Leicester striker warned by manager he needs to play more for his club or face being dropped permanently

 

With over 100 caps for his country, you would think Shinji Okazaki would be undroppable, considering he’s only 30.

That, however, is not the case.

The Leicester City striker was left out of Japan’s latest international game, a 2-1 win over Saudi Arabia, alongside fellow compatriots Keisuke Honda and Shinji Kagawa.

The trio, normally so important for their country, were benched by manager Vahid Halilhodzic for the clash, with the Bosnian explaining his decision to the press following the game.

In quotes relayed by the Japan Times, the 64-year-old said: “I keep telling the overseas players that they all have to play more for their clubs, I know they’re all in a difficult situation but I tell them over and over again that they have to get into the starting lineup or move to a club where they will be able to play.

“Our team depends on the form of the overseas players and I never imagined the situation that we’ve been in for the past two or three months, where 80 or 90 percent of our overseas players are not playing. I don’t know what will happen by March, but with that in mind I am certainly looking at the young players.”

Okazaki, who was a regular for Claudio Ranieri last season, has seen his game time drop considerably this season, mostly due to the club’s purchase of Algerian striker Islam Slimani.

Only failing to make an appearance twice in the league during the 2015-16 footballing year, the 30-year-old striker has already missed three of a possible eleven games, only making six starts, with two of those ending by him getting subbed off at half-time.

Overall, the former FSV Mainz star has made 12 appearances in all competitions, scoring three goals, two of which came in a 4-2 loss against Chelsea in the EFL Cup.