to create space, movement, positioning, assisting or scoring:

  • Vardys 1st Vs Sunderland - Shinji's run in the box takes the defender away

  • Albrighton Vs Sunderland - Shinji's movement creates havoc in Sunderland's defence allowing Albrighton to score

  • okazaki goal vs west ham

  • Mahrez goal vs west ham - played in marc Albrighton to assist Mahrez

  • Mahrez goal vs Tottenham - Shinji's run takes the a defender away, creating more space for Mahrez

  • vardy vs arsenal - his run, means the defender can’t move towards vardy to block his shot

  • schlupp vs Norwich - won the ball back to set up the counter

  • okazaki goal vs Newcastle

  • okazaki wins penalty vs everton

  • okazaki goal vs everton

  • everton, vardy wins penalty, okazaki’s run pulls defender away for vardy giving him space to run behind

  • okazaki goal vs aston villa

  • okazaki shot assists vardy for 2nd goal vs Liverpool

  • huth 1st goal vs man city, okazaki holds off the defender at front post giving huth space to run into

  • Mahrez goal vs man city, Okazaki's runs to the left allows Mahrez to cut in to score on his right foot

  • okazaki goal vs Newcastle

  • Mahrez goal vs palace, okazaki’s run take one defender away, creating space for Mahrez to run into

  • morgan goal vs Southampton, okazaki’s run makes two defenders follow him, giving Morgan space to head the cross in

  • king goal vs west brom, okazaki’s run down the left wing means Albrighton has room to cut in on his right foot & cross to Mahrez who assists king

  • morgan goal vs man united, okazaki’s run at the last second distracts de gea & stops him from getting close to the ball

  • andy king goal vs everton, okazaki’s run occupys the main center back who can’t get out in time to block king’s shot

So 21/68 goals, Okazaki is involved in & helped create and to be honest I probably even missed some out. So for those underestimating Okazaki's influence in our attacking play just take a look at that list. ON THE BALL he can be improved on, no doubt. But his work OFF THE BALL will be much harder to replace. 

 

And that's just goal scored. Who knows how many chances we have created due to Okazaki's work off the ball. Probably 100. And people say he's a headless chicken, when in reality he has an intelligent footballing brain & his runs are what helped set up a third of our goals.

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I love his attitude. I love his endeavour. I love his smile.

But I question him as a quality striker. I am old fashioned in that running off the ball is a given for any striker. Certainly one that costs as much as Shinji did. I expect endeavour and attitude. I'd also expect an ability to strike the ball and the ability not to fall over a lot.

He's part of our title winning team so of course he's a hero. But if we are looking to improve the team of last season a strike partner for Vardy would be my first buy.

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Some of those remind me of Thracian giving a player an extra 0.5 points out of 10 because they passed the ball to the person that set up a goal.

 

Tremendous work ethic and attitude which would have helped play a big part in our success this season. He could be very sharp in an around the box at times, but also could be equally frustrating with how easily he could be fended off the ball.

 

This is clearly because Deeney is being touted as a replacement, based on last season, I find it hard to argue against him being a direct upgrade on Shinji. Though i'd keep him around, he could be a good impact sub. Imagine being given the run around by Vardy and Deeney for an hour or so then seeing the energiser bunny coming on.

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28 starts

8 sub appearances

5 goals

0 assists

Great work ethic and a nice guy. But I expect more from my #10 and I expect him not to fall over all the time. He's a hero and part of our historic title win but there's a reason we've been after a striker since January. We need an improvement.

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I could always see why Ranieri played Okazaki, but he is so frustrating at times and it did look like he would often fall over because it was his only option he could think of.

 

Having said all that, his infectious enthusiasm certainly helped the team, and with him and Vardy chasing everything, and everyone, was certainly a highlight of last season.

 

It will be interesting to see how he fits in the team after any new signings, because we certainly need another striker who can score 10+ and I'm not sure Okazaki can do that.

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28 starts

8 sub appearances

5 goals

0 assists

Great work ethic and a nice guy. But I expect more from my #10 and I expect him not to fall over all the time. He's a hero and part of our historic title win but there's a reason we've been after a striker since January. We need an improvement.

 

Read the top post, and its not just about his goals and assists. He dragged defenders everywhere. This theread stemmed form the Troy Deeney one as Shinji was get a little hammering.

 

I like the word upgrade, but upgrade on Ulloa please if any

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Stopped reading at 110%.

lol This thing really irks me and I wish it didn't, but it does. Cent means 100 no more no less [unless to do with profit etc].

Shouldn't let it put you off the post though mate. Agreed with it. Okazaki.....love the dude.

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Guest CityFan 06

Good post, very impressive in depth knowledge. I have noticed myself the amount of work Okazaki puts in for the team. He really gets back to help defend, and is committed in getting forward likewise.

 

I understand the point about his goal record last season, but he's now, had a season in the PL. That experience will benefit him, he will know more about the league and he may just improve his scoring rate by 5-10 goals. He's got the potential to and I thought last season he would go on a scoring run, because he gets himself into good scoring positions with his excellent movement.

 

Having a season of Premiership football did wonders for Drinkwater - Vardy - Morgan - Schmeichel - Mahrez. This might be the same case for Shinji. Not forgetting working with CR will help him improve anyway.

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He does offer us something different but he still has a lot to learn about English football. It's bad enough he ends up on his arse so much, but for God sake get back on your feet and get stuck in. The amount of times he sits there looking around with his arms in the air like someone just stole his lollipop. Drives me nuts.

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Tired of people slating this bloke lately, he deserves his own thread of appreciation because he has been an unsung hero. His work rate, effort & enthusiasm epitomises our team more than anyone! We all know about his defensive contribution, but whilst you all complain he's always on the floor, he won the most free kicks in the league out of any player, which helped relieve pressure on our defence. He's not going to score 20 goals a season, or get 15 assists, or skin a defender. What he will do is give us 110% every game & continue to help us defensively but also help others score goals through his running & movement off the ball.

And for anyone questioning his contribution attacking wise, this is what I posted in the Deeney thread:

Whilst Mahrez & others have been fantastic for us ON THE BALL, Okazaki's work OFF THE BALL has been just as important. Now go watch our 68 goals on youtube, Okazaki is involved in nearly a third of them, either through running to create space, movement, positioning, assisting or scoring:

  • Vardys 1st Vs Sunderland - Shinji's run in the box takes the defender away

  • Albrighton Vs Sunderland - Shinji's movement creates havoc in Sunderland's defence allowing Albrighton to score

  • okazaki goal vs west ham

  • Mahrez goal vs west ham - played in marc Albrighton to assist Mahrez

  • Mahrez goal vs Tottenham - Shinji's run takes the a defender away, creating more space for Mahrez

  • vardy vs arsenal - his run, means the defender can’t move towards vardy to block his shot

  • schlupp vs Norwich - won the ball back to set up the counter

  • okazaki goal vs Newcastle

  • okazaki wins penalty vs everton

  • okazaki goal vs everton

  • everton, vardy wins penalty, okazaki’s run pulls defender away for vardy giving him space to run behind

  • okazaki goal vs aston villa

  • okazaki shot assists vardy for 2nd goal vs Liverpool

  • huth 1st goal vs man city, okazaki holds off the defender at front post giving huth space to run into

  • Mahrez goal vs man city, Okazaki's runs to the left allows Mahrez to cut in to score on his right foot

  • okazaki goal vs Newcastle

  • Mahrez goal vs palace, okazaki’s run take one defender away, creating space for Mahrez to run into

  • morgan goal vs Southampton, okazaki’s run makes two defenders follow him, giving Morgan space to head the cross in

  • king goal vs west brom, okazaki’s run down the left wing means Albrighton has room to cut in on his right foot & cross to Mahrez who assists king

  • morgan goal vs man united, okazaki’s run at the last second distracts de gea & stops him from getting close to the ball

  • andy king goal vs everton, okazaki’s run occupys the main center back who can’t get out in time to block king’s shot

So 21/68 goals, Okazaki is involved in & helped create and to be honest I probably even missed some out. So for those underestimating Okazaki's influence in our attacking play just take a look at that list. ON THE BALL he can be improved on, no doubt. But his work OFF THE BALL will be much harder to replace.

And that's just goal scored. Who knows how many chances we have created due to Okazaki's work off the ball. Probably 100. And people say he's a headless chicken, when in reality he has an intelligent footballing brain & his runs are what helped set up a third of our goals.

Could only be bothered to read the first 6 words and decided to plus 1 it. The guy is a hero and if I could smile like him just once my life would be complete.

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Until I can be sure we're doing as well without his run, he's my second choice striker.

 

He was and is an essential part of our Premier League winning formula. Fantastic post detailing why.

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 Can't remember which game it was, but I read that Shinji made the most sprints in the PL that week, and he only played 60ish minutes! I think his off the ball movement has been intelligent and generous, especially when you think that everyone was looking to hit JV at the slightest opportunity.

 

Whatever the first XI looks like this season, Shinji is one of our 'immortals', and I think his selfless efforts were very important to the team this season. The odd thing is that he didn't bag a few more, but he spent a lot of time running away from the goal, not towards it.

 

Would start Deeney in front of him in the big games, but we need the depth, and Shinji always gives us everything he has, every time.

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Stopped reading at 110%.

Yes why do people not realise that it is not possible for any player to give more than 100%.

Players giving maximum effort is not the same as preparing a set of accounts showing that sales were 110% of the forecasted budget.

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You watch him really let loose, in his 2nd season.All others with Fuchs and Kante being the exceptions needed that 2nd season.

To be fair it depends if we can gobble up a couple of new buys.

We will need more players, because the various fronts we will now be competing on.

A top team must offer the complete program, and at least show meaning in all

competitions..

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