Tokushima Vortis was the other expansion team in 2005. They kind of went below the radar with the exploits and tragic ineptness of their expansion sister, Thespa Kusatsu. Vortis has been rather quiet in the transaction market. DF Yusaku Tanioku and MF Shohei Kamada were shown the door after relatively decent seasons and former FC Tokyo DF Takayuki Komine called it quits after a 7 year career in the J-league.The pickups were equally uninspiring with the additions of DF Shigeki Tsujimoto from Kyoto who fell out of the rotation completely last year and Brazilian import Jorghinio from Sanfrecce Hiroshima, who has an uneventful career in Hiroshima and Nagoya. He's relatively young and has potential so he should get more time on the field this year.
Then last week, Vortis took Jun Tamano off the hands of Verdy. This was a very solid move on their part, a young MF with good upside is always a positive addition in my book and Vortis added him without losing anything in return. I don't think they have a shot at promotion but there is a chance of finishing in the top half of the division this year and that's a good goal for a second year club to accomplish.
One of the longtime members of the J-League, Bellmare has struggled to find its way after the turn of the millenium. Bellmare has consistently sat near the bottom of J2 since relegation in 1999. This year, Bellmare decided to try and improve on it's 7th place finish by shaking up it's roster completely.
Gone are 14 members of the 2005 squad, including DF Josip Barisic and MF Yoshikazu Suzuki, who were major contributors but were inexplicably released. The big name to go was FW Michiaki Kakimoto, who takes his team leading 15 goals to Cerezo Osaka and J-1.
11 new members come in led by J-League imports Satoshi Yokoyama of Omiya and Daisuke Konoike of Montedio Yamagata. The big news for Bellmare are the three Brazilian recruits for 2006. MF Fabio comes over from Mito Hollyhock after netting 3 goals in 13 games. Nivaldo, who used to play for Montedio Yamagata in 2003, moves over from Atletico Goianiense in order to help shore up the midfield. The third member of the reinforcement group comes by way of Qatar. Adiel was a FW for Qadisia who hopes to pick up some of the scoring hole left by the departure of Kakimoto. It's hard to predict how Bellmare will gel with all the new faces next year. It really could go either way.
Sagan Tosu starts off 2006 with a new logo, new attitude, and new midfield. As has been the pattern in J2, Tosu jettisoned 14 members of last years 8th place squad. Three of the major losses were Brazilian import Biju, who is heading to newly promoted Ventforet Kofu to help with their defense (and cover for Hayashi's mistakes), young talent Yuki Takabayashi (off to rival Montedio Yamagata, and MF anchor Yuji Miyahara to Cerezo. Miyahara is a tough loss becuase he had a great season last year, teaming with Yoshiki Takahashi to help feed the offense. The good news is that Tosu is keeping it's two prolific forwards,Takaaki Suzuki and Tatsunori Arai, who combined for an impressive 32 goals last year.
Tosu's weak spot last year was it's Defense. To remedy this Ikuo Matsumoto decided to go the Shimizu/Nagoya route and brought in a Korean contingent to help shore up the D. Yu Jin Kim is a defender from last years Korean ACL representative (and home to Gang Jin Lee) Busan I-Park. Yun Jong Hwang was brought in from Chonbuk Hyundai to help shore up the midfield. Help is also coming from within the league in the form of returning MF Hiromasa Suguri (2 goals in 25 games for Sagan and Avispa Fukuoka) and Thespa refugee Takayuki Yamaguchi (4 goals and 3 assists in 28 games). Tosu has an outside shot to claim a promotion if the defense improves and the dynamic duo can reproduce last years goal fest.
I have a feeling that one of these teams might become the Kofu of 2006 and steal the third spot from more established squads like Vissel or Vegalta. Tosu, with their new look and their defensive reinforcements are my pick to surge next year.
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