CORRECTION

Morimoto scored his first goal against Atalanta.....not Ascoli

For an excellent synopsis of what went down, Ken Matsushima at Rising Sun News posts about the Prodigy

http://www.wldcup.com/Asia/news/2007/070128.html#mori

Catch the video of the goal.......not a clean one but he sticks with it....reminds me of the Hiramoto goal against Yokohama FC in the pissing rain.

MLS SURVIVOR?

It looks like the brains in America had an epiphany and decided to make MLS into a reality show ALA Big Brother. Chivas USA (the team in LA that doesn't have the human commercial playing midfield) is starting a show where 2000 hopefuls from around the world try to acheive their dream of making the roster of a middle table football club in a less than glamourous league.

The link is here
http://sports.yahoo.com/sow/news;_ylt=Aht._gMkglmbMv0nECPq.5Emw7YF?slug=afp-fblusamlschivas&prov=afp&type=lgns

One can only pray for a show on TV Ibaraki somewhere in the distant future called MITO HOLLYHOCK-Chasing the Dream Dragon! Knowing Japanese TV it would probably involve those creepy Kano sisters and SMAP sitting around eating tofu dishes and boring the hell out of me. Oishiiiiii neeeeee

ALL THE GREEN RUNNING

全緑疾走！ That's the new slogan......BABELFISH says it means All the green running. OK

MORIMOTO MAKES GOOD

The prodigy made his debut for Catania late in their game against Ascoli. Catania was trailing 1-0 when Morimoto put in a goal 9 minutes from end time to tie the game and steal a point for the pale blue pachyderms and help them move to 5th in the Serie A standings.

Check out Morimotomania for more details.

Time to sleep!

The numbers

-1吉原 Yoshihara
-2萩村 Hagimura
-3藤田 Fujita
-4戸川 Togawa
-5ゼ・ Ze Luis
-6菅原 Sugawara
-7名波 Nanami
-8永井 Nagai
-9フッキ Hulk
10ディエゴ Diego
11大野 Ono
12 YOUR NAME HERE
13佐藤 Sato
14富澤 Tomisawa
15金澤 Kanazawa
16飯尾 Iio
17土屋 Tsuchiya
18海本 Kaimoto
19船越 Fukanoshi
20廣山 Hiroyama
21高木 Takagi
22服部 Nanami
23齋藤 Saito
24吉武 Yoshitake
25平本(欠席) Hiramoto
26柴崎貴 Shibasaki GK
27柴崎晃(欠席) Shibasaki
28井上 Inoue
29 福田 Fukuda
30一柳 Ichiyanagi
31キロ Killoran
32弦巻 Tsurumaki
33喜山Kiyama
34室 Muro
35オサマ El Samni
36園田 Sonoda
37宮坂 Miyasaka
38新村 Shinmura
39三原 Mihara
-->

FAN DAY!!!!!!!!!

Well today was fan day for Verdy and......I didn't make it. I got sick (a cold). Instead, I sat around the computer waiting for anything interesting to occur.

Well, the speculation is over......Diego Souza is now a member of Tokyo Verdy.

http://www.verdy.co.jp/news/topteam/?cmd=DispNews&news_id=276

Probably a rental, but I'm not quite sure yet. With the addition of the big Brazilian midfielder, Verdy is one of the 5 best offensive squads in the J League. Forgive my hyperbole, but this team has the talent on paper to be a very competitive squad in J1.

The key is to remember that they are in J2, and they need to play to their potential and not down to the competition. HUGE signing for Verdy.

The soilent green 11

Hiramoto Hulk

Diego

Hattori Ono

Ze Luis

Nanami Kaimoto

Tsuchiya Togawa

Takagi

Bench: Yoshihara, Fujita, Kanazawa, Hiroyama, Saito

Training matches set for next week

Verdy has 3 training matches set up for the upcoming week. On Wednesday, the squad plays against Urayasu FC. Saturday sees a midday double header as the boys take on Gunma FC and Teikyo University in some split squad action. After that, it's off to Miyazaki on the 8th for 9 days of work.

The Season slogan

Was unveiled but as of yet, I haven't found it. I'll get it soon!

More tonight!

Kina to Kumamoto

Soilent Green whipping boy Tetsuhiro Kina has decided to take a step down and accept a position to play for J2 hopefuls Rosso Kumamoto. Kina appeared in 16 games for Verdy and I was pissed off nearly every time. Kina joins up with another Verdy refugee, Former National team defender Kenichi Uemura.

Well, here's wishing Kina good luck. I'm a little surprised that one of the other low level J2's didn't offer him a gig. Tokushima Vortis and Thespa have a bit of a fetish going on with Verdy refuse and I figured he'd be a natural.

Vaya con Dios!

The new schedule is here!!!!!!!!

Before we get that, meet Verdy's newest keeper....Takuya Muro. Muro spent the last two seasons in New Zealand, plying his trade with two time league champs Bay Olympic. Muro is only 181 cm but young at 24. a definite project who probably won't see the field without a ticket. But he could surprise!

SCHEDULE

1
3月4日（日）
13:00
ザスパ草津 Thespa Kusatsu
国立 Tokyo National
CS/NTV(録)

2
3月11日（日）
14:00
愛媛ＦＣ Ehime FC
愛媛陸 Ehime
CS/NHK松山

3
3月17日（土）
14:00
ベガルタ仙台 Vegalta Sendai
ユアスタ Sendai
CS/NHK仙台

4
3月21日（水・祝）
13:00
セレッソ大阪 Cerezo Osaka
味スタ Ajinomoto
CS/NTV(録)

6
4月1日（日）
13:00
モンテディオ山形 Montedio Yamagata
味スタ Ajinomoto
CS

7
4月7日（土）
13:00
アビスパ福岡 Avispa Fukuoka
博多球 Fukuoka
CS/RKB(録)

8
4月11日（水）
19:00
京都サンガF.C. Kyoto Sanga
味スタ Ajinomoto
CS//NTV(録)
9
4月15日（日）
13:00
湘南ベルマーレ Shonan Bellmare
平塚 Hiratsuka
CS

10
4月22日（日）
13:00
コンサドーレ札幌 Consadole Sapporo
札幌ド Sapporo
CS/北海道放送

11
4月25日（水）
19:00
徳島ヴォルティス Tokushima Vortis
味スタ Ajinomoto
CS

12
4月29日（日）
16:00
サガン鳥栖 Sagan Tosu
鳥栖 Tosu
CS/NHK佐賀

13
5月3日（木・祝）
16:00
水戸ホーリーホック Mito Hollyhock
国立 National
CS

14
5月6日（日）
13:00
京都サンガF.C. Kyoto Sanga
西京極 Kyoto
CS/KBS(録)

15
5月13日（日）
14:00
モンテディオ山形 Montedio Yamagata
山形県 Yamagata
CS/NHK山形

16
5月20日（日）
13:00
湘南ベルマーレ Shonan Bellmare
国立 National
CS

17
5月23日（水）
19:00
アビスパ福岡 Avispa Fukuoka
味スタ Ajinomoto
CS

18
5月26日（土）
14:00
徳島ヴォルティス Tokushima Vortis
鳴門 Tokushima
CS/NHK徳島

19
6月2日（土）
13:00
愛媛ＦＣ Ehime
味スタ Ajinomoto
CS

20
6月9日（土）
13:00
ベガルタ仙台 Vegalta Sendai
味スタ Ajinomoto
CS//NTV(録)

21
6月13日（水）
19:00
ザスパ草津 Thespa Kusatsu
群馬陸 Kusatsu
CS/群馬テレビ

23
6月24日（日）
13:00
コンサドーレ札幌 Consadole Sapporo
味スタ Ajinomoto
CS/NTV(録)

24
6月27日（水）
19:00
セレッソ大阪 Cerezo Osaka
長居 Osaka
CS

25
7月1日（日）
13:00
サガン鳥栖 Sagan Tosu
味スタ Ajinomoto
CS/NTV(録)

26
7月7日（土）
18:00
水戸ホーリーホック Mito
ひたちなか Mito
CS

27
7月11日（水）
19:00
ベガルタ仙台 Vegalta
ユアスタ Sendai
CS

28
7月14日（土）
19:00
モンテディオ山形 Montedio
西が丘 Nishigaoka
CS/NTV(録)

29
7月21日（土）
16:00
コンサドーレ札幌 Consadole
札幌厚別 Sapporo
CS

30
7月25日（水）
19:00
セレッソ大阪 Cerezo
西が丘 Nishigaoka
CS

31
7月28日（土）
19:00
アビスパ福岡 Avispa
博多球 Fukuoka
CS

32
8月5日（日）
愛媛ＦＣ Ehime
　
　

33
8月12日（日）
　
水戸ホーリーホック Mito
　
　

34
8月16日（木）
　
サガン鳥栖 Sagan

35
8月19日（日）
　
京都サンガＦ.Ｃ Sanga.
　
　
36
8月26日（日）
　
徳島ヴォルティス Vortis
　
　
38
9月2日（日）
　
ザスパ草津 Thespa
　
　
39
9月10日（月）
　
湘南ベルマーレ Bellmare
　
　
40
9月16日（日）
　
アビスパ福岡 Avispa
　
　
41
9月22日（土）
　
水戸ホーリーホック Mito
　
　
42
9月26日（水）
　
京都サンガＦ.Ｃ. Sanga
　
　
43
9月30日（土）　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　
　
コンサドーレ札幌 Consadole
　
　
44
10月10日（水）

徳島ヴォルティス Vortis


45
10月13日（土）

湘南ベルマーレ Bellmare


46
10月21日（日）

モンテディオ山形 Montedio


47
10月24日（水）

サガン鳥栖 Sagan


48
10月28日（日）

ザスパ草津 Thespa


49
11月10日（土）
　
ベガルタ仙台 Vegalta


51
11月25日（日）

愛媛ＦＣ Ehime


52
12月1日（土）

セレッソ大阪 Cerezo

Ohhhhhh....I'm tired now. Tough road games to start, which is not a bad thing.

The seduction is the best part!!!!

ZAKZAK is reporting that Verdy made a "love call" to former national teamer Hide Nakata in yet another attempt to bring in a big name. Nakata said that he would never play in the J League again.

http://www.zakzak.co.jp/spo/2007_01/s2007012411.html

I can't see him playing for Verdy..................Boston, Massachussetts however is a place I could see him playing.

Training Day!

Verdy started back up with the training after taking a break for the New Years holiday. The team ventures to Miyazaki for camp on February 8th for a nine day trek of sun and fun. Guam is out, Miyazaki is the new in Vogue spot.

Other squads in Miyazaki for camps include FC Tokyo, Kawasaki, Gamba, Kashima, and Yokohama F Marinos from J1 and Thespa, Vegalta, Avispa, and Cerezo from J2.

Two matches have been set for the preseason in February. Verdy takes on FC Tokyo on the 25th and Shimizu S Pulse on the 9th.

Bismarck rated as the best Verdy foreign player in WSM

Weekly Soccer Magazine, usually woefully inadequate in their coverage of anything not National team related put together an excellent feature on all the foreign players that have passed through the J League. It's so good that even Rickhiki gets a little nod in the annals of foreigners past and present.

Not sure how they came up with this top 5 but here it is

1. Bismarck 93-96 2. Pereira 92-95 3. Edmundo 01-02 4. Marquinos 01-02 5. Mboma 03-04

Other Verdy notables include Hulk at number 5 for Consadole Sapporo and Marcus who made it for Albirex Niigata and Kawasaki Frontale.

Final Notes

Verdyblog put together a great collection of pictures from the Shimizu-Doha Japan old timers match

If you want to check out the pictures, they are here

http://ameblo.jp/verdyblog/entry-10024023100.html

Schedule comes out tomorrow!!!!!!!!!

Xerox Cup was announced.......Gamba/Reds........AGAIN! Just replay one of last years games. Seriously.

Also T-minus 7 days till Diego has his rental agreement expire. He is not on Kashiwa's 2007 roster.

Quick Hits

Two things on the Diego transfer

1. It looks like Ulsan Hyundai put in a bid for Diego as well but Verdy is the frontrunner. This was taken from Kazu 1968 who got this off The Kashiwa site. How sweet would it be for Verdy to not only steal the best player from a team that relegated them just 2 seasons ago AND beat out the team that knocked them out of the ACL last year?

2. Nothing will probably be official until after the 31st......that's when the Kashiwa rental deal with Palmieras expires. Ramos hinted at the press conference that something would be known THIS WEEK.

* I also know a kid who plays for the Kashiwa youth system who said that he's gone and leaving for Verdy......he's 13 and a bad student, so take it with a pound of salt!!!!!!!!

Around the League

Three signings to speak of

Mito striker Anderson is going to fill in at striker for the departed Tatsunori Arai at Sagan

Consadole made it official with former Cerezo DF Bruno Quadros

Junnsuke Schneider is leaving Tosu to play GK for Vegalta Sendai

I'll try to get a big list later in the week!

More uniform pictures

Stole this from Kazu1968's site


Rui is victorious in his return to the field.

Rui Ramos and the rest of Team Japan 1994 beat a collection of Shimizu All Stars 2-1. Players who might be familiar to Verdy fans included Head Coach Hashiratani, Tsuyoshi Kitazawa, The Miura brothers, and Teruo Iwamoto as well as two active players (Hattori and Nanami).

A crowd of over 17,000 came out to see the old lions go at it one last time. To put it in perspective, that's 3 times what Verdy averaged last year for games that count in the standings.

Marcus we hardly knew ya

It is official

http://www.jsgoal.jp/club/00043000/00043470.html

Marcus has joined Yokohama F Marinos. I don't have enough details on whether or not it's a full transfer or a loan because I believe he signed with Verdy for this year.

Marcus appeared in 25 games for Verdy, racking up 5 goals and assisting on 4 more. Verdy in fact revamped their lineup and system to accomodate the longtime veteran of J League battles. It was a little strange to see him get released by Kawasaki last year after putting up a pretty decent work rate and it's even stranger now to see him getting swooped up back to J1 by a squad that seemingly has the money to get a higher priced, bigger name player. Now it will be interesting to see who is brought in on that third foreign spot.


Signs point to Diego

http://sportsnavi.yahoo.co.jp/soccer/jtoto/headlines/20070120-00000016-kyodo_sp-spo.html

Kashiwa held a press conference saying that Diego is probably leaving Kashiwa. No word on if that means he's going back to Brazil or joining up with Verdy.

During the Verdy press conference, Ramos stated that he is in the middle of negotiations for the 3rd spot.

http://www.jsgoal.jp/news/00043000/00043467.html

Look for news later in the week........I'm guessing right before the big FAN DAY.

The new uniforms have been unveiled

When I can find a place to steal pictures, I'll post them here but first, here's a link

http://www.jsgoal.jp/photo/00020300/00020362.html

The Good- Three new keeper uniforms (Dark Blue with light blue stripes on the side, Purple with grey, and a Yellow/Black combo). Nice kits........banished the pink and baby blue to Tosu where they belong.

The road uniform is light grey with a green solid stripe on the sleeves and down the side. Little orange lines down the front sides are a nice touch.

The Bad- The home kits are all green (shirt and shorts). It's overwhelming on first sight. I have gotten a bit more used to it, but my rule is Dark shirt-light shorts. Especially if you aren't using blue/red/black as your primary color on your shirts. Black or dark brown would have been OK as shorts for a green shirt. I'm not crazy about it.

The CyberAgent Ameba logo is very prevalent on the shirt. Too much. Last year, the Ameba was big but it kind of fit with the kit because it looked like a shamrock. This year it's too wordy.

The Ugly- The two Kappa hos are all over this kit like a Chinese Massage girl on a drunk tourist in Roppongi. The Kappa dog definetely marked their green territory on this one. Two Huge logos on the sleeve and two more big ones on the sides.

They're not the best, but they aren't the worst either.

http://www.jsgoal.jp/photo/00020300/00020330.html

Yokohama FC takes the cake with this abomination.

http://furtho.blog4.fc2.com/blog-entry-714.html#comment

Omiya harkens back to a more classic look.........ROLLERBALL from the 70's. Ughhh.

http://www.bigsoccer.com/forum/showpost.php?p=10476970&postcount=20

Urawa did something doubly bad...........first one was the backwards S of SAVAS, which screams "cutesy".....like Toys R Us or something with the two naked little kids holding hands and saying "Love is". The DHL iron on jersey for the ACL screams out Girls REC Softball......it's pretty bad.

So Verdy is not awful but not great. Shimizu, Ehime, and Kyoto went with more classic looks and did a nice job.

36 players

http://www.verdy.co.jp/information/introduction/

Interesting.

Nagai is on the official roster

Marcus..........is not.

Takaya Kurokawa cut by Shimizu

http://www.jsgoal.jp/club/shimizu/00043412.html

Unbelievable. Just two years ago he was a keeper for the Japanese U-23 team in the Athens Olympics and now he's out of a job. Kurokawa saw no time for Verdy last year (in my opinion a mistake........HIROKI MIZUHARA????) so it's hard to judge the performance of the keeper last year. Near the end of the season, Kurokawa was sent to Chiba on loan as a backup but his deal wasn't renewed. With the crush at the keeper position in Shizuoka, Kurokawa found himself to be the odd man out and looking for a new job.

At only 25, Kurokawa still has the pedigree and potential to be a decent contributor to a squad if he gets the chance. Here's hoping he does.

Press conference today

There's a press conference today for the new players and (I think) the unveiling of the new uniforms.

Here's hoping they don't look like this!

http://www.jsgoal.jp/photo/00020300/00020330.html

My good mood is gone!

One of my least favorite Verdy players has come back to torment me! Kazunori Iio has returned to darken my days at Ajinomoto. Just the threat of Kazunori Iio appearing in the starting lineup has me a bit queasy. To be fair, Iio had some nice moments when he made the jump to J1 with Avispa, scoring 3 goals and notching 2 assists in 17 games. And I guess it's always nice to have some depth if a catastrophe happens.

I'm sure he's a nice enough guy and he works hard but I hope he gets loaned out.

Now here's something a bit nicer

Young defender Naoki Mihara has rejoined the squad. Mihara didn't see any game time last year.

He's only 19 though so baby steps. I hope he gets loaned out too, but for experience not out of spite.

Leonardo Augusto Vieria Moriera leaves the squad for Sagan Tosu

http://www.jsgoal.jp/club/00043000/00043437.html

2o year old Brazilian midfielder Leonardo Moriera has left the club for Sagan Tosu. I would be more disappointed but I don't know who the hell he is. Seriously, who is he?

Anybody know? Verdy does stealth signings? So there were 8 Brazilians on the squad last year? Really?

Tokyo Derby set for February 25th

FC Tokyo and Tokyo Verdy are set to meet for the first time in 2 years on the the 25th of February. The preseason match is going to be at 2pm at Ajinomoto Stadium. This could be the first indication of how well the team will gel during the season. It also might be a dry run for a future Derby that means something. Anyhow, it's a chance to see Paulo Wanchope and the rest of the gasmen against a whole new Verdy squad.

Close a door and......

A Brazilian enters through a window? I know I botched the old saying, whatever. Well, just as soon as rumors of Marcus heading back to Kanagawa and fat J1 living comes the rumor that Verdy is now in heavy pursuit of 22 year old Kashiwa Reysol scoring machine Diego to fill the void that seems to be a certainty. Diego was a killer in the MF for the newly promoted Reysol, notching 21 goals and picking up 12 assists in 43 games.

http://www.sponichi.co.jp/soccer/news/2007/01/18/04.html

http://www.nikkansports.com/soccer/p-sc-tp0-20070118-143872.html

(For more details on this, check out Verdyblog...they lay out this story rather well.....it's where I got the tip)

Two thoughts on this

1. Why are all these talented guys choosing to either go to J2 or stay in J2 rather than fight for a spot in J1? Besides Hiramoto, 5 other guys would have decent shots at starting on some of the lower end teams in J1 but chose to join up with Verdy. Is CyberAgent pumping alot of cash into this for a quick jump to J1? Are the CyberAgents going into big debt? Is Rui really that good of a salesman?

2. How sweet would it be for Verdy to stick it to Reysol by stealing their big gun?

Diego would be an upgrade over Marcus.......the offseason gets even better? Stay tuned!

Marcus move hits the tabloids

Sports Hochi (the Yomiuri publication-parent company of NTV which is half owner of Verdy) has reported that indeed Marinos is in heavy pursuit of Marcus.

http://hochi.yomiuri.co.jp/soccer/jleague/news/20070117-OHT1T00040.htm

It does cast a shadow on an absolutely perfect offseason for Verdy.........unless they replace him with Pavel Nedved. Then it would be TOO perfect.

I'll keep monitoring this situation and let you know if indeed he is gone and what unnamed Brazilian will replace him.

Ishikawa on the move to Montedio

Tatsuya Ishikawa has been sent to Montedio Yamagata on a one year loan after returning to Kashima. Ishikawa had an up and down campaign for Verdy, appearing in 21 games but never seeming to develop a decent rhythm opposite Koijiro Kaimoto. Another familiar face in an unfamiliar place.

Soccer Digest gives Verdy a AA rating for the 2007 campaign

Well, I am not alone in heaping praise on Verdy's offseason moves....WSD gave Verdy it's highest rating and the number 1 seal for offseason moves and overall team strength.

The ratings were

VERDY 2006 A 2007 AA
Kyoto 2006 A 2007 A
Avispa 2006 A 2007 B
Cerezo 2006 A 2007 B
Consadole 2006 B 2007 B
Vegalta 2006 B 2007 B
Sagan 2006 B 2007 C
Montedio 2006 C 2007 C
Shonan 2006 D 2007 C
Ehime 2006 C 2007 C
Tokushma 2006 D 2007 D
Thespa 2006 D 2007 E
Mito 2006 D 2007 E

Every position got an A rating except for the GK (which was rated a B)

The projected starting lineup is as follows

FW Hiramoto Hulk

MF Marcus Ono
(Sato) (Hiroyama)

Nanami Ze Luis
(Ono) (Tomisawa)

DF Hattori Tsuchiya Togawa Kaimoto

GK Takagi

My choice is Hiroyama in the starting lineup, especially if Marcus goes. Without Marcus it doesn't look as attractive. It might be worth considering putting Kanazawa in Ze Luis position and having the big man up top with Hiroyama or Marcus as an attacking mid. But hey, the offense and defense look much better than last season.

It's Official- Nanami joins the birds

Appeared today on the main site. He is member 34

But not so fast...........

Kazunori Iio comes back to Verdy

My least favorite Verdy player had his loan to Avispa expire. Rumor has it that he will be joining up with Tsunami at Cerezo Osaka to fill the void left by Okubo. Pink Verdy south!!!!!!!!

Speaking of players that I don't like to think about

Kenichi Uemura is moving to Rosso Kumamoto from Yokohama Sports and Culture Club (Is their mascot the KarmaChamelion? BOY GEORGE IS AWESOME!!!!!!)

And a shocker........http://ameblo.jp/revoverdy/entry-10022264254.html

Revoverdy is reporting that Marcus is being pursued by Yokohama F Marinos. Currently Marinos have been going through the process of total demolition and they have money to spend, so it is possible that this is going down. While I wouldn't want Marcus to leave, it would not be the worst thing in the world. The midfield is arguably the deepest and strongest unit on the squad.

It might not be a bad idea to bring in a big defender if Marcus leaves. One who played up north for 6 years, gave his heart and soul to a team only to be cast aside, is familiar with one of the new guys on the squad.............yeah,I got a guy in mind.

2 more join the squad

In a bit of a surprise acquisition, Tsuyoshi Yoshitake was announced as the newest member of Tokyo Verdy 1969. Yoshitake was a decent contributor to Yokohama FC, appearing in the midfield 26 times for the phoenix. Yoshitake is small and young, coming in at 25 years of age and 174cm/66 kilos

The 6 year veteran had his biggest run in 2002, appearing in 41 games and notching 2 goals. The additions of Jun Tamano and Shingo Nejime made Yoshitake expendable. No mention of a rental so it looks he is straightaway Verdy.

THE BIGGEST VERDY PLAYER.......EVER!!!!!!

I wrote a story yesterday on Yuzo Funakoshi being pursued by the club. Well, it's official

http://www.verdy.co.jp/news/topteam/?cmd=DispNews&news_id=266

So I'm thinking BIG BIRD would be a good moniker for the fella. Cause Verdys moniker is
a bird and he's really big.......too lame? Ehh, maybe we should have a contest.

My new favorite Verdy player!

RAMOS REUNITING WITH KAZU TO SCORE AGAIN?

Don't worry, he's not activating himself and resigning Kazu for next season. Next week, he plays on a team of past and present stars from around Japan to take on a team of Shimizu stars in Nihondaira next week. Also appearing in the game will be Toshihiro Hattori and Hiroshi Nanami as well as recently retired former Verdy man Teruo Iwamoto. I'll look to see if there are more players with Verdy connections involved in the game.

The next to come?

Could this be the next signing for Verdy? Journeyman Yuzo Funakoshi is rumored to be signing up with Verdy for 2007. Funakoshi is the largest Japanese player in Japan, coming in at a whopping 194 cm and 88 kilos. The big forward saw little time with Albirex, appearing in only 4 games last year. His best years were in 2001, when he scored 9 goals in 27 games for then second division squad Oita Trinita.

He's not proficient and probably not fast but he does an element of size that is lacking on the squad. The only player on the squad with experience and height is Shigenori Hagimura at 183cm

although one of he high schoolers is a large kid.

It would be a depth move, and Funakoshi could be brought in late to help defend set plays and corners late in the game while pushing up on the other end.

For player #31, I say do it!

(EDIT...Verdyblog lays it out nicely in Japanese.....that's where I got alot of the info, but it has been floating around on other sites)

Silva to Yokohama FC

It is official now

http://www.yokohamafc.com/news/

Like the little guy, thought he had a ton of upside and I hope he does well for Yokohama FC.

Nanami will be official soon

Sports Hochi is reporting that Hiroshi Nanami has agreed to come over on a one year loan from Jubilo. An interesting tidbit in the article has Nanami saying he is 90% sure this is his last year and he'll retire.

Leave it on the field, big fella!

Cerezo Deconstruction in full swing

I feel so bad for Satoshi Tsunami. the guy can't win. It looks like Okubo will head to Kobe and Nishizawa is contemplating a move to Shimizu. There's also talk of MF Tomi Shimomura moving into the now vacant spot left by Yuki Abe. I saw this movie last year with Tokyo Verdy and the ending was hopeful yet unsatisfying. The one good thing for Cerezo is that they have a fairly decent youth movement going on ala Kashiwa and have a little something left in the tank.

David Beckham..........200 Million Dollar man?

The big news in World Football was the signing of David Beckham to my hometown LA Galaxy. The 200 million dollar figure being thrown around is not going to be his salary from the club or the league......it's an aggregate of his salary plus sponsorship deals, likeness rights, cuts of merchandise sales, etc.....it's not a fixed amount. What his salary will be is rumored to be between 6 to 10 million dollars, almost 6 times the amount paid to US star Landon Donovan.
It's a big risk, but a big potential reward.

There was speculation that Beckham was perusing a move over here to the J Leagues. While it was fun to speculate, I don't think it would have been a great fit.

Beckham would have needed to appear with a big money/big fan potential team (goodbye Omiya, Consadole, Ehime, Tokushima, Fukuoka, Kyoto, JEF, Mito, Kashima, Shimizu, Jubilo, Shonan, Sagan, Kawasaki, Yokohama the FC, Vegalta, Thespa, Montedio, and Venforet) Albirex goes in this category because of the trouble they have getting big time sponsorship. The fan base is second to none (except Urawa, but I'd venture to say that 40000 going to see a squad come in 13th is more solid than the 47000 going to see a first place team.)

He would probably need to be in a market close to Tokyo. I'm speculating but the media man would seem to prefer being in a media capital.

Oita, the Osakas, Kobe, and Sanfrecce would have to be ruled out although it would be fun to see how reacted to being on the same team as Toda. Kobe has the guy who would singlehandedly spend the money, but Kobe doesn't seem to be a place Mrs. spice would be comfortable with.

Urawa would be the obvious choice, an expense account at 58 million US, the biggest support in Japan, a European coach, European connections, a huge Manchester fetish, and a hype machine that is rivaled by only King Kazu. Here's the thing.......they don't need him. The money is coming in already, the sellouts are happening, and their strongest position is Midfield. The Urawa roadshow would increase road turnout and merchandise sales, but so will success in the ACL, and for a far cheaper price tag.

Kashiwa has money from Hitachi but I don't think they are ready for that kind of expenditure after being a year removed from J2. JEF has been a seller, not a buyer.

Tokyo Verdy is in J2. It would have been a huge boom for them if they signed the media mega star but somehow I think it would have toppled the franchise. I know that CyberAgent is shelling out some good cash as it is for the pickups already. 10 million seems like a stretch for the internet provider and NTV sure as hell isn't gonna shell it out. Also did I mention that Verdy is in J2? That would be a HUGE flag of surrender for Becks Inc to put up if he took a bid to play in a second division squad in a non prestigious football country.

The final three would be FC Tokyo, Yokohama F Marinos, and Nagoya Grampus 8

Yokohama F Marinos is a puzzling case, good support, big bucks from Nissan and a history of success. But, they have been a seller in the market and they hired the coach who killed Kashiwa two seasons ago. I don't think they have their act together, and I don't think they have the financial creativity to come up with a competitive offer.

FC Tokyo would be intriguing with the addition of Wanchope. FC Tokyo has been in bidding for a ton of big names in Japan and a move like this would catapult them into the position of main rival to Urawa. A 4-4-2 system wouldn't kill him and he would be the face of the franchise. It seems the gasmen could come up with the money for salary but where is the other sponsor money? Also, this team is known for underacheiving and will the new coach have the same problems as before when he was the old coach?

Finally, there is the case of Nagoya.......Toyota has a ton of money, they like to spend, and they have a European coach with euro players in place. It's a market that is waiting to explode, always approaching respectability but always being disappointed by the play on the field. Would the ghost of Gary Lineker come back to haunt this team if they had acquired Beckham?

Some other problems that worked against a place like Japan is the schedule, which includes play during the dog days of July and August. Some of the worst humidity possible is in play. The language barrier was something that was rumored to affect Mrs. Becks, so jumping into a culture with a writing system that is waaaaaay different from English probably wouldn't fly with the Posh one. I also don't think Beckham won any fans with his antics during the Real trip two seasons ago.

For the money that Beckham is about to receive, I don't think there's a good fit here for him.....not as good as Los Angeles, where he already has a youth academy going, a lifestyle that becomes him, and a chance to grow a market for his one big asset...........himself.

I'm not a fan of Beckham by any stretch of the imagination but the hyperbole that has been going on in dismissing his talents have bordered on the absurd. He didn't get Captaincy of one of the biggest football nations in the world on reputation alone and he still is capable of starting for over half the clubs in the 4 major leagues in Europe.

I'm rooting for him to make it happen in the US and that's a first but I'm glad that no one took a bite of the apple here. I'm most glad that Verdy didn't do it because I like the 1969 seats and I'm cheap!

Yanagisawa to Cerezo

I kind of hope he does well there......he's not my favorite player in any way imaginable but he seems like a good community guy so


Ganbatte!

http://www.verdy.co.jp/news/topteam/?cmd=DispNews&news_id=262

It's also been announced that the team is starting up training again with camp starting on the 29th. It looks like Miyazaki is the destination this year.

Well, What the #$%@ do I know?

A couple of posts ago, I speculated that Shin Kanazawa would not be coming back to Tokyo Verdy

http://www.verdy.co.jp/news/topteam/?cmd=DispNews&news_id=261

Today, the team extended the deal an extra year.

I have to say, the team is shaping up to be one of the early favorites going into 2007.

The opening lineup last year (Current players in BOLD)

GK Mizuhara

DF Fujita Yanagisawa Togawa Hagimura

MF Ono Kanazawa Nagai Ohashi

FW Hiramoto Basilio

Bench Takagi Sugawara Uemura Anailson Iio

And the possible one this year

GK Takagi or Yoshihara

DF Kaimoto Togawa Tsuchiya Fujita (Nanami if he signs soon)

MF Marcus Hattori Ze Luis Hiroyama

FW Hiramoto Hulk

Bench-GK, Sato, Kanazawa, Hagimura, Tomisawa, Saito, Sugawara, Ono

We all know I'm garbage at predictions but I think 4 minor players will be picked up over the next couple of days as well as Nanami. Yuzo Fukanoshi, a backup for Albirex Niigata has been bandied about the blogosphere as being a possible depth signing. Maybe a young 4th keeper and a couple of guys to shore up the defense and midfield and I think the team is complete.

Quite an incredible offseason so far!

And the 300th post is........

Something big for Verdy. One of these men is coming to Verdy to play as a striker......I'll give you a hint. He started out in Brazil and made his J League debut in Kawasaki.......not yet? Allright, here's another hint....It's not Kazu.

HULK IS HERE. http://www.verdy.co.jp/news/topteam/?cmd=DispNews&news_id=260

Givalnildo Viera De Souza has officially signed with Verdy on a full transfer. No strings attached.

Hulk went to Consadole Sapporo last year after a short stint with Kawasaki Frontale. During his stay up north, the burly striker notched 25 goals in an economical 38 games. More troubling was another thing he did with massive proficiency, he notched cards. Hulk, like his comic counterpart, had a bit of trouble with his temper notching a hefty 15 yellow cards and 3 reds.....putting him among the league leaders in getting carded.

Teaming up with Kazuki Hiramoto puts an attack (on paper) that is head and shoulders above the rest of J2. One hopes that the 20 year old goal prodigy can be guided by former teammate Marcus to keep his emotions in check.

Big things happening in Verdyworld!

Takuya Yamada to Adelaide? Again?

http://hochi.yomiuri.co.jp/soccer/jleague/news/20070108-OHT1T00064.htm

Sports Hochi has the story, saying that ET (EXOTIC TERMINATER) is only a week away from finalizing his deal with Adelaide United. It seems that Yamada had offers from other J League squads but wanted the challenge of participating in the ACL and Kawasaki and Urawa sure weren't going to sign him.

It seemed the deal was dead with the impending signing of Miami FC (USL 1) attacking mid Diego Walsh but now it seems they are tagging the captain for next seasons campaign.

Also mentioned in the article was Yamada's desire to play overseas and his near signing with MLS.

I'm not sure if this is new news or if somebody at Hochi read blogs from 2 weeks ago and got around to filing this. I will troll the Australia boards and see what I can dig up!

Around the League

Former Yomiuri Club/Verdy Kawasaki mainstay and National team defender Hisashi Kato has joined Kyoto Sanga as a techinical advisor (I believe). The former Verdy man was lounging in the Kyushu leagues serving various clubs as GM before the callup. You might recall Kato as the manager of the ill-fated 1997 club which finished 16th and 12th in the split season......10 years later and the team might just be starting to recover.

Bruno Quadros to Consadole

Nikkan Sport is reporting that Brazilian tabloids have said the Quadros to Consadole is a done deal. http://sports.yahoo.co.jp/hl?c=jleague&a=20070107-00000062-nks-spo The article said that he club had targeted Shonan Bellmare acquisition Jean and former Omiya man Toninho to shore up a porous defense. The pricy acquisition probably puts the club out of contention for mercurial striker Hulk.

Ehime adds 4

Looks the orangemen from the south are becoming a little more red. Ehime added 4 young prospects from Urawa in attempts to boost their 2007 campaign. none of the player had any signifigant minutes for Urawa in either of their championships.

Davidson leaves Omiya, Kanazawa to take his place?

One of my favorite Omiya players, Jun Marques Davidson, is leaving the club to head west to Albirex Niigata. The holding midfielder was billed as one of Omiyas rising stars before losing his position to former Verdy man Yoshiyuki Kobayashi (I'm not sure why). The move opens the way for Shin Kanazawa to compete for a position with Omiya

Another piece is added to the Verdy puzzle

The team bolstered its netminding today by adding Shinya Yoshihara from Kawasaki Frontale on a loan deal. Yoshihara was the man that manned the pipes when Kawasaki won promotion in 2004 but lost his job to a younger and better Takashi Aizawa. With the addition of Nagoya Grampus 8 netminer Eija Kawashima, Yoshihara found himself in the less than savory postion of being third netminder.

Yoshihara appeared in 10 games for the club, allowing 19 goals in ten contests. the team also made it official that Masahiro Ohashi is joining Kawasaki Frontale on a 1 year loan deal.

Consadole names its coach

Former Omiya Ardija head man Toshiya Miura has officially taken the reigns of Consadole Sapporo. Miura had trouble getting Omiya past mid-lower table status in his 2 years of J1 but has a formidable track record in J2, posting a 75 win 16 tie 37 loss record in about 3 seasons of work. Miura is known for being a defensive strategist who loves the 1-0 win much more than a 5-4 slugfest.

Yomiuriland

I went out to Yomiuriland to renew my supporter card. While the team shop was shut down until the 9th, somebody from the school helped me get renewed. Very good customer service today, unlike at the games sometimes and I was very happy. If you get a chance to go to Yomiuriland, make sure you go into the lobby of the soccer school. In it you will find the trophies of Yomiuri club/Verdy over the years, including a horn shaped thing signifying the teams J League conquests, the old JSL championship trophy and golden balls signifying the Emperors Cup. I also got a look at the brand new conquests of NTV Beleza. The trophy case is very understated, It looked like an afterthought.

Anyhow, if you have the supporters card, January 28th is supporters day where they take the picture for the Yearbook and you get to mingle with the players. I am going to try and get out there.

Ahhh.......sweet news, I missed you!

Sites from America

Once in awhile, I like to introduce you to sites not specifically related to Verdy.....well, here's two that are way out there.

The first one is by my friend from Big Soccer before she decided to escape the intellectual monkeycage and branch out on her own. Forteleza Menina has just started a site about MLS squad Real Salt Lake. Why a team like RSL gets such a beautiful and intelligent woman to dedicate time documenting their glory and pitfalls is beyond me but she does it so it would be rude not to read the blog........everyday. You can find it at www.rslfm.com

The second site I'd like to introduce is a site dedicated to my team in the US, FC Dallas. Buzz Carrick is the dean of team reporters, setting a standard that in my opinion, no one has come close to matching. Buzz recently has had some articles published in ESPN so he is getting some well deserved recognition for his professionalism and hard work. 3rd degree ( a wordplay on the former name of FC Dallas...the Burn.....one of the worst names in sports history outside of the ill-fated Kawaguchi FairyZ) can be found at www.3rddegree.net

Maybe you'll get an interest in MLS.........just don't even think about becoming a Houston Dynamo fan!

Vegalta loses their fans for a year?

http://msn.foxsports.com/soccer/story/6332570

Just Kidding! The title was Moron fans lose team for a year and I thought about inserting YET ANOTHER REDS joke but decided against it. Some team in Argentina called DEPORTIVO MORON lost promotion in the last game and the fans attacked their players.

I mention Vegalta because they seem to be the group most likely to attack their own......don't believe me? Ask Satoshi Tsunami or READ THIS

http://footballjapan.blog14.fc2.com/blog-entry-296.html

Then there was this guy

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=U4xOZvBXOXA

Now, that being said, I don't think what Vegalta has done comes even close to the worst things that happen around the globe....I mean French dudes would laugh at this. And I don't think anybody ever will get to the point where they do grevious harm to a player or another fan. I'm just saying DON'T BE A MORON

Damn, it's been a Slooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooowwwwwww news week!

Ehime gets a player

Gamba Osaka is sending 21 year old striker Ryota Miki to Ehime. Miki has appeared in 3 games for Gamba in 2005. He notched one goal in an emperors cup match.

Help from an old friend

Well it looks like the move of Tadashi Karai to Chiba is already starting to pay dividends. According to the Sponichi smut rag, Tatsunori Arai is on his way out of Sagan Tosu and on his way to the defending Nabisco Cup Champs JEF United Ichihara Chiba. Arai, the number one Japanese goal scorer would be the second big goal scorer to move out, following Leandro.

The potentially bad news is that the loan deal for Kyoto Sanga forward Teruake Kurobe has been cancelled, meaning that the former Urawa Red will be facing Verdy 4 times next year as well as numerous others. In fact, Kyoto has done a great job of keeping the core intact that ran wild over J2 competition just 2 years ago.

Urawa wins......Again

If you haven't already heard, Urawa defended their Emperor's cup, becoming the first team in the J League era to defend their title. The defense was not a thing of beauty and there were numerous "discrepancies" that might have the more cynical fan claiming the title is tainted (3 home games, two creampuff opponents at the start, including a squad that just lost their position in J1, PK's set in the home goal instead of the neutral goal, a stop overturned by a referee with less than stellar credentials, a Gamba side that couldn't hit the side of a barn in the final......OK call me cynical!!!!)

There were some guys that shone through for the REDS who (to be fair) won it with a B squad.

Here are my three stars
Shinji Ono- Not so much in the final, but the rounds previous he really was the catalyst for victories over Jubilo and Kashima. 3 timely goals helped wake the squad up when they were dead. A healthy Ono is not only good for Urawa, he's good for Japan as well, especially now that they are struggling to find an identity

Takahito Soma- The pressure was on the former Verdy man to fill in for the departed Alex and he did relaively well, good hustle and pace found him involved alot, if he keeps it up Urawa won't miss Alex at all and he might get some notice for the National squad

Ryota Tsuzuki- With the dearth of talent at the keeper position in J1, it would be beyond criminal if Tsuzuki found himself on the bench for a second season. The man singlehandedly kept Urawa in the game until that less than inspiring goal finally rolled in. Tsuzuki, Soma, and Ono all handled their stints on the pine with class and it's good to see these three get a little credit for not only being talents but good characters as well.

Speaking of Urawa.......their budget hit 7,000,000,000 yen this year (almost 30 million pounds or 58 million dollars US) making them the first superclub in Japan. With the media churning out weekly stories on them and a fan base that dwarfs the rest of J1, it looks like there is no stopping the Red Menace.....if they win the ACL, it's over.....they claim the title as Japan's team.

Depth Chart

With the new signings, Verdy finds itself at 28 players.......if we leave out the new amateur signings for a moment, the starting lineup looks like this maybe

Hiramoto Saito


Marcus

Ono Hiroyama

Ze Luis

Kaimoto Fujita

Tsuchiya Hattori

Takagi

Bench: Sugawara/Tomisawa/Hagimura/Sato/Ichiyanagi/Shibasaki/Killoran/Kiyama/Tsurumaki/Togawa?

If Nanami happens......and it should, by my estimation the team needs 2 strikers and another keeper and the team is solid. Much better position than last year