J2 at the Halfway point.....Let's look at my predicitions!

OOOOOOOOOOH......If I had it to do all over again! Some were right on the mark while others were embarrasingly off the mark (Anyhow.....my new comments are in bold). Feel free to flame away!

1. Consadole Sapporo- I like these guys, they started turning it around the second half of last season, they are having a very solid preseason, picking up wins against Kawasaki Frontale, Avispa Fukuoka, and Yokohama FC. They've been 2nd division for too long and I think they will clean up on weak sisters like Ehime and Thespa

5.Consadole Sapporo- After getting pants-down spanked by the Vissels of Kobe, Consadole has run off a nice little win streak against big boys from Yokohama, Vegalta, and Verdy. Hulk needs to stop getting sent off.


2. Vissel Kobe- New coach Stuart Baxter will have them playing well come the second half of the season.....there will be talk of a coaching change after a slow start but the guys will respond and take them back to J1. they might be overlooked because they were sooooooooooooo bad in J1 last year. they also had less turmoil than the other two relegation victims.

4. Vissel Kobe-It's taken them awhile but they are another squad that's starting to find its form. Emerson Thome has been good for them, but the other Tokyo Miura has been the key.

3. Vegelta Sendai- Joel Santana is another fresh face in J2. This was a team that was one point from being in the playoff that lead to Kashiwa's demise................i don't know if they would have responded to Tsunami after the heartbreak.......Santana will get through to them (In my opinion).

3. Vegalta Sendai- Wrong spelling, right position. Kind of remind me of Kyoto Purple Sanga from last year. They beat up on bad teams and struggle against top talent. They kind of take nights off and they've been slipping as of late. If fan support was the only factor in promotion, I'd give them the nod.


4. Sagan Tosu- They have the scoring punch from last year and they added some help in D. I think they will surprise and hang aroun promotion territory until the end.

7.Sagan Tosu- Still in the mix after a horrid start. Their baby bedroom unis nonwithsanding, they have picked it up. Tatsunori Arai leads J2 with 14 goals......even if Sagan isn't promoted next year, Arai will be.

5. TOKYO VERDY 1969 Too much competition is going to kill these guys. I think the worst thing that could happen to them is doing well in the first game against Ulsan in the ACL. Rui might believe that he can win both competitions and that will hurt the franchise. TV69 also has around 40 players right now..............how many are they gonna keep, are they fielding an ACL squad and a league squad (I believe they are if you look at the pattern in Guam)? Who is going to Thailand? Who is going to help with the promotion campaign? Who is going to be forgotten completely? On the plus side, there is a lot of veteran leadership.

6. TOKYO VERDY 1969- I'm not going to rehash my complaints about this team. About where I expected them. Actually it's pretty much a changed team from the beginning of the year. Takagi has been the team MVP as of late. They are in a free fall and might drop to 8th if everything falls right (wrong).


6. Montedio Yamagata- If former Omiya FW Leandro stays healthy and scores, this team will push up to top 3 or 4. They didn't lose much from a team that finished 5th last year.

9. Montedio Yamagata-Wrong on the place, right on Leandro. They are a better squad when he's not injured or suspended.

7. Tokushima Vortis-Another team that will be competitive and finsh in the middle of the pack. Jun Tamano will have a great season for them.

12. Tokushima Vortis- This pick isn't completely stupid until you see who I picked to be #12.

8. Kashiwa Reysol- Everybody left Kashiwa after the great collapse of 2005, the fans had a sit-in, the team quit, and Kofu humiliated them. Maybe it's a good thing that it's a brand new team but it's unpredictable.......they have had a nice spring as well, but there has to be a cloud hanging over them.

1. Kashiwa Reysol- Most solid team in J2.......by a mile. I think they could finish 11th in J1 with the cohesive group they have right now. Minami has been great in net.

9. Shonan Bellmare- I'm not crazy about this team at all. I think they could add Nakata and still not get promoted. They have been hovering around the lower ends of J2 for awhile and I think that won't change.

11. Shonan Bellmare-After seeing them play as of late and seeing Nakata in the World Cup.............I know they would not get promoted. Wow, ugly.

10. Mito Hollyhock- They were bad last year and didn't really get much talent to make up for it.

8.Mito Hollyhock-Nice job of staying near the 3rd spot and the promotion playoff. I imagine they will miss out but they've exceeded expectations.

11. Ehime FC- I don't know much about this squad. I'll give them the benifit of the doubt and say they will surprise. They have a ton of Sanfrecce reinforcements.

10. Ehime FC- Got a coach sacked in their first game and they play hard every game. Credible first year and tough,gritty team. Best mascot in the J league too!

12- Yokohama FC- They stink and they're old.......hows that for brutal honesty. They couldn't score against Rosso Kumamoto in a trial game last week.......not a good sign.

2. Yokohama FC- What the hell was I thinking? Takenori Sugeno.........the GK from the Verdy youth system has been the MVP of the league......He stopped a ridiculous 25 shots against Vissel last week. And another former Verdy player....Takuya Takagi has been coach of the year. Something still tells me they are due for a huge breakdown but I have to give them credit.

13- Thespa Kusatsu-No experience in goal is gonna kill them, at least with Ehime, their keepers were in a battle for promotion. I think they won't be as bad as last year but they haven't really upgraded.........in fact the keeper position will be weaker. they are just lucky J3 didn't start this year.

13. Thespa Kusatsu- They have been better than the record indicates. Takagi has been good in net........the defense is poor though. Not awful like last year. I think they might eek into the 11th or 12th spot.

Well........there you have it. I think we'll talk about this again in December!

Verdy en Espanol!

Estafador Verdista has a Verdy site in Spanish! I'm all about supporting anything on the J League in foreign languages! I don't understand much of it but I will link it here.Anyhow, here is the site for now http://estafadorpuroverdynomas.blogspot.com/

What I don't understand is why doesn't Verdy have an international website. FC Tokyo, Kashima, Yokohama, and Urawa all have English at least.......Spanish and Portugese seem like a no-brainer. Also, considering the Brazilian contingent in J1 and J2, it seems like there is a ton of money to be made in promoting and marketing overseas.

I don't think Verdy is making a lot of cash on stuffed Vultures and 4000+ crowds.

Just spitballin here......

OFF TOPIC:Congratulations, England

On to the quaterfinals off the foot of Posh Beckham....................1-0 over Ecuador. In other news over 100 islanders got arrested. Anyhow up comes a depleted Portugal team who had 2 guys run off with red cards including Deco.

I know it probably won't happen, but here's hoping Australia kills the Azzuri tonight. I'm guessing though italy will be a goal and man up by the half.

HULKAMANIA!!!!!!!!!! Verdy vs Consadole/Vissel

We first venture to Ajinomoto stadium to see Verdy against Vissel and the bathing beauty that is Pavel "HORVY" Horvath..............according to the box scores, it looked like Verdy dominated in every aspect except the important one. In the 44th minute, Shigenori Hagimura put in an own goal causing the squad to go down 1-0 going into the locker. The game would see the return of Basilio and (unknown to everyone) the final appearance of Anailson in Green and Gold. Fortunes would turn as Verdy went a man up late, but Korean international Park Kang Jo would grab another goal and push Vissel to an insurmountable 2-0 lead.
Verdy had a chance to redeem themselves in the weekend trip to Sapporo. The team was in a bit of turmoil with the changes that were happening. Today would be the penultimate moment as Verdy saw the additions of Tatsuya Ishikawa (Kashima), Kojiro Kaimoto (Albirex), Ze Luis (San Caetano), Satoshi Nagano (Avispa), and Marcus (Kawasaki). The team would also see the subtraction of Kazunori Iio (Avispa), RICKHIKI, Anailson, and Dedimar. The baffling thing was that the ball seemed to start rolling on the moves in the middle of Verdy's best stretch of football all season. If there has been one trademark of the Ramos Regime, it's turmoil.

With the team in a bit of a funk, Consadole smelled blood and capitalized early as Tomohiko Ikeuchi put in a fairly soft goal on the recently dependable Takagi. 5 minutes later Kenichi Kuba would net the second goal for Mudflap FC as Verdy went into a funk. Kuba would get pulled 7 minutes later. The second half would see HULKAMANIA run wild (no not the wrestler or the green guy, but the man with the awful Afro......and I don't mean Rui). Hulk would net his first goal in the 53rd minute and his second on a PK that was just missed by Takagi in the 78th minute. In between this Kaimoto would pick up 2 yellows and earn some rest for the upcoming bloodbath at KAZUMIURA FC.......nice job!

4-0 was the final and if your keeping score at home 10-1 in the last 3 games. Verdy finds themselves 15 points from the top and 13 from the bottom. With the win, Consadole moves up to 5th at 32 points, with Kashiwa (46), YokoFC (43), Vegalta (39), and Vissel (37) all moving up.

Sattlelite vs. Keio University

The game today saw Ze Luis in green as the 2nd team pummeled Keio U 7-0. Kimura netted 2 goals against college boys, Maatsura (2), Hayama, Ze Luis, and Mihara also notched scores.

Kazu1968 has pictures here http://ameblo.jp/kazu1968/entry-10013979183.html including pictures of RICKHIKI and Mateus sitting around in street clothes.

Next up is a night game on Saturday, July 1st in Yokohama. I think I might go!

3 months later

This was the lineup for the 3-2 loss to Kashiwa

GK Mizuhara
DF Yanagisawa, Dedimar, TOGAWA,Fujita
MF Nagai, Kanazawa, Ono, Anailson
FW BASILIO, HIRAMOTO

Bench: Takagi, Nejime, Saito, Hiroyama, Aoba

And the potential lineup against Yokohama FC next week

GK Takagi
DF Kaimoto, TOGAWA, Hagimura, Ishikawa
MF Ohashi, Ze Luis, Nejime, Kuba
FW BASILIO, HIRAMOTO

Bench, Mizuhara, Kanazawa, Marcus, Fujita, Ono (if healthy)

12 personnel changes 2 released and 4 added.......not even counting Nagano from Fukuoka, who could take Togawas place.

What a crazy week.......and I'm not sure if it's finished yet. I guess training camp wasn't a success.

MARCUS IS IN.......ANAILSON and dedimar ARE OUT!

Tokyo Verdy 1969 official site has reported that Dedimar and Anailson have been released and former Kawasaki striker extraordinaire Marcus is in.

http://www.verdy.co.jp/news/topteam/?cmd=DispNews&news_id=213

http://www.verdy.co.jp/news/topteam/?cmd=DispNews&news_id=214

I have to say I'm torn on this......I happen to think Anailson was a good contributor for the team but he just seemed to run out of gas.

Also, I think I'm dangerous.......I have banished 2 players on this site and both were expunged by the team.......Iio earlier this week and Dedimar just hours after wishing he would leave. I'm like that kid from the old TWILIGHT ZONE episodes who would banish people to the cornfield when he didn't like them.

Today's lineup and another foreign signing?

Verdy blog and Kazu1968 are both reporting that recently released Kawasaki Frontale striker Marcus is possibly going to sign and make his debut with the club on July 1st in Yokohama.

Kazu link here http://ameblo.jp/kazu1968/entry-10013966357.html

Verdyblog link here http://ameblo.jp/verdyblog/entry-10013963476.html

Maybe they released RICKHIKI because of the uniform shotage?

Marcus had 3 goals in 12 games for Frontale this year at 69 career tallies in 114 J2 games for Albirex and Kawasaki.

Last year he netted 9 goals in 27 league matches and 2 goals in 5 cup matches this year.

CONSADOLE LINEUP

A few changes today..........Takagi and the back 4 of Ishikawa, Togawa, Hagimura, and Kaimoto stay intact.

The midfield sees Kanazawa and the injured Ono replaced by Kuba and Sugawara, Ohashi and Nejime remain in the starting lineup. Finally Basilio is reunited with Hiramoto in hopes of reviving a stagnant strike rate.

Big Marty and Shin find themselves on the bench with Mizuhara, Hiroyama, and Fujita......looks like Togawa and Hagimura have a short leash today considering a D mid and 2 defenders are on the bench today.

We shall see.

RICKHIKI, We hardly knew ya!

The Verdy Blog found this little nugget buried on the J League page http://www.j-league.or.jp/release/000/00001239.html

It looks like RIKIHIKI has been ERASIONED (that's how babelfish translated the word)

He played in 3 games........I saw him in 1 and thought he was rough but had good speed and power. It's a little hard to keep young foreign talent because they count as spots that can be used for quality imports like........y'know......Dedimar (OHHHHHHHH, I hope he gets shown the door soon).

I hope RICKHIKI can catch on with a lower tier J2 or up and coming JFL squad (Ehime has no foreign players on the books right now........I think it would be a good fit).

Anyhow, Here's hoping Kid Rick has success in his future.

Happy Birthday

Well, I don't know how this happened (I do know how the act works......i'm talking about the coincidence) but three of Verdy's own have a birthday today. The triplets ( Saito.....or MARTIN as I just found out he's called, Togawa, and Ohashi) all were born on the same day. Big Marty is the oldest of the three at 26 , followed by Togawa and Ohashi at 25.

Happy Birthday, boys.......now go make Consadole taste their taint.

Also I didn't see it but Hagimura was responsible for the own goal. Verdy did nothing with a man advantage (actually letting up a goal) and Ono went out early. Training camp doesn't sound like a success.

Double report coming Saturday

Since Japan and the US both flamed out miserably, I'm looking for a new team to support through the round of 16. It's a tossup between Holland, Australia, and Ghana (I would pick England but except for Nick and the Omiya contingent (Bolton Dave, Furtho, and Aaron the Omiya Fan) most of the Anglophiles have been lapping up the US misery like sick dogs in their own vomit).

Anyhow, here's hoping France gets shown the door tonight!

OFFTOPIC:Don't tread on this

45 minutes are left in the 2006 World Cup season for Team USA. 45 minutes until the floodgates open and every Eurosnob, effete Jogophile, and soccer hating,unibrow having, golf is a sport thinking cro-magnon will crawl out from under the collective rocks they live under and slither around cackling about the downfall. And there is not much I can say. Scoreboard. 2-1 Ghana so far.

Claudio Reyna finally broke down. Landon Donovan, the face and flagbearer of US Soccer has been a pale,sad shadow of his former self. Brian McBride, the warrior personified has had the spirit but not the legs. I'm disappointed my boys came out so sluggish in the first game and I'm tempted to blame the refs for two arguable reds and a pathetic penalty call but it really falls on the head of Bruce Arena and the players.

There are glimmers of hope.......Clint Dempsey has been stellar in the two games he played. Ben Olsen has been a good find and Eddie "Grown A$$ Man" Johnson has been teasingly good in the short span of game he has played. The Italy tie was one of the proudest stands for the club. Unfortunately the sum of results won't be as great as the parts of hope that slivered through. 30 minutes left before we have to watch the second round of diving and thrashing.

Anyhow.....here's hoping the 2010 campaign is much more successful......DON'T TREAD ON THIS!

Full report is a coming

But it looks like Verdy dominated every stat except the important one......2-0 loss, including an own goal. Ajinomoto curse?

3-2 Kashiwa
1-0 Montedio Yamagata
2-0 Vissel

Avispa Deal complete

Satoshi Nagano.......IN Kazunori Iio......OUT

Nagano link here (IN Japanese) http://www.verdy.co.jp/news/topteam/?cmd=DispNews&news_id=212

Iio link here http://www.verdy.co.jp/news/topteam/?cmd=DispNews&news_id=211

And the lineup for tonights game versus Vissel Kobe

GK Takagi
DF Kaimoto, Togawa, Hagimura, Ishikawa
MF Ohashi, Nejime, Kanazawa,Ono
FW Saito, Hiramoto

Bench Mizuhara, Kuba, Sugawara, Anailson, BASILIO

Good to see the little man is back!

A trade in the works?

Verdy Blog is reporting that there is a possible trade in the works between Verdy and Avispa Fukuoka. Verdy would trade away my least favorite striker Kazunori Iio and receive in return very large but little used DF Satoshi Nagano

http://ameblo.jp/verdyblog/entry-10013767620.html

I think it wouldn't be bad considering Verdy needs depth in the back and has a large amount in the front, with trialist Mateus, Saito, Hiramoto, Basilio, and Morimoto all in the mix as well as fringe first teamer Maatsura.

Aww, hell......I just don't like Iio.

Camping Fun!!!!!!!!

Currently Verdy is at one of the National Team training grounds (I think) having a mini-camp. The team was fortunate to get an 11 day break because of scheduling nd the bye.

Thursday saw them take on dynamic lads of Ryutsu Keizai University who are currently in the lower eschelon of JFL........their slogan (I think I wrote it before) is BETTER LUCK NEXT TIME. I'm not sure if they are speaking to their opponents or their team.

Anyhow it was a 45 minute/30 minute X 2 set, which saw Verdy come out victorious. The Ryutsu site is reporting a 1-0 score, while Verdy is reporting a 5-0 score. Guys who (allegedly) scored for Verdy include Saito(Huzzah), Anailson, Basilio(Hey he's not dead after all!), Hiroyama, and mystery Mateus. I don't know much about Mateus but I did see a guy with long hair in a Verdy road uniform at either the Consadole or Shonan match scrimmaging with the reserves. I'm not sure if that's him or not. Other news coming out of camp is that Ze Luis is with the team scrimmaging and Seitaro Tomisawa is also getting some action after a long, long injury.

Camp wraps up soon and Verdy prepares for Vissels visit on Wednesday. Ajinomoto 7pm, I won't be in attendance but I'll try to catch the game on NTV at 1:45 am. Good Times!

Just the facts, part 1....Defenders and Goalkeepers

Here is a list of stats for Goalkeepers and Defenders up to week 21 for Verdy. I have included a +/- (goals scored against goals allowed), minutes, games, goals scored/goals against average (DF/GK), and cautions/expulsions.

Enjoy the feast!

GK

Hagimura 3-0-2 record 5 games 450 minutes +2 1.6 GAA
Takagi 7-1-7 15 games 1350 min -1 1.26 GAA 1 yellow

DF
Hagimura 1 goal 3 yellows 18 games 1580 min -2
Togawa 1 yellow 17 games 1457 min -1
Fujita 1 red 3 yellows 13 games 1024 min +3
Sugawara 8 games 731 min +3
Dedimar 1 red 4 yellows 8 games 474 min -2
Aoba 1 goal 1 yellow 6 games 519 min 0
Yanagisawa 1 yellow 5 games 397 min +1
Hiroyama 1 yellow 4 games 225 min 0
Rickhiki 3 games 106 min 0
Kaimoto 1 yellow 2 games 173 min -1
Ishikawa 2 games 143 min -2
Uemura 1 game 90 min -1
Nurishi 1 yellow 1 game 90 min -2

I'll try and get the Mids and strikers up tommorow but here are the numbers so far.

An old friend checks in!

Our Amigo from Spain, Ultra Nippon, got a chance to watch the Kashiwa match and had a few thoughts.

Ultranippon has left a new comment on your post "Soilent Green-Behind Enemy Lines!!!!!! Kashiwa vs Verdy": Hello! I saw I video of this match and, for my point of view, the first shot of Hiramoto was a goal! I saw the ball was in the net, wasn't it? I think Ramos has find the best 11, the last 3 matches were brilliant and I though we were able to win at Kashiwa but Hagimura and Togawa were too bad, they aren't bad defenders but their last match was horrible. Ishikawa and Kaimoto are good players, they're offensive and have quality for playing football but are they as good defending? Verdy should forget this match and continue playing as the last 3 matches! :D With Basilio the team would have more goal, I don't know what's up with Basilio :S Nice to write again!! I was busy celebrating the victory of Barça in Europe :D. Tomorrow plays Japan against the socceroos... GANBARE NIPPON, VAMOS VERDY!!PD: Thanks a lot for your blog!! It's the only way to know how Verdy plays.

Thanks for the reply Ultra.......How did you get video in Spain? I have trouble getting it here!

Soilent Green-Behind Enemy Lines!!!!!! Kashiwa vs Verdy

The first cut won't hurt at all
The second only makes you wonder
The third will have you on your knees
You start bleeding I start screaming

I don't know if Ruy is a propoganda fan but this song was going through my head after seeing the first 11 minutes of the game. Anyhow, coming into this critical match, Verdy had played the best ball of the season, outscoring opponents in their last 3 matches by an 8-0 tally. Kashiwa meanwhile had a tough 1-1 draw in Kobe against the crimson Vissel. Kashiwa had a promotion to try and get 12,000 to the game. 38 points in league and sitting at the top of the table. Lucky to get a 3-2 result in Ajinomoto. Revenge was on the mind of Verdy and the chance to move closer to the top of J2. Today's match was going to be different.

VERDY LINEUP

GK Takagi

DF Ishikawa, Togawa, Hagimura, Kaimoto

MF Kuba, Nejime, Kanazawa, Ono

FW Hiramoto, Saito

SUBS: Mizuhara, Sugawara (NA), Ohashi (17), Iio (55), Anailson (53)

The Match

Things started out well enough for Verdy. From the kickoff, the ball went to Kaimoto, who served a nice ball to Kuba, back to Kaimoto, up to Hiramoto......he drives in, puts a shot off the crossbar and Saito gathers in the rebound and puts a header into the arms of Minami. Looks good.......but wait

The First Cut- In minute 5, Kashiwa earns a corner and pushes everybody into center of the box. Defender Kazunari Okayama puts the first goal in. 1-0 Kashiwa

The Second only makes you wonder- what the hell Togawa was thinking when he he did that lame-@*$ back pass that Diego was easily able to pooch behind an isolated Takagi.

The Third will have you on your knees- Allright, this line really doesn't have a natural connection to the game but Fransa probably prays every night for the perfect goal. The play starts out with a Kashiwa breakaway stopped by a Hagimura clothesline. I'm thinking this will go red, it should go red, but the officials decide otherwise and show a merciful yellow. A free kick goes about waist-high to Fransa, who gets his leg up high and sends a bullet past Takagi......beautiful shot by the Brazilian striker who is anything but.

At minute 11 it was 3-0.......Verdy was having major problems stringing together passes and Kashiwa was looking to attack. Rui pulls the plug on Togawa after 17 minutes and puts in Ohashi. I'm thinking that maybe Nejime will be playing the middle d in the future or Ze Luis was brought in to play alongside Hagimura. It started getting really chippy out there, especially between Hagimura and MF Ricardinho. Hagimura would win the battle as Ricardinho managed to pick up 2 cards in 20 minutes and a ticket out of Kashiwa stadium.

The second half started much like the first with an unmarked Okayama getting the brace with a header. Verdy was able to get a ton of shots on goal but Minami was able to repel most of the attack. Only a meaningless goal by a hustling Iio in the 89th minute was able to break up the shutout. 4-1 Kashiwa

Rankings

GK- Takagi 6- It does seem strange to give a keeper who let up 4 scores a high ranking but Takagi was virtually blameless on all 4. And he did stop at least 3 sure chances for Kashiwa, including an Okayama header and a breakaway by the massive Diego. It also can be argued that it is Takagi and not Ono who is the true on-field leader. You could see big T directing the back 4 and mids to get in the right positions. Last year, this game would have ended 7-0 or 6-1 and not 4-1. If Mizuhara is in the nets next game because of this result, then Ruy should be fired.....AND I NEVER THOUGHT I WOULD UTTER THESE WORDS!

DF-4 No man marking on 2 of the goals and Togawa really stunk it up. Worst performance of the year that I've seen. I shudder to think what would have happened if they had faced 11 for the whole game. Kaimoto was good on the branch, Ishikawa, not so much. Hagimura struggled, too.

MF 5.5 They had trouble early, kind of fell apart after the first goal but came on strong near the end. Ono had his worst game in awhile, just kept losing the ball. Maybe it was because of the first trip back to his old home but he was poor today. Kuba was effective, didn't have a bad game at all. Kanazawa muscled up against Diego (who is much bigger) and held his own. He got in peoples face today and really has improved as the season went on. Nejime was more effective when he moved back to defense. Ohashi was a mess, sending long balls out of the stadium (literally, 2 over the supporters section and over the wall). Anailson came in and had a nice spark..........I kind of think he's good off the bench.

FW 5 God they were poor today. When I'm forced to say that Iio was the best striker out there......by a mile.....you know that it was a bad day for Hiramoto and Saito. Hiramoto had a ton of passes to nobody, Saito wasn't looking on some plays and didn't connect. The low point was an Anailson shot off the top cross bar that landed right in front of a flat-footed Hiramoto, who watched the keeper kick it away. Hiramoto also picked up a stupid yellow with an unneccesary American-Football style tackle.

QUICK THOUGHTS

Kashiwa was a quality side today, no question. They handed Verdy a spectacular beating and controlled the game, even when they were a man down. I think that alot of the reasons why Verdy looked so bad today was because Kashiwa was so good. Right now, Verdy is a high level J2 quality side, Kashiwa is J1 quality.

It was good to see Kanazawa and Iio show some fire today. Iio popped somebody in the mouth after they got too chippy with him. Kanazawa didn't back down either. I like seeing guys get mad when they are getting beat up.

Kashiwa missed their target goal of 12,000 by a 1000......11,012 in a 15,000 capacity facility. Great atmosphere, not an awful stadium......good sight lines. My only beef if the fact that the scoreboard looked like something salvaged from a recycle shop. I mean, the parent company is friggin Hitachi.....they can't install a state-of-the-art Video scoreboard for a stadium called "Hitachi Stadium". Mascot creeps me out, too.

The good news is Verdy gets an 11 day break. That should give the squad time to work in Ze Luis and help Kaimoto and Ishikawa get more comfortable.

I wonder where Basilio is........I saw an interview on JS goal but there's no word on his health or even if he's in Japan right now. Saito is more physical and a better defender but Basilio is more creative and deadly on PK's.

Please let me know if anybody is reading these reports! Haven't got a comment in like 3 weeks.If you saw the game, I'll give you the spotlight!

A New Import! (see the last time there was a ? but now it's official)

Ze Luis (Jose Luis da Vistacao) was signed by Verdy today.

http://brilliantomiya.blogspot.com/2006/06/new-import.html

This is a link to the previous post on Ze Luis................no word on a number or if one of the Brazilians will be released......I'm guessing Dedi will be gone soon but I'm not sure.

The Beautiful Game gets ugly-VEGALTA vs VERDY

Verdy came into Wednesday nights match with revenge on their mind after taking a 3-0 pasting in Sendai during the month of April. As always, things weren't stable in Verdyland. Coming of a 4-0 drubbing of cellar dwelling Thespa Kusatsu, Verdy found itself without leading scorer Hiramoto, and sparkplug Nagai (both due to yellow card accumulation).

Also distressing was the shakeup in the back 4. Out went Sugawara and Fujita and in came former National team defender and Albirex refugee, Keiji Kaimoto, and former Japan youth international and Kashima Antler, Tatsuya Ishikawa. Not crazy about throwing off the balance of a slightly resurgent defense but these guys are quality so we would see how it went.






(VERDY LADIES.......THE BEST PART OF THE FRANCHISE!)


VERDY LINEUP

GK TAKAGI
DF KAIMOTO, TOGAWA, HAGIMURA, ISHIKAWA
MF KUBA, NEJIME, KANAZAWA, ONO
FW IIO, SAITO

Wednesday night games stink when you live in Saitama and games are in Tokyo. I lost my ticket and missed the first 39 minutes of the game. I didn't get a program, no postcard either. Amazingly enough, I always get those friggin noisemakers. Anyhow, I did see the replay of Masaki Saito putting in an easy goal after a nice pass from Ono to Kuba and a gorgeous assist off the foot of Kuba. Something had both squads irritated, because they were flopping, diving, complaining and taking cheap shots galore. The refs seemed to keep the cards firmly in pocket and Vegalta would pay for it later.

The first critical blow (and the costliest) would happen to veteran Sendai defender Hiroyuki Shirai who damaged his ACL and is out for at least 4 months. A few minutes later, Masa Saito got out on a breakaway and was taken down from behind in the box by Kosuke Kitani. Automatic red and a penalty. Or rather, 3 penalties......Ono stepped up for the first shot and was stoned by Former Verdy netminder Daijiro Takakuwa. BUT WAIT......The refs found their whistles! Takakuwa was called for coming off his line too early. Vegalta supporters, who had a nice contingent of three seat sections in the corner went primate fecal and threw a fit! Ono lined up again and was stopped again! BUT WAIT.......same call (I think....I'm not really sure why they did two rekicks, so this is speculation).....4 cards would come, including a straight red to backup keeper and total buffoon, Kiyomitsu Kobari. Ohashi (a late sub) would releive the Captain of his duties and put a goal in for a 2-0 lead

The end of the game degenerated into flopping and stalling. Verdy was content to hold the ball and not attack with a 2 man advantage. Saito had a chance but whiffed on a wide open shot, Morimoto did nothing and Verdy didn't try to close the goal differential gap on a team above them. The low point was Sugawara doing his Joga Bonita impression with a one minute dribbling exhibition that had Vegalta giggling.

THE RANKINGS

GK Takagi 6- Not really threatened from what I could see, but had control of his line and didn't make any mistakes. I'm impressed with him more than anyone else during the swoon and surge. I'm coming around

DF 7- I was afraid that the insertion of two new wingbacks would set the team back, especially with a potent group like Vegalta. No worries, Ishikawa and Kaimoto are a huge upgrade.......good passing from the back and never beaten. Just had a sense that nothing was going in for VS.

MF 6.5- Solid, kept up with the potent middle of Sendai and didn't yield. Ono and Kuba played effective ball and they won thier matchup. Solid group right now and I don't see it changing.

FW 5.5- Saito had a hand in both scores and did some nice passing and forced some corners......he also missed a couple of chances so his man of the match reward was a bit dubious at best. I think he's an A mid.......not a striker, He's best with a big ballhog like Hiramoto or a Washington type. Iio was useless and Morimoto wasn't much better.




MAN OF THE MATCH-MASAKI SAITO

Quick Thoughts- Last night was the first game that Verdy looked like a team capable of dominating play. The red card PK fiasco and the injury to the anchor of Vegaltas Defense cast a dark cloud over the victory but the branch play of Kaimoto and Ishikawa was a godsend.

I never want to see Iio in the lineup again.

Here is a link to Rui speaking about something in Japanese and looking greasy as always
http://www.jsgoal.jp/club/asx/00034041.asx

Anyhow....roadtrip to Kashiwa and a huge game against frontrunning Reysol.....we'll see if the Verdy Redemption tour keeps running along.



Give me your accounts and thoughts and I'll put em up...Good Night!

Mama said knock you out....THESPA vs VERDY

Ahhh, a rare Friday night slugfest in lovely Gunma as Verdy takes a trip to the spa in Kusatsu to do battle with the bottom dwellers from the North. Verdy broke an abysmal 499 minute scoreless streak to hand Shonan Bellmare a 2-0 loss.

VERDY LINEUP

GK Takagi
DF Fujita, Hagimura, Togawa, Sugawara
MF Kuba, Nejime, Kanazawa, Ono
FW Hiramoto, Saito

SUBS: Nagai 61, Anailson 66, Yuhei Ono 80, Maatsura, Mizuhara

Exact same 15 as the Bellmare match......Maatsura was benched for Hiramoto but consistency was the name of this game....did it pay off?

OH HELL YEAH! Ono started off the scoring with a free kick from 18 meters out....Soilent Greens favorite player Masa Saito netted one in the 40th minute. In stoppage time of the first half, Ono pulled a brace. The second half saw Thespa FW Masami sato get sent off with his second yellow in the 25th minute. Verdy wasn't able to take advantage until stoppage time when Hiramot notched his second goal in 2 games. 4-0 Verdy.............Takagi faced 13 shots and didn't flinch.

QUICK THOUGHTS

HMM, so the midfield, the back 4, and the keeper play 2 games in a row and are successful.....BRILLIANT! Same lineup next game, no changes. I know it won't last with the additions of Ishikawa and Kaimoto but it was nice to finally see some consistency. My guess is that Ishikawa will replace Sugawara on the wing and Kaimoto will take the place of Nejime eventually. If Ze Luis is signed, Kanazawa will see his place go as well. I'll be kind of curious to see if one of the big three Brazilians is sent back to the land of flamboyant soccer. All three have fallen out of the starting lineup, Anailson was Ze Luis' former midfield partner at San Caetano, Basilio doesn't seem completely fit right now, and Dedimar is awful.........OK, I'll be curious to see if Dedimar is sent packing tomorrow. Really doesn't bode well for the future of the guy when Ruy brings in a D Mid and a branch defender known for distribution and free kicks.

As always, If you have an eyewitness account, send it in and I will give you the floor. I might go to Tachikawa to check out the Verdy display, it's going on until the 30th.

Midweek match against Vegalta at the National, must win game for Verdy. It's also Beer Day so a bad performance could be really ugly.

FORMER PLAYER WATCH

Washington scored 4 goals today against Kawasaki Frontale today to lead Urawa to a 4-3 victory in the first leg of their Nabisco Cup quarterfinal. He now has a total of 18 goals in Nabisco cup and regular season matches for the season. Unbelievable!

A New import?

San Caetano D Mid Ze Luis is rumored to be in negotiations wih Verdy............a former teammate of current super sub Anailson, Ze Luis would be player number 45 officially.....maybe.

Couple of links can be found at Verdy blog.....all in Portuguese.

Oh yeah....it's halftime and Verdy has already eclipsed it's goal total from May by 1. Report tonight!