"More shots, more greed and a little selfishness will improve the Japanese game" - JSoccer Magazine's Alan Gibson Interview

Alan Gibson is a man of many parts. Part DJ, Part MC, Part Publisher, Part Player and Part Referee. Alan was generous with his time to allow us a peek into his soccer-centred life.

Alan, first off, could you share your story with us of how you ended up in Japan?

I came to a club called Keynotes in Kobe, as part of the Juliana’s team – to have huge success later with Juliana’s Tokyo. My contract was for a month, but they liked me and I liked them, and we just kept on extending until I was permanent and left Juliana’s company to stay in Japan.

When you trained DJs in Asia, did you find any differences between training DJs in various Asian countries versus training DJs in the UK?

I found that most DJs I encountered that were looking for work or improvement, were technically very good, but did not have the entertainment aspect of their work ingrained yet. In DJ terms, there were many great mixers, but not many all-round entertainers. I had to bring out the best of both sides to make these boys (and girls) someone to watch, as well as listen to.

What kind of information were you providing the IM Scouting database. Why did the IM Scouting database web site end up going offline?

I decided to take up the offer of the company to make a database of all Japanese players in order to spread the word of Japanese players to the world. I created a profile for every player based on aspects of their games, from speed and skill, to height and weight. Whether they preferred left or right foot, and much more. I guess someone was taking notice of the players because now there are numerous players from Japan all over the world – a rarity just a few years ago.

Could you give us an overview of why and how Japan has become one of the leading Asian contenders in football. What did they do right and what could other Asian countries learn from them?

Japan has encouraged basic values in the youngsters – the future of Japan. All J.League clubs have strong roots in the community – it’s in the rules of J.League that they must be well-involved locally. Therefore the teams are growing as families, while concentrating on the grassroots of the game – there are 100s or 1000s even, of soccer schools in Japan, run by the clubs, the local authorities, or many private but well-qualified coaches. Encouraging the youth, and concentrating on the youth has helped Japandevelop good players.

We are increasingly seeing many Japanese players find a home in the European leagues. Does the J.League or any one other organisation prepare these young men for a different life or is everything left to the European club to take care of their “investment”?

This is one thing that concerns me, although I don’t know too much for sure, and could well be wrong, but I do feel that the agents of Japanese players are looking a little too much to the money or the young players of Japan are pushing their agents to find them any place overseas – sometimes too early, or at the wrong team – or it could be a combination of both. But I do feel that many young Japanese are going abroad too early or not being prepared well enough to “make it”.

Thankfully, most of the clubs do seem to take care of everything – as they should with young players moving to a new country – and it’s not just a case of buying a player to sell shirts these days, which was, perhaps, the case a few years back.

Are the J.League and the clubs financially profitable? Do they release their audited financial statements?

There is a lot less money in Japanese football than in the bigger leagues overseas, and salaries (and income, of course) are much lower and realistic compared to, for example the Premier League. As the salaries are not so high, not too many clubs are losing too much money. And the league has rules in place that penalise (though no financially, of course) clubs who run at a loss, encouraging them to live within their means. Figures are released and it is all very open.

Where does soccer stand in terms of the popularity scale when it comes to other sports in Japan?

I noted that the money is not huge in Japanese football and it is a distant second to the salaries and income of baseball teams but, having said that, recent figures have shown that soccer is the growing sport in Japan, especially on the playing side and has now overtaken baseball in that respect.

Alan Gibson (R) with Patrick M’Boma (L), former Cameroonian striker who played for Gamba Osaka and Tokyo Verdy in J. League

Can you give us an example of some “flashpoints” as you call them in Japanese game that are swept under the table as you put it?

The problem in the Japanese game – as I often note on Twitter or Facebook (see links below) or on www.jsoccer.com itself, or indeed, in the JSoccer Magazine – is that the J.League are afraid of upsetting someone. This is a trait ingrained into Japanese society as a whole and has not yet disappeared from the game, and certainly not the TV coverage.

There is still (and, of course, many would see this as a good thing) a reluctance to, for example, commit a professional foul in the Japanese game. And in the TV coverage, it is obvious that TV directors avoid looking too closely at controversial decisions for fear of making the officials look bad, or proving a mistake and therefore upsetting players, staff and fans who see that they were hard done by.

The reluctance to even slightly shame someone who has made a mistake is there in the TV coverage and has to stop if the game is to improve. While a referee might be embarrassed or a player shamed for being exposed at an off-the-ball incident, for example, fans, players and the TV viewer will eventually learn more than if certain things are just completely ignored or glossed over. Show the mistakes – and learn from them, and teach the casual viewer especially – but, also, show the good things. Highlight a good advantage played by the referee, show a fair play incident and praise it. Show the bad and the good and everything will improve.

What does Japan need to do, or it is already doing to be on its way to gradually become a contender at a global and not just at an Asian level?

The game overall has to be more open – as in the TV coverage noted above, while the players need to become more “non-Japanese” in front of goal. They have proved, in both the men’s and women’s games that they can pass and create with the best in the world, now they have to be more hungry and, most importantly, not be “afraid to fail” – an unfortunate Japanese trait that means that often a player will choose the pass when a shot is on!

More shots, more greed and a little selfishness will improve the Japanese game!

Was it just coincidence or is there something more to the fact that the Japanese women’s soccer team was able to achieve a lot more than the men’s team?

I think it was just coincidence – for want of a better word – or good fortune/bad fortune, that the ladies have overshadowed the men in achievement. While not to belittle the World Cup winning Nadeshiko, who beat the “best in the world” to take over that title with skill, guile and that never-say-die attitude, the men were as skilled and could easily have gone as far with that little luck and/or good timing that the ladies took advantage of.

But for an errant penalty kick, Japan’s Samurai Blue could have beaten Paraguay and marched on in the World Cup, a matter of inches and Japan could have advanced, and who knows what can happen in a single game knock-out tie!

Follow Alan on Twitter @JSoccerMagazine

Join the Facebook group to get involved: JSoccer

Alan has a special offer for all who read this interview – a free PDF of JSoccer Magazine of your choice.

To get your free PDF, sign up at: http://www.jsoccer.com/signup and then check out the various issues of the magazine at http://www.jsoccer.com/store/jsoccermagazine.html and then mail [email protected] with your choice of FREE PDF!

Alan, many thanks for taking the time to speak with us.