So........nothing is going on in Buzzardland. I decided to pick a team of active J-leaguers who used to wear the green....11 starters and 3 subs. Talented but flawed!
Forwards- Washington (Urawa) and Kazu Miura(Yokohama FC) I picked these two to start because one is a huge tank that can't be stopped and the other is a crowd pleaser who hits once in awhile. I have 2 forwards in reserve in Naoto Sakurai (Omiya) and Marquinhos (Shimizu S-Pulse). Marquinhos can fill the Washington spot when he gets lazy and Naoto can come in and change the pace of the game with his speed.
Midfielders- This is a bit thin..................I chose Daigo Kobayashi (Omiya) because he is a one man force (4 goals 6 assists). Kentaro Hayashi (Ventforet Kofu) and Takahito Soma (Urawa) fill the wings. Hayashi has been especially impressive anchoring the middle for the new J1 squad.
Finally because the field is thin, I picked Takuya Yamada (Cherry blossom Osaka delightful terminator). I left off Toda because he is stinking up Sanfrecce and Yoshiyuki Kobayashi because I have 3 Omiya players on the squad.
Defenders- Yuji Nakazawa (Yokohama FM) is the heart of this thin collection of talent. Atsuhiro Miura (Vissel Kobe), Yukio Tsuchiya (Omiya), and Atsushi Yoneyama (Kawasaki Frontale) fill out the back line. Junji Nishizawa (Consadole Sapporo) is the 5th defender and can in for short stints.
Goalkeeper- Daijiro Takakuwa (Vegalta Sendai) this Veteran keeper has only let in 3 goals in 7 games. Considering what's in net.......I would think Verdy would kill to have him back.
My coach would be Kashiwas Nobuhiro Ishizaki. You might remeber him as the skipper last year who led the team to wins over Fiorentina and Real Madrid. He also has Reysol at the top of J2 with a 6-1-1 record.
Just my 2 cents...................BTW........Nick, check the comments page below.
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5 comments:
Nick.......
Furtho at Go!Go!Omiya Ardija was wondering if you would be so kind as to do a write up on the former Verdy players currently playing for Omiya. He's especially looking for your recollections on the Kobayashis but if you have fond memories of Sakurai and Tsuchiya, he'd print em. Maybe you're getting a fan club!
Omiya Ardija has mixed memories for myself.It was the place where I spent a sun drenched afternoon watching a cracking game of football in April last season.A tight,packed stadium in a great setting,great atmosphere. Verdy very narrowly escaped with the points after a nerve jangling 3-2 win. We had gone 2-0 up both goals coming from Washington (one a penalty) in the first half and looked to be cruising. For me, this game signalled what was going to follow later in the season. Omiya pulled a goal back early in the second half,but Machida came on as sub and extended the lead to 3-1. What happened next can only be described as suicide, Verdy spent the next 30 minutes camped inside their own half, their butter like defence unable to stop wave after wave of attacks from the men in Orange!! This from a team who were 3-1 up and had been cruising previously. Anyway Omiya pulled another goal back and it looked like they would be good for the draw, however two missed GOLDEN opportunities, the lanky striker (Fujimoto??) had scored one but missed a SITTER to take a point!! Verdy were safe. We had our hearts in our mouths that day...
Former Verdians in the ranks include the Kobayashis and Sakurai. Aside from Soma and Washington,I`d say Daigo Kobayashi was our third biggest loss in pre season. He had been a regular starter for the previous two seasons and had impressed going forward,he can beat a man and a has good eye for a pass.Defensively I
don`t think he`s particularly
strong,but who cares if he`s banging in the goals as he is at the moment.Also he`s still relatively young and if he continues making the progress he has this year,there is no way he can`t be considered for a call up to the national team.Probably not to start,but certainly to be around the set up. As for Yoshiyuki Kobayashi,I didn`t think he was much of a loss,tidy if not spectacular. Every team needs its workers.While the glory boys take the plaudits,the workers stay quietly in the background.Kobayashi fitted into this role I thought.Never spectacular and occasionally diabolical, he was Verdy after all!!
Finally to Sakurai. A real mystery here. I can`t for the life of me figure why he isnt playing for us!! I don`t think he was ever given a real chance. I specifically remember him having a blinder against the Marions in 2003. It was a game played in a summer storm at Nissan Stadium. Verdy had put on a stunning first half performance to find themselves 3-0 down at the break. However,second half we somehow managed to fightback with a goal from Mboma and two from Sakurai. He played a blinder in this second half and I can remember thinking we have a decent young striker here to compliment Mboma.He was quick,mobile full of energy and could obviously find the target. However, Landro and subsequently Ardiles seemed to prefer Hiramoto,Iio,Morimoto or anybody else than Sakurai.Subsequently he was loaned out.Same as Marquinos. Never understood why,for me he was very capable.Anyway I consider Daigo and Sakurai as a definate Omiya gain/Verdy loss and Yoshiyuki Kobayashi as evens.
I also find a lot of similars between Ventforet Kofu`s media profile this season and Omiya`s the year they went up. Both teams were considered dead certs for relegation. Omiya stayed up relatively easily and Kofu are going about their business in the right manner also. There is no divine right to be in J1 as we found out last year. You have to work very hard to stay up and even moreso to do well.I wish Omiya all the luck (though they dont seem to need luck at the moment) and congratulations on a great win over the Marions at the weekend.
Thanks for the post Nick.....if you can track me down at the Consadole game on the 29th, I'll buy you a beer! I would buy on Saturday but funds are a bit low....I'll be in the 1969 seats if your around.
I agree with you! with this team Verdy could be a champion of the J-League but in the bench I prefer Hiramoto than Sakurai. Mata ne!!
Ultra,
I was just picking former players, not current ones. I would actually throw 2 or 3 of the current guys on the squad if I was including current players. That being said, I'd pick sakurai over Hiramoto anyways because Sakurai has speed and Hiramoto is a big target guy.......with Washington on the team, size isn't as necessary as speed. I'd pick Hiramoto over Kazu, though.
Hiramoto has been good though as of late. I think he's really clicking with Basilio. Saito is the one I pull for out of all the strikers but Basilio and Hiramoto have really cemented the starting spots.
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