Tuesday, December 30, 2008

Exclusive:Video of the Hattori negotiations

Well Sponichi and Nikkan have stated that Hattori's paycut might be huge. The number is an astounding drop from 50,000,000 to 10,000,000.

Yikes

Anyhow here is a special tape from Negotiations

Hattori is in black btw

http://jp.youtube.com/watch?v=veIXcySqItY

Soilent Greens Winning 11!

Song of the night http://jp.youtube.com/watch?v=EOepheinkCM&feature=related

Well......end of the year so I figured I would pick my Soilent Green 11, made up of guys who weren't in the big J league 11 but had good years.

Formation 3-5-2

GK Koji Ezumi-Omiya Ardija

You put this guy on a team like Kawasaki and they win the championship. He had a great season considering the fact that most of the year he was behind Leandro and 3 backup caliber players. I give him comeback player of the year as well considering there were big questions about him being a J1 player in 2007.

DF Masato Morishige-Oita Trinita

How the best defender on the best defense in the J League slips through the cracks is beyond me. Great all year long.

DF Yuta Nagatomo- FC Tokyo

Another miss because of the reps of the guys in front of them. Nagatomo was a revelation this year for a team that has historically struggled. Nagatomo was dangerous on the flanks with a nice set up for the dangerous Cabore and Akamine.

DF Shohei Abe-Nagoya Grampus

Quietly did a consistent job all season. Doesn't have the gaudy stats on offense but defensively was there game in and out.

MF- Mu Kanazaki-Oita Trinita

Another one that slipped through the cracks. Kanazaki made Oita and the league forget about Umesaki.

MF- Sidiclei-Kyoto Sanga

Lock down defense and a push on offense helped Kyoto survive. The guy is ageless and looked better than the past couple years at Gamba.

MF- Diego- Verdy

Came through when the team easily could have fallen apart and really was the only offensive option. If he's still around for the last 4, Jubilo would have found themselves in J2.

MF- Masaki Fukai-JEF Chiba

Everybody points to the job Alex Miller did to save Chiba but I gotta say it was Fukai that made the difference in JEF survival. No Fukai, no J1.

MF- Minoru Suganuma-Kashiwa Reysol

10 goals on an economical 51 shots. Great season and he could get better if he gets his stamina up.

FW- Gilsnho-Jubilo Iwata

Dirty player......I hate him. He's good.

FW- Shinji Okazaki-Shimizu S Pulse

Came on a bit late but really led the offense, especially with the injury to Jungo Fujimoto. Looks to have a big jump next year.

Soilent Tot- Nagatomo
Soilent star-Okazaki

Soilent Manager-Pericles Chamusca Oita

The sad 11

GK Yuya Sato-Consadole Sapporo
DF-Yasuhiro Hato-Omiya Ardija
DF-Makoto Tanaka-Jubilo Iwata
DF-Toshihiro Hattori-Verdy
DF-Hiroyuki Nishijima-Consadole Sapporo
MF-Davi-Albirex Niigata
MF- Yuichi Komano-Jubilo Iwata
MF-Takehito Shigehara-Kashiwa Reysol
MF- Lopes-Yokohama F Marinos
FW-Genki Nakayama-Consadole Sapporo
FW-Leandro-Verdy

Sad sprout- Sato
Sad sack of Soilent shhhhhhh.....Shigehara
The Joseph Hazelwood memorial award for leadership-Josip Kuze-JEF

Monday, December 29, 2008

Enter the Donkey!

Song of the day.......party like it's 2006......minus the guy who could score at will. http://jp.youtube.com/watch?v=B8Cx05u-ggc&feature=related

Well, Sponichi has some more wonderful news for fans of guys who make you cringe when they step onto the field. Harutaka Ono and Yuzo Funakoshi allegedly want in on the paycut plan.

http://www.sponichi.co.jp/soccer/news/2008/12/30/10.html

Also Sponichi has managed to fold a JEF rumor into VerdyWorld quite nicely. Takumi Wada looks to be one of the 800 targets Sir Alex has on his wishlist.

http://www.sponichi.co.jp/soccer/news/2008/12/30/09.html

Not Sooooooooooooooo fast there, Chief!


Song of the Day.......because sometimes they do come back http://jp.youtube.com/watch?v=y7a0vPrbwmc&feature=related


So Sponichi dropped this little bomb on us this morning......

Ramos and Hattori are trying to work a deal so the 35 year old left back can rejoin the team and help them go up to J1 again.

http://www.sponichi.co.jp/soccer/news/2008/12/29/06.html

According to the article, it looks like he needs to shave a bunch off of his 50,000,000 yen contract from last campaign. And according to (the ALWAYS RELIABLE) Sponichi, he's willing to do this. Ramos is worried that the only true left back signed to the team is Nasukawa, who is coming straight from college.

NEW YEAR.....NEW LOOK

Like it? Check out the links......I added a few that I was too lazy to include before, including Tricolore Pride (Marinos), Forza Gifu, and the newly relaunched Shrimp with Yokohama FC, as well as a brand new Gamba site called Since 1991.

If I haven't linked you, it's probably because I either A. Don't know you are out there B. Know you are out there but have seen that you aren't returning the favor to the many good J League bloggers out there or C. I forgot.

A and C is easy to remedy. Drop me a line with your site address and I'll put you up. B is easy to remedy too......drop me a line with your site address and I'll check your site and put you up.

We are a little family that is growin every day.............don't be the skeezy cousin that tries to scam the rest of the family out of stuff!

Friday, December 26, 2008

Ohhhhhh, you meant 5 new players?????







Song of the day http://jp.youtube.com/watch?v=vSv9HfztxMg Yesterday truly is over

Well Sponichi, absolutely bereft of all JEF Chiba rumors, has reported that Verdy will fill the 5 spots with guys currently under contract.
Which means we could see these three back.
Yugo Ichiyanagi had a disappointing stint with Vegalta Sendai, appearing in only 16 games and thouroughly making an ass of himself in pre-season by getting drunk and destroying someone's compact car. Bienvenue!!!!
Kenta Togawa had an even less effective season, appearing in 9 games as a center back for Satoshi Tsunami at Yokohama FC. At least he didn't destroy any vehicles........THAT WE KNOW OF!!!!!!
Finally, Kohei Kiyama is a 20 year old FW who came out of the Verdy youth system. Kiyama spent the last 2 years at Fagiano Okayama. Kiyama helped the squad achieve promotion to J2, notching 18 goals to end as second highest scorer on Fagiano and 4th overall in the JFL. the young striker turns 21 next year so plenty of upside with this kid.
I think Verdy needs midfielders......badly!




Coming and possibly going?

Song of the day http://jp.youtube.com/watch?v=1JSBhI_0at0&feature=related

So I screwed up again. Anyhow Leaonardo has indeed returned from Sagan Tosu and will be one of the 3 foreign players for 2009.

Quick facts

Leonardo is a 22 year old forward/midfielder who stands about 175cm tall and weighs 74kg.
He is a product of the elite Aomori Yamada HS program as well as Japanese Soccer College. 2 years ago Verdy promptly signed him and loaned him to Sagan Tosu where he notched 9 goals in 54 games.

Nasu possibly to Jubilo

Sponichi took a small break from saying everybody under the sun is going to JEF Chiba (Obviously doesn't have anything to do with your sponsorship deal, does it?) to announce that Jubilo Iwata is in pursuit of central defender Daisuke Nasu, who currently is on a 2 year deal with the club. http://www.sponichi.co.jp/soccer/flash/KFullFlash20081226008.html If Nasu does transfer, Jubilo would probably have to cough up a decent fee for his services. Jubilo is in hot pursuit of a centerback after telling their collection of centerbacks that they aren't so hot.

Thursday, December 25, 2008

Green Eggs and Ham

HAM????
EGGS? GREEN!!!!


Nikkan Sports is reporting Verdy, NTV, and Hide Nakata group SunnySideUp is taking a break in negotiations for 2008. President Hagiwara stated (I think) that he wants a partner in place by March. So NTV might be out before the season starts.......or after......maybe.
2 In, 3 to go?
Well, my question was answered http://brilliantomiya.blogspot.com/2008/12/next-big-thing.html 2 of Verdy's magical mystical young guns were signed to play with the big boys. MF/FW Yu Tomidokoro and DF Takuya Wada were signed to fill in some of the blanks left by the mass purge early this month. Both were key parts of the VYouth push to 3rd place in Sahara Cup play.
One of the possible 3 new additions has been pontificated by Weekly Soccer Magazine (Who has nothing else to do now that the season is over..........Last 0 doesn't make a good headline.)
Good News, Nick!
Yoshinari Takagi has reupped for another season as Verdy keeper extraordinaire. Takagi comes in for his 10th season as a Verdy player. Only Kazuki Hiramoto has a longer tenure with the club, however Yoshinari has the longest consecutive tenure. Just to let you know.
Finally.......
Hiroki Kawano gets a trip to Qatar!!!! Yeehaw! Kawano gets picked for the U-20 squad headed to Qatar from January 6th to the 21st.
Merry Christmas and go Kashiwa!!!!!

Tuesday, December 23, 2008

Big thanks!

December 20th marked 3 years of Verdy bloggery here at Soilent Green and I'd like to thank you all for being here through the good and bad!

Gracias mi Amigos!!!!!!!

Best song EVER!!!!!! http://jp.youtube.com/watch?v=QJHnRtZkiHo

Oh? Not so much?

PART 1 of Soilent Greens year end wrap can be found here
http://tokyofootie.blogspot.com/2008/12/2008-year-in-reviewpart-1.html

I figured a godawful piece of long-winded self indulgent blather deserved a site of it's own...............and since GunsNRoses.com was already taken, I went with this.


TAKAGI WANTS 25

Sports Hochi is reporting that Takagi has requested 5 more players for the mammoth 51 game campaign coming up next season. Takagi wants at least 25 field players for 2009.

As it is now here is a list of the guys currently signed up

Italics denote possible transfers

GK Takagi/Shibasaki/Suzuki

DF Fukuda/Nasukawa/Iida/Nasu/Tsuchiya/Tomisawa/Miyasaka/Tsurumaki

MF Kawano/Shibasaki/Sugawara/Shinmura/Fujita/Diego

FW Iio/Hiramoto/El Samni/Inoue/Oguro/Leandro/Hayashi

If the team keeps all 21 then 5 sounds about right but I'm not sure if they are done cutting or if they will wait until they sign a few first. Selling Diego right now would probably cause Verdista to set a couple fire bombs at Mr. Hagiwara's palatial estate.

Leanardo goes back to Brazil

He's the dude that Verdy signed and loaned to Sagan for 2 years.........Yeah, I didn't think about him either. Uhh, good luck?

Monday, December 22, 2008

GDI!!!!!!

http://jp.youtube.com/watch?v=gOhxEyPSEoY&feature=related Closest thing to Christmas music you are gettin out of me this year.

Allright so today at work we had no classes, school is winding down so I sat down and wrote 12 handwritten pages on the season so far including the turmoil at the end of the season figuring I could throw it up tomorrow. I get home, look at my e-mail (nothing from my lady friend who I managed to piss off by cancelling something the day before after I had pretty much worked 3 months to set up. I got sick.....it happens. )

Anyhow I then go to all the assorted sites to see if Verdy have cut anyone else or if Ajinosta is stained with the blood of NTV execs yet.

Then I go to Japanesesoccer.net to see the next 30 players Sanga are rumored to sign and lo and behold Dokool has his 3rd and final installment of Verdy in turmoil or whatever Foxnewsish title he has going on right now. I swear the little bastard is a closet Verdy fan. Anyhow, I read it.

And it's really good

Somethin weird is happenin with their site so I can't give you the link right now but I will.
HERE IT IS http://www.japanesesoccer.net/wordpress/?p=548#respond

Good read.

Oh yeah BTW 396 pissed off suporters met with el Presidente yesterday. Should've been a blast.

Sunday, December 21, 2008

Welcome back

Song of the day http://jp.youtube.com/watch?v=2ofLbG4Ovfw&feature=related
Yeah second song this week by this guy but I like his stuff

Anyhow short news day.

Verdy did reup 6 players for 2009 and I can't complain about any of them

GK Shibasaki and Shimizu
DF Iida, Fukuda, and Shinmura
MF Shibasaki

Not too bad.

Was gonna write more but Axl Rose took up most of the bandwith with his nearly 5000 word response about why he's a victim. You can see it on GunsNRoses.com if you dare.

Saturday, December 20, 2008

The next big thing?

Song of the day (If Verdy ever finds it's way back to greatness) http://jp.youtube.com/watch?v=1XWjTXQutf4&feature=related

Verdy went down south to Osaka Nagai 2 stadium to take on youth powerhouse Sanfrecce Hiroshima in the quarterfinals of the Sahara cup. After being down 2-0, Verdy youth put 3 in, including a brace by Yu Tomidokoro, the young fella pictured up at the top. The win guaranteed Verdy youth their best finish since making the semis in 2005. The final 4 pits Tokyo J1 and J2 versus Osaka J1 and J2 ironically enough. Perennial hosts Cerezo take on last years title holder FC Tokyo while Verdy battle Gamba, a 6-1 winner over Kashima.

The game marks the second time in 2 games that Tomidokoro has netted the winning goal to help VY advance. My question is this, WHY ISN'T HE SIGNED FOR NEXT YEAR?

Better do it soon before someone beats you to the punch.

EMPERORS CUP NEWS.....

can be found on a site that actually gives a rats *** about the 8 teams left in the competition, cause I sure as hell don't.

CORRECTION

This actually is a correction. Vendo graciously pointed out that my money figure was wrong on the fine. It's 1,500,000 not 150,000. I wouldn't complain if someone gave me either. I would complain if someone tried to take it from me. ( *COUGH* Koshigaya City Hall *COUGH*)

Friday, December 19, 2008

Fukunishi leaves one final gift

Song of the day dedicated to Fukunishi http://jp.youtube.com/watch?v=P47oPw_lIPA&feature=related

(Special thanks to JC for turning me on to this)


This slipped through the cracks but Verdy got fined 150,000 for accumulating too many negative points during the season. Verdy led the league with 81 yellows and came third in red cards with 6 (behind Kashiwa and Consadole). The overwhelming leader in this category was Takashi Fukunishi with 13 yellows and 2 reds. VERY NICE!

THE CLOCK HAS STARTED

Opening day has been announced for March 7th........we should be seeing opening day opposition in January. God that is a short break, ain't it?

CLARIFICATION

Not really a clarification but an answer to a response about the 5 players. Jun Marques Davidson is one of my favorite players in the J League and I was very sad to see him go from Omiya. After 2005 his career kinda plateaud. The one real constant in his career has been Miura as his coach and to be fair I think part of his problem has been Miura. It also has been his only opportunity. Suzuki at Niigata didn't give him much of a chance and he was used sparingly but effectively at Vissel Kobe.

He's 25 so there is a chance to prove he can consistently produce in J1 but his window is starting to close. Ultimately he is the one that needs to adapt to systems and he has yet to. My dream is that he comes back to Omiya and helps them win a J1 crown. I would love to be proven wrong in my assessment of him.

FINALLY

Our friend Dokool has his second installment up of Verdy in crisis.

Article here http://www.japanesesoccer.net/wordpress/?p=545#respond

I gotta say he misses alot in this installment. Yeah too many old guys I agree but there were alot of other problems. The section on Hulk was just oversimplified. Hulk didn't leave at the start of the season because of his bad lockerroom behavior. As a matter of fact he never stopped trying and was one of the few guys consistently producing in 2007 when Verdy hit the huge slump. he carried them on his back up to J1 and nobody on the team wanted to get rid of him.

Kawasaki decided to play fantasy league soccer and put him with another big ego in Juninho who needed the ball to be effective. It was bad evaluation on the part of Kawasaki and really the reason why they didn't win this year.

A major problem was Leandro, who did nothing but disrupt the team since he got here. Leandro was also hoping to be transferred. During the summer break, Leandro and Hulk both returned late (2 days before the Omiya game) and Hashiratani did nothing to discipline them, causing arift between the Brazilian players and the Japanese players. Hashiratani handed out a punishment after the Japanese players demanded one and lost Hulk and Leandro in the process.

Another huge problem was the failure of Oguro to fill the void. It's popular to knock Takahara but Oguro came in on a huge transfer and did nothing. It was a huge failure on the part of the Verdy front office to evaluate the level of erosion in Oguro's game.

The third problem was a severe lack of on field discipline. 9 players served time on yellow card accumulation violations, leaving a team in relative upheaval constantly having to readjust it's lineup. Diego plays that game against Sapporo and your column is about the Jubilo crisis.

I'm hoping the third installment includes something new on the sponsor crisis and the mismanagement of funds by NTV and CyberAgent. Anyhow, we will post a link and Dokool is welcome to respond and I'll give him some space at the front. I'm sure Nick will have something to add as well.

Wednesday, December 17, 2008

Dokool responds

Today's song http://jp.youtube.com/watch?v=v9U6r9P_Js4 First time I heard it was at Kokuritsu...........2-1 verdy


Our friend from Chofu, Dokool responds and boy is it a doozy!

My responses are in bold

Figured this would come around =PThe 2006/2007 was admittedly bad writing/phrasing, but my main point was that all of those signings came at the cost of not bringing up younger players, which surely you agree with.

Fair enough.

I'm not totally as up to date with youth systems as I should (then again I'm pretty sure being up to date with youth systems means that you care way too much about this sport),

http://www.jsgoal.jp/2008jyouthcup/record/index.html#content That took about 2 minutes.......god I should get a life! (BTW I was being nice before but when someone makes references to the nerd trifecta of comics, star wars, and I'm guessing pro wrestling, they should take it down a notch on questioning lifestyle choices. )

but point taken. In any case a youth system that isn't being strongly utilized has about as much meaning as a Magnum-sized condom in a salaryman's sock drawer. Sure, it's capable of doing amazing things, but if it's never going to be used then what's the point?

There's a huge difference between having a weak system and having a system that is being wasted. Sugeno is a great keeper who came out of the system and is a pro. Shingo Nejime is a reasonably good MF pro who came out of the system. The youth program is putting out decent J league players. They just aren't playing for Verdy and it shouldn't be like that.

The hypothetical thing is really a matter of perception - if you'll be so kind as to let me make a baseball comparison, I'd compare it to my hometown Phillies (who have been perennial underachievers until this year) and the Yankees (who have been underachievers since their last WS win).Nobody expected the Phillies to go anywhere because there was an unspoken understanding that they'd have a strong lineup with great players that would inexplicably play mediocre-or-worse baseball for most of the season, then get hot in August/September and just miss out on a playoff bid. But this is the first team in pro sports to get 10,000 losses, only one WS, yadda yadda yadda. So the fans kinda shrugged and said "maybe next year."Yet, by buying up high-priced superstars every offseason, the Yankees created the expectation that they were the inevitable champions. But they still flopped in the playoffs every year, creating an aura of failure. This aura stands out even further when compared to the Yankees' historical success.tl;dr, the bar of expectations is much lower for FCT than it is for Verdy. Not saying it's fair or deserved, but it is what it is.

So what your saying is, FC Tokyo is doing the right thing by settling for eternal mediocrity over going for greatness and failing? You are happy being the Yakult Swallows of soccer? Really?

Anyhow thank you Dokool for being gracious enough to respond and I'm looking forward to critiquing your next two articles.

THE DON QUIJOTE OF J LEAGUE PLAYERS

Well looked at the list of guys let go and I came up with 5 who I'd like to see play for Verdy

Kazunari Okayama-Vegalta DF He just hit 30 and he is a decent DF/MF. Not sure why he got released but as a depth guy he would be good.

Yutaka Tahara-Kyoto FW the 26 year old forward would be great next to Hiramoto in a 2 top and far more efficient than anyone else on the squad. 26 is a good age for this team and he has proven in the past that he can score at the J2 level.

Masato Ohashi Kawasaki MF I know, I know.......been there done that. He's not a starter long term but as a guy who can come in for 20 minutes or so he wouldn't be bad. And his set piece work is priceless.

Yuichi Nemoto Chiba DF/MF Gorgeous left foot that is rare in the J league. has regressed in the past 2 years but maybe a stint in J2 might get the confidence back.

Jun Marques Davidson Consadole MF.......big mid who is the classic tweener, not good enough for J1 but too good for J2.

Tuesday, December 16, 2008

A friend from across the field calls out the green

Song of the day dedicated to the red and blue http://jp.youtube.com/watch?v=z7n37GME3fw

Seems our resident FCT fan and Aishteru Tokyo blogger Dokool has a little somethin to say about Verdy.

The article is here at the brand spanking new JapaneseSoccer.net (run by a little cabal of English speaking J league bloggers. http://www.japanesesoccer.net/wordpress/?p=435#respond

Not a bad article and the criticism is something I have been harping on since I started writing (Gahhh 3 years ago!).

Three things irritate me though

1. In attempting to claw its way back to the top, the team - again - signed a gaggle of veteran National Team members and Verdy OBs including Yukio Tsuchiya (Verdy Kawasaki member in ‘97-98), Tomo Suguwara (95-98), Kazunori Iio (who’s spent much of the last decade bouncing between Verdy and other teams), Toshihiro Hattori (in the picture), and so onand so forth. While this didn’t really work in 2006 as the team finished a dismal 7th place, a year later Verdy found its rhythm and returned to J1 on the back of its aging core following a 2nd place finish

Just for accuracy sake, Tsuchiya and Hattori didn't sign until 2007. 2006 saw Sugawara and Iio return as well as a ton of bargain basement fringe players and old Brazilians. 2006 saw Koji Maatsura and Shigenori Hagimura get a ton of minutes.

2. lacking a strong youth system

The youth system is one of the more competitive and talented ones in the country. It was just 3 years ago that the team was 2nd in Sahara cup and they are currently in the quarterfinals. The problem is that the young guys aren't being developed once they hit the big team. the youth system is solid.......they just need to use it to full efficiency. That's a problem with hiring short sighted managers like Ossie Ardilles and Rui Ramos who had the pressure to win now. Actually to be fair, Morimoto and Kawano came up through these two and both have promise to be really good......just not for Verdy.

3. let me pose a hypothetical question. You run a team that was once the crown jewel of the Japanese football system, tarnished by a string of poor decisions, lacking a strong youth system and on shaky financial ground. You share a stadium with a team that even in a bad year still doubles your average attendance and has a strong vision for the future. Sure, they’re perennial underachievers, but in the last decade they’ve still won as many trophies as you. After an embarrassing tumble to the second division, you’ve clawed your way back to the top on the backs of aging former stars who are a straw or two short of collapsing. What do you do?

Let me answer with a hypothetical of my own. You are the biggest team in the biggest city in your country. You are backed by an energy company with a big pocketbook and you double your rival in attendance in your worst years. You have one of the best youth systems in Japan and a plethora of resources. Yet you constantly underacheive and have only been able to match your poorly funded, severly mismanaged rivals (fielding an aging bunch of malcontents and has-beens) in trophies in this decade. What the hell are you doing?

I'll give you the next post D.

TAKAGI goes bargain shopping

J League tryouts took place yesterday and today and new head man Takuya Takagi went down to Osaka to check out 124 new prospects.

Here is the list in Japanese

相川 進也(札幌)大塚 真司(札幌)吉瀬 広志(札幌)鈴木 智樹(札幌)富永 康博(札幌)西澤 淳二(札幌)磯崎 敬太(仙台)岡山 一成(仙台)金子 慎二(仙台)佐藤 由紀彦(仙台)シュナイダー 潤之介(仙台)高橋 駿太(山形)内藤 友康(山形)根本 亮助(山形)本橋 卓巳(山形)金古 聖司(鹿島)大橋 直矢(水戸)椎原 拓也(水戸)塩沢 勝吾(水戸)高橋 昌大(水戸)岩田 正太(草津)金生谷 仁(草津)加藤 韻(千葉)熊谷 智哉(千葉)田中 淳也(千葉)照井 篤(栃木)中原 浩介(千葉)堀川 恭平(千葉)松本 憲(千葉)結城 耕造(千葉)横山 聡(栃木)鷲田 雅一(栃木)岡野 雅行(浦和)荒谷 弘樹(大宮)石亀 晃(大宮)西村 卓朗(大宮)若林 学(大宮)池上 礼一(FC東京)小澤 竜己(FC東京)足助 翔(東京V)海本 幸治郎(東京V)園田 清次(東京V)廣山 望(東京V)吉武 剛(東京V)鈴木 達矢(川崎)原田 拓(川崎)中田 洋介(横浜FC)梅田 直哉(湘南)加藤 望(湘南)川股 要佑(湘南)北島 義生(湘南)濱崎 陽平(湘南)三田 光(湘南)井上 雄幾(甲府)鵜飼 建吾(甲府)神崎 大輔(甲府)木村 勝太(甲府)宇留野 純(甲府)田森 大己(甲府)保坂 一成(甲府)山本 僚(甲府)寄井 憲(甲府)北村 隆二(岐阜)河野 直人(岐阜)小峯 隆幸(岐阜)奈須 伸也(岐阜)深津 康太(岐阜)

長谷川 太郎(横浜FC)山田 卓也(横浜FC)海本 慶治(新潟)諏訪 雄大(新潟)寺川 能人(新潟)渡邊 圭二(名古屋)森野 徹(磐田)石井 俊也(京都)大久保 裕樹(京都)田原 豊(京都)伊藤 博幹(G大阪)千葉 貴仁(C大阪)山本 浩正(C大阪)伊藤 将大(神戸)木下 真吾(神戸)栗原 圭介(神戸)曽我部 慶太(神戸)豊満 貴之(神戸)増田 清一(神戸)関 隆倫(岡山)阿部 祐大朗(徳島)石川 裕司(徳島)入船 和真(徳島)河野 淳吾(徳島)小山 拓土(徳島)柴村 直弥(徳島)島津 虎史(徳島)高橋 健史(徳島)玉乃 淳(徳島)古田 泰士(徳島)本間 康貴(徳島)松本 昴聡(徳島)神丸 洋一(愛媛)笹垣 亮介(愛媛)星野 真悟(愛媛)南 祐三(愛媛)宮原 裕司(愛媛)横山 拓也(愛媛)本田 真吾(福岡)石田 博行(鳥栖)加藤 秀典(鳥栖)鐡戸 裕史(鳥栖)長谷川 豊喜(鳥栖)山城 純也(鳥栖)河野 健一(熊本)小林 陽介(熊本)斉藤 紀由(熊本)佐藤 祐介(熊本)鈴木 祐輔(熊本)関 光博(熊本)町田 多聞(熊本)川田 和宏(大分)河原 正治(大分)根本 裕一(大分)

I'll talk about 5 guys I like who are in this heap later.

Monday, December 15, 2008

Yes Virginia, there is a Verdy manager

Takuya Takagi says yes.......our long National Nightmare is finally over.

The question now is what kind of team will he field?

The starting 11 if the season starts today

BOLD means likely not to be here
Italics mean help!

FW OGURO
DIEGO

MF Iio Shibasaki

MF Sugawara Tomisawa

DF Nasu Iida Tsuchiya Fukuda

GK Takagi

BENCH: GK Shimizu, FW Hiramoto, FW Inoue, MF Kawano, MF Shinmura

EWWWW!

Oh well, got a new head man.......how bout a song!
http://jp.youtube.com/watch?v=pwXSqWVXACE&feature=related

Sunday, December 14, 2008

And a child shall lead them......

Song of the day
http://jp.youtube.com/watch?v=mVSlWD1yYA0&feature=related

Good news today in Verdy valley, the mighty youth of Verdy obtained a 2-1 victory over the other Mitsubishi, Yowa FC. Goals were scored by Kento Kuri and highly rated prospect Yu Tomidokoro.

Verdy youth move on to Nagai to face the always tough Sanfrecce youth program. Sanfrecce currently has 15 players on their books who came out of the youth program including key players Akihiro Sato, the Morisaki twins, Yoijiro Takahagi, Tomoaki Makino, and Yosuke Kashiwagi to name a few.

This would be a great model for a team with rapidly declining fortunes to follow. Verdy currently has 2 from 2001 to now (Kawano and El Samni).

AROUND J2

While Verdy waits for Takagi to make up his mind, J2 rivals have quickly moved to fill in spots

Shonan have hired in former Olympic coach Yasuharu Soramachi to take over the squad.
Yokohama FC hire former Omiya gaffer Yasuhiru Higuchi to replace Tsunami
Consadole Sapporo add Brazilian U-23 Thiago Quirino Da Silva from Djurgardens in Sweeden.

Friday, December 12, 2008

Well, He knows how to work on a budget

First, Song of the day from Live http://jp.youtube.com/watch?v=pGJI9MnRg48&feature=related

Big talk from the tabloids is that former Yokohama FC head man and current Verdy number 2 Takuya Takagi is the leading candidate to take over Verdy. Takagi led a nearly miraculous run in 2006 after taking over a team of young players and aging stars from yesteryear 1 game into the season. Takagi led the Satellite team to first place in their division in 2008. Not a bad selection considering he knows what the young players on the squad are capable of and what needs to be added.

Tsuyoshi Yoshitake and Nozomi Hiroyama were both officially cut yesterday, putting the list of outgoing players at 11. Kento Tsurumaki returns to the squad after a unfulfilling stint at Mito Hollyhock.

The big news is that southern squad and 2007 fellow promotion graduates Kyoto Sanga FC have put up an offer for leading scorer and team MVP Diego. It's not disclosed how much it's for or if Constantine Teo approves. The super agent is the real lynchpin in all of this. If Mr Teo decides that Diego will be rich and successful in Kyoto, he will go to Kyoto. End of story.

FINALLY

Verdista/Tokyo Hearts are contemplating a season long boycott if things don't change in the FO

http://ameblo.jp/verdista/entry-10176827268.html

If that happens, the team is probably done.

Monday, December 08, 2008

Verdy is NOT GONE!

Those were the tearful words of a manager who had just seen his team fall to J2. A former National teamer and a member of the legendary Verdy Kawasaki teams at the dawn of the J League, Tetsuji Hashiratani has always been a good general in the Verdy army.

And like a good soldier, he took responsibility for the failures of his aging core of players, his best friend who was the architect of the fiasco, and a collection of corporate backers who couldn't really give a rat's ass anymore whether or not the team lives or dies.

Tetsuji Hashiratani is gone, and he probably shouldn't be. He resigned.

Verdy however is not.

Song of the day Going On by Gnarls Barkley
http://jp.youtube.com/watch?v=ENE1eWtW7e8&feature=channel

Sunday, December 07, 2008

Idle Speculation

So a couple things before we move on to J2 Part Deux

Verdy supporters bunkered in for 7 hours waiting for the team president to come (He didn't but a GM did) classy way to rea your fans after dumping on em a week before. Maybe that's why you lose so much money, you don't have a clue what your doing and you still think Verdy are the Kyojin of soccer (It's Urawa BTW).

Nick makes a good argument that Verdy got relegated before the game

Well we are done then...bad calls agreed in the final game but on another day we could have been 4 down by the time the penalty was given. We lost a bad decision by the referee in the final game but over the course of the season we very simply haven`t been good enough in all departments. If you are in the bottom two after a 34 game season then its because you are the 17th best team in the league. Not a good number whichever way you look at it.I don`t take yesterdays game as the final nail as I would say it was pretty much a foregone conclusion before we kicked off. We were down before today, we went down when 1-0 up against Urawa and conceded in the last minute, we were down when we couldn`t put Sapporo away even after all and sundry had given them a beating to send them down early. We were down when JEF were on their own terrible run and we couldn`t put them away. We were down when Diego was suspended for the most important part of the season (and more importantly we had NO-ONE to replace him). We were down when Leandro was being played continually even though he was AWFUL and keeping Kawano out. The whole Hulk mess...I can`t even be arsed.....Still guys, let`s not be all down hearted, we are about to go on a 3 month unbeaten run!! Also, by the looks of things there are gonna be some AWFUL teams in J2 next year, let`s see if we can finish above them!! A sad weekend but hey, there is still next season and I for one refuse to be downhearted!! We will be back, maybe not next year or within a few years, (unless there is some shedload of cash that some unwitting Russian billionaire wants to throw away). The sponsors are withdrawing according to the papers, the stormclouds are gathering but we can all rest safe in the knowledge that we aren`t and never will be as fundamentally dull as FC Tokyo!! The ONE highlight of the season was pissing in FC Tokyo`s chips at Kokuritsu...deafening silence at the end. Fantastic!!Onwards and (temporarily hopefully) downwards the Boys March On!!

Good points. After the FCT win Verdy was a respecable 9-3-9 but won only once in 13 games, losing 8 times.

Finally Naoya Saeki got released by Omiya.......who cares, right? Well without having any real evidence, I'm gonna speculate that he will be in a Verdy uniform next year. Relationships are a big deal and he has connections with both Iio (Avispa) and Tsuchiya (Omiya, Kobe) as well as a pedigree in Verdy's youth system. There are no strong candidates to play c-mid alongside Sugawara (who also played with Saeki in Kobe) so I'm guessing he will be an affordable selection. And he's 30 so he's not ancient......yet.

Saturday, December 06, 2008

How do I put this........

Verdy goes back down to J2 after putting up a valiant yet ultimately predictable losing effort against former city rivals Kawasaki Frontale. Sadly, the most predictable thing about it was one of the dodgy J League refs would put his nose into it by making an absolute abortion of a call. How that is a straight red is beyond me. How that is a PK is beyond me. How that is anthing but a card for simulation is on me. Seriously, why did he intervene in that when Kawasaki was handling Verdy fairly easily, just missing on a bunch of close shots.

Garbage call, garbage ref. I haven't been one to jump on the "J league is filled with a bunch of BS refs who are either corrupt or incompetent" bandwagon. And I don't think I am one-sided in my criticism. But that was garbage. End of story.

So where do we go from here?

Nagai and Fujita are not options now that J2 has been "acheived". they shouldn't hsve been options in the first place especially now that the team has decided on a youth movement.

FACES YOU WON'T SEE

Shigenori Hagimura got his walking papers yesterday. Not my favorite player by an stretch of the imagination but he did put in a couple good efforts.

Coach Hashiratani will hand in his resignation after taking the drop. The team is looking at internal candidates like Takagi and Matsuda......the coach of NTV Beleza of the women's league.
http://www.sponichi.co.jp/soccer/flash/KFullFlash20081207006.html

Another note in the story is that Diego is being actively pursued by both Kobe and Kyoto, who both now seem to be linked to every player imaginable. I think he will be gone.

Not sure about Rui, especially if Nakata and his compan take over.

FACES YOU MIGHT SEE

Verdy has a bunch of guys out on loan who could be coming back. Kenta Togawa and Yuzo Ichiyanagi might be called back for defensive reinforcement (I'm gonna say yes on Togawa and
no on Ichiyanagi) and maybe Sagan Tosu mid Leonardo, who isn't impressive but he is very cheap.

Finally I leave you with a song

http://jp.youtube.com/watch?v=0bM0wVjU2-k

Friday, December 05, 2008

Do Your Best!

One game to go Byatches!

Here is a musical inspiration for Verdy

Considering half the squad was in their prime when this group was popular I think it should do the trick

http://jp.youtube.com/watch?v=wHgFGW8KAdE&feature=related

Wednesday, December 03, 2008

One guy who ain't happy

Coach Hashiratani.

http://www.sponichi.co.jp/soccer/news/2008/12/03/06.html

He did ask a poignant question........Why shake up the team now before the most important game of the season? Really, he was asking why screw me out of my career after I bled green?

He's done a decent job with a team that was aging and not good and he deserved the chance to go into the game without the fo doing subterfuge.

What's he gonna do if they end up in the playoff against a Cerezo squad who made an offer to Fukunishi.......do you think he's gonna go 100% for a team dropping him when he knows the team across the field wants him and could potentially give him another gig in J1?

Tuesday, December 02, 2008

Why the dump now?

It wasn't clear yesterday why the announcement was made to dump salary before a big game but today a little announcement came out from Nikkan Sports. I'll give my theory on why I think yesterday's dump and todays rumor connects.

http://www.nikkansports.com/soccer/news/p-sc-tp0-20081202-435682.html

First, NTV/Yomiuri is desperately trying to get out from under the debt of Verdy once and for all. Nikkan is reporting that (I think) Sports and Talent Management group Sunny Side Up started talks to acquire 50% ofVerdy from NTV thereby making them patrners with CyberAgent. One of the minority owners in SSU is former National Team player and philanthropist Hidetoshi Nakata (6.91%) . The theory is Nakata would be heavil involved in management once SSU takes over.......if all goes to plan.

Some noteworthy members of the SSU family include swimmer Kosuke Kitajima, hot dog eating champ Kobayashi, and NT strikers Kisho Yano and Masashi Oguro. NTV has accrued about 1.2 billion yen of debt according to the article and want to cut their losses.

I think the cuts were a bookmaking trick to make the team more desirable on paper. J1 doesn't matter as much as the bottom line and renting Nishigaoka is far cheaper than Ajinomoto. So yeah.......it's business.

Ever since the underwhelming response to Verdy after the move from Kawasaki, NTV-omiuri haave really checked out of caring for the team. Really, when you are showing games at 3am and you own the team, you really don't care about it.

http://www.ssu.co.jp/


IN OUT SPECULATION

http://ameblo.jp/adgjmptw1969/image-10172434486-10115858182.html

Nikkan Sports is speculating that 4 more will be cut and one rental will be expunged

DF Sho Miyasaka, MF Nozomi Hiroyama, DF Shigenori Hagimura, and MF Tsuyoshi Yoshitake are all rumored to get cut. Also the loan agreement between Shimizu over DF Takumi Wada is not likely to be renewed.

Weekly Soccer Magazine also reports that Verdy is targeting 24 year old FW Naoki Ishihara from Shonan Bellmare. Ishihara is number 3 in J2 in goals scored at 18 in 40 games. Ishihara is a small speed guy who would partner nicely with a post player like Oguro.

Monday, December 01, 2008

BLOODY MONDAY

So the braintrust at Verdy Incorporated went and cut 7 players in the past 2 days. Strange timing to cut your Captain, your starting keeper, and your starting central midfielder one week before your biggest game. Anyhow the message is clear......the team is old and reall isn't good and if they are destined to suck, they are gonna do it younger and cheaper.

Here Here!!!! Arguably the shocker of the day is the severing of Doi, who has manned the nets in all 33 games for Verdy. Decent season after last years stinker
The only under 30 player who got cut. Asuke got hurt and lapped by Shibasaki and Kawano. Good year to get cut because 3 new job sites are opening up in J2 and Tokushima cut 15 today so there are opportunities aplenty.

The league leader in yellow cards is rumored to be headed south to Cerezo Osaka. Good luck with that.


The captain of the Ramos era gets cut after another injury plagued year. Has Yokohama FC written all over him.



Captain number two takes a pink slip after a pretty sub-par year. Back to Jubilo for a victor lap and a gold watch?




Scored the goal that got Verdy into J1 but hasn't managed to score any to keep them in J1. Adios Donkey!





I saw him play one or two good games a couple of years ago......I think.
According to a story in Hochi Yomiuri, Verdy is cutting over half it's payroll because of low attendance and the bad economy. All guys who are on one year contracts and hover around the above 30 range have been notified that their services are no longer needed. The one name that has popped up that isn't on the official list is Nozomi Hiroyama. The Hochi article also has stated that 10 players have been notified about their upcoming vacations. I'm gonna say Leandro and Hagimura are the other two.
In other news, Jun Tamano and Takuya Yamada both got their walking papers.






Sunday, November 30, 2008

This is the last song I will ever sing........

though Verdy might change their minds again........



OK so the Classico sucked big time. Bad performance by almost everyone concerned and where was the defense on the first goal? Where was Hattori period?

1 game to go. Here is the dirt

13. Omiya- 40 pts -10 away Jubilo

OUT Leandro. the good news is Verdy is tied on goal differential with Omiya so a 3 way tie between Omiya, Jubilo, and Verdy would send Omiya into the pro/rel playoff.

14. Albirex 39 pts -15 home Gamba

OUT Chiba. Gamba looks pretty disinterested at the moment but Albirex is struggling. A win and a tie for Albirex will put Verdy into safety

15. Jubilo 37 pts -7 home Omiya

OUT Hatano. The most likely scenario for survival would be a loss by Jubilo combined with a tie. However Jubilo has a fairly good record against Omiya.

16. VERDY 37pts -10 home Kawasaki


OUT Diego. Looks bleak. But anything can happen. They need to attack alot. Kawasaki has trouble against teams that attack. If Verdy bunkers, the will lose.

17. JEF Chiba 35pts -19 home FC Tokyo

OUT Bosnar. Right now JEF is desperatel hoping to sneak into the 16th spot. First it starts with a FC Tokyo squad as hot as anyone right now and looking for a spot in the ACL. This is the one time Verdy fans will root for the other Tokyo team.

CUT

Sho Asuke and Koijiro Kaimoto are the first Verdy players shown the door. Adios Muchachos

























































++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++

Monday, November 24, 2008

Could've been worse

Yeah not too much worse though........Oguro finally shows a pulse in this one but Verdy can't crack Consadole.

So now we go to the final 2

Let's go to the board!!!!!!

17. JEF United Chiba 35pts -18

suspensions-none
1 card to oblivion-Bosnar, Saito, Ikeda, Sakamoto, Yazawa, Toda, Maki

Next games A Shimizu H FC Tokyo

Chibapool hangs precipitously over a cliff as the deadline approaches. Do they have enough to muster one final miracle? 2 wins are needed at this juncture......the early malaise has bitten them.

16. VERDY 37pts -8

suspensions-Diego (Out for the season)
1 card to oblivion- Tomisawa, Sugawara, Fukunishi

Final games A Yokohama, H Kawasaki

Why you don't start your best midfielder in a must win game is beyond me, but Hashiratani went with Tomisawa. Next game is an emotional one as another Classico hits against a resurgent Yokohama side. Harutaka Ono had a good seat on the bench last game........could he be the answer for the missing Diego?

15. Jubilo 37pts -6

suspensions- Chano (Out for the season)
1 card to oblivion-Nishi, Bandai

Final games A Kashima, H Omiya

Well, it went from ecstasy being up 2-1, to agony being down 3-2, to finally relief with a last minute notch by Bubba Cullen. Jubilo has a 1-1-3 record without Chano so it's gonna be a bit tough in the final going. Omiya is not a bad game for them in terms of matchups. Kashima on the other hand is a nightmare so stealing one point without any injuries or stupid red cards might be the best the can hope for.

14. Albirex 39pts -14

suspensions- Allesandro, Nagata

1 card to oblivion- Uchida, Yano, Matsuo, Chiba, Matsushita

final games- A FC Tokyo, H Gamba

Another sketchy ref job and Albirex might have to dip into their youth team. FC Tokyo is eager to finally crack the upper eschelon and a spot in the ACL would at least put them in the Shimizu/Kawasaki/Oita category. Add to that the Albirex form on the road and you could have a very long day coming up. Or FC Tokyo could choke bigtime, like they usually do in must win games they are favored in. Gamba looks like they have packed it in so that might be a break. Not sure if Suzuki should just bag the FCT game and play for the last one or not, rest all the guys who are in card danger and focus on Gamba. If Verdy, Chiba, and Jubilo lose on the 29th......I play the odds and do it.

13. Omiya 39 pts -10

suspensions-Leandro (out for the season)
1 card to oblivion-Kataoka, Y.Kobayashi

Final games H Kyoto, A Jubilo

So their two offensive schemers, Chikara Fujimoto and Denis Marques are out for who knows. their best defender is out on a dodgy yellow call and they face two squads that are scratching their way to survival. So what does Omiya have to be happy about? 3 wins 2 ties and 1 loss in the past 3 years of home and away finallies including a 1-2-0 record in December. That being said, a win next Sunday is job 1 right now.

12. Kyoto 40 pts -7

suspensions-NONE
1 card to oblivion- Ataliba, Sato, Ando, Watanabe, Yanagisawa

Final games A Omiya, H Shimizu

Get used to Orange because for the next 2 weeks thats all you will see if you are a Sanga fan. Recent form has been a bit erratic for the southern side as they have gone 1-2-5 in their last 8. rumors are that GK Mizutani sustained 2 broken ribs so it's unknown what his condition is. the one good thing is that they have a hot striker in Atsushi Yanagisawa who notched 4 in the past 2 games. Losing the way they did also has to be gutting. Who knows how the respond.

FREE FROM RELEGATION TYRANNY- Kashiwa and Yokohama

Saturday, November 22, 2008

Three

4 pm is really the important time of the day tomorrow if you are a fan of the green. 4 games kick off at that time that have deep ramifications for the next campaign.

Game 1- Consadole at VERDY- The most important game of the day really. If Verdy can't beat Sapporo, chances are they don't deserve to be in J1, to put it bluntly. The number 1 question is who starts up front? If you believe the tabloids (AND I TOTALLY DO!) you are going to see Iio line up on the wing with Shibasaki, leaving the trio of Oguro, Hiramoto, and Donkey. Personally, I'd go with Hiroyama and Inoue because the speed would kill that backline but that's why I'm not in charge. Consadole sees this game as their last best chance to win in J1 too so don't think this will be easy.......especially with Davi auditioning for new gigs.

Game 2 Omiya at Albirex- BIG GAME!!!!!!!! I think the winner of this one survives. http://furtho.blog4.fc2.com/blog-entry-1309.html#comment GGOA has a good one on this contest.

Game 3 JEF vs Marinos- I'm thinking that JEF will probably squeak out a win in this one considering Marinos took a looooooooong trip down to Shikoku last week to play 120+ minutes versus Urawa. JEF is at home and need the win more as well. All is not so rosy for Chiba though especially if there is a card happy ref in the game. 5 players are close to taking a break.

Game 4 Jubilo vs Kashiwa- Kashiwa is the only squad not in danger of relegation right now so this game is hard to call. We'll see how Komano and Kawaguchi respond to the short rest after their Qatar working holidays. Hold your nose and cheer for Kashiwa.


Finally------Matsu at RSN has a great article on Inukai up on the front page. Seems the only one who thinks Inukai is visionary is........wait for it.......RUI RAMOS who loves the idea of Nabisco going U-23. That way he could bring in more Jubilo retreads. rumor has it that Toshiya Fujita will need a job next year.

Tuesday, November 18, 2008

7 to the chopper

Sports Hochi put out a report today that says Verdy will fire 7 players at the end of this month. none of the players were named but let me speculate

Leandro- Almost a given considering he has been an overpriced distraction who failed to either score or set up in reasonable amounts. I don't even think he is in Japan right now.

Yuzo Funakoshi- This one is harder to call than at first blush because the guy scores at the most opportune time for Verdy. And there are no players out there at his size. That being said, he isn't good.

Kazuki Hiramoto- It's time to cut bait on the immensely talented but immensely immature and unprofessional striker. 2 goals in 20 games is unexcusable for a talent like that and considering he came back out of shape and had to beg for his job, this season was the worst thing that he could have done. The good news for him is that with at least 2 new teams coming into J2, he's almost guaranteed a starting gig somewhere......maybe even Yamagata after all the rentals come due.

Tsuyoshi Yoshitake- Injuries and the fact that younger guys like Kawano and Shibasaki have already usurped his spot make Yoshitake expendable. A shame because he had flashes of real talent.

Harutaka Ono/Nozomi Hiroyama- One or the other is probably gone. Maybe both. Both have had injury problems, neither can consistently go 90 and playing time is drying up with the new blood coming in. I hope Ono goes but I think it's Hiroyama for some reason.

Shigenori Hagimura- Part two of Albirex alums being shown the door. Good news is JEF has an Albirex fetish so there will be someplace to land for the guy not quite good enough for J1.

Koijiro Kaimoto- Part 3.......no games played. Injured. Lucky 7.

Takumi Wada is also a rental but Fukuda has yet to take over the spot completely so we might see him stay.

I didn't pick keepers because the article said that they wanted all 4 keepers back

http://hochi.yomiuri.co.jp/soccer/jleague/news/20081118-OHT1T00060.htm

Monday, November 17, 2008

Dear Leader Inukai speaks yet again!

So the chairman has decided yet again that the competitions should be dictated and controlled not by coaches and teams but by chairman Inukai himself.

Today he stated that Nabisco Cup needs to be a U-23 tourney. At first blush, I thought hey!! Great idea! Now some young guys can get some time. Then I thought, Hey U-23 players playing against U-23 players..........don't we call that the Satellite league. Then I thought, hey do teams actually have enough players under 23 to actually field a team even with the three overage player exemption? Counting the 3 new signings, Verdy has 10. And wasn't the whole purpose of the so-called BEST MEMBER rule to give the consumer the best bang for their buck?

Then I thought, how many people watch U-18 games......how many people are actually gonna pay to see a team made up of pros and amatuers play in a competitions?

Then I thought.......Chairman Inukai would be far better served worrying about things that can be controlled by the league.......like erratic reffing. And maybe the best members for the competition should y'know not be dictated by league appearances or an artificial age limit but by the head coach. I'm not even against saying 3 or 4 players need to be under 23 if you want to encourage it but seriously, enough rules.

Now I'm thinking Chairman Inukai can stick his ideas up his cornhole

Sunday, November 16, 2008

Coming Back?


Terra sports says that Verdy and Kashima both put out offers.
I'm not buying it personally.............He would never coexist with Marquinhos and putting him on the same field with Diego means you have 2 guys who don't have any interest in defense.
Anyhow enjoy
Oh yeah.......Verdy Kawasaki?

Thursday, November 13, 2008

2 bits and a rant!

Well, with a week off coming up before a big game against Consadole, Verdy hit the practice ground against Yokohama FC and dropped one 3-1. Defender Kensuke Fukuda hit one late for Verdy after the blue bombers got 3 on the board.

HIROSHI CALLS IT QUITS

Jubilo midfielder Hiroshi Nanami announced his retirement after 313 games and 34 goals. Nanami had an uneventful 1 year stint in green for the promotion bound 2007 version of Verdy but will go down in J League lore for a stellar career at Jubilo (and a decent stint at Cerezo). Good luck to the man who liked his soccer and his smokes.

Finally...........

Why has the J League decided to intertwine the league competition with the Emperors Cup? This week the league announced that they were going to fine recently crowned Nabisco Cup champ Oita Trinita and relegation threat JEF Chiba for not fielding their "Best Members" in their losses to Sagan Tosu and Shimizu respectively. Why?

Seriously, both teams have much bigger things to worry about than Emperors Cup. Oita is close to seizing a league title after dropping to 14th last year. JEF meanwhile has scratched and clawed their way back into the mix for survival after a horrendous start. Both teams made decisions that playing full strength before crucial matches was not a great idea. And both came out with crucial points.

But the heavy-handedness and utter disregard for club autonomy is rearing it's ugly head. Do you seriously believe that anyone in Oita or Chiba are upset that their squads lost the cup games or would trade the 1 crucial point that each team picked up for a chance to move on in a cup? Really? Do you think the good folks in Shimizu or Tosu are disappointed that their squads were able to advance over severly diminished competition?

It's really a waste to force teams to play their best teams over reserves. One thing the intelligensia at the J League mothership have failed to ponder is that these games (and Nabisco Cup) are wonderful opportunities for new players to get a chance to face live fire without costing their squad chances at success or survival. Players get bloooded in cup competions. Recently watching Omiya's game against Cerezo and not seeing ANY of the potential young strikers is not only bad for the team, It's bad for Japan. I'm not saying that any of those players will be in the starting 11 for the blue anytime soon, but one good game could lead to another and who knows after that.

Finally, why are players serving League suspensions for cup game violations and vice versa. When Diego got his red card halfway through the game, Verdy suffered the ultimate penalty.......they lost. If you want to extend the ban 2 games to next years competition, fine. But penalizing a player the final 2 games of the season is not measued and not fair. Essentially you have crippled the squad. And you have provided teams a great disincentive to play Emperors Cup at all. Balance that with the FA decision for Omiya's Hato to serve a league suspension during a cup game and you see the problems with the league intertwining competitions.

I get the whole ACL angle.........really the refs aren't gonna let Fagiano Okayama ever represent Japan. Enough though. You seriously are ruining a perfectly wonderful competition and turning it into a winter version of that crappy Nabisco Cup

Tuesday, November 11, 2008

3 Verdy players make the grade

According to Weekly Soccer Magazine

Yukio Tsuchiya, Daisuke Nasu, and Diego were named to the 2008 50 best J League players.

Congratulations!

Monday, November 10, 2008

WSM grades for 2008

On a scale from A to E (like school A is best)

A

Diego
Tomo Sugawara

B

Yoichi Doi
Daisuke Nasu
Kosei Shibasaki
Yukio Tsuchiya
Toshihiro Hattori
Hiroki Kawano

C

Kensuke Fukuda
Takumi Wada
Harutaka Ono
Seitaro Tomisawa
Kazunori Iio
Nozomi Hiroyama
Takashi Fukunishi

D

Shigenori Hagimura
Leandro
Hulk
Taira Inoue
Yuzo Funakoshi
Yoshinari Takagi
Tsuyoshi Yoshitake
Kazuki Hiramoto
Masaki Iida
Junpei Shinmura
Masashi Oguro

E

Francisimare
Koijiro Kaimoto
Sho Asuke
Sho Miyasaka
Osama El Samni
Takahiro Shibasaki
Tomoyuki Suzuki

Players with the best record in games played

1 Tomo Sugawara 9 wins 5 ties 6 losses
2 Harutaka Ono 6-3-5
3 Hulk 5-1-5

And the worst

1 Bikkuri Donkey 0-0-5
2 Shigenori Hagimura 0-3-2
3 Masashi Oguro 2-2-7

Two things jump out

1 The swap of Oguro for Hulk has been a failure. Oguro needs service and Verdy doesn't provide much........especially with Diego out. The injuries and national team stints haven't helped either.

YOU BE THE JUDGE!!!!!

Sunday, November 09, 2008

DANGER! DANGER! 16th place

Dropped like a rock.......2-0 Vissel

The shots got more prolific but it was not to be.

So going into the home stretch

JEF Chiba H Yokohama A Shimizu H FC Tokyo
VERDY H Consadole A Yokohama H Kawasaki
Jubilo H Kashiwa A Kashima H Omiya
Albirex H Omiya A FC Tokyo H Gamba
Omiya A Albirex H Kyoto A Jubilo
Yokohama A Chiba H Verdy A Urawa
Kyoto H Nagoya A Omiya H Shimizu

If I had to judge right now, I'd rate the schedules from easiest to hardest as Kyoto, JEF, Verdy, Albirex, Jubilo, Yokohama, Omiya only because Shimizu, Consadole, and Gamba have nothing to play for. Also watch FC Tokyo versus Vissel......if they lose that game then they are probably out of the running for the ACL as well as definetely being out of the Championship race.

Nagoya is banged up as well. Magnum just returned and Narazaki is on the shelf.

Big game of the week 1. Yokohama vs Chiba- big matchup between 2 of the originals. Just when you thought it was safe for Marinos, they are back at the bottom. Feel a bit bad for Chiba who dragged and clawed their way out of danger but find themselves back at 17.

Big game 2. Omiya vs Albirex- In October I had an idea about what I would write for Omiya's obituary but I held off because its November and Omiya owns November. Still playing in Niigata is always tricky. Niigata managed to steal a point in Kashima but their combination of bad defense (13th) and bad offense (18th) has put them in danger. Omiya is almost as bad in both but seem to have a little momentum.

MONSTER GAME OF THE WEEK-VERDY vs CONSADOLE
If ya lose this one then you should probably prepare for the drop. Put Kawano and Shibasaki on the wings, Oguro and Inoue up top and run Consadole to death. They will quit if you get a lead but playing no goal trios up top ain't gonna cut it.

Halftime

Stats at the break

Verdy Vissel

Shots 1 9
Corners 2 6
Cards 0 Matsuoaka yellow
Subs 39 Donkey
Hiramoto

Score 0-0

In fact all 3 games went 0-0 into the break with the favorites all outshooting the little guys

If the games end like this JEF stands in 17th place with a -15 gd 35
Jubilo is 16th with a -6 36
Verdy goes to 15th with a -6 37
Albirex goes to 14th with a -14 38
Omiya is at 13th -10 38
Yokohama is 12th +1 39
Kyoto is 11th -6 40

Saturday, November 08, 2008

The Verdy Show.......with special guest star......

Yukio Tsuchiya!!!!!!!!!

Here is your lineup for todays little shindig

DOI
WADA
TSUCHIYA
NASU
HATTORI
FUKUNISHI
SUGAWARA
SHIBASAKI
IIO
OGURO
HIRAMOTO

Bench....Takagi/Fukuda/Iida/Hiroyama/Inoue/BDonkey

As Nick posted yesterday, all the teams that can damage Verdy's J1 future won yesterday to fairly strong competitors. Today's big games see Albirex Niigata travel to Kashima and JEF go south to Oita. On paper it looks like two routs but JEF in fact has a record of 10-1-0 versus the Oitards.

BTW I hate Oita

In 2 weeks bottom dwellers Consadole Sapporo come in to face Verdy. Big and not so surprising news is that coach Toshiya Miura is a goner in 3 games. Since a big 3-0 win at JEF on July 12th, Consadole has gone 16 games without a win and 8 games without a point in league competition. Rumors are circulating that Consadole is scouring greater Chiba for coaches. One rumor has Osim and his dim son taking the reigns of the Northern Kingdom.

Have we not learned the lessons of Kim Il Sung, George Bush the first and Brian Dennehy when the installed their less capable sons into power? (Actually Chris Farley wasn't Brian Dennehys son in real life and he did save the day in Tommy Boy........his brother however is not funny at all....whatever, Osim junior is a tool).

Another name bandied about is Kashiwa man and former Verdy brain Ishizaki who would be a good hire because that guy can coach. Hitachi has decided the need an overpriced Brazilian twat to bung up a decent situation so more power to them.

1 hour to gametime

Wednesday, November 05, 2008

Diego is done

Wow........the league put the hammer down and essentially gave Diego the death penalty for this season with a 2 game ban. So more math for ya 2+2 in a 4 game season equals disaster. Adding that to the missing Kawano and the injured Tsuchiya and you see a problem.

The good news is that this is a team filled with grizzled vets who tend to buckle down when the going gets tough. And one of the games is against a downtrodden consadole squad who looks as if they've waived the white flag

The question now is this......where are the goals gonna come from?

VERDY ties Machida Zelvia

TM time 1-1 Taira Inoue notches 1 for the green but they conceed late

Finally Bomberhead is fielding offers from Urawa, Urawa south and OMIYA??????

HUH!!

Sunday, November 02, 2008

Diego done for the year?

It looks like the tabloids are convinced that Diego is a goner for the season after yesterdays red card on the Stoyanov challenge (not surprisingly Iemoto gave the card........he of the Xerox cup fiasco).

Usually, the league gives an automatic game suspension on reds plus games for the degree of severity. Diego and the team are apologizing for the card, signaling that there was some merit to it (I didn't see it so I don't know). Anyhow the team is pulling for a 1 game suspension.....which would be tacked onto the 2 gamer that he's already out for.

The question now is, what kind of lineup does Hashiratani put out

BEFORE THE INJURY/SUSPENSION

Hashiratani went with a 4-4-1-1


Hiramoto

DIEGO
Shibasaki Iio

Sugawara Fukunishi


Hattori Nasu TSUCHIYA Fukuda


Doi


Well, not sure who goes where or what formation will be put in place. Last year they toyed with 3-5-2 and maybe they do it again..............It might look like this



Hiramoto Iio


Fukunishi

Shibasaki Fukuda


Sugawara Tomisawa


Hattori Hagimura Nasu


Doi

Pack the middle and put speed on the wings while letting Fukunishi be the main schemer


Or they could go 4-4-2


Iio Hiramoto


Fukunishi Hiroyama



Sugawara Fukunishi

Hattori Nasu Tomisawa Fukuda


Doi

Oguro could help if he comes back in decent form and Kawano might be back soon to pitch in.

11-1=1-0 Sanfrecce

It was going to be tough to begin with but 44 minutes in, Verdy talisman Diego gets run with a straight red and Verdy has to play defense for a good 46 minutes.......outshot 17 to 5, verdy succumbs in the last minute to a shot from midfielder Issei Takayanagi.

So for the second straight year Verdy will be watching the final on tv and now can focus on other things like tv dramas and not getting relegated. One worry has to be the punishment doled out to Diego for the straight red. Already having a squat for picking up too many yellows, I would have speculated that nothing major would happen because he was playing in a seperate competition but last week Omiyas Yasuhiro Hato got suspended for his red in the league and had to sit out the Emperors cup game. If it was a bad foul he could be done for the season, which doesn't help considering defensive anchor Yukio Tsuchiya is out for at least 3 to 4 weeks with a bad hamstring.

A glimmer of hope next week is the return of Oguro from crocked status. He will start from the bench against high flying Vissel Kobe.

OTHER NEWS

Former Verdy man and current Red Takahito Soma got an offer to play for CSKA Moscow. His contract is up after this season but all accounts are that he will be a priority for Urawa in the offseason.

I'll post on the new guys coming in later

Friday, October 24, 2008

Bad day so far

0-0 score but Tsuchiya leaves with a knock very early and Diego picks up a yellow that will sit him for 2 games.

5 to go

Yahoo predicts a 4-5-1 and I agree

Saturday fare is important to certain degrees

Kashiwa hosts Yokohama FM and with YFM on 36 you have to hold your nose and hope Kashiwa gets it

The big game is banged up Jubilo versus Nagoya who has been leaking points like a sieve. A nice 5 goal victory for Nagoya is the big hope here

If Verdy keeps winning it doesn't matter what anyone else does and a win versus Kyoto would push them up towards top half

Sunday has 2 big games

Albirex will host a free falling Urawa in Niigata and again you have to hold your nose and hope the bad team wins

Finally the 7 game unbeaten Chibapool take on the not so much Omiya Ardija who.........well.......score as much as me lately. Either way someone is gonna lose points so it's a net gain for Verdy

Game on

Sunday, October 19, 2008

Diego gets it done

Not gonna do too much of a wrap-up because it stings but Hiroyama and Diego did a great job on the goal. Winning ugly is still winning

Saturday, October 11, 2008

Purple rain

November will see the reemergence of Sanfrecce Hiroshima after the Newly Crowned J2 Champs dismantled Osaka Wayward gynecologecal and gastronomical beauticians University FC 6-0 in a rather easy walk over.

6 different Osaka players not named Hisato Sato notched goals in the contest.

The last time the teams squared off, Sanfrecce won 3-0 after Verdy was unable to find the net on 26 shots. the teams matched up for one other contest in 2005 and Sanfrecce won that one 4-1 as well. Sanfrecce goes into this game fully focused on Emperors Cup while Verdy must focus on staying alive.

Another fear is the resurgence of the Sanfrecce curse. The curse was broen last year when Sanfrecce dropped to J2 but it remains to be seen whether the curse reemerges with Sanfrecces promotion. Lose and Verdy might find out.

Tomorrow the Sattelites play their final match of the season against Montedio Yamagata.

Finall there was a Masaki Saito sighting at Yokohama as the rugged forward scored for Okinawa Kariyushi FC in their 2-1 loss to Yokohama FC. Soilent Greens all time favorite Verdy player deserves another shot in J2. I'm talking to you Tsunami!!!

Friday, October 03, 2008

Roadmap to Armageddon

Again possibly

This week's schedule has some interesting matchup has some interesting turns before the game against Nagoya tomorrow night at 6.

The first big matchup is Niigata vs Yokohama at Niigata. Niigata is on 35 points but has a terrible plus minus and has games coming up against Urawa, Kashima, FC Tokyo, and Gamba

Yokohama is on 34 and has been hot. A game between them and Verdy is coming up near the end of the season. So I'd say Yokohama winning is the best result for Verdy in this one.

Omiya hosts Kashiwa in another installment of the Noda line battle. Both teams are reeling so the winner will probably get a bit of a boost. Considering the next game is against Omiya, it might be in Verdy's best interest to root for Kashiwa. However, Kashiwa still does not have a win in the second half of the campaign ad they usually abuse Verdy so having them drop would be good too. So........tie??????

Vissel Kobe takes on Kyoto Sanga who is on the cusp of safety. Kobe got a result at Omiya and has a bit of momentum but still is very much in peril. Root very hard for Sanga in this one....Kobe is still vulnerable to the drop.

SUNDAY

2 games occur at 2pm that have major implicatons

Urawa goes to Chiba to take on the yellow hot dogs and their ragtag bunch of misfits. For possibl the first time ever, I have to root for Urawa because Chiba is quickly snowballing out of relegation territory. A loss might send them in a funk. So Just this once......root for an Urawa win

Finally Jubilo takes on Consadole. Frankly if Jubilo drops this one, they are dead. I imagine that the refs won't let anything bad happen to the baby blues in this one but still it won't hurt to root hard for Consadole

So.......Verdy could be sitting adrift in 17th before even kicking a ball.........not great.

Other concerns..........watch Diego closely......he is one yellow away to a two game vacation and that would be massively bad.

Anyhow.......Game on!

Saturday, September 27, 2008

Game on

2 hours til kickoff

Doi
Fukuda
Tsuchiya
Nasu
Hattori
Fukunishi
Sugawara
Shibasaki
Diego
Iio
Hiramoto

Takagi
Leandro
Yoshitake
Hiroyama
Hagimura
Oguro
Donkey

Reports from Sports Hochi are that Kuwait are attempting to raid the J league of their Brazilian goleadors. The first real firm offer is from Al Saad for Davi

http://hochi.yomiuri.co.jp/soccer/jleague/news/20080928-OHT1T00159.htm

Up to 10 are targeted by the oil rich Middle Eastern Kingdom including Edmilson from Urawa, Marquinhos from Kashima, Juninho from Kawasaki, Allesandro from Albirex, and Cabore from FC Tokyo.

Unfortunately Leandro was not on the list

Thursday, September 25, 2008

The home stretch

The final start in earnest on Sunday.......

Here is the vital stats on the opponents


ガンバ大阪 Gamba Osaka
13 games
5 Wins
3 ties
5 losses
16 GF
19 GA

Who thought a trip to Syria would shake a lethargic giant out of their slumber. Looked good on paper until lately. Gamba did manage to beat Urawa at Saista but Verdy is decent at home.


名古屋グランパス
13 g
7 w
2 t
4 l
20 gf
15 ga

Taking out the Omiya win leaves them with a less than impressive +1 in gd and we might have seen signs of cracking with a loss to Chiba. No Magnum makes this winnable for sure.


大宮アルディージャ
13 g
4 w
3 t
6 l
15 gf
20 ga

The good news for Verdy.......no Denis Marques who made them look sad. The bad news, A giant Slovenian who can actually play. You can get in a shootout with Omiya and win, but if you let them score early and a couple, you will lose. Winnable but tricky the first 6 pointer on the schedule


京都サンガF.C.
13 g
7 w
2 t
4 l
15 gf
14 ga

Economical and tough at home. Kyoto won't blow you out so much as frazzle your nerves with close calls and pressure.


ヴィッセル神戸
13 g
2 w
7 t
4 l
12 gf
16 ga

A team that has the potential to score in bunches but usually doesn't. Plays for the tie on the road. This game has the potential to make or break Verdy fortunes in J1


コンサドーレ札幌
13 g
3 w
1 t
9 l
16 gf
26 ga

The good news is that Sapporo should be officially planning for J2 by the time this game comes around. The bad news is that it doesn't seem to matter because they are feisty little bastards. Must win.


横浜F・マリノス
13 g
6 w
4 t
3 l
16 gf
9 ga

Marinos is tough at home, letting up the 2nd least amount of goals at home.......not great for a team like Verdy who is a -12 on the road. Keep it close and hope to steal one............it's the mother of all classicos.


川崎フロンターレ
13 g
6 w
3 t
4 l
21 gf
18 ga

Somewhere the people of Kawasaki are smiling. Don't go into this one needing a win.

Wednesday, September 24, 2008

Off topic-Consadole Sapporo

One of the great stories in last years J2 campaign was the rise of Consadole Sapporo. Unlike some other squads Sapporo really relied on homegrown character guys instead of loading up with big names, reminiscent of Omiya circa 2004. Unfortunately for Miura and company Sapporo could not recreate the magic in J1. While there is an outside chance for Sapporo to squeak out ........no scratch that......there is abosolutely no way Sapporo is going to pick up 10 points in 8 games to get into the pro/rel spot.

What's next for the 2007 champs?

Guys out the door.....

I'm not sure but the offensive play of Davi and Claiton leads me to believe that someone will make an offer. Davi looks exactly like the type of player a team like Sanfrecce Hiroshima or Gamba Osaka will swoop on to shore up the offense. Claiton might be a tougher fit considering he's old and he doesn't play defense but if a team like Shonan happens to pop up to J1,I definetely see him getting a job. Takahiro Takagi lost his job to baby keeper Yuya Sato. Takagi showed himself to be formidable for both Thespa and Consadole in his time at J2 but has been a disaster this campaign, posting only 2 clean sheets in 19 games. A backup role at Omiya might be a good thing considering the admirable job GK coach Shirai has done with Aratani last year and Ezumi this year.

Guys coming in

It will probably be a combo of guys on their last legs and prospects like Yokohama FC. It won't look like Sanfrecce. If Miura stays, I do see him grabbing a couple more of his old favorites from Saitama like Naoto Sakurai or Aratani or even Hiroshi Morita, guys who can't consistently do it in J1 but could be good in J2. The name I think he could go after is MF Hayato Hashimoto who has virtually vanished from the radar. If Miura is canned.......which I don't think will happen...Verdy head coach Takuya Takagi has to be mentioned in any discussion. He even has some roots with Sapporo, having a cup of coffee with the squad in 2000. If he gets the nod, a ton of young satellite guys could be headed north.

Sapporo was actually the first place I encountered J League football (the gift shop to be precise) so I feel bad to see them drop. It might be awhile before I post one of these again unless Jubilo hits rock bottom

Tuesday, September 23, 2008

What we learned so far

Well Verdy finds itself in 15th with games coming up against a suddenly resurgent Gamba squad and a date with front running Nagoya Grampus. The good news is that Verdy was far worse when they beat Grampus the last time they squared off and they won.

Another worry is the resurgence of JEF Chiba and their increasing brand of Ultradefensive Chibapool style. After turning over the roster with castoffs from other squads, the yellowdogs have managed to get a little push to respectability.

A bit of good news is that Jubilo Iwata is downright putrid. A 5-1 thrashing by the putrid part of Tokyo has them at 26 points with 8 games remaining. Looking at past relegation victims.......

2005 Tokyo Verdy drops after winning Emperors Cup/Xerox Cup and Real Madrid friendly. the mixture of old names and young guns fail to mesh

2006 Cerezo Osaka bottoms out after being moments away from victory. A mixture of young talent and old names fail to mesh

2007 Sanfrecce Hiroshima drops to J2 after their cast of players who have caps for the national team at all ages fails to win for a very long time.

And now we have a team with Komano and Kawaguchi struggling to stay afloat. The good news is that their next two games are against a Niigata squad that is downright offensive on the road and a Consadole squad who has to be reeling from yet another last second loss. If Jubilo fails to get at least 4 points out of these two you will see teams getting their shopping lists ready for the gutting. Considering Ruis fetish for retro Jubilo members and you could see one or two next year..........no matter what happens.

6 pointers

10/18 vs Omiya
11/9 vs Vissel
11/29 vs Yokohama

And one must win versus Consadole.

UHhhhhhhhh

1-0 not Verdy

8 shots........Fukunishi and Oguro pulled at the half

Panic time?

Monday, September 22, 2008

Ecclectic to say the least

Doi
Fukuda
Hagimura iOi
Tsuchiya
Hattori
Hiroyama
Fukunishi
Shibasaki
Diego
Oguro
DONKEY

Takagi
Yoshitake
Iida
Shinmura
Kawano
Iio
Hiramoto

My first thought is WOW...........2 post offense with the one returner arguably the least effective
Diego better have a great game

Friday, September 19, 2008

Agggggggh!

4 shots today

Nasu gets the red

Oita wins 2-0

And Verdy drops to 14th

even 80 year old Brazilian Ueslei gets a goal

Anyhow here is something I like

http://video.aol.com/video-detail/billy-bragg-the-boy-done-good/2136999375/?icid=VIDURVMUS04

My favorite football song ever!

meanwhile Chibapool needs a pk and 2 red cards against bottom rung Consadole to win 3-2. I would cry conspiracy but I have no clue why the league would want a team who sells off all their assets and plays a really negative defensive style to stay up. Maybe it's the glorious kits.

Tuesday, September 16, 2008

Awww God!!!!!!

2-0 loss to Chibapool

Hagimura gets run in a game of Albirex rejects

Bunkerball wins out.......should be a good warmup for the mother of all that is boring

Oitards are a coming!

Nice to see Toda can still get a job somewhere.......not really.

Wednesday, August 27, 2008

Damn you RSN

just realized I copied a title from Ken at Rising Sun News

Sorry......wasn't intentional

Strange Days

Here s the lineup for tonights game

As you can see I did not go. Okane ja nai yo!!!!!!

The lineup

Doi
Wada
Nasu
HAGIMURA
Hattori
Tomisawa
Sugawara
Shibasaki
Diego
IIO
Oguro

Takagi
Iida
Fukuda
Leandro
Hiroyama
Kawano
DONKEY

So the two swans of the apocolypse are back in the lineup

And Tomisawa has already got yellow

Saturday, August 23, 2008

Wins are like wives

Sometimes the ugliest ones are the best.

On a cold and rainy August night, the two Tokyos took the field for yet another Tokyo derby. Early on it looked as if FCT would claim another victory when Cabore hit a 30 yard rocket shot to put the gasmen up 1-0. The first half was dominated by the red and blue, who should have been up by more if not for the fact that they had the finshing prowess of epileptic monkeys.

Really there were no dangerous chances until Hashiratani went to the bench and dredged up Leandro who instantly paid dividends with a pass to the streaking Oguro, who stumbled bumbled and rumbled in with his first goal in green. After what seemed like 25 yellows on Verdy ( I got one in the 83rd minute for looking at my cellphone too much) the momentum switched colors to green. Finally on the last play of the game, Diego knocked a rocket shot off the chest of the FC Tokyo keeper and out of bounds setting up the penultimate corner. A swooping kick to the waiting Daisuke Nasu gave the win to Verdy in an eerie turn from the last match. So now here comes 1st place Urawa at the same venue.

Fukunishi picked up his 4th.......again so he will sit..........2 games at least.

Leandro gets my man of the match. Why Hiramoto sat was beyond me but it worked so no complaints.