GEORGE, South Africa — "Stupid" may seem unnecessarily harsh, but former Japan boss Philippe Troussier appears to have hit the nail on the head in recently branding current national team coach Takeshi Okada "confused."
Despite having repeated ad nauseam that he has no intention of changing the team's style or his somewhat fanciful goal of steering Japan to the World Cup semifinals, Okada has spent the bulk of the build-up to the tournament in South Africa juggling his squad and switching formations, leaving his players and the media equally baffled.
Yet even after all his tinkering, the bespectacled 53-year-old coach still appears no closer to finding the right blend of defensive nous and attacking bite ahead of Japan's crunch Group E opener against Cameroon in Bloemfontein on Monday.