National Team Player Unintentionally Reveals Main Formation Before Match; Hajime Moriyasu Abandons Restarting the Winning Formation Against National Team

In the battle between China and Japan, Hajime Moriyasu abandoned the Japanese team’s main 4-3-3 formation and suddenly restarted with a 3-4-3 formation. This caught the national team off guard, leading to a two-goal deficit in the first half, and despite Ivan’s tactical changes in the second half, it was too late to turn the tide. Notably, national team player Wei Zhen inadvertently revealed the national team’s main formation to Japanese reporters before the match.

The day before the match between China and Japan, during the brief interview session at the venue, a Japanese reporter asked Wei Zhen about the changes in the national team since Ivan took over. Wei Zhen unintentionally disclosed to the Japanese reporter that the national team had been practicing with four defenders under Ivan, “In terms of tactics, previously under Yang Kewei, we played with four defenders in defense and three in attack, but Coach Ivan still mainly uses four defenders.”

Hajime Moriyasu’s Japanese team used a 4-3-3 formation during the Asian Cup, and the pre-match analysis by the national team also focused on Japan playing a 4-3-3 formation. However, Moriyasu’s usual formations were often 4-2-3-1, and his innovation included changing from 4-2-3-1 to 4-3-3.

However, in the match against China, Moriyasu unexpectedly deployed a 3-4-3 formation, increasing the number of attackers while not setting up fullbacks, using width instead of depth to stretch the national team’s defense, resulting in the 0-2 scoreline in the first half, which led to Ivan hurriedly switching to a five-defender system in the second half, only to be hit hard again by the opponent.

It should be noted that Moriyasu had only experimented with the 3-4-3 formation in June, and it was not the main formation of the Japanese team. Moreover, in June, the national team narrowly lost 0-1 to South Korea, who played a 4-3-3 formation. It cannot be overstated that the national team’s formation was thoroughly analyzed by the Japanese team, leading to this disaster. In contrast, Ivan did not make timely adjustments to the changes in the Japanese team’s tactics.