Sunday, March 15, 2009

Quitting Time

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=sljpc3UgWnA

Well, It's been a fun 3 years but now it's time to close up shop.

With the new and already outstanding TOKYO NERDY 1969 up and running, there is no longer a need for Soilent Green. 2 Verdy blogs in English is too much. Besides, if you want snark, DOKOOL is always willing to write a 5 page essay on why FC Tokyo is doing things much better than Verdy so you don't need me for that either.

What we do need however is an English Language Blog for all 36 J1 and J2 teams. Currently we have 18 teams covered by people from all walks of life. When I started, it was just Furtho at G!G!O!A!, the Grampalogue, and Shrimp at Yokohama FC along with Ken at RSN(The godfather of all J league writers) and Rie at the dearly missed Lost in Translation.

All of the new blogs are wonderful and appreciated, from the German who writes about Fukuoka, the Norwegian who writes about Cerezo, the Hawaiian Italian who writes about Kyoto, and the numerous Japanese, Americans, Australians, and Englishmen who have sites as well.Our own Mike Tuckerman has made a name for himself in the international papers......good for him, he actually has talent. And our man Vendo has cornered the market on Ibaraki J2 news.

I also want to thank Nick, the two Ultras and all the other folks who popped in and made the blog more interesting. Comments are appreciated always because half the time it feels like I'm talking to myself.

So I urge everybody to check out the new Verdy blog http://tokyonerdy1969.blogspot.com/
Soilent Green will stay up as a giant rotting memorial to Rui Ramos and the lost years of Tokyo Verdy but won't be updated much if at all.

Also check out all the blogs on J League teams.....the Gamba, Yokohama Marinos and FC Tokyo ones are works of art and the Frontale and Shimizu ones are great. Hands down the best one has to be Omiya though (not that I'm biased).

If you do feel the need to read my stuff, I post occasionally on another blog.....you'll figure it out.

And I see a certain team in Kanagawa has not been duly represented in the blogrolls.

http://fatsaco.blogspot.com/ Now we're at 19, bitches!

Am I the Joaquin Phoenix of the J League? I think I am!

I call SHONANIGANS!!!!!!!!

Saturday, March 14, 2009

BIG ANNOUNCEMENT 1

Our friend Nick has jumped into the blogger fray with TOKYO NERDY 1969

http://tokyonerdy1969.blogspot.com/

I always thought the blog was most interesting when he would give sporadic game reports so now we might be able to see more of that.

One more big announcement tonight. Tune in!

Saturday, February 28, 2009

Tsuyoshi goes to America!


Well Tsuyoshi Yoshitake fans.......if you are wondering where the fleet footed lefty has been hiding, wonder no more. Andrew Miller's Battery Shots blog has a list of players invited in to the USL 1 Charleston Battery training camp
If you are not familiar with the USL, it is the equivalent of J2 but with a bit of a twist. The USL has no real relationship with the MLS (unless you want to say animosity is a connection). A familiar face to Verdy fans is Takashi Hirano, who plies his trade at defending USL champs Vancouver. Good luck!
VERDY TIES RYUTSU KEIZAI
You might have already known this but Verdy played RKU in a training match and tied 1-1. Masashi Oguro scored the lone goal for Verdy in the second stanza. RKU came back and tied it 5 minutes later.
Tomorrow
There is a friendly scheduled at 11 between Verdy and Hokushinetsuupercalafragilisticexpialidocis league squad Matsumoto Yamaga FC from Nagano at the luxurious Verdy grounds. If anyoe decides to go, write somethin up and I will post it.

Saturday, February 21, 2009

I PREDICT

Song of the day http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ASjvzZoH-mE&feature=related
early REM, like early Verdy was the best

Ken Matsushima has a more in-depth preview at RSN which is a pretty good read
Here it is
http://www.wldcup.com/Asia/news/2009/090221.html
The only thing I don't like about it is the 4th-6th place qualifiers......stop being such a sissy, pick it and stick with it.

Anyhow considering I have not really seen much of any of these teams and don't really know what the hell I'm talking about.......here is my expert opinion.

1. Cerezo Osaka- I'm not drinking the Culpi kool-aid here.....I think he gets canned after a slow start. I think they bring in someone who is able to get the young guys going past the also ran threshhold.

2. Consadole Sapporo- I am however drinking the Ishizaki kool-aid. He's a J League manager and if Verdy let him do the job in 2005, they would never have played in J2. Kashiwa will regret the move.

3. Ventforet Kofu- I thought they were coming around. They were the only one last year to stare down Hiroshima without blinking. AND they added Miracle Mo to boot......so that is nice!

4. Vegalta Sendai-Summer is warm, water is wet, and Vegalta is the last team to be eliminated from the J1 promotion. I think they need a good shaman or something.....I don't get it.

5. TOKYO VERDY- Not so much cause they are good but more so cause the rest of the league is fairly soft. Three or Four of the bigger names won't be with the team by the end. Which is good because I think the younguns are gonna get some shots to show that they are players. So it's gonna be a good thing. Seriously.

6. Shonan Bellmare- They have one of the older teams in the league and they opt for a U-23 manager. NIIIIIIICE! And Tuto? Really? F$$$ing TUTO? You deserve to stay in J2.

7. Avispa Fukuoka-Best team in Kyuushu playing in J2. The best team in Kyuushu period is New Wave Kitakyuushu, followed by the LA GALAXY.

8. Thespa Kusatsu- Did you know that the active J2 goalscoring leader of all-time plays for Kusatsu (Yasunori Takada with 70). freaky, huh? Nozomi Hiroyama is gonna tear J2 a new one.

9. Sagan Tosu- 5. That's the number of goals scored by Koji Hirose. He happens to be the top returning scorer for Tosu. Shimada was a nice pickup. And Takuya Yamada-EXOTIC TERMINATER CLAD IN SOFT PASTEL COLORS REMINISCENT OF AN EASTER PAGEANT joins up as well.

10. Yokohama FC- Look for them to start fast and then peter out like every other Higuchi team that ever played the beautiful game. At least the uniforms are better.

11. Mito Hollyhock- They play hard every game......which is something you can't say about at least 20 other teams in Japan.

GOD THIS IS TIRING........WHO CARES AFTER 11..........ok, let's continue. I can't even name the last 6.

12. Kattaler Toyama-Sure.
13. FC Gifu-OK
14. Roasso Kumamoto- Screw you Tetsu Kina.
15. Ehime FC-It seems like they get worse every year. The cartoons are nice though.
16. Tochigi SC- Allright, I saw them today and they looked awful. Really bad. No defense and not much of an attack to speak of. They have alot of big names but they ain't good.
17. Fagiano Okayama- Go Kosuke!
18. Tokushima Vortis-consistenly bad!

Top 5 scorers
1. Shinji Kagawa-Cerezo
2. Maranhao-Ventforet Kofu
3. Tomoyuki Arata- Mito
4. Tetsuya Okubo-Avispa Fukuoka
5. Leonard-VERDY

Best manager- Ishizaki
Best keeper- Shinji Muro Sagan Tosu
First manager fired- Naohiko Minobe Tokushima Vortis
Kazu goal total-1
Leandro goal total-0

Oguro goes to.........Vissel Kobe on a loan in July.


12.

Thursday, February 19, 2009

NEWSAPALOOZA!!!!!!

4 games in the preseason hopper!

Verdy ties Thespa 3-3
Drops one to Reysol 1-0
Wins 2-1 over Yokohama on a Leonardo brace
and ties FC Gifu 1-1 on a Hiramoto goal

Sat League announced

Verdy gets placed in a 5 team pool with last years sat league playmates Omiya and Vegalta as well as Kashiwa Reysol and Consadole Sapporo

Soooooooo......if you like Yuzo Funakoshi, March 8th in Kashiwa is your first chance to watch him lumber up and down the pitch.
http://www.verdy.co.jp/guide/schedule/satellite.html

Finally, Nick reminded me of a band I liked but a song I didn't

this is the song of the day
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=R136pVdgnPQ&feature=related

Finally......The player guides are out!!!!!!!

WSM is a bit disappointing.....Soccer Digest better have a better one!

This one is better

Saturday, February 07, 2009

Welcome to the Neighborhood!

Song of the day http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gFrhKs4ZAbg&feature=related

Somebody likes the Doors a bit too much!

First off, Verdy played FC Machida Zelvia in a trainer today and won 2-1 off of a brace by Leonard. Camp starts monday and they have a full slate with games against Thespa, Kashiwa, and Yokohama FC just to name a few.

We start off Soilent Green's barely trying preview of J2 with a visit to the 3 new kids on the block.

Kataller Toyama

Toyama was founded just two years ago, merging regional powerhouse clubs YKK AP and ALO's Hokuriku into one Toyama superclub. One year later, Kataller would find themselves promoted into J2 on the strength of a 3rd place finish. Unlike it's other promoted brethren, Toyama will stick with the core of the club that got them to J2.

The offense is led by the combination of striker Mitsuru Hasegawa and Hideyuki Ishida, who combined last year for 27 goals. Makoto Watanabe anchors the midfield.

A familiar face joins Kataller in defense with the addition of former Verdy defender Sho Asuke.

Not a lot of talent on this squad but it shouldn't matter in year 1.

FAGIANO OKAYAMA

Okayama has alot of similarities to their Toyama cohorts. They both entered JFL in 2007 and gained promotion to J2 in 2008. Okayama finished 4th, just grabbing the last promotion spot. Unlike Kataller, Okayama is not sitting still, bringing in 19 players with various levels of experience in the J2 game.

Fagiano will hope to put alot of goals in the net with a proloific trio of former Verdy man Kohei Kiyama (18 goals), Yasutaka Kobayashi (19 goals), and new signee Kohei Nishino (8 goals at Mito). You might remember Yuhei Ono and Naoki Mihara from their days on the Verdy practice fields.

TOCHIGI SC

Tochigi looks to be the strongest of the three debutants with a group of players on paper that boast a plethora of J league experience. The big signing was former Verdy DF Atsushi Yoneyama who looks to partner with another Verdy alum in captain Yusuke Sato in order to lock down the midfield. Manabu Wakabayashi comes home from Ehime to try and regain the touch that helped him lead the JFL in goals scored in 2005 before he was grabbed up by Omiya. Another Verdy OB is in between the pipes for Tochigi when dreadlocked shotstopper Kiyomitsu Kobari gets the nod.

Don't be too surprised if Tochigi is up near the top of the leader board midway through the season. they have a team of vets who have been through the wars before.

Friday, February 06, 2009

Schedulisimo

Song of the night http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PxoD_Ca8W9M&feature=related

I'll give you a more in-depth one later.

You asked so you shall recieve
http://www.j-league.or.jp/data/view.php?d=news&t=program&g=j2_1&y=2009

The first game is away at Tokushima
The first home game is versus pre-season favorite Cerezo Osaka

the last game is at home versus Consadole Sapporo.

And yes Vendo, in June Verdy has their blowout loss at Kokuritsu to Mito.