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Hideki Ishige (Unattached FC)

65 replies · 4,613 views

over 1 year ago

Welcome to the Phoenix Hideki Ishige 🐦‍🔥

Hideki joins us from Gamba Osaka on a two-year deal! 🤩

“The way that we’re evolving the team my preference is for technically good players and players with speed, and Hideki fits that mould,” - Giancarlo Italiano

“He can play as a… pic.twitter.com/tI3jP6Xavk
— Wellington Phoenix 🔥 (@WgtnPhoenixFC) September 2, 2024

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over 1 year ago

Had a quick look at the positions he's played via Transfermarkt, and it looks like he can play almost everywhere aside from between the sticks!

Definitely looking forward to seeing him in a Nix shirt!

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over 1 year ago

That's handy to have in a small squad

a.haak

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over 1 year ago

https://youtu.be/ba9p3mZTDlM?si=siB70i83dBh0aEWU
https://youtu.be/IxBhGJ-fahQ?si=weMFxaCAQhz8ouy9
https://youtu.be/ziQP4i09E64?si=kNzrJRMmM9B30JC6

Someone shared a highlight reel on a different thread but... An absolute cannon from distance. Fingers crossed for a couple worldies this season 🤞

Born Wellington - Live Iceland

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over 1 year ago

He look class. Some amazing long range shots. Our midfield is looking very Barcelona like 😄 🤣

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over 1 year ago

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vymtecoI3Bs

Full press conference

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over 1 year ago

Another Japanese-Kiwi connection, Ishige played against Payne and Howieson at the 2011 U17 WC, long time ago now. Howieson obviously now at AFC.

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over 1 year ago

Must not fall in love with a visa signing after 1 match.
Must not fall in love with a visa signing after 1 match.
Must not fall in love with a visa signing after 1 match ...

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over 1 year ago

Must not fall in love with a visa signing after 1 match.
Must not fall in love with a visa signing after 1 match.
Must not fall in love with a visa signing after 1 match ...

I thought he was good for his first game and in a more settled team could really explode. Most imports take a while to settle, and while I think there was a lot wrong with his game, there were spurts of quality

a.haak

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over 1 year ago · edited over 1 year ago · History

valeo

Must not fall in love with a visa signing after 1 match.
Must not fall in love with a visa signing after 1 match.
Must not fall in love with a visa signing after 1 match ...

Although, I do not know if there really was "a lot wrong with his game". He had the usual ups and downs of any player, and will look even better after a couple of weeks once he settles down more.

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over 1 year ago · edited over 1 year ago · History

Ishige might be the most technically gifted visa player we have ever signed. What a signing.

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over 1 year ago · edited over 1 year ago · History

karlpetersson

That's one worldie ticked off. Class performance by him tonight and feel like there's even better to come.
I can see why he was once AFC player of the year.
Chiefy also said preseason that he will take time to adjust to the league and should have his breakout season next season. If this is him adjusting and will be better next season then teams should be very worried

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over 1 year ago

Chiefytheman

karlpetersson

I agree he's exciting and doing what Chiefy was looking for. I'm just prepping myself for yelling at the screen and pitch as the Aussies start the physical muggings we expect to see dished out. As all good playmakers get in this league, especially ours.

I have a suspicion that Rufs is going to be a wee bit busy offering some physical discouragement in response.

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over 1 year ago

Ishige might be the most technically gifted visa player we have ever signed. What a signing.

A week ago he was a “questionable signing” - a week in football is like a week in politics..,

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over 1 year ago

JasperNix

Ishige might be the most technically gifted visa player we have ever signed. What a signing.

A week ago he was a “questionable signing” - a week in football is like a week in politics..,

Not really, maybe outside the forum people were skeptical but from what I've seen everyone's been positive about him. His stocks have definitely risen but I can't say people have been suspicious

Far as I can say he's been good from the start. Ever since the WU game I've thought he's been the lifeline of our attack

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over 1 year ago

Noah4thenix

JasperNix

Ishige might be the most technically gifted visa player we have ever signed. What a signing.

A week ago he was a “questionable signing” - a week in football is like a week in politics..,

I agree that he has been given tough time by Auckland FC in the second week and was starved of service. I expect the same when we play them again, so it will be interesting to see how Chiefy rearranges the tactics for the away game there.

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over 1 year ago · edited over 1 year ago · History

Noah4thenix

JasperNix

Ishige might be the most technically gifted visa player we have ever signed. What a signing.

A week ago he was a “questionable signing” - a week in football is like a week in politics..,

Same vibe here. I actually saw more negativity towards Zawada's start - feel like people should learn from that. Players just need a bit of time to get used to the ALeague.

Even when Ishige was playing his first games he was still contributing as well. Not to mention you could see he had class from the outset - nothing like Sasse who looked talented but raw and turned out to be mostly a disaster (sorry Sasse)

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over 1 year ago

anaveragestem

Noah4thenix

JasperNix

Ishige might be the most technically gifted visa player we have ever signed. What a signing.

A week ago he was a “questionable signing” - a week in football is like a week in politics..,

People were calling Dávila our worst ever import after his first game and our best ever after his sixth.

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anCh

over 1 year ago

We're all wrong half the time. Embrace it, it's a laugh. (Less so at the office).

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over 1 year ago

Four games. FOUR goal contributions 🤯🇯🇵 Hideki Ishige has had some start to life at @WgtnPhoenixFC!

The Japanese attacker has had a hand in 66% of all goals scored by the ‘Nix in the opening month of the season 👏 pic.twitter.com/IvY161oLGx
— Isuzu UTE A-League (@aleaguemen) November 12, 2024

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over 1 year ago · edited over 1 year ago · History

Friar Tuck

anaveragestem

Noah4thenix

JasperNix

Ishige might be the most technically gifted visa player we have ever signed. What a signing.

A week ago he was a “questionable signing” - a week in football is like a week in politics..,

People were calling Dávila our worst ever import after his first game and our best ever after his sixth.

I don't think I've ever been more wrong on a player as I was Davila, he had a horrendous first game and was amazing every one since.

Still think Davila is the best player we've ever had, his all round game was spot on.

I think Ishige is good, but time will tell what level he's actually at. I think he does get easily muscled off the ball, which teams will figure out pretty quick.

a.haak

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over 1 year ago · edited over 1 year ago · History

J-league is better technically than ALM, but I dare say less physical.
Watching Japan and South Korea play football over the last 25 years has been a sobering experience, what they managed to achieve and how far in contrast we have to go in our neck of woods.
Seeing good Japanese and South Korean imports here will be just as good for our youngsters as it would be to see European or UK players.

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over 1 year ago

Mainland FC

I think you’re definitely right on the technical vs physical comparison. Plenty of average A-League centre backs have succeeded in the J- and K-Leagues due to their physicality, whilst very few midfielders or attackers have been able to crack it.

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over 1 year ago

Friar Tuck

Mainland FC

You're right: Hayden Foxe, Robbie Cornthwaite, Alex Wilkinson and definitely Sasha Ognenovski come to mind. It helped that they all had some height on them, especially both Sasha and Robbie who were around 1.9m tall.

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about 1 year ago

Dunno if it is covered in one of the many posts I haven't read in the Match Threads but the shine has kinda come off Ishige the last month or so.

Not sure if its the team performance dragging him down, or if I was too enthusiastic over a small sample size.

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about 1 year ago

Both have flattered to deceive imho. I hope to be proved wrong but other than an outstanding free kick and the cramped bicycle kick, nothing really. Ngasawa hasn't offered anything in the middle.

Proud to have attended the first 175 Consecutive "Home" Wellington Phoenix "A League" Games !!

The Ruf, The Ruf, The Ruf is on Fire!!

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about 1 year ago · edited about 1 year ago · History

Both have flattered to deceive imho. I hope to be proved wrong but other than an outstanding free kick and the cramped bicycle kick, nothing really. Ngasawa hasn't offered anything in the middle.

The biggest worry with Nagasawa isn't his physicality - it's his technique! He runs around like Bambi, it's really odd - I've never seen a pro footballer who looks like he's about to fall over every time he gets it.

Also, every time he attempts a pass - whether it be short or long - it seems like a 50/50 gamble if he actually puts it in the right spot

Also, in Chiefy's interview about Ishige he said he recruited him for his speed..what speed? He's very slow

a.haak

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12 months ago

Has contributed 8 assists now. Only Hernandez (9) in 2013/14 has had more in a season.

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12 months ago

He's doing a job in supporting Kosta's goals, which is great, not quite the role I think he was selected for though. He was supposed to be a supporting goal scorer, but creating them is key too.

Queenslander 3x a year.

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12 months ago

It was a high quality assist last night.

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12 months ago · edited 12 months ago · History

Think Kosta and Ishige seem to have something of a good partnership brewing.

Wrote this in another thread and he made it look absolutely daft with his great game yesterday:
Ishige isn’t a big personality and drifts in and out of games. It’s been too easy to shut him down, without that freeing up space elsewhere.

Hope he has many more!

Anyway here’s that all time assists and all time goal contributions. Hernández only from 21 games, yet he’s not well remembered by Nix fans! And Krishna should have played at a much higher level. Goal contributions = goals plus assists.

And it’s just off the table, but even in his ‘bad’ season for us Kosta still had 12 goal contributions.

Updated to include 09/10 and Paul Ifill! 🙇‍♂️ When he was on the ball, it was the best of times.

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12 months ago · edited 12 months ago · History

Whatever Hernandez did at the Nix is well overshadowed by his time with the VUC

At his more svelte prime one of best players to ever to grace the league

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12 months ago

Ifills claiming on twitter he made 9 assists in 09/10 too. Guessing stats a bit patchy back then

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12 months ago · edited 12 months ago · History

2ndBest

Ifills claiming on twitter he made 9 assists in 09/10 too. Guessing stats a bit patchy back then

Eck. Transfrmarkt says 8!
Sorry Iffy love ya buddy. My bad. Superbad. 🙇‍♂️

And 13 goals makes 21 goal contributions for that year too!

That does make me feel better though . He was so awesome.

NB- this is just regular season stats, not including finals goals and assists. It also isn’t rated for number of minutes, games played or number of games in a season.

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12 months ago

I like ishige, and whoever is in charge next season, I hope to hell they use him correctly. Providing we have Kosta and hopefully another striker (and ideally a playmaker), then we may see a bit more.

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11 months ago

I don't think he has the physical traits for this league. No pace, gets knocked off the ball easily.

He's good on a set piece and a decent passer, okay finisher when he gets the chance (but he doesn't often because he doesn't have the pace to get there)

a.haak

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5 months ago

Wellington Phoenix attacker Hideki Ishige is out for the season with an ACL injury
— Jason Pine (@pineynz) November 7, 2025

Hopefully he makes enough for us to get an IR.

Probably the last we see of him in a Nix shirt as well.

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5 months ago

Wellington Phoenix attacker Hideki Ishige is out for the season with an ACL injury
— Jason Pine (@pineynz) November 7, 2025

Hopefully he makes enough for us to get an IR.

Probably the last we see of him in a Nix shirt as well.

Thought it was going to be an ACL - hoped it wouldn't be but the way he went down under no contact and a slightly unnatural knee movement worried me.

Wish him the best for his recovery - I'm guessing being under contract for the rest of the season he will likely be allowed to do it at the NZCIS?

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5 months ago

I was worried that might have been the case, as innocuaous as the tumble was he did not look comfortable hobbling off.

Queenslander 3x a year.

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5 months ago

Sad news for Ishige. Will go down as one the better dead ball takers to play for the Nix.

J1 & J2 leagues about to finish up, Chiefy would have made some contacts in Japan on his little tour there last year. Might be an IR can be found from there?

Otherwise is someone like Jay Herdman a free agent?
Wonder how Stefan Colakovski own ACL rehab is going over in Perth?

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