2007 Preview- Kyoto Sanga

Today I give the Blog over to Kyoto Expert Goru No Ura from Big Soccer

Enjoy!

At the end of 2005, after two seasons of purgatory in the second division, Kyoto’s team had earned promotion in J1 by displaying brilliant soccer, and they had brought back to Nishigyokoku stadium a substantial crowd of supporters. One would expect some investment and some new blood pumped into the team; instead the management decided to face the first division with basically the same squad that earned promotion, with very few players with considerable J1 experience. Bad luck and injuries did not help Sanga, that were promptly relegated, for the third time in their history.

This year, again as a second division club supporters, the fans might have been resigned to a period of transition, and instead… the team gets completely renewed. The name is changed from Kyoto Purple Sanga to Kyoto Sanga FC, and the club signs those players they would have needed last season: besides a few promising youngsters, Japan NT’s former captain Ryuzo Morioka (from Shimizu S-Pulse), the super-veteran Yutaka Akita (another former NT player, 36yo, from Nagoya Grampus), Kazuki Kuranuki (until last season captain at Ventforet Kofu) and two more Japanese players with a decent pedigree in J1: Yasumasa Nishino (from Jubilo Iwata) and Taka’aki Tokushige (on loan, from Cerezo Osaka). To complete an impressive campaign the defense was reinforced by the huge Brazilian Tiago (from Figuerense).

However, the biggest surprise for the fans was that Sanga was able to keep in Kyoto their best players: the two Brazilian forwards Paulinho, and Andre’; key-players such as Daisuke Saito and Kazuki Teshima, and the young guns Daishi Kato, Daigo Watanabe and Hiroki Nakayama (recently a U-22 NT member). Most of the players who did well two years ago in J2 have been kept, including those such as Daisuke Hoshi, Kenichiro Meta and Yutaka Tahara who failed to impress in J1.

Among the players who have left the club are Takenori Hayashi (another disappointment from last season, on loan to Jubilo Iwata), Arata Kodama (to Shimizu) and Makoto Kakuda (back to Nagoya). Alemao, who had a great season at Yokohama FC, was sent back to Brazil, while veteran Kazuhiro Suzuki has moved to Mito Hollyhock, and Teruaki Kurobe, after being parked on loan in two different J1 clubs for the last two season, has finally been sold for good to Chiba Jef United. Recent fans might not blink at these two latter transfers; however, these were two of the ‘heroes’ who contributed to Kyoto’s only title, the Emperor Cup of 2002.

Considering the usually not-so-competitive level of J2, the reinforcements, and the pre-season games (Kyoto defeated twice Shimizu S-Pulse, and also Korea’s Champions Suwon!), Sanga should be considered without a doubt a candidate for promotion. However, a few factors have to be kept into consideration. To begin with, Coach Naohiko Minobe, who was in charge for the last part of last season, could not win a single game. He is a relatively inexperienced coach, thus it is to see how he could he manage eventual problems on the field and in the locker room. The other question mark regards Sanga attack’s reliability: while Paulinho and Andre’ have the potential to be superstars of the tournament, the other forwards have to prove their value, and in a league where each team plays 48 games, only two strikers might not be enough to guarantee a continuous delivery of goals. However, overall, Kyoto Sanga FC seems ready to be true to its emblem, a phoenix, and for the fourth time resuscitate from its own ashes to make it to the league that matters: J1.


Probable Starting 11:

Hirai
Watanabe (Mikami), Tiago, Teshima (Akita), Morioka
Saito, Nakayama, Kuranuki, Mio (Kato)
Paulinho, Andre’

SG View: I agree with this wholeheartedly. On paper it looks like a two team race and Kyoto is definetely one of them. I was shocked to see Paulinho stay with the Sanga. The pickups were nice as well.

Prediction 2nd place

Excelent work and I hope he pops in again.

The Revolution Will Not Be Televised

http://www.boston.com/sports/articles/2007/02/27/transfer_of_power_for_revolution/

Registration necessary for this little article but long story short Hirano and Yamada are not going to Revs training camp in Cancun meaning they probably won't be signing with the club.

2007 Preview- Shonan Bellmare

2006 Season 13 wins 10 ties 25 losses 61 goals 87 goals against -26

I don't know if you remeber the COCOON craze of the 80's. It was a putridly sappy movie where a group of old people stumbled across aliens and felt young again and had sex. It propelled Steve Guttenberg to "superstar" status, showing that he could not only suck in slapstick movies about police officers, he could also suck in roles involving touchy-feely situations.

Well to simplify this painfully long metaphor, COCOON=Yokohama FC, and now the new craze in J2 is signing up stars of yesteryear to shore up the team and propel them to the holy grail of all second division clubs.......promotion.

This year's Yokohama happens to dwell in Kanagawa. The legendary underacheivers Shonan Bellmare crashed to a distressing 11th place finish, falling behind teams like Mito and Ehime. Going into their 8th season in the second tier, something had to give and management answered.

The biggest loss to the club was midfielder Yusuke Sato, who takes his 9 goals and team leading 10 assists to Verdy. Brazilians Nivaldo and Fabio, and FW Satoshi Yokoyama were among the 9 other minor contributors to get their walking papers.

The team goes into the campaign led by MF Adiel, one of the few bright spots from last year. Big changes start in the back with the additions of Jean from FC Tokyo and lifetime Shimizu man and 98 World Cup member Toshihide Saito. Another former World Cup 98 member makes a homecoming after an extended absence......No, not Nakata, DF Akira Narahashi. Narahashi found himself a victim of a new youth movement in Kashima after years of quality play in the back for Antler Nation. Like Verdy, if the old legs hold up Bellmare might be something special this year......if not, trouble. Offensively, the team gets a couple of new guns up front. Michiaki Kakimoto returns after a nightmare stint in Osaka for Cerezo. Bellmare is hoping that Kakimoto can regain the form that netted him 15 goals from two years ago. Ryota Hara joins from Montedio Yamagata after a disappointing 2006 campaign.

This was a really tough one to call.

Projected Lineup 4-4-2

GK Tomohiko Ito
DF Nobutaka Suzuki
DF Toshihide Saito
DF Jean
DF Akira Narahashi
MF Adiel
MF Koji Nakazato
MF Koji Sakamoto
MF Nozomu Kato
FW Michiaki Kakimoto
FW Ryota Hara

Prediction 4th place

Announcements

I hope to finish up the last of the previews by Thursday. One of the columns I'm really excited about is being written by Big Soccer poster Gora No Ura. Gora is an expert on Kyoto Sanga and has graciously accepted an offer to write about the team he loves. I will be posting Gora's excellent column on Wednesday. Thursday I will post the Verdy preview. Friday and Saturday I will not post anything.

8 days till Ramos 2.0 begins!

Tokyo Showdown!!!!!!

18,000 people showed up to watch a FREE training match between the two Tokyo powerhouses. The streets were festooned with FC Tokyo banners and flags. Outside Tobitakyu Station booths were set up selling Rolling Stone and nWo ripoff shirts. Scarves embroidered with slogans cheering Wanchope and lambasting Verdy. Welcome home boys.........Chofu hates you!

Inside the stadium it was a little more hospitable, FC Tokyo had the numbers but the Tokyo Hearts and Brigata Verdista had the voices. Banners across the field celebrated "Sexy Soccer" . I guess this type of Sexy was an old married couple trying it out after a long hiatus because the product on the field was tedious and uninspired.

I had to keep telling myself....."It's only a practice. It's only a practice."

FC Tokyo are tipped to be one of the preseason favorites to steal the J League crown from Urawa. It looks like they are going to do it by grabbing, holding, biting, and headlocking because that's the techniques they used to stop the Verdy offense. Paulo Wanchope was less than scintillating......he had a few chances but chose to do more short-cutting and diving than actually trying to play. I was disappointed in the highly touted import, I was expecting him to dazzle with a play or two, but it seemed like he was doing his best Romario impersonation, sticking himself in front of the goal and waiting for an easy stickback or a gift PK. There was no Lucas in the practice game so maybe he'll light it up with a better partner. If he decides to play like this, he'll be gone by June.

Verdy on the other hand looked a bit disjointed on the offensive side. Actually, let me give you the starting 11

Takagi-Kaimoto-Tsuchiya-Togawa-Hattori-Ono-Sugawara-Nanami-Diego-Hiramoto-Hulk

Subs 45 min Fukuda, Yoshihara, Funakoshi, Sato, Kanazawa

No Ze Luis in this little encounter. Let me get back to the offense. The Ono-Diego combination was a bit stiff. Neither one has good pace right now and seemed a step slow. Hiramoto and Hulk were just missing on passes in the first half. You could see what they wanted to do, but the combination of still having a lack of familiarity and FC Tokyo playing a 4-4-Hulk Hogan defense was a little too much for Verdy to really open it up. Hulk seemed to be operating at a different speed than everyone else and seems to be the only attacker in season shape. Diego was still plodding along. And Ono didn't have the pace to get balls in the box.

The defense was very good with the exception of a few mental lapses by Yukio Tsuchiya. Tsuchiya really handled Wanchope and didn't have a bad game. But two of his mistakes were dangerous. First, he gave the ball away in front of the box in a miscommunication with Takagi. Wanchope chose to get cute with the ball and instead of smoking one into the net, half shot. Kaimoto, who had a great half, got in right in front of the net and cleared the ball out. The second mistake happened late in the game when Tsuchiya and Fukuda had a communication breakdown and left an unmarked Evaldo wide open in front of the net on a corner kick. Evaldo easily deposited one in the net on an out of position Yoshihara for FC Tokyo's lone goal.

I did forget to mention the OTHER goal. Actually, I'm not really sure how to explain it. A ball flew at an unaware Harutaka Ono, who was WAAAAAAAAAAAAY out of the box with his back turned. Ono managed to kick his foot out and kick it behind him towards the goal to a thouroughly unready Yoichi Doi. Doi, standing flatfooted, watched as the ball went streaking by him into the far right corner of the net for a goal. Unbelievable.

Decent match, a bit slow but Verdy held their own against a formidable J1 squad.

Focus Player

DF Kensuke Fukuda

The 22 year old wing back got the nod today over more established defenders like Taisei Fujita and left a couple of impressions. Fukuda is diminutive and quick. It seemed like he was lost during the first 10 minutes of his stint, getting burned on a few occasions by FC Tokyo's Ishihara. He did have some good moments, clearing the ball away and not making too many mistakes. He had a bit of trouble connecting with the attacking players but that wasn't just him today. Good athlete, his mind just needs to catch up to his body. When he figures out the right position to be in defensively, he will be pretty good.

1-1.......Let the real games begin!

2007 Preview-Vegalta Sendai

2006 Season 21 wins 14 ties 13 losses 75 goals 43 goals against +32

One of the bigger disappointments from last season was Joel Santana's Vegalta squad. It seemed like Vegalta was able to run up huge numbers against lower level teams only to seemingly falter in every must-win campaign. And predictably, like in every other campaign in which the Sendai squad has faltered, major changes took place.

One of the biggest strengths of last year's campaign was the trio of Brazilians who led the attack. Well, two have left the team. Borges takes his league leading 26 goals back to Brazil. Team assist leader Thiago Nevez is also hitting the road after seeing his playing time disappear near the close of last season. The one who is staying behind is arguably the best of the 3. Lopez will be aided by Four new Brazilians. Somebody needs to tell management that only 3 can play at one time, but that's neither here nor there. The main shake-up is in the net with the release of former National teamer Daijiro Takakuwa (Yokohama F Marinos) ad the arrival of former Sagan netminder Junnsuke Schneider. Schneider will fight it out with 2006 co-starter Kiyomitsu Kobari, who starts the season on IR.

The schedulers did Vegalta no favors when they gave them a starting quinella of Shonan (Away), Cerezo (Away), Verdy (Home), and Avispa (Away). If the team can get through with at least 6 points and build momentum against some of the lower eschelon squads, maybe they can steal one of the top spots in J2 and finally return to the big time. Maybe.

Projected Lineup 4-4-2

GK Junnsuke Schneider

DF Yosuke Nakata

DF Kosuke Kitani

DF Hiroyuki Shibai

DF Keita Isozaki

MF Lopez

MF Jonilson

MF Naoki Sugai

MF Ryan Yong

FW Yuki Nakashima

FW William

Prediction 5th place

Satellite Shenanigans!!!!!!!

The league released the groups for the 2007 Satellite leagues or it's lesser known name....THE EUGENE KILLORAN CUP......I kid Eugene. Seriously, Call me!

Anyhow, Verdy finds itself in Group D along with a collection of teams from Kanagawa, Shizuoka, and Fuji mountain. Both Shizuoka squads (Shimizu and Jubilo), Venforet Kofu, and the green and blue from Hiratsuka.......Shonan Bellmare will be foes against the not quite ready for the big time 11.

Details here http://www.j-league.or.jp/data/2/?league=satellite&genre=schedule&d=news&t=program&g=satellite_d&y=2007

2007 Preview-Consadole Sapporo

2006 Season 20 wins 12 ties 16 losses 77 goals 67 goals against +10

I think THE WHO said it best when they sang "WE WON'T GET FOOLED AGAIN". Actually, I probably was the only one outside of Sapporo to pick Consadole to win J2 last year. The Owls ended last year as a feel good story, advancing to the final 4 in the coveted Emperor's Cup, against big odds (and presumably the wishes of the JFA) before falling to Cup also-ran Gamba Osaka. Now the team embarks on a complete identity change with the departure of coach Maasaki Yanagishita. In comes former Omiya head man Toshiya Miura and his penchant for cautious, defensive (some might say incredibly boring) football. Miura was criticized for a lackluster 2006 campaign in which a team of highly rated signings failed to completely mesh and limped to a 12th place finish after a prolonged early autumn slump. Before this, Miura was tabbed as a dark horse National team coach candidate for the future. his J2 credentials are beyond reproach, leading a 2004 Omiya squad on a miraculous 26 game unbeaten streak to close out the season and gain promotion to J1.

One thing Miura is used to is not having a star striker, and his Sapporo experience will start out in those circumstances with the loss of the mercurial and prolific ball of rage,Hulk, who takes his gaudy stats, his pure talent, and his huge temper to Tokyo. Another big loss is in the backfield with the return of Kenichi Kaga to Jubilo Iwata.

Miura plans on switching to a 4-4-2. To help anchor the D, Sapporo brought in former Cerezo man Bruno Quadros, who had a nightmare season after a bright 2005. Takuya Takagi reunites with his old coach after a personally successful stint at Thespa Kusatsu. Not a move that makes huge sense considering last year's starter was 24 and the new man, Yuya Sato comes in at a hearty 20 years of age. Fianlly, Consadole has brought in a couple of unproven Brazilian players with big upside in FW Davi and MF Caue.

In honor of the new coach, I'll take a cautious approach and pick them to finish 2007 the same way they finished 2006. They are a young squad with a ton of potential who just needs the right coach. Whether or not Miura is that man remains to be seen.

Projected Lineup 4-4-2

GK Yuya Sato

DF Hiroyuki Nishuima

DF Yushi Soda

DF Bruno Quadros

DF Tomohiko Ikeuchi

MF Masaya Nishitani

MF Caue

MF Makoto Sunakawa

MF Hironobu Haga

FW Shinya Aikawa

FW Kengo Ishii

Prediction 6th

Verdy Revolution?

It looks like Boston is cornering the market on former Verdy players as 2 showed up in Bermuda to train with the New England Revolution. Takuya Yamada, who we previously reported missed out on signing with ACL participants and Hyundai A-League runner-ups Adelaide United played the first half of New Englands training match against the Bermuda National team. Takashi Hirano played the second half and both helped out in a 3-1 victory.

http://www.revolutionsoccer.net/news/index.cfm?ac=latestnewsdetail&pid=24196&pcid=115

2006 season (J1) 6 wins 9 ties 19 losses 44 goals 70 goals against -26

Satoshi Tsunami always seems to be the right man in the wrong place. 2 years ago, he was the coach for a Vegalta Sendai squad that missed out on being the team that had a chance to knock Kashiwa around in a promotion match instead of cinderella squad Venforet Kofu. After a slow start, he got death threats and things hurled at him. He then got a one way ticket out of town. Last year, he was the number 2 behind a very green Rui Ramos, who seemed to get the job more on personality and presence and less on coaching acumen. While the team struggled, Tsunami quietly kept the reserve players heads in the game. Nozomi Hiroyama, Satoshi Nagano, Taisei Fujita, and Masaki Saito all toiled in the netherworlds of practice matches and came through when their names were finally called. Tsunami had a hand in this.

Now, Tsunami finds himself with a team that is two years removed from a last minute crusher against FC Tokyo which sent them into a downward spiral and cost them a championship. Last years squad was a disaster, not even having the pride or professionalism to even fight for a chance to play Kobe and save their place in J1. To put it bluntly, they quit. The good news is that management cleaned house, either getting rid of or letting players go to other destinations. 15 players are out, most notably the forward combo of Akinori Nishimura and Yoshito Okubo. In their stead comes a pair of U-23 strikers by the names of Takuya Kokeguchi and Yasuhito Morishima.

The midfield took a hit when Hiroshi Nanami (Verdy) and Tomi Shimomura (Chiba) decided to leave for J1 destinations. Imports Bruno Quadros (Consadole Sapporo) and Pingo also were let go after long stints with the club.

Tsunami will have to rely upon a young core to carry them through the season supplemented by a few old hands. Hiroaki Morishima is the lone holdover from the Yanmar days and comes back for one more go in pink and purple. The 2 time World Cup veteran will be relied upon to keep the squad on an even keel. Ze Carlos is back for another year on the wing and is joined by young compatriot Ale from Botafogo. Takeshi Hamada rejoins the squad after a 2 year loan from Sagan Tosu to round out the midfield. Finally, Tsunami grabbed one of his old Verdy guys in Masayuki Yanagisawa to help out the defense. Of course, the last Verdy defender to head to Cerezo was Takuya Yamada and we all know how that turned out.

This team resembles the 2006 Verdy squad in innumerable ways. Putting them in the 7th spot seems jsutifiable. Let's just hope for coach Tsunamis sake that the team treats him like verdy treated Ramos after a stinker of a campaign

Projected Lineup 4-4-2

GK Motohiro Yoshida

DF Kota Fujimoto

DF Kazuya Maeda

DF Kenjiro Ezoe

DF Masayuki Yanagisawa

DF Ale

DF Ze Carlos

DF Takeshi Hamada

DF Hiroaki Morishima

FW Takuya Kokeguchi

FW Tatsuya Furuhashi

Prediction 7th place

2007 Preview-Sagan Tosu

2006 Season 22 wins 13 ties 13 losses 64 goals 49 goals against +15

Lost amid the miracle season of Yokohama FC was the surprisingly good performance of Sagan Tosu. The pale pink and blue of south Japan stayed in contention for a shot at the promotion playoff spot until the last few weeks of the season. Built on the concept of lock down defense and a prolific scorer, Tosu managed to put in a respectable 4th place finish.

This year seems to be more of a transition year, as Sagan lost a ton, from the Manager to the Goalkeeper and some things in between. Kind of a shock considering they were fairly close to getting over the hump. The main loss on the season was that of Japanese goal machine Tatsunori Arai, who put in 40 goals in his two years with the club. Tosu is hoping that Mito refugee Anderson can fill in the void left by Arai. Another big loss to the squad takes place in the net where Junnsuke Schneider heads north to Vegalta. The third big contributor to leave is midfielder Takeshi Hamada heads back to Cerezo Osaka. Sagan will try to succeed with a youth movement so the team is a bit of a mystery. Early preseason results have been less than impressive (6 games 1-1-4 -8 goal difference)

With the rest of the top teams in the league improving, things look a bit dour for the budgies.....but don't be surprised if they shock again.

Projected Lineup 4-4-2

GK Taku Akahoshi

DF Keiji Takachi

DF Kazuya Iio

DF Hidenori Kato

DF Toyoki Hasegawa

MF Junya Yamashiro

MF Jong Hwan Yoon

MF Yoshiki Takahashi

MF Takayuki Yamaguchi

FW Anderson

FW Tatsuya Kamohara

Prediction 8th place

2007 Preview- Montedio Yamagata

2006 Season 17 wins 14 ties 17 losses 68 goals 57 against +11

You really do have to feel for Montedio Yamagata. They play hard, struggle, scrape, and bite for every point they can get and still end up falling just short. Never a team to get blown out but not not quite talented enough to turn close losses to ties and ties to wins. Snakebitten.

After hovering near the edges of promotion, Yamagata fell to a deceptive 8th in a close middle of the pack. This season looks like another tough year of scraping and clawing for points. Yamagata already starts out in a hole with the loss of superstriker Leandro to Vissel Kobe. Leandro was the offense last season, notching 23 goals and setting up 7 others. No other Yamagata player scored 6. In his place, Montedio is hoping for some magic from a combination of newcomers Yohei Toyoda (Nagoya Grampus 8), Tomotaka Kitamura (Yokohama FC), and Takuya Yokoyama (Urawa Reds).

Montedio hopes will rely on the defense. Returning for a 4th year is rugged Brazilian centerback Leonardo who chipped in 5 goals and played some excellent defense. A new face for Montedio is one readers here will recognize, Tatsuya Ishikawa,who gets sent out again from Kashima to help out another mid-table J2 squad.

If you're a fan of 0-0 draws......this is the club for you

Projected Lineup 4-4-2

GK Kenta Shimizu
DF Tatsuya Ishikawa
DF Shogo Kobara
DF Leonardo
DF Makoto Kimura
MF Katsuyuki Miyazawa
MF Masaru Akiba
MF Kohei Usui
MF Nobuyuki Zaizen
FW Ryosuke Nemoto
FW Yohei Toyoda

Prediction 9th place

2007 Preview- Ehime FC

2006 Season 14 wins 11 ties 23 losses 52 goals 63 goals against -11

Recreating the "magic" of regional rival Tokushima Vortis, Ehime FC played hard-nosed, grind it out football all year, finishing a respectable 9th place in their inagural campaign. Starting from their opening game against Yokohama FC, Ehime showed that they would not give an inch to anyone all year and fought with nothing to lose. The good news is Ehime brings back a solid young core with no team member being over 30 years of age. The bad news is Ehime can no longer sneak up on anyone, the league knows that Ehime will come to play.

One big loss for the squad is playmaker Minoru Suganuma. The 21 year old FW/MF was second on the team in scoring with 11 goals. Suganuma is making a homecoming to the team of his in youth in lovely Kashiwa. Another blow to the squad also happens in the middle where mainstay Yojiro Takahagi returns to Sanfrecce Hiroshima after playing 45 games for big orange.

The good news is that striker Toshiya Tanaka returns to lead the attack. Tanaka led the team with 14 goals and was widely praised for his play last year. Ehime released a good of its JFL quality talent and brought in young players from Jubilo, Urawa, and Sanfrecce in what is beginning to resemble a Major League Baseball farm team. It's very hard to predict what will happen with this squad in 2007 so your guess is as good as mine!

Projected Lineup 4-4-2

GK Akihiro Sato

DF Kohei Matsushita

DF Yuzo Minami

DF Tomoya Kanamori

DF Ryota Moriwaki

MF Shuichi Akai

MF Toru Chishima

MF Hideto Inoue

MF Kenichi Ego

FW Toshiya Tanaka

FW Ryota Miki

Prediction 10th place

2007 Preview-Tokushima Vortis

2006 Season 8 wins 11 ties 29 losses 43 goals 92 goals against -49

They're bad.....really, really bad. And the sad thing is, Tokushima Vortis could improve alot from last year's tragic campaign and still be really bad.

Vortis said goodbye to their second leading scorer Jorginho as well as their late season playmaker, former Verdy man Jun Tamano. Starting keeper Norio Takahashi.....out.

What will make or break the season is the collection of foreign talent, including Cerezo rental Andre, young forward Cleberson, and Ponte Preta veteran Da Silva. The defense was shored up with a couple of J2 outcasts, Jungo Konno from Mito Hollyhock and former Verdy defender Yukihiro Aoba.

I don't think it's gonna be pretty for Vortis again

Potential lineup 3-5-2

GK Torashi Shimazu
DF Kensuke Oomori
DF Jungo Konno
DF Yukihiro Aoba
MF Andre
MF Da Silva
MF Koji Kataoka
MF Yuki Ishida
MF Takuto Oyama
FW Cleberson
FW Yusutaka Kobayashi

2007 Prediction 13th place

2007 Preview- Thespa Kusatsu

Thespa Kusatsu
2006 Season 9 wins 15 ties 24 losses 54 goals 86 goals against -32 goal differential

It's difficult not to root Verdy's foe in the 2007 opener. Thespa Kusatsu is a little team created to give some publicity to a little spa in Gunma. their players used to work at the spa, they earned promotion from the 4th division to their current place in a mere 4 years and even fought against the odds to beat the defending J League champions while being 2 men down. It's a cinderella story that you just hope will go on for years and years.

Then you look at the roster.

Thespa Kusatsu cut alot of dead weight in the offseason, 14 players in all. Of that group 2 retired and 8 are still looking for work. Unfortunately, they lost 2 of their best as well. GK Takahiro Takagi, who performed bravely behind a patchwork defense joins up with his former Omiya coach to help shore up the goal for Consadole Sapporo. In his place comes longtime backup Seiji Honda who had one disasterous game for newly promoted Vissel Kobe. Another man signed up to compete for the keeper job is a familiar face, former Verdy 3rd stringer Satoshi Tokizawa. Tokizawa is hoping to recreate the magic of Takagi from a season ago.

The biggest loss to Thespa actually comes in a the very diminutive shape of MF playmaker Yusuke Shimada. Shimada takes his 9 goals and league leading 15 assists back to Omiya in hopes of being a J1 cotributor.

There are a couple of guys who stuck around for 2007. FW Yasunori Takada will be the main man to shoulder the scoring load after chipping in a team leading 12 last season. Brazilian Defender Chika comes in for his third campaign as the anchor of a defense that left alot to be desired. One of the brightest lights for the squad was MF Nobuhito Toriizuka who played admirably out of position for the squad last year. Toriizuka is in the twilight of his career, approaching the ripe age of 35.

Thespa did bring in a couple of young guys with potential, including former Mito MF Takeshi Kuwahara as well as young DF Daisuke Fujii from Albirex. They also brought in FW/MF Koji Maatsura for, ummmm, laughs I guess. Anyhow, Thespa signed alot of young guys who could be the nucleus of a decent team in 5 years. Included in this group is Brazilian teenager Marlin, who played his high school ball in Japan.

Potential Lineup 4-4-2

GK Seiji Honda DF Takeshi Terada

DF Chika

DF Daisuke Fujii

DF Sotaro Sada

MF Takeshi Kuwahara

MF Kazuki Sakurada

MF Yoshiki Nakai

MF Nobuhito Toriizuka

FW Yasunori Takada

FW Marlin

2007 Prediction 11th place

2007 Preview- Mito Hollyhock

The 2007 season is nearly upon us. That means it's preview time! Soilent Green will be delving into the netherworld of J2 in order to (hopefully) get a clearer picture of what might happen in the upcoming season.

We start with the bottom of the barrel Mito Hollyhock
2006 Season 14 wins 6 ties 25 losses 48 goals 69 goals against -21

Always in the shadow of big brother Kashima, Mito usually has troubles scraping up enough revenue to field a team. Mito had the lowest support of any team in the J League, coming in at a slim 3,017 fan average.

One move that should have Mito fans hesitating to come to their grounds on the weekend is the loss of Anderson and his 17 goals. In his place comes 19 year old Edinaldo from Brazil, who the team puts it's hopes and dreams upon.

Mito also added a couple of marginal players from J2 squads, the most notable being DF Kazuhiro Suzuki from Kyoto Purple Sanga. Suzuki was one of the main players in back for Sanga during the promotion year of 2005 but could barely find the field in 2006.

Potential lineup 4-4-2

GK Koji Honma
DF Hiromasa Kanazawa
DF Kazuhiro Suzuki
DF Masashi Owada
DF Takashi Kuramoto
MF Takaaki Suzuki
MF Shohei Ogura
MF Takuya Shiihara
MF Kazuhiko Shingyoji
FW Edinaldo
FW Kohei Nishino

Prediction 12th place

Correction

The Verdy site was unclear on the final score

http://www.daily.co.jp/newsflash/2007/02/17/0000244473.shtml

Daily Sports reports that Gamba indeed won 3-2

Still, a good camp

Training match 4 pack

OK....starting to get a bit clearer on who is starting opening day

Game 1 Miyasaki Sangyo Keisai University

Lineup Shibasaki

Kaimoto Ichiyanagi Killoran Sonoda

Yoshitake Kanazawa Shibasaki Inoue

Funakoshi Hiroyama

Subs: Yamamoto(trainee), Shinmura, Fukuda

This game was controlled by Verdy from the start
Goals were scored by Hiroyama (5,15) Kaimoto, and Killoran which put them up 4-1 until the hometown unis got two back late

4-3

Game 2 Kawasaki Frontale

Lineup Muro

Sugawara Ichiyanagi Killoran Kaimoto

Yamamoto Shibasaki Shinmura Inoue

Hulk Funakoshi

Subs GK Shibasaki, Kanazawa

Strange lineup with Hulk teamed up with alot of the young guys, including an all-rookie midfield against his former squad.

Goals were scored by Kaimoto, Hulk, and Killoran with the trainee (Yamamoto) assisting on 2 goals. Good win against what I'm presuming is a Kawasaki B Team 3-1

Game 3 Avispa Fukuoka

Lineup Yoshihara

Fukuda Togawa Tsuchiya Sonoda

Sato Ze Luis Nagai Diego

Hiroyama Hiramoto

Subs GK Takagi, Kanazawa, Saito

Another strange lineup with more starters teaming up with some youth and backups

Avispa jumped out to a 2 goal lead before Fukuda got fouled in the box and earned a PK. Diego put one in. The second half saw Diego get his second goal with a connection from Hiroyama. Unfortunately, Avispa answered late with a goal from their 17 year old signee Suzuki to seal the deal and send Verdy down to defeat. 3-2 Avispa

Grand Finale Gamba Osaka

Lineup Takagi

Hattori Tsuchiya Togawa Fukuda


Diego Nanami Ze Luis Ono


Hulk Hiramoto

Subs: Sato, Tomisawa, Hiroyama, Kanazawa

Verdy jumped out early with goals by Hulk and Hiramoto (maybe 2 by Hulk?), it looked like an easy day for team green but the former champs came back to notch 2 of their own. Verdy had a lot of chances near the end buit couldn't seem to find the net. 2-2 tie in the finale.

Looking at the Gamba match, I expect it will be this group with Kaimoto in for Fukuda. I also expect to see Yamamoto signed in the near future because by all accounts, it looks like the kid has had a great training camp. A few names that are nowhere to be found are Shigenori Hagimura and Kazunori Iio, who could be hurt or could be on their way out the door to a certain team in the south that wears shocking pink.

There were a couple of other names that popped up and faded out of sight rather quickly. Masaki Saito didn't seem to do much this camp in his limited opportunities. Tsuyoshi Yoshitake didn't seem to get too many opportunities either. And a question the whole free world is curious to know, Where is Osama? El Samni that is! didn't hear a peep out of the youth star.

In addition to Yamamoto, the kids seemed to do really well in Miyasaki. Eugene Killoran is one name that seems to be popping up, in both his roles as defender and midfield. Diego still seems to be out of shape even with his goals. Hulk went crazy (no pun intended) scoring in bunches.

Looks like a very successful camp for Verdy and reason for much optimism.

If Catania plays and nobody is there to see it, did it really happen

Morimotomania is going behind closed doors after an Italian sports judge ruled that the squad must play in neutral venues and without fans.

Yahoo Sports is reporting that the Sicilian club is set to lose over 13 million dollars (US) from the ban because "fans" killed 38 year old Chief Inspector Fillipo Raciti with a blunt object after ambushing opposing supporters and police officers.

http://sports.yahoo.com/sow/news;_ylt=AoFc1xtsCDOik7iOpDIRMUomw7YF?slug=ap-italy-stadiumshut&prov=ap&type=lgns

Finally.......

Tokyo Derby.......8 days and counting. Opening day.........T Minus 15 days........J1 debut.....TBA

Training match 4 pack

OK....starting to get a bit clearer on who is starting opening day

Game 1 Miyasaki Sangyo Keisai University

Lineup Shibasaki

Kaimoto Ichiyanagi Killoran Sonoda

Yoshitake Kanazawa Shibasaki Inoue

Funakoshi Hiroyama

Subs: Yamamoto(trainee), Shinmura, Fukuda

This game was controlled by Verdy from the start
Goals were scored by Hiroyama (5,15) Kaimoto, and Killoran which put them up 4-1 until the hometown unis got two back late

4-3

Game 2 Kawasaki Frontale

Lineup Muro

Sugawara Ichiyanagi Killoran Kaimoto

Yamamoto Shibasaki Shinmura Inoue

Hulk Funakoshi

Subs GK Shibasaki, Kanazawa

Strange lineup with Hulk teamed up with alot of the young guys, including an all-rookie midfield against his former squad.

Goals were scored by Kaimoto, Hulk, and Killoran with the trainee (Yamamoto) assisting on 2 goals. Good win against what I'm presuming is a Kawasaki B Team 3-1

Game 3 Avispa Fukuoka

Lineup Yoshihara

Fukuda Togawa Tsuchiya Sonoda

Sato Ze Luis Nagai Diego

Hiroyama Hiramoto

Subs GK Takagi, Kanazawa, Saito

Another strange lineup with more starters teaming up with some youth and backups

Avispa jumped out to a 2 goal lead before Fukuda got fouled in the box and earned a PK. Diego put one in. The second half saw Diego get his second goal with a connection from Hiroyama. Unfortunately, Avispa answered late with a goal from their 17 year old signee Suzuki to seal the deal and send Verdy down to defeat. 3-2 Avispa

Grand Finale Gamba Osaka

Lineup Takagi

Hattori Tsuchiya Togawa Fukuda


Diego Nanami Ze Luis Ono


Hulk Hiramoto

Subs: Sato, Tomisawa, Hiroyama, Kanazawa

Verdy jumped out early with goals by Hulk and Hiramoto (maybe 2 by Hulk?), it looked like an easy day for team green but the former champs came back to notch 2 of their own. Verdy had a lot of chances near the end buit couldn't seem to find the net. 2-2 tie in the finale.

Looking at the Gamba match, I expect it will be this group with Kaimoto in for Fukuda. I also expect to see Yamamoto signed in the near future because by all accounts, it looks like the kid has had a great training camp. A few names that are nowhere to be found are Shigenori Hagimura and Kazunori Iio, who could be hurt or could be on their way out the door to a certain team in the south that wears shocking pink.

There were a couple of other names that popped up and faded out of sight rather quickly. Masaki Saito didn't seem to do much this camp in his limited opportunities. Tsuyoshi Yoshitake didn't seem to get too many opportunities either. And a question the whole free world is curious to know, Where is Osama? El Samni that is! didn't hear a peep out of the youth star.

In addition to Yamamoto, the kids seemed to do really well in Miyasaki. Eugene Killoran is one name that seems to be popping up, in both his roles as defender and midfield. Diego still seems to be out of shape even with his goals. Hulk went crazy (no pun intended) scoring in bunches.

Looks like a very successful camp for Verdy and reason for much optimism.

If Catania plays and nobody is there to see it, did it really happen

Morimotomania is going behind closed doors after an Italian sports judge ruled that the squad must play in neutral venues and without fans.

Yahoo Sports is reporting that the Sicilian club is set to lose over 13 million dollars (US) from the ban because "fans" killed 38 year old Chief Inspector Fillipo Raciti with a blunt object after ambushing opposing supporters and police officers.

http://sports.yahoo.com/sow/news;_ylt=AoFc1xtsCDOik7iOpDIRMUomw7YF?slug=ap-italy-stadiumshut&prov=ap&type=lgns

Finally.......

Tokyo Derby.......8 days and counting. Opening day.........T Minus 15 days........J1 debut.....TBA

Training again

Verdy decided to do something a little different and take on an international opponent. Zhejiang Lvcheng is one of the seemingly 1000's of squads training in the toasty embrace of Miyasaki sleepover camp! Zhejiang is currently in the C-League after winning promotion from the second division C-league last season with a respectable second place finish. Known as "greentown" , Zhejiang decided to take the field donning red uniforms.....perfect sense!

Anyhow, Verdy went with the first team in this one....national pride and all being on the line....with one small exception

Yoshihara

Hattori Tsuchiya Tomisawa Kaimoto

Ze Luis Nanami Ono Diego

Hiramoto Hulk

Early in the game "Captain" Ono hooked up with the charging Hulk to put Verdy up early. Later in the half, the other new Brazilian scoring machine, Diego would put in a shot to have Verdy go into the half up 2-0

The second half saw some substitutions.....Takagi, Togawa, Sugawara, and Sato came in for Tsuchiya, Hattori, Nanami, and Yoshihara

The change in lineup did not change momentum as Hulk knocked one off the crossbar 3 minutes into the second half......an opportunistic Hiramoto deposited the ball in for a 3-0 lead, minutes later deja vu would strike as Hulk would put one off the post and Hiramoto would deposit another one in.

After that Rui cleared the bench. Zhejiang would get one back late but Verdy proved to be too much for the Chinese visitors.

4-1 Verdy

http://www.verdy.co.jp/news/hottopics/?cmd=DispNews&news_id=465

National Team News

Yugo Ichiyanagi made the cover of Weekly soccer Digest as one of the guys to watch in next weeks U-22 affair against the USA U-22 squad.

Other past and present players in the National team program

Hiroki Kawano FW U-17

Takayuki Morimoto FW U-20 Catania

Takahito Soma and Yuji Nakazawa were both named to the big squad for the National Team game against Peru.

Finally.....Verdy took on Miyasaki Sangyo Keiai University in a training match today....details forthcoming. Also coming up are games against Kawasaki Frontale, Avispa Fukuoka, and Gamba

Cerezo backed out of their game today and it might be possible that one or more of these final games will be called off but I'll let you know what happened!

Happy Valentines Day

As a small gift to you, I have a "Where is he now?" report.

Last year out of nowhere Ryutsu Keizai University defender Masaaki Iida signed up with Verdy, appeared in a couple of games, and then slipped out of the limelight and into anonymity.

Well, like the groundhog, I too have popped my head up and spotted the shadowy Iida. It turns out that Iida is now a 4th year player at Ryutsu and playing exclusively with the JFL part of the school.

The first sighting was against Japan Atomic Energy Association in which Ryutsu won 10-0. Iida contributed the 4th goal in the 43rd minute of the first half
http://rku-fc.jp/?act=Game&mode=Details&game_no=20070211210917&league_no=9&season=0&view_type_no=3&nendo_no=2

Yesterday saw the second sighting, wher Iida anchored the back 4 against J2 side Mito Hollyhock. After 2 quick scores by Hollyhock, Ryutsu clawed their way back for a 2-2 draw
http://rku-fc.jp/?act=Game&mode=Details&game_no=20070213211839&league_no=9&season=0&view_type_no=3&nendo_no=2

Now, I have no clue whether or not Iida has any eligibility left to appear in collegiate matches. JFL is a professional league so I don't see any problems with him appearing there, even if he did have a contract with Verdy.

It also remains to be seen whether or not Iida is still Verdy's "property".

Let's play 2!

The Big Green hit the field yesterday against the pale pink and blue of Tosu for a couple of friendly matches

Game 1 had a lineup of

Takagi

Togawa Tsuchiya Hattori Fujita

Diego Ze Luis Nanami Hiroyama

Hiramoto Hulk

Maybe it's a bit different configuration (Togawa in the middle and Hattori on the side)

The first half saw the J2 rivals lock in a 0-0 draw. At the half, Takagi, Hiroyama, and Ze Luis were subbed out for Sato, Yoshihara, and Ono and it seemed to work because Hulk managed to deposit two goals in the second frame to lead Verdy to an impressive 2-0 victory.

Game 2 saw a more patchwork lineup as players tried out unfamiliar positions

Shibasaki

Sugawara Kaimoto Ichiyanagi Killoran

Ono Sato Tomisawa Kosei Shibasaki

Saito Inoue

Like the A game, the B squads managed to lock up a half in a scoreless draw. Shibasaki, Tomisawa, Sato, and Ono made way for Muro, Miyasaka, Sonoda, and trainee extraordinaire Yamamoto.

Saito started the scoring in the second half off a heel pass from Kaimoto. Shibasaki Kosei put in the next goal off a cross from Killoran. Finally, after Sagan got one back to cut the lead in half, Yamamoto hooked up with Sonoda to get the 3rd and final goal for Verdy....3-1 and a sweep of a team that gave them fits all last year.

So if your keeping score at home

0-1-1 against J1 squads

2-0-0 against J2

1-0-0 against JFL

2-0-0 against lower division/amateur squads

Preseason versus Feverosa Ishikawa

Verdy took on Ferverosa Ishikawa with mostly a B team

Taira Inoue had the only goal of the game with a looping shot over the Ferverosa keeper.

1-0 Verdy.

Player profiles

http://tokyofootie.blogspot.com/

I'm trying to get all of the player profiles done for 2007. If you have anything you want added or if you think I'm completely off on my profiles, let me know. I'm trying to get these done so I can send them to Matsu over at Rising Sun News as well. Anybody wants to help on these, that would be great.

One more request, start thinking about predictions for the upcoming J2 campaign. I want to put together a preview post before March 1st and your thoughts would be greatly appreciated!

Thanks a bunch!

Rui has another birthday and Verdy has another match

Yesterday saw the 49th birthday of King Rui with a lifelike and frankly rather creepy looking birthday cake as well as a powder shower from the squad.

Happy birthday.

Verdy also took on Shimizu S Pulse in 2 full matches.

The first match saw a fairly familiar squad of


Takagi
Hattori Tomisawa Tsuchiya Kaimoto

Nanami Ze Luis

Diego Sato

Hiramoto Hulk

With Togawa, Fukuda, Saito, and Hiroyama subbing in

Verdy fell behind early and was able to save the draw after a penalty was won by Hulk who deposited his second goal of the preseason (both on PK's) Final score 1-1

Game 2 saw some changes as the lineup looked like this

Yoshihara

Fujita Tomisawa Ichiyanagi Kaimoto


Sugawara Shibasaki

Hiroyama Nagai

Hiramoto Inoue

With a sub pattern of Killoran, Sonoda, Ono, Miyasaka, Yamamoto (student), Shinmura, and The GK Muro as a field player?

The B team dropped the game 1-0

Today the squad took on Ferverosa in another TM.

Ichiyanagi named to the roster for a clash against the US U-22s

DF Yugo Ichiyanagi made the roster for the U-22s in their upcoming clash gainst the US on February 21st.

22 days until Ruy 2.0 takes off

Went to Family Mart and saw that tickets are on sale for the opener against Thespa at the national. What I am having trouble finding is any info on the preseason match vs FC Tokyo. I guess I'll just go and try to buy a ticket there. It looks like this is a FC Tokyo show. Any info on where to buy tickets, let me know!

A Tale of two strikers

Back in the 1980's, the club formerly known as Yomiuri FC had two strikers who were proficient at scoring. One would come from the dirt fields of Brazil to become a national icon. The other would suffer a disastrous injury and find himself struggling to hang on in a Paraguay league that seemed a million miles away.

Today, Kazu Miura is in Australia preparing to open a new chapter in his J1 career as the leading man in the Yokohama FC story. The other striker, Nobuhiro Takeda, also prepares for a new J league season........as a member of Rui Ramos coaching staff for Tokyo Verdy.

6 years after appearing in his last game in green, Takeda becomes the latest in a long line of Verdy legends to coach for the old bird.

History Rising sun news http://www.wldcup.com/Asia/fame/takeda.html

Official release http://www.verdy.co.jp/news/report/?cmd=DispNews&news_id=302

Another former Verdian heads overseas!

Takeshi Hirano, who was rumored at the end of 2005 to be on the move to Red Star Belgrade before Marinos stepped in and signed him up is now reported to be on the move to the MLS cup also-rans New England Revolution. Hirano had a very disappointing year in 2006, appearing in only 9 games and sitting out a major portion of the season with a heart arrythmia.

Sports Hochi reports that the former Japan international is going in for a one week trial with the club in Bermuda and then they'll see how it goes from there.

http://hochi.yomiuri.co.jp/soccer/world/news/20070206-OHT1T00055.htm

The article also goes into three paragraphs of unneccesary blather about playing against Beckham and how he'll be in the same town as Boston Red Sox pitcher Daisuke Matsuzaka

(Big thanks to Verdy Blog for this tip!)

XEROX CUP BLASTS FROM THE PAST

Xerox cup is 20 days away and it's a tired rematch from last year. Gamba versus Urawa......again. Should be JEF United or Yokohama FC instead because they won something but I digress.

Anyhow......here are pictures of Verdy Xerox MVPs from the past 1994 KING Kazu Miura http://www.fujixerox.co.jp/event/xsc/champion_1994.html
1995 Alcindo http://www.fujixerox.co.jp/event/xsc/champion_1995.html

2005 Washington http://www.fujixerox.co.jp/event/xsc/champion_2006.html

There also was a loss tucked in there when a team led by former Verdy man and future Xerox cup winner Bismarck 3-2 http://www.fujixerox.co.jp/event/xsc/champion_1997.html

PRESEASON SCHEDULE

El Golazo has posted Verdy's preseason schedule

1/31 Urayasu FC 2-0 win

2/3 Arte Takasaki 3-0 win

2-9 Shimizu S Pulse

2-12 Sagan Tosu

2-14 Cerezo Osaka

2/16 Avispa Fukuoka

2/16 Kawasaki Frontale

2/25 FC Tokyo

Morimoto in Italy

If you were expecting another rundown of Morimoto leading Catania to another stunning result with late game results, this column will disappoint you. I'm sorry. Actually Morimoto didn't get in the game. And Catania lost to 3rd place Palermo on a disputed goal late in the game. But that's not the story either.

In about the 60th minute of the Friday affair, Catania and Palermo fans clashed outside of the stadium. The tear gas emanating from the outer grounds was so bad that the game had to be stopped. Players were rinsing their eyes out with water because of a burning sensation that assaulted them with every breath.

Outside, a police officer in a car was killed when a homemade explosive device was thrown and detonated inside his car. Another officer is currently fighting for his life.

It would be easy to characterize this as just an Italian problem, lord knows that the federation has done itself no favors with scandals involving match fixing and a cynical campaign that led to World Cup victory but won no worldwide fans. Now, a franchise that just one week ago was being hailed as a heartwarming story starring a young Japanese man who makes good is now starting to symbolize yet another case of why the world is going to hell.

Unfortunately, this violence is not unique to Italy alone

Recently:

Feyenoord was kicked out of the UEFA cup for fan violence in a blowout loss to France side Nancy

Deportivo Moron in Argentina had their fans banned after their players were attacked by team supporters

A member of an ultra-right faction of Paris Saint Germain supporters was killed when a police officer shot and killed one of the attacking onrushers after the group, chanting racist and anti-semitic slurs, tried to chase and attack a supporter of Israels Happoel Tel Aviv

20 people died and 100 were injured when police officers in Ghana locked in rioting Kumani Ashanti Kotoko fans after they lost to rival Accra Hearts.

That was 2 minutes of google searching.

I'm glad that it doesn't really happen here......you get a story of an idiot throwing a bottle cap at an opposing coach or fans getting a bit too animated after an awful call. But you have to wonder, when is it gonna blow up here? What's gonna be the first spark that pushes people to do something stupid?

Italian officials acted quickly after the incident, cancelling games for the weekend and National team games during the week, debating when and if they will start up again. Good for them. I imagine stopping violence is like trying to stop waves from destroying sand castles at the beach.......eventually the tide hits and you're left with nothing but but crumbling dirt and wated effort.

Such a beautiful game...............why does it draw such an ugly element?

http://sports.yahoo.com/sow/news;_ylt=Amm0OyEsl4qqc7rCg2yAqIImw7YF?slug=ap-italy-violence&prov=ap&type=lgns

CORRECTION

The team that was listed as Gunma FC by the team actually turned out to be JFL side Arte Takasaki.....wondered why the bus was there.

Also There were two more training matches announced

February 16th against Kawasaki Frontale
February 17th against Gamba Osaka

They really kicked it up a level with the training matches.

Training Day 2-3 vs Gunma FC

Shibasaki limbers up

Even though I was coughing up stuff up greener than the new Verdy unis, I decided to go out to Yomiuriland and catch the training match between Verdy and Gunma FC.

I'm not gonna do a huge play by play because it was a glorified practice in which Verdy won 3-0

Goals were scored by Hulk on a PK that Hiramoto earned (didn't see it), Hiramoto (barely saw it) and Nagai (left before he did it).

If you want details (in Japanese) check out this http://ameblo.jp/revoverdy/entry-10024854300.html

Here are my thoughts on the "game"

GK's - It was very hard to judge them because Gunma got nowhere near the goal in the 45 to 50 minutes of action that I saw. The Gunma keeper was having a nice game, even with the three muffs.

Tsuchiya and Tomisawa- I was a little stunned to see Tomisawa with his new "SALARYMAN" haircut. Seriously, he looked like he was going on to the company compared to last years Ali G do that he was sporting. The combination is already really solid and the wisdom of Tsuchiya will do nothing but help the development of Tomisawa. They controlled the middle of the pitch the whole time they were out there.

Togawa and Ichiyanagi- Defense started to crack when these two came in......gave serious flashbacks to the nervy days of last year. There's a huge drop between first team and second team this year.

Nanami has a cannon for a leg.......he rocketed a shot from pretty good distance that went just high.

Sato looks decent but I think he's the odd man out when Diego is finally match fit. He has a low, flat corner kick. Good pace on the wing and he covered really well. Never out of position during this game.

Hiroyama looked great on the wing. Kanazawa was another one who looks like he came into camp prepared to push for a starting spot. I especially liked the heel kick over his shoulder to Nagai who was offsides. Nagai seemed to kill alot of drives during this game. He's in decent shape but he killed all momentum.

Diego is really wide right now so it looks like he didn't do much during the offseason......he didn't play but was lumbering around in practice. Little worried about that.

Finally, I'd like to focus on Hulk.....this was my first real chance to see him in action up close and he impresses in both negative and postive ways.

First the negatives-

Hulk is very deliberate in his moves.........Everybody knows he's gonna shoot......everybody knows he's gonna pass. Just too methodical. He also was jawing alot with the sad little defender for Gunma. Dude, let it go....seriously. Hulk was already trying to fight and it's only been two practice games.

Now the positives- The guy is strong, fast, and very skilled. He has a cannon shot and good moves. There was one instance when Kaimoto put up an errant cross and Hulk hustled from the middle box to the near sideline, ran it down, outmaneuvered two Gunma players dribbled to the middle, set up Nagai with a nice pass in the middle, saw Nagai blow it, got the errant ball, took a rocket shot and forced a corner.

Seriously, this guy is Dynamite.....loud, exiting, dangerous and liable to kill you if you aren't careful......and when I say kill you, I'm talking about both Verdy and their opponents.

A postscript-Two of the people sitting near me at the practice field brought their cute little dog with the Verdy bandana that looked just like Takagi's dog.............OHHHHHHHHHHHH, how precious, so cute!!!!! Then the idiots decided that the dog couldn't see so they stood up right in front of me and held the dog up over the fence so the dog could see. THE DOG DOESN'T CARE ABOUT VERDY!!!!!! It's true. The dog wants to eat and go mark it's territory, not watch soccer. Then the two geniuses decided that they needed to take pictures in front of the fence so that the dog was in the foreground and the game was in the background. they had the dog in a little carrier so they didn't even walk the dog to the game.

Leave the dog alone.

Does Verdy have a farm team?

I pose this question because 2 more of Verdy's youngsters are headed out to Fagiano Okayama. Forward Kohei Kiyama and Defender Kento Tsurumaki join fellow rental Takaki Shigemitsu in a quest to regain the Chugoku league title and possibly push the team into the JFL. Counting the recently departed Koji Maatsura, that would be 4 Verdy players who went south.......anybody else see a trend?

Just a formality

Hideki Nagai resigned with the club on the 31st.........surprising no one.

Don't tell me Verdy couldn't win J1!!!!!!!!!

Why don't you ask Urayasu FC........they got beat 2-0 in a training match on Wednesday.

Little over the top? Sure. The good news is that we got an inkling of what the first team will look like

Rui went with the expected duo of Hulk and Hiramoto up top

the midfield was a 2 and 2 with Sato and Hiroyama as the attackers and Nanami and Ze Luis in the defensive positions

The back 4 featured Nanami, Tomisawa, Tsuchiya, and Kaimoto with Takagi in goal

After 45 minutes it was a scoreless draw

The second round saw a complete change with a 4-3-2-1 formation. Yuzo "Tokyo Tower" Funakoshi was the lone point man with Tsuyoshi Yoshitake and Taira Inoue in behind. The midfield lined up a trainee by the name of Yamamoto, Tomo Sugawara, and Shin Kanazawa.

Finally the back 4 was a group that looked familiar for the most part.....Taisei Fujita, Shigenori Hagimura, Yugo Ichiyanagi, and Kensuke Fukuda and Shinya Yoshihara in goal.

In the 32nd minute, Verdy notched their first goal of the new campaign by........you guessed it......YUZO "TOKYO TOWER" FUNAKOSHI.....ATTABOY!

The other goal was scored in a third 35 minute frame by the recently departed Kohei Kiyama.

Tomorrow is only a single game matchup against Gunma FC at 1pm. The University matchup was cancelled.