I'm gonna do the preview and the lineups and then I will give the rest of this post to Nick who sums up the game perfectly (No internet till this morning so I'm a bit delayed!)
This post is dedicated to naked Berkeley guy from the 1990's. Naked Berkeley guy wanted to walk around Cal University Berkeley in 1992 as a form of protest. He had others pop up on the campus naked as a form of free speech. In 1993 Berkeley passed a school code saying that nudity in public was not allowed.......naked guy was kicked out of school. Yesterday,he was found dead in a prison cell. Recently Ruy Ramos has been parading around naked as well......and it should be banned, counting the Ulsan game, Verdy has dropped 3 of the last 4 games......they have been out scored 4-0 and are dropping precipitously from the top of the rankings.
Montedio has been sitting in 9th place. They come in led by former Omiya striker Leandro, who notched two goals against Verdy in a fortunate 3-2 victory at Yamagata.
Awww, hell........it's 474 minutes now and Leandro scored the only goal.......6th place, 6 points and 22 goals from a playoff spot. 1-0 loss
Here was Ruy's experiment
GK Takagi (happy birthday)
DF Dedimar (45 min Nejime), Hagimura, Togawa, Fujita(64 Kuba)
MF Nagai (56 Morimoto), Sugawara, Kanazawa, Ono
FW Basilio, Hiramoto
No Anailson...........outshot 14 to 6 and corner kicks were 12 to 5. This team has bottomed out.
Anyhow, here is Nick's view
Just watched todays "festivities" and the good news is Takagi made it to 27 years!! It was the boys birthday today and the commentators seemed especially happy about it,maybe they had a nice bit o` cake.Now I have to say I don`t mind the odd bit of gateaux myself but if the most interesting thing you have to keep saying about a guy is " Well its Takagis birthday today,he`s 27 you know!!Congratulations!!!" something must be amiss.Cake is all well and good but surely a goalies actual performance in the game is more important?? errrrrrrr......So, to the game, for the first ten minutes we looked great, Hiramoto banged one over the bar and had a one on one with the keeper when the ball just seemed to run away from him and the keeper was able to smother it, Nagai hoofed one over the bar and that was it really. I was thinking,summers here,Ive had a long day at work,relax have a beer or two watch the game. Things were going fine till after our initial bright start,the boys couldnt seem to get anything going.After about 10 minutes in,I dont think we had a decent attempt on goal for the next 70 minutes!! The midfield were a big let down today,they just couldnt seem to get through the Montedio boys, Hiramoto and Basillio were pretty much out of the game for 35 minutes up to half time.Montedio controlled things more and more as the game went on and if they were any good ,would have had Verdy 3 or 4 down by half time. Leonardo flashed a header just over the bar and Leandro had one fly past the post.All against a backdrop of stuttering,hesitant stuff from the Boys in Green. Half time came and we were lucky to be going in evens. Wasn`t to be for long though. Shortly after the break, the increasingly more confident forward breaks coming from Montedio,produced a telling cross from the right,somebody (dunno who) had a pop at goal it came back of the foot of the post and fell into the path of Leonardo who shin rolled it into the top corner. 1-0 to Montedio. From this moment on, the boys from Yamagata seemed to invite Verdy to try to break down their defence and hope to catch them on the counter.A cunning plan knowing the difficulty we have had finding the net in the last few games. Anyway the plan was going great till Basillio got through on a slide rule pass!! He controlled it beautifully,taking all the pace of the ball and clipped it over the goalie but unfortunately for the Green Army behind the goal he lifted it a touch too high and it landed tamely on the roof of the net. That was it,our one "clear" chance in 90 minutes of play!! Game Over!!No get out of jail free card!No big brother to come and sort out the bully boys who knicked the ball!! To quote Full Metal Jacket..."Its a big sh*t sandwich and we all gotta take a bite!!" (Apologies nephews if you are reading). Thing is though (and I truly mean this) when the bad times are bad,the good times are FANTASTIC!! So Long Live Verdy The Boys March On!!! Onwards and Upwards (or at least sideways).Im thinking at the minute how long Ramos will last. With the start we had he obviously has a bit of time on his side but if we keep playing as we are ,his days are numbered. Legend or not, the further we sink,the shorter his time.Losing is not so bad if we give a good account of ourselves as against Reysol,Yokohama and even Bellmare,but to lose as we have done in the last two games,coupled with the crap draw with Ehime,the capitulations against Sendai and Kobe and the loss to Ulsan.The Magic Perm may soon be on his way back to daytime telly.What does anyone else think?? I dont think we should get rid at the first sign of trouble but time is limited and the longer you stay in J2 and given the low numbers we are getting (5000 odd today) we could get in a rut.I think if we miss the boat this season,(and lord knows we will need a miracle to get anywhere near the playoffs given the last two performances!!)next season and thereafter will become increasingly difficult.
MY VIEWS
I think that Ruy will get one more year........they won't burn him up right away. The problem is that the top teams have settled lineups, there's not a change from day to day. Vegalta, Kashiwa, and Yokohama have lineups that know eachother. Verdy seems to be pulling guys from off the street and putting them in the midfield. It seems like this team is still confused. The whole Morimoto as third striker seems to put the team out of sorts as well........they move Hiramoto into the distributing role (which he's awful at BTW) when Basilio seems to be the more likely candidate. Hiramoto and Morimoto are a similar type of player, nothing changes when they bring in Morimoto. Neither has the speed of Iio or the hustle and brute strength of Saito. I also hate the Dedi/Fuji/Hagi/Toga back line.....it is Verdy's weakest option by far and has been the weakest all season. Aoba and Hiroyama had the back line in a deent place and Ruy pulled the plug...............he's micro-managing right now and his players are extremely tight and making nervous mistakes. It's like he showed them the nearly perfect Sapporo game and told them not to play like that anymore.
It's funny that Nick mentioned brother because Nagai went up against little brother in yesterday's match. And it was Takagi's birthday, and he didn't have an awful game.....the goal wasn't his fault, he was in perfect position for the shot and it took a tricky bounce off the post, Hagimura didn't clear and a opportunistic Leandro poached one for the team in yellow.
The Ajinomoto streak continues:
So far Verdy is 2-1 at the National, 1-0 at Komazawa and Nishigaoka and 0-3 at Ajinomoto.....
4-0-4 total for 8 points.
Next game is on the road to Tokushima to take on the pathetic Vortis side who have a 500 minute scoreless streak going and a 10 game winless streak......something has to give.
Sunday, May 21, 2006
Monday, May 15, 2006
Double Barreled Nick
Our friend Nick has some more insights on the week that was in Verdydom........read on and you might find an interesting tidbit about the Mito game (Well, more interesting than the game itself!)
Nick has left a new comment on your post "Double Shot-Verdy fights Mito and Yokohama FC": I saw both recent matches,Yokohama on TV and Mito at National Stadium. Pluses and minuses on both really. Starting with Yokohama,we really were unlucky against this lot. We took the game to them from the begining and over the 90 minutes a combination of (in this order) quality goalkeeping,woodwork,last ditch tackling, strange off side decisions and blatant handballs kept us from scoring. For the first 15 minutes we looked good which culminated in a goal mouth scramble whereby Nagai rifled an effort goalward only to see the Yokohama defender stick out an arm to stop it going in. Everybody shouted "Penalty!! " only for the ref to wave Play on...This seemed to bring Yokohama to life and pretty much for the rest of the game the play ebbed and flowed from one side to the other both teams creating and bringing plenty of excitement to the proceedings. Half way through the first half Jo and Kazu combined on the edge of the area and forced a corner.Amidst a cacophony of booing Kazu delivered a quality corner on to the noggin of the giant Tweed who proceeded to nod the ball unchallenged into the net from the edge of the six yard box.i think our defence needs a new radar system as the giants are sneaking through!! Short arses get picked up easily but somehow nobody notices the giants!!! The guy must be 6ft4 and weigh 14 stone!! No Takagi!! No challenge!! From anybody!!! Unmarked Unchallenged GRRRRRRR!!! The Verdy defence strikes again!! After Takagi had got rid of the dunce cap against Ehime he is now firmly back in the corner,sucking his thumb with the Big D cap on!!! Half time came and went and as the match wore on we seemed to be running out of ideas,we needed a score but we fell even further behind. When a former player returns the last thing you want obviously is for him to score....especially when its a 38 year old,greasy slimeball with an ego the size of Ronaldinhos teeth!! So surprise,surprise who pops up with the second,Kazu!!! Git! double git!! Treble Git!! Fair play to the slimester,he had a good game,provided the goal for Tweed and knocked in one himself. More importantly his hair looked great for the whole 80 odd minutes he was on the field. Anyway last 15 minutes Verdy pressed and pressed for a goal,Morimoto had a chance again after a scramble in the box,leathered the ball straight at the keeper unfortunately. Hiramoto climbed well on two occasions for headers only to see the Yokohama keeper react superbly to tip one round the post and the other over the bar. On any other day,we would have either won or drawn but on this day it just wasnt meant to be. Brasilio as stated nearly broke the crossbar with an effort on the edge of the box,Tweed dived in with a last ditch tackle and seemed to do enough to put brasilio off just that little bit.Unfortunately he got injured in the process and had to be taken off.I think one of the reasons behind Yokohamas stingy defence is definately this Giant Hairy Scotsman. He was very comanding in his own box and dangerous at corners/set plays going forward.If hes out for a while I reckon Yokohama defence will definately open up a bit.Togawa also had a fierce drive in the second half,the ball fizzed from about 35 yards out just taking the paint off the left hand post....This brings us to yesterdays debacle... nice day out,dull game,poor result,we are s(t)inking fast at the minute. We offered very little yesterday,dare I say it Mito were worth their victory!! Anderson as in the last game was dangerous and lively and like Bambi on ice!! If anyone came near he was over in a second.Not good to see and completely annoying.A good deal of gamesmanship (cheating) was displayed by the boys from Ibaraki but if you want to wins games that way....Anyway,we struggled to make a worthwhile chance for the entire first half whilst Anderson scored in the ninth minute. He broke free on the left galloped into acres of space was completely unchallenged all the way to the box.Takagi seemed to take an age to come out to close down the angle and by the time he did,Anderson easily slotted the ball home. 10 minutes in 1-0 down 80 minutes to go...not a big deal. However, both teams were to slug it out in the centre of the park,rarely threatening either goal. in the last five minutes we finally managed to put together a period of concerted pressure. Morimoto fluffed an easy chance where his control let him down badly,Hiramoto hesitated criminally with goal at his mercy.He nearly made up for it with the last kick of the match though,forcing a superb,one handed save from the visiting keeper. After this,the whistle blew and it was game over...Then the real interest began!!! Football violence in Japan!! I know there have been a couple of very minor scuffles at Reysol and Verdy after their 7-0,7-1,6-0 sequence last year but yesterday was the first time I had been there to witness it. As the players came over to and accept there customary and deserved booing a scuffle broke out amongst the Verdy supporters. I think maybe somebody was venting their spleen a bit too much,booing a bit too long and too loud and the others took offence. Anyway about 15 people got involved,throwing punches,diving in until a couple of stewards jumped in and the other people around jumped in to calm things down. If you are reading this Ramos the boys arent happy!! Those boys certainly werent anyway. We are so erratic at the moment and if we dont start putting a run together starting next week then Yokohama and Reysol will run away with it and we will have to be content with trying to get in the play offs.At the moment the prospect of another season in J2 is looming very large. 4,076 turned up yesterday,very poor indeed. I think thats the lowest crowd Ive ever seen at Verdy in five years. On yestrdays performance,thr crowds will only get lower as well.Troubled times. Nevermind,on the plus side I managed to sneak in a load of beers in and the weather held together,my daughter had a great time,the wife is scared she`ll turn into a Verdy geek when shes older.Another J2 sign was that the snack bar ran out of food just after half time and closed completely before the end,doesnt pay to stay open for the few people who are actually there...Onwards and upwards The Boys Stumble On!!!
Thank you sir! Good day to you!
Nick has left a new comment on your post "Double Shot-Verdy fights Mito and Yokohama FC": I saw both recent matches,Yokohama on TV and Mito at National Stadium. Pluses and minuses on both really. Starting with Yokohama,we really were unlucky against this lot. We took the game to them from the begining and over the 90 minutes a combination of (in this order) quality goalkeeping,woodwork,last ditch tackling, strange off side decisions and blatant handballs kept us from scoring. For the first 15 minutes we looked good which culminated in a goal mouth scramble whereby Nagai rifled an effort goalward only to see the Yokohama defender stick out an arm to stop it going in. Everybody shouted "Penalty!! " only for the ref to wave Play on...This seemed to bring Yokohama to life and pretty much for the rest of the game the play ebbed and flowed from one side to the other both teams creating and bringing plenty of excitement to the proceedings. Half way through the first half Jo and Kazu combined on the edge of the area and forced a corner.Amidst a cacophony of booing Kazu delivered a quality corner on to the noggin of the giant Tweed who proceeded to nod the ball unchallenged into the net from the edge of the six yard box.i think our defence needs a new radar system as the giants are sneaking through!! Short arses get picked up easily but somehow nobody notices the giants!!! The guy must be 6ft4 and weigh 14 stone!! No Takagi!! No challenge!! From anybody!!! Unmarked Unchallenged GRRRRRRR!!! The Verdy defence strikes again!! After Takagi had got rid of the dunce cap against Ehime he is now firmly back in the corner,sucking his thumb with the Big D cap on!!! Half time came and went and as the match wore on we seemed to be running out of ideas,we needed a score but we fell even further behind. When a former player returns the last thing you want obviously is for him to score....especially when its a 38 year old,greasy slimeball with an ego the size of Ronaldinhos teeth!! So surprise,surprise who pops up with the second,Kazu!!! Git! double git!! Treble Git!! Fair play to the slimester,he had a good game,provided the goal for Tweed and knocked in one himself. More importantly his hair looked great for the whole 80 odd minutes he was on the field. Anyway last 15 minutes Verdy pressed and pressed for a goal,Morimoto had a chance again after a scramble in the box,leathered the ball straight at the keeper unfortunately. Hiramoto climbed well on two occasions for headers only to see the Yokohama keeper react superbly to tip one round the post and the other over the bar. On any other day,we would have either won or drawn but on this day it just wasnt meant to be. Brasilio as stated nearly broke the crossbar with an effort on the edge of the box,Tweed dived in with a last ditch tackle and seemed to do enough to put brasilio off just that little bit.Unfortunately he got injured in the process and had to be taken off.I think one of the reasons behind Yokohamas stingy defence is definately this Giant Hairy Scotsman. He was very comanding in his own box and dangerous at corners/set plays going forward.If hes out for a while I reckon Yokohama defence will definately open up a bit.Togawa also had a fierce drive in the second half,the ball fizzed from about 35 yards out just taking the paint off the left hand post....This brings us to yesterdays debacle... nice day out,dull game,poor result,we are s(t)inking fast at the minute. We offered very little yesterday,dare I say it Mito were worth their victory!! Anderson as in the last game was dangerous and lively and like Bambi on ice!! If anyone came near he was over in a second.Not good to see and completely annoying.A good deal of gamesmanship (cheating) was displayed by the boys from Ibaraki but if you want to wins games that way....Anyway,we struggled to make a worthwhile chance for the entire first half whilst Anderson scored in the ninth minute. He broke free on the left galloped into acres of space was completely unchallenged all the way to the box.Takagi seemed to take an age to come out to close down the angle and by the time he did,Anderson easily slotted the ball home. 10 minutes in 1-0 down 80 minutes to go...not a big deal. However, both teams were to slug it out in the centre of the park,rarely threatening either goal. in the last five minutes we finally managed to put together a period of concerted pressure. Morimoto fluffed an easy chance where his control let him down badly,Hiramoto hesitated criminally with goal at his mercy.He nearly made up for it with the last kick of the match though,forcing a superb,one handed save from the visiting keeper. After this,the whistle blew and it was game over...Then the real interest began!!! Football violence in Japan!! I know there have been a couple of very minor scuffles at Reysol and Verdy after their 7-0,7-1,6-0 sequence last year but yesterday was the first time I had been there to witness it. As the players came over to and accept there customary and deserved booing a scuffle broke out amongst the Verdy supporters. I think maybe somebody was venting their spleen a bit too much,booing a bit too long and too loud and the others took offence. Anyway about 15 people got involved,throwing punches,diving in until a couple of stewards jumped in and the other people around jumped in to calm things down. If you are reading this Ramos the boys arent happy!! Those boys certainly werent anyway. We are so erratic at the moment and if we dont start putting a run together starting next week then Yokohama and Reysol will run away with it and we will have to be content with trying to get in the play offs.At the moment the prospect of another season in J2 is looming very large. 4,076 turned up yesterday,very poor indeed. I think thats the lowest crowd Ive ever seen at Verdy in five years. On yestrdays performance,thr crowds will only get lower as well.Troubled times. Nevermind,on the plus side I managed to sneak in a load of beers in and the weather held together,my daughter had a great time,the wife is scared she`ll turn into a Verdy geek when shes older.Another J2 sign was that the snack bar ran out of food just after half time and closed completely before the end,doesnt pay to stay open for the few people who are actually there...Onwards and upwards The Boys Stumble On!!!
Thank you sir! Good day to you!
Sunday, May 14, 2006
Double Shot-Verdy fights Mito and Yokohama FC
No time with work to give you an in-depth report on both games so I'll just give you some quick hits.
Verdy came into the three game homestand coming off of 2 shutouts at the hands of Ulsan Horang-I (ACL 1-0 loss) and Ehime FC (0-0). The good news coming in to the week was that some of the injured players, including wonderboy Morimoto! The bad news is, this team is tired and dragging, having 4 games and an overseas trip in 11 days.
YOKOHAMA FC-THE RETURN OF THE KING
Verdy lineup- GK Takagi DF Ryo Nurishi, Hagimura, Togawa, RICKHIKI MF Nagai, Nejime, Ono, Anailson FW Basilio, Hiramoto Subs: Morimoto, Hiroyama, Kuba
Continuing the trend of an ever changing lineup, Ramos went with new guys Rickhiki and Nurishi in a bit of a baffler. I managed to catch a bit of the game at 2:30 am on NTV but long story short Tweed started the scoring on a quick hit from Kasu.........in the second half a front running (and dare I say offside? ) King of Verdy hit again for the miraculous Yokohama FC.
Surprisingly Verdy was the more agressive side, forcing the action against Yokohama. 15 shots were put up against my pick for early season J2 MVP, Takenori Sugeno.....the most dangerous shot was a bullet from Basilio that splintered the crossbar. 2-0 Yokohama FC
MAYDAY- MEDIOCRE MITO IN A MUDDLED MATCH
Verdy lineup- GK Takagi DF Dedimar, Uemura, Hagimura, Fujita MF Nagai, Nejime, Kanazawa,Anailson FW Basilio, Hiramoto Subs: Morimoto, Kuba, Kina
Ono was the last holdout from the original starting 11. his string of starts was put to rest after an early yellow disqualified him for today's match. Mito came in with a bit of confidence after knocking around Consadole Sapporo 3-1 off the fine foot of Anderson. Verdy's mission; Stop Anderson and get a goal. 9 minutes in, Anderson struck for Mito. 81 minutes of bunkering and few opportunities by both squads would cause Verdy to fail in the second part of their mission. 384 minutes of scoreless soccer for team green. It's slump time.
QUICK HITS
Takagi is playing well under a very difficult situation........you can't keep juggling the back line without a detrimental effect. It looks like the middle is starting to finally take shape with Nejime, Anailson, Nagai, and Ono. It also looks like Ruy is toying with a 3-3-4 setup with the addition of Morimoto. I wasn't crazy about the insertion of 2 new d-backs against a disciplined team like Yokohama FC......I think you do that against a Montedio or Tokushima Vortis, but not against the top team in the league.
Coming in next week is Montedio Yamagata, who is coming off a 2-1 victory over Thespa. Verdy needs to stop the fall that now sees them looking up at May 27th opponent Shonan Bellmare.
As always....reports are welcome!
Verdy came into the three game homestand coming off of 2 shutouts at the hands of Ulsan Horang-I (ACL 1-0 loss) and Ehime FC (0-0). The good news coming in to the week was that some of the injured players, including wonderboy Morimoto! The bad news is, this team is tired and dragging, having 4 games and an overseas trip in 11 days.
YOKOHAMA FC-THE RETURN OF THE KING
Verdy lineup- GK Takagi DF Ryo Nurishi, Hagimura, Togawa, RICKHIKI MF Nagai, Nejime, Ono, Anailson FW Basilio, Hiramoto Subs: Morimoto, Hiroyama, Kuba
Continuing the trend of an ever changing lineup, Ramos went with new guys Rickhiki and Nurishi in a bit of a baffler. I managed to catch a bit of the game at 2:30 am on NTV but long story short Tweed started the scoring on a quick hit from Kasu.........in the second half a front running (and dare I say offside? ) King of Verdy hit again for the miraculous Yokohama FC.
Surprisingly Verdy was the more agressive side, forcing the action against Yokohama. 15 shots were put up against my pick for early season J2 MVP, Takenori Sugeno.....the most dangerous shot was a bullet from Basilio that splintered the crossbar. 2-0 Yokohama FC
MAYDAY- MEDIOCRE MITO IN A MUDDLED MATCH
Verdy lineup- GK Takagi DF Dedimar, Uemura, Hagimura, Fujita MF Nagai, Nejime, Kanazawa,Anailson FW Basilio, Hiramoto Subs: Morimoto, Kuba, Kina
Ono was the last holdout from the original starting 11. his string of starts was put to rest after an early yellow disqualified him for today's match. Mito came in with a bit of confidence after knocking around Consadole Sapporo 3-1 off the fine foot of Anderson. Verdy's mission; Stop Anderson and get a goal. 9 minutes in, Anderson struck for Mito. 81 minutes of bunkering and few opportunities by both squads would cause Verdy to fail in the second part of their mission. 384 minutes of scoreless soccer for team green. It's slump time.
QUICK HITS
Takagi is playing well under a very difficult situation........you can't keep juggling the back line without a detrimental effect. It looks like the middle is starting to finally take shape with Nejime, Anailson, Nagai, and Ono. It also looks like Ruy is toying with a 3-3-4 setup with the addition of Morimoto. I wasn't crazy about the insertion of 2 new d-backs against a disciplined team like Yokohama FC......I think you do that against a Montedio or Tokushima Vortis, but not against the top team in the league.
Coming in next week is Montedio Yamagata, who is coming off a 2-1 victory over Thespa. Verdy needs to stop the fall that now sees them looking up at May 27th opponent Shonan Bellmare.
As always....reports are welcome!
Friday, May 12, 2006
Training Match- Sattlelites Vs Sagawa Kyubin Tokyo
Wednesday saw the third team in Tokyo visit Verdy in Yomiuriland for a training match. Some familiar faces were on hand as some of the injured came back for this match.
The starters were FW Iio and Ohashi, MF Kina,Tsurumaki, Sato, and Yuhei Ono, DF Sugawara, Dedimar, and Fujita and GK Kurokawa
The subs in the second half were Killoran, Yanagisawa, and Maatsura
The game ended 3-1 Verdy as the b side jumped out to an early 3-0 1st half lead on goals from Tsurumaki in the 9th minute, and Uemura header off an Ohashi corner in the 16th minute and an Iio PK.
Sagawa grabbed one back in the 10th minute of the second half.
If history serves as a guide, 2 or 3 of these guys might be starting against Mito tommorrow.
The starters were FW Iio and Ohashi, MF Kina,Tsurumaki, Sato, and Yuhei Ono, DF Sugawara, Dedimar, and Fujita and GK Kurokawa
The subs in the second half were Killoran, Yanagisawa, and Maatsura
The game ended 3-1 Verdy as the b side jumped out to an early 3-0 1st half lead on goals from Tsurumaki in the 9th minute, and Uemura header off an Ohashi corner in the 16th minute and an Iio PK.
Sagawa grabbed one back in the 10th minute of the second half.
If history serves as a guide, 2 or 3 of these guys might be starting against Mito tommorrow.
Thursday, May 11, 2006
Comprehensive reports tommorrow
I have been busy with work.......I'll have the Yokohama FC game and a report on the Sattlelites tommorow. Sleep time tonight!
Tuesday, May 09, 2006
Former Verdy player rankings!
Ahhh days of yore.................here are stats and rankings for former Buzzards in Japan from Weekly soccer digest (WSD) and Soccer Magazine Japan (SMJ)
URAWA REDS
WASHINGTON 10 goals 2 assists 6.27 WSD 6.38 SMJ
Takahito Soma 5.5 WSD 5.75 SMJ
Washington is in the perfect position for his skills........a strong midfield behind him that allows him to cherry pick. Soma on the other hand can't get a sniff behind Golden Boy Santos......I think he should have signed in a place that would have highlighted his skills. I know he wanted to try for the national team but this isn't how it's gonna happen for him.
OMIYA ARDIJA
DAIGO KOBAYASHI 6 goals 6 assists 6.14 WSD 6.0 SMJ
Yoshiyuki Kobayashi 5.44 WSD 5.64 SMJ
Far and away, the best player Omiya has ever had. Clutch free kicks........He's already doubled his total of goals from 2005 while keeping a steady pace in assists. Soma should take a lesson from the tale of Daigo. The other Kobayashi has been far less impressive.
KAWASAKI FRONTALE
Atsushi Yoneyama 2 games 38 minutes
Tadamichi Machida RELEASED
Two non-factors for the first place squad in J1.
YOKOHAMA F MARINOS
Takashi Hirano 5.50 WSD 5.25 SMJ
Limited action in Yokohama........maybe Croatia doesn't look so bad.
CEREZO OSAKA
TAKUYA YAMADA (is an Exotic Terminater) 5.78 WSD 5.67 SMJ
Awful team, but they are looking a bit better with ET in the starting 11. Two relegations in a row? They are on a pace to finish worse than Vissel!
SANFRECCE HIROSHIMA
Kazuyuki Toda 1 assist 5.65 WSD 5.65 SMJ
Mercenary on a team that likes to pack it in. Not pretty and until recently not effective. Needless to say he's not one of my favorities.
VENTFORET KOFU
Kentaro Hayashi 5.95 WSD 5.85 SMJ
Nice pickup for the underdogs from Kofu......had a couple rough matches recently but a consistent contributor and one of the better players on VK. I thought he would flop but hayashi is coming through.
J2- TOKUSHIMA VORTIS
Jun Tamano 5.83 WSD
Dropped from the first team of the worst club in J2. Ramos might have known what he was doing with this one.
And just for fun
YOKOHAMA FC
KING KAZU 3 goals 1 assist 5.73 WSD
The old man still has a bit left in the tank I suppose! 2 PK goals.
I wonder what happened to Machida.
URAWA REDS
WASHINGTON 10 goals 2 assists 6.27 WSD 6.38 SMJ
Takahito Soma 5.5 WSD 5.75 SMJ
Washington is in the perfect position for his skills........a strong midfield behind him that allows him to cherry pick. Soma on the other hand can't get a sniff behind Golden Boy Santos......I think he should have signed in a place that would have highlighted his skills. I know he wanted to try for the national team but this isn't how it's gonna happen for him.
OMIYA ARDIJA
DAIGO KOBAYASHI 6 goals 6 assists 6.14 WSD 6.0 SMJ
Yoshiyuki Kobayashi 5.44 WSD 5.64 SMJ
Far and away, the best player Omiya has ever had. Clutch free kicks........He's already doubled his total of goals from 2005 while keeping a steady pace in assists. Soma should take a lesson from the tale of Daigo. The other Kobayashi has been far less impressive.
KAWASAKI FRONTALE
Atsushi Yoneyama 2 games 38 minutes
Tadamichi Machida RELEASED
Two non-factors for the first place squad in J1.
YOKOHAMA F MARINOS
Takashi Hirano 5.50 WSD 5.25 SMJ
Limited action in Yokohama........maybe Croatia doesn't look so bad.
CEREZO OSAKA
TAKUYA YAMADA (is an Exotic Terminater) 5.78 WSD 5.67 SMJ
Awful team, but they are looking a bit better with ET in the starting 11. Two relegations in a row? They are on a pace to finish worse than Vissel!
SANFRECCE HIROSHIMA
Kazuyuki Toda 1 assist 5.65 WSD 5.65 SMJ
Mercenary on a team that likes to pack it in. Not pretty and until recently not effective. Needless to say he's not one of my favorities.
VENTFORET KOFU
Kentaro Hayashi 5.95 WSD 5.85 SMJ
Nice pickup for the underdogs from Kofu......had a couple rough matches recently but a consistent contributor and one of the better players on VK. I thought he would flop but hayashi is coming through.
J2- TOKUSHIMA VORTIS
Jun Tamano 5.83 WSD
Dropped from the first team of the worst club in J2. Ramos might have known what he was doing with this one.
And just for fun
YOKOHAMA FC
KING KAZU 3 goals 1 assist 5.73 WSD
The old man still has a bit left in the tank I suppose! 2 PK goals.
I wonder what happened to Machida.
Saturday, May 06, 2006
More from Nick
You know him, you love him, the outspoken Verdy fan from (I guess) Eng-er-land.............without further ado......NICK!
Nick has left a new comment on your post "180 minutes-Ehime FC vs TOKYO VERDY 1969": Saw the game on TV yesterday and we had a repeat of last time these two teams met.Boring! Boring! Boring! A very poor showing from Verdy the only player to have a good game was Takagi!! He kept us in the game especially in the second half.He must have had 4 or 5 one on ones with the opposition and he stopped all of them!! Great performance by the man in pink!!Very assured and boy was he ragging on his defenders. Defenders were nowhere again,Fujita was inches away from putting into his own net when under no pressure from anybody,the ball came over from the left there were no Orange attackers in the box but he still felt it nessecary to sidefoot it away to "safety",unfortunately he scuffed it and it rolled a couple of inches past the post!! (still reckon the tape recordng strapped to a cardboard lion is a viable option...) First half we were very poor,created a few half chances,Hiramoto nearly had the ball in the net but it was cleared off the line,Saito ran about a lot but didn`t get much of a sniff. Second half Anailson and Nagai came on and things improved a little we carried a bit more of a threat but again not much. Ehime were coming forward more and more and as I say we would have lost by 3 or 4 if not for Takagi!! Have to get a result against Yokohama next week.Onwards and Upwards the Boys march on!!
Wow.......TAKAGI is the man of the match! Thanks much for the report, Nick!
Nick has left a new comment on your post "180 minutes-Ehime FC vs TOKYO VERDY 1969": Saw the game on TV yesterday and we had a repeat of last time these two teams met.Boring! Boring! Boring! A very poor showing from Verdy the only player to have a good game was Takagi!! He kept us in the game especially in the second half.He must have had 4 or 5 one on ones with the opposition and he stopped all of them!! Great performance by the man in pink!!Very assured and boy was he ragging on his defenders. Defenders were nowhere again,Fujita was inches away from putting into his own net when under no pressure from anybody,the ball came over from the left there were no Orange attackers in the box but he still felt it nessecary to sidefoot it away to "safety",unfortunately he scuffed it and it rolled a couple of inches past the post!! (still reckon the tape recordng strapped to a cardboard lion is a viable option...) First half we were very poor,created a few half chances,Hiramoto nearly had the ball in the net but it was cleared off the line,Saito ran about a lot but didn`t get much of a sniff. Second half Anailson and Nagai came on and things improved a little we carried a bit more of a threat but again not much. Ehime were coming forward more and more and as I say we would have lost by 3 or 4 if not for Takagi!! Have to get a result against Yokohama next week.Onwards and Upwards the Boys march on!!
Wow.......TAKAGI is the man of the match! Thanks much for the report, Nick!
180 minutes-Ehime FC vs TOKYO VERDY 1969
Ahhh yes, finally the rematch that everybody was waiting for has happened..............GHHHHH. Actually, the March affair was actually one of the more boring games in the league to date, but they scheduled it again, so here is the report!
SIDE NOTE: Our friend Depflight at Lost in Translation has a wonderful post on cartoonist Tatsuki Nohda, the man behind the mikan! You can see it here: http://footballjapan.blog14.fc2.com/blog-entry-518.html
Ehime FC came in sitting in 9th place. The Mighty Mikan came off of two consecutive ties to bottom table squads Thespa Kusatsu and Montedio Yamagata. Tokyo Verdy meanwhile returned to Japan yesterday after an unsuccessful ACL roadtrip to Ulsan.
Enough about the past, lets get to this Citrusy sweet smorgasbord of soccer.....Bon Appetit!
EHIME FC
GK 35 Yusuke Kawakita
DF 15 . Ryota Moriwaki 5. Shingo Hoshino 7.Tomoya Kanamori 13.Eigo Sekine
MF 23. Hideto Inoue 25. Yojiro Takahagi 27. Minoru Suganuma 8. Kazuhisa Hanaoka
FW 33. Toshiya Tanaka, 24 Yuki Tamura
SUBS: FW 22 Hirokazu Otsubo (65min Tanaka), 19 Yuya Nagatomi (72min Tamura), MF 18 Kenichi Ego (89 min Suganuma)
TOKYO VERDY 1969
GK 21 Takagi
DF 2 Hagimura,3 Fujita, 4 Togawa, 20 Hiroyama
MF 7 Ohashi, 32 Kuba, 23 Nejime, 11 Ono
FW 25 Hiramoto, 39 Saito
SUBS: MF 10 Anailson (Half-Ohashi), 8 Nagai (Half-Kuba), FW 9 Basilio (66 min Hiroyama)
GK 1 Mizuhara, MF 15 Kanazawa
GAME REPORT
Really not much to report........like the first game, there were no bookings. No goals. For either side. Again, Ehime had the shot edge and from the stats, it looks like they controlled the game flow. 0-0 draw, the most hated score in soccer!
QUICK THOUGHTS
It looks like a very tired squad came into Ehime and did just enough to steal a point on the road. It's not really fair to evaluate what happened considering they were coming off an international trip. I'll just say good job to the defense for preserving the shutout.
Basilio made an appearance...................that's a good sign. it looks like Verdy went to a 3-4-3 late in the game, pulling Hiroyama and having Basilio go up top with Saito and Hiramoto. It might be a posibility with the return of Morimoto that the 3-4-3 is used, at least in late game situations. It is a classic conundrum to choose between putting your best 11 on the field or shoring up a weak spot with an extra player. Personally, I prefer the 4-4-2, especially since Verdy has had trouble in the back but if a choice is between Fujita or Morimoto.........well, let's just say I'm glad I don't have a bad perm right now!
Dedimar made an appearance in the ACL but got dropped for the Ehime game, Iio and Aoba as well. Again, tired squad so I can't make too much of this.
After 1/4 of the season......Verdy finds themselves firmly in 4th at 22 points.
A rough patch awaits as Yokohama FC visits on May 10th to Ajinomoto stadium.
I'll try and catch that game on NTV at 2 am, Thursday morning! If you have a game report let me know!
UPDATE/OFF TOPIC: Our friend Masa at Masa-Net reappeared today.........he's been busy but he's not gone! Great news indeed!
The curse of the ratings continue! Vegalta tied Bellmare 2-2 and Mito scorched Consadole Sapporo 3-1.......It always happens!
SIDE NOTE: Our friend Depflight at Lost in Translation has a wonderful post on cartoonist Tatsuki Nohda, the man behind the mikan! You can see it here: http://footballjapan.blog14.fc2.com/blog-entry-518.html
Ehime FC came in sitting in 9th place. The Mighty Mikan came off of two consecutive ties to bottom table squads Thespa Kusatsu and Montedio Yamagata. Tokyo Verdy meanwhile returned to Japan yesterday after an unsuccessful ACL roadtrip to Ulsan.
Enough about the past, lets get to this Citrusy sweet smorgasbord of soccer.....Bon Appetit!
EHIME FC
GK 35 Yusuke Kawakita
DF 15 . Ryota Moriwaki 5. Shingo Hoshino 7.Tomoya Kanamori 13.Eigo Sekine
MF 23. Hideto Inoue 25. Yojiro Takahagi 27. Minoru Suganuma 8. Kazuhisa Hanaoka
FW 33. Toshiya Tanaka, 24 Yuki Tamura
SUBS: FW 22 Hirokazu Otsubo (65min Tanaka), 19 Yuya Nagatomi (72min Tamura), MF 18 Kenichi Ego (89 min Suganuma)
TOKYO VERDY 1969
GK 21 Takagi
DF 2 Hagimura,3 Fujita, 4 Togawa, 20 Hiroyama
MF 7 Ohashi, 32 Kuba, 23 Nejime, 11 Ono
FW 25 Hiramoto, 39 Saito
SUBS: MF 10 Anailson (Half-Ohashi), 8 Nagai (Half-Kuba), FW 9 Basilio (66 min Hiroyama)
GK 1 Mizuhara, MF 15 Kanazawa
GAME REPORT
Really not much to report........like the first game, there were no bookings. No goals. For either side. Again, Ehime had the shot edge and from the stats, it looks like they controlled the game flow. 0-0 draw, the most hated score in soccer!
QUICK THOUGHTS
It looks like a very tired squad came into Ehime and did just enough to steal a point on the road. It's not really fair to evaluate what happened considering they were coming off an international trip. I'll just say good job to the defense for preserving the shutout.
Basilio made an appearance...................that's a good sign. it looks like Verdy went to a 3-4-3 late in the game, pulling Hiroyama and having Basilio go up top with Saito and Hiramoto. It might be a posibility with the return of Morimoto that the 3-4-3 is used, at least in late game situations. It is a classic conundrum to choose between putting your best 11 on the field or shoring up a weak spot with an extra player. Personally, I prefer the 4-4-2, especially since Verdy has had trouble in the back but if a choice is between Fujita or Morimoto.........well, let's just say I'm glad I don't have a bad perm right now!
Dedimar made an appearance in the ACL but got dropped for the Ehime game, Iio and Aoba as well. Again, tired squad so I can't make too much of this.
After 1/4 of the season......Verdy finds themselves firmly in 4th at 22 points.
A rough patch awaits as Yokohama FC visits on May 10th to Ajinomoto stadium.
I'll try and catch that game on NTV at 2 am, Thursday morning! If you have a game report let me know!
UPDATE/OFF TOPIC: Our friend Masa at Masa-Net reappeared today.........he's been busy but he's not gone! Great news indeed!
The curse of the ratings continue! Vegalta tied Bellmare 2-2 and Mito scorched Consadole Sapporo 3-1.......It always happens!
Friday, May 05, 2006
Soilent Green Rankings-APRIL
THE EAGLE HAS RISEN........................Vegalta Sendai has truly been the team to beat in J2 circles, going an astounding 5-3-0 for the month of April. Meanwhile, Tokushima Vortis has seen the bottom drop out of their season. Some teams rise, others fall, but one thing remains certain..........Ruy Ramos has a really bad perm. Anyhow, let's go to the board!
1. VEGALTA SENDAI (April points-18, Season 24, Goal differential +17) Sendai has been the perfect storm of big offense and strong defense. In April they had a plus goal differential of 13, only allowing 2 goals. Borges, Lopez, and Thiago Neves have been perfect in the role of foreign helper, leading the offense while keeper Daijiro Takakuwa has been impenetrable in between the pipes. They tend to win big as well, 5 of their games have been victories by 3 goals or more.
Coming up-Shonan Bellmare
2. YOKOHAMA FC (April points-14, Season 22 +1 game, GD +8) The shock team in J2. After the purging of their coach and the ascension of Takaki, it looked like the team was headed into the bowels of the second division. An amazing display of defense led by GK Takenori Sugeno has put Yokohama FC near the top of the table. A potential problem in the future is the possible loss of team captain and defensive anchor Steven Tweed to Dundee in the Scottish Premier League. They need to find some scoring as well......1 goal a game isn't going to cut it forever.
Coming up-Tokushima Vortis
3. KASHIWA REYSOL (April points-12, Season 25, GD +10) Two fortunate meltdowns by opponents Tokyo Verdy and Consadole Sapporo have helped Kashiwa barely keep their grasp on the top position in J2. A twelve game run without a break probably had a part to play in their losing steam. MF Tatsuya Suzuki has been key in facilitating attacks for Chiba's other team. GK Minami and the back 4 have stumbled a bit after a stellar start
Coming up-Thespa Kusatsu
4. TOKYO VERDY 1969 (April points-12, Season-21 +1 game, GD +2) Big Green has been the perfect example of one-dimensional. The offense has been spectacular and the defense has been, well, not so much. I think this reflects the coaching of Ruy. He has also been erratic, showing flashes of brilliance on-field and nervous and erratic decisions off of it. Basilio and Hiramoto have been stellar , ranking 1 and 2 in goals scored. Hopefully, the starting 11 in the Consadole game (minus Iio) can get some time together and see what they can do. Consistency is the major need for Verdy.
Coming up-Ehime FC
5. CONSADOLE SAPPORO (April points-11, Season-17 GD +3) Dumb mistakes have cost Sapporo.......one major culprit has been Hulk, who instead of turning Green when he gets angry, turns red. 2 cards have led to 4 missed games. They had a recent rough patch where they went 0-1-2 against Verdy, Kashiwa, and Sendai, but have managed to feast on bad teams. Haven't come close to playing their best.
Coming up-Mito Hollyhock
6. SHONAN BELLMARE (April points-11, Season-18 GD -2) They are not good or bad.....perfect place for them is the middle. On any given day, they can beat Vegalta or Verdy, tie Kashiwa or Tokushima, or lose to Mito. Yusuke Sato has been instrumental in setting the table on offense, but Satoshi Yokoyama has virtually disappeared after getting off to a hot start.
Coming up-Vegalta Sendai
7. SAGAN TOSU (April points-11, Season 15 GD -2) Not a particularly strong team but they represent themselves well at home. A four game unbeaten streak helped propel them to respectability and the far edges of promotion. They also boast the leading scorer not in green by way of Tatsunori Arai (6 goals 2nd in the league).
Coming up-Vissel Kobe
8. THESPA KUSATSU (April points-9, Season 12, GD -6) The past three games have seen the defense tighten up, posting shutouts in all 3. It's not hard to imagine how bad Thespa's defense would be without the stellar play of GK Takahiro Takagi. The addition of Chika into the back line has really helped as well.
Coming up-Kashiwa Reysol
9. MONTEDIO YAMAGATA (April points 9, Season 10 GD -7) For awhile there, it looked like Yamagata had figured out their problems. their penultimate match was a 3-1 drubbing of Kashiwa in Kashiwa. However, a recent stretch has seen them drop 2 of 3 and tie a less than impressive Ehime squad. The 2 L's , Leandro and Leonardo have shown flashes but haven't been consistent, much like the team.
Coming up-BYE
10. VISSEL KOBE (April points 7, Season 16 GD -1) Stuart Baxter still hasn't got his squad playing consistent roundball. It seems like Kobe follows up a good game with a bad loss. Atsuhiro Miura has been the most consistent player on an inconsistent squad. Baron has been a non factor.
Coming up-Sagan Tosu
11. EHIME FC (April points 6, Season 12 GD -6) For the talent they have, they have been respectable. No depth to speak of, but they always play hard and put themselves in position to steal games. Keisuke Hada and the back 4 have really stepped it up. No real scoring threat to speak of and they get hurt by not having any foreign imports to help.
Coming up-Tokyo Verdy
12. MITO HOLLYHOCK (April points 5, Season 12 GD -7) Started off well, but a 4-0 drubbing at the hands of Vissel sent the little dragons of Ibaraki into a funk. Probably not a good sign that DF Takafumi Yoshimoto has scored almost half of the teams goals at 4. Will they always be Kashima's ugly little sister? (Thanks OF!)
Coming up-Consadole Sapporo
13. TOKUSHIMA VORTIS (April points 3, Season 10 GD -9) How bad is Jun Tamano? He gets run out of Verdy by retread Hideki Nagai (Which I criticized voiceferously.........I'd like to take it back) and now can't even get on the field for the worst squad in the second division. Especially bad on the road (1-0-5 for a big total of 3 points) and mediocre at home (1-4-1 7 points at home). Shinji Tanaka might be the next coach to go if form stays the same.
Coming up-Yokohama FC
High risers-Vegalta Sendai (MARCH 8/APRIL 1)
Mighty fallers-Tokushima Vortis (MARCH 5/APRIL 13)
Holding steady-Tokyo VERDY (MARCH 4/APRIL 4)
The season is at the quarter mark and the cream is starting to rise to the top. More questions than answers for the three relegation victims of 2005.
Look for another ranking in the first week of June!
Thursday, May 04, 2006
Been awhile...........Ohisashiburi!
Lots of news all in one thread............Here we go!
As you might know, Verdy was eliminated by a 10 man Ulsan squad 1-0. Quick thoughts on this.....didn't see the game but it looked like Ulsan went with a 5 man back and packed it in. Crappy soccer but hey scoreboard so they got what they wanted.
Probably for the best that Verdy got eliminated. The first,second, and third priority for the team is to get back to J1 and taking jaunts to Saudi Arabia in July probably wouldn't help the sqaud at all in that quest.
The starting 11 was the same as Sapporo except for Ohashi, Dedimar, and Hiramoto. Saito came on as a sub and drew the red card on Ulsan defender and Captain Young-Kyoul You.
Here is a link to the AFC game report http://www.afcchampionsleague.com/en/tournament/matchdtl.asp?cid=1310&mtId=11690&aid=44435
Basilio
Looks like the side injury isn't as serious as it appeared....he suited up for the match in Korea. Unknown whether or not he'll be starting against Ehime on saturday.
Adan
VerdyBlog has more info on mystery midfielder Adan......it looks like he is an 18 year old Brazilian who came from Guarani FC.
http://ameblo.jp/verdyblog/theme-10000117014.html
It's the second story down............in Japanese.
Nihon Daigaku Training match
3-2
Morimoto notched 2 goals in the game on Tuesday. Another Mystery foreigner popped up in the match, this time a striker with no known name.
So keeping count.............................Basilio, Dedimar, Anailson, RickHiki, Killoran, Je Chun Moon, Adan, and mystery foreign striker (link from the Verdy blog)
http://blog.ameba.jp/user_images/29/87/10006327409.jpg
Another Blog(S) Bites the Dust
PRIDE OF GREEN, a Verdy site run by a true Verdy fan named Yoshikazu shut down on May 1st....................the guy was a maniac, showing up at seemingly every function, game, and training match. If I needed info on training matches, I'd check there first. He was the one who had the Adan story and pictures first.
MASA-NET, Our friend Masa at Masa-net seems to have stopped writing. Although I depise the Reds and everything they stand for, Masa is a good guy who put out information on the Reds, J-League and finally Tomi Maric in Germany at a breakneck speed (Often in three or four languages). It was a must read for me and I hope he comes back to write about the J-league again very soon.
Yoshikazu and Masa..........Honto Ni Arigato Gozaimasu......please come back soon and write again!
As you might know, Verdy was eliminated by a 10 man Ulsan squad 1-0. Quick thoughts on this.....didn't see the game but it looked like Ulsan went with a 5 man back and packed it in. Crappy soccer but hey scoreboard so they got what they wanted.
Probably for the best that Verdy got eliminated. The first,second, and third priority for the team is to get back to J1 and taking jaunts to Saudi Arabia in July probably wouldn't help the sqaud at all in that quest.
The starting 11 was the same as Sapporo except for Ohashi, Dedimar, and Hiramoto. Saito came on as a sub and drew the red card on Ulsan defender and Captain Young-Kyoul You.
Here is a link to the AFC game report http://www.afcchampionsleague.com/en/tournament/matchdtl.asp?cid=1310&mtId=11690&aid=44435
Basilio
Looks like the side injury isn't as serious as it appeared....he suited up for the match in Korea. Unknown whether or not he'll be starting against Ehime on saturday.
Adan
VerdyBlog has more info on mystery midfielder Adan......it looks like he is an 18 year old Brazilian who came from Guarani FC.
http://ameblo.jp/verdyblog/theme-10000117014.html
It's the second story down............in Japanese.
Nihon Daigaku Training match
3-2
Morimoto notched 2 goals in the game on Tuesday. Another Mystery foreigner popped up in the match, this time a striker with no known name.
So keeping count.............................Basilio, Dedimar, Anailson, RickHiki, Killoran, Je Chun Moon, Adan, and mystery foreign striker (link from the Verdy blog)
http://blog.ameba.jp/user_images/29/87/10006327409.jpg
Another Blog(S) Bites the Dust
PRIDE OF GREEN, a Verdy site run by a true Verdy fan named Yoshikazu shut down on May 1st....................the guy was a maniac, showing up at seemingly every function, game, and training match. If I needed info on training matches, I'd check there first. He was the one who had the Adan story and pictures first.
MASA-NET, Our friend Masa at Masa-net seems to have stopped writing. Although I depise the Reds and everything they stand for, Masa is a good guy who put out information on the Reds, J-League and finally Tomi Maric in Germany at a breakneck speed (Often in three or four languages). It was a must read for me and I hope he comes back to write about the J-league again very soon.
Yoshikazu and Masa..........Honto Ni Arigato Gozaimasu......please come back soon and write again!
Sunday, April 30, 2006
Dishing up Sattelite since I don't have a sattlelite dish!
Sunday saw the Verdy B team take on the Kashiwa express (or really section semi-express since it's the second squad) in Chiba.
It ended up in a 3-3 tie
3 30 minute periods took place
Young master Morimoto scored two goals and knocked a third shot off the crossbar. He also took part in the whole game. With the injury to Basilio, it will be good to have another gunner.
Other highlights were Killoran, Rickhiki, and Adan (wearing Je Chun Moons 31) seeing major time as well as Masa Ono playing big minutes.
Dedimar put in a goal...........Ohashi did some contributions as well.
No Kina or Sugawara.
Anyhow pictures can be seen here http://ameblo.jp/verdyblog/theme-10000117014.html
I thought I had the Adan mystery solved when I found Frederick Adam, a French player......it was not him though.................the search continues!
It ended up in a 3-3 tie
3 30 minute periods took place
Young master Morimoto scored two goals and knocked a third shot off the crossbar. He also took part in the whole game. With the injury to Basilio, it will be good to have another gunner.
Other highlights were Killoran, Rickhiki, and Adan (wearing Je Chun Moons 31) seeing major time as well as Masa Ono playing big minutes.
Dedimar put in a goal...........Ohashi did some contributions as well.
No Kina or Sugawara.
Anyhow pictures can be seen here http://ameblo.jp/verdyblog/theme-10000117014.html
I thought I had the Adan mystery solved when I found Frederick Adam, a French player......it was not him though.................the search continues!
Consadole Sapporo vs VERDY: Where there's mud....
There's MUDFLAPS. Compare for yourself the first image of a popular mudguard symbol for big rigs in the US with the symbol of the uniform supplier of Consadole Sapporo.....perfectly fitting for a rain-soaked Nishigaoka Stadium.
Saturday's matchup was a big test for both squads with similar places in the standings (4th place Verdy and 5th place Sapporo) , similar results against 2005 relegation victims (3-1 loss to Kobe for Verdy and 2-1 loss for Sapporo t Kashiwa) , and similar problems up front (Hiramoto and Hulk were both out after red card violations). Promising to be an entertaining match, both teams were focused, fuming, and desperate for a result. Anyhow, on to the lineups!
CONSADOLE SAPPORO
GK 1 Takuto HAYASHI
DF 15 Kenichi KAGA , 5 Tomohiko IKEUCHI, 23 Takahito CHIBA ,16 Shinji OTSUKA
MF 14 Tomoki SUZUKI,18 Hironobu HAGA,8 Makoto SUNAKAWA, 19 Takamichi SEKI
FW 17 Tomoaki SEINO,11 Shinya AIKAWA
GK 28 Toshiyasu TAKAHARA,DF 4 Yushi SODA, MF 29 Masaya NISHITANI (61),
MF 25 Seiya FUJITA (68), FW 13 Genki NAKAYAMA (77)
TOKYO VERDY 1969
GK 21 TAKAGI
DF 27 AOBA, 2 HAGIMURA, 4 TOGAWA, 20 HIROYAMA
MF 10 ANAILSON, 11 ONO, 15 KANAZAWA, 23 NEJIME
FW 9 BASILIO, 16 IIO
Subs: GK 1 MIZUHARA, 5 DEDIMAR, 8 NAGAI (66), 32 KUBA (79), 39 SAITO (35)
THE MATCH
I came in to Nishigaoka Stadium fully expecting a facility that looked like a crack den or the junkyard from Fat Albert......instead, I thought the facility was rather nice. The pitch was a little choppy along the sidelines but it looked to be in good condition and the seats were very close to the action. I'll admit, it's not Saitama 2002 but it's much better than that dump of a stadium that Urawa calls the holy land (Komaba is a hole). It was in much better shape than National, which puts the 1969 seat holders in the upper deck so the can have empty space, torn up concrete, and old tires close to the field. Only 4200+ were in attendance but the close confines, the equal division of supporters and the atmosphere made it feel like a bigger crowd and it started out a little chippy.
Fresh off the burns in the opening minutes of last weeks game against Vissel, Verdy came in with a more focused effort and took it to Consadole. Reminiscent of the Thespa game, Harutaka Ono was the catalyst for the first few attacks for the Vultures. After a scramble in front of the Sapporo goal, Ono took a sharp shot which bounced off both posts and the crossbar and bounced out. Fortunately for Verdy, Yukihiro Aoba cleaned up the mess and notched his first score of the 2006 campaign.
In the past, this would give Verdy the impetus to relax and blow the lead. Not today. Verdy kept the pressure on and controlled the flow of the game.........this seemed to agitate the Consadole side, who stepped up the rough play. Inexplicably, the lead official didn't really take charge or give much warranted cards to the liberty taking team in red and white. The physical play would cause a few anxious moments in front of the Verdy goal but nothing too threatening.
At minute 29, tragedy struck as a Consadole defender went up on the back of Basilio for a header. Basilio clutched his ribs and crumpled to the ground. After a few tense moments, Basilio got up and tried to carry on. In minute 35, he was down again........this time for good. My man Masa Saito entered the competition and proceeded to do his impression of a human bowling ball, running head first into Sapporo defenders. It was possibly the most spastic performance ever by a striker. Kind of funny, kind of scary. The Basilio departure and the downpour that coincided with it sent the team into a small funk for the final ten minutes of the half.Fortuitously, Sapporo was not able to capitalize on it.
The second half started and a slightly more controlled Saito went on the attack with a couple good runs into the Sapporo end. A booming shot went wide right, but sent a message that Saito came to play. In minute 66, Ono (Anailson?) sent a pass forward to Saito who manage to split two defenders, put on a burst of speed, and send a shot past an isolated Hayashi for his first J League goal. He would almost duplicate the feat 10 minutes later, but a thuggish Consadole defender would conspire with an inept official to trip up Saito. Another score would be taken off the board when Hiroyama would be called offsides after putting in a deflected shot.
2-0 VERDY
THREE STARS
1. Shin Kanazawa- Impressive bounce back game.......Ono, Nejime, and Anailson were also good but Kanazawa really locked down the midfield. Good hustle and rarely out of position today. Soilent Green has been hard on the kid, but there were no complaints on Saturday. Great game.
2. Nozomi Hiroyama- Inserted into the back 4, Hiroyama helped settle a beleaguered back 4. All 4 were really impressive.........even Takagi wasn't bad today. By far, the strongest performance from the D line. Give them some time together and we could see some consistent defense.
3. Masaki Saito-Ugly start in an unfortunate situation, but his speed and physicality were refreshing. Might have earned a starting nod against a tough Yokohama defense next week.
FINAL THOUGHTS
Of the 5 games I've been to, this was the most enjoyable. The facility was great for a small crowd and Verdy put on their best performance of the season. The only downside to the whole match were the starting strikers. Basilio was disappointing because he went down with the injury (nothing he did, before that he had good pace and presence). It looked pretty bad and I'm concerned about a break in his ribs or a muscle tear. I'll try and update everyone on his condition. Kasunori Iio was disappointing beause he was tentative and inept. There was no agression or passion........nothing was on his shots. When he had breakaway opportunities, he would hesitate and allow the defenders to converge on him or misplay the ball. Pensiveness is not a good attribute in a striker. Watching his performance against the aggresiveness and decisiveness of Saito really highlighted his problems. It looks like no confidence to me. Saito on the other hand was a little too confident at times, going helter-skelter into opposing players. He got a yellow and could possibly notch up a red in the future, but his performance gave the squad a bit of life after Basilio's injury.
Takagi and the back 4 were efficient, but there were some communication breakdowns that need to be ironed out. It looks like he has more room for error than Mizuhara after 3 less than impressive performances. I also was a bit concerned with the ball punches, but the rain probably caused that more than a change in form. Not a bad performance.
Nick...............I saw a white guy at the game in the 1969 seats......was that you? I was the big guy in the Verdy green tarp and matching verdy hat, not sure if we saw each other or not.
Next match is Ulsan Horang on the 3rd in Korea......I won't be in attendance.
Send in your reports!
Saturday, April 29, 2006
Coming up next on Soilent Green 1969.....
The game report, a preview on the penultimate game versus Ulsan Hyundai Horang-I, and the second edition of monthly rankings, all coming up in the next couple of days on Soilent Green 1969!
Happy Golden Week
Happy Golden Week
Friday, April 28, 2006
AFC game report links
Here are some reports of Verdy games courtesy of the Asian Football Conference
Vissel http://www.afcchampionsleague.com/en/news/index.asp?aid=44261&cid=1310&sqid=253
Vegalta http://www.afcchampionsleague.com/en/news/index.asp?aid=44233&cid=1310&sqid=253&sec=1
Tosu http://www.afcchampionsleague.com/en/news/index.asp?aid=44097&cid=1310&sqid=253&sec=1
Thespa http://www.afcchampionsleague.com/en/news/index.asp?aid=44192&cid=1310&sqid=253&sec=1
Mito http://www.afcchampionsleague.com/en/news/index.asp?aid=44020&cid=1310&sqid=253&sec=1
Kashiwa http://www.afcchampionsleague.com/en/news/index.asp?aid=43965&cid=1310&sqid=253&sec=1
Ehime http://www.afcchampionsleague.com/en/news/index.asp?aid=43783&cid=1310&sqid=253&sec=1&amth=3&ayr=2006
Shonan http://www.afcchampionsleague.com/en/news/index.asp?aid=43723&cid=1310&sqid=253&sec=1&amth=3&ayr=2006
Montedio http://www.afcchampionsleague.com/en/news/index.asp?aid=43890&cid=1310&sqid=253&sec=1&amth=3&ayr=2006
Vortis http://www.afcchampionsleague.com/en/news/index.asp?aid=43630&cid=1310&sqid=253&sec=1&amth=3&ayr=2006
Vissel http://www.afcchampionsleague.com/en/news/index.asp?aid=44261&cid=1310&sqid=253
Vegalta http://www.afcchampionsleague.com/en/news/index.asp?aid=44233&cid=1310&sqid=253&sec=1
Tosu http://www.afcchampionsleague.com/en/news/index.asp?aid=44097&cid=1310&sqid=253&sec=1
Thespa http://www.afcchampionsleague.com/en/news/index.asp?aid=44192&cid=1310&sqid=253&sec=1
Mito http://www.afcchampionsleague.com/en/news/index.asp?aid=44020&cid=1310&sqid=253&sec=1
Kashiwa http://www.afcchampionsleague.com/en/news/index.asp?aid=43965&cid=1310&sqid=253&sec=1
Ehime http://www.afcchampionsleague.com/en/news/index.asp?aid=43783&cid=1310&sqid=253&sec=1&amth=3&ayr=2006
Shonan http://www.afcchampionsleague.com/en/news/index.asp?aid=43723&cid=1310&sqid=253&sec=1&amth=3&ayr=2006
Montedio http://www.afcchampionsleague.com/en/news/index.asp?aid=43890&cid=1310&sqid=253&sec=1&amth=3&ayr=2006
Vortis http://www.afcchampionsleague.com/en/news/index.asp?aid=43630&cid=1310&sqid=253&sec=1&amth=3&ayr=2006
Thursday, April 27, 2006
Well.......it's not Vergara
A Chile fan at bigsoccer confirmed that the ADAN pictured is not Vergara
The mystery continues!
The mystery continues!
Monday, April 24, 2006
A new addition?
major issues printing this
a new (possible) foreign import. Speculation is one of the foreign players might be on the way out........................Oh, BTW....the blog is PRIDE OF GREEN and what I can glean from this is this is a new trialist, a midfielder and his name is ADAN (ADAM?)
Obrigado Dedi......sayonara?
We might have more of a clue tommorow after the training match against Shizuoka FC
Found more info......possibly Adan Vergara (picture above) a 24 year old Chilean who plays for Union Espanola in Chile.......youth team member in 2001 and got kicked out of the Libertadores cup in 2004 for doping.
Anyhow, here's the link to the pictures.........compare the two for yourself
Sunday, April 23, 2006
V is for Victory? Vissel Versus VERDY
This issue of Soilent Green is dedicated to Vissel ubermid Pavel "Horvy" Horvath who I believe is part alien........pictures will detail this in full. Coming off a brutal 3-0 loss at Vegalta Sendai, Verdy hoped to rebound in a clash with fellow 2005 relegation victims Vissel Kobe. Kobe has been arguably more erratic than Verdy, losing games to bottom table teams like Thespa Kusatsu while beating top table sitter Kashiwa Reysol in Kashiwa. Both teams went in without key members, with Kazuki Hiramoto of Verdy and Goalkeeper Kota Ogi both sitting with red cards. Like Mel Gibson in Thunderdome........two teams enter, one team leaves. THE LINEUPS
VISSEL KOBE
GK 30 Kenta TOKUSHIGE
DF 4 Kunie KITAMOTO, 15 EMERSON THOME, 32 Masaki YANAGAWA, 3 Shusuke TSUBOUCHI
MF 16 Tomoaki KOMORIDA,10 HORVY,8 Keisuke KURIHARA
FW 7 PARK Kang Jo,11 Hiroto MOGI,17 Atsuhiro MIURA
SUBS (78 min 22 Kazutaka MURASE), (89 min 18 Hideo TANAKA)
TOKYO VERDY 1969
GK 21 TAKAGI DF 2 HAGIMURA, 3 FUJITA, 4 TOGAWA 27 AOBA MF 7 OHASHI, 10 ANAILSON, 11 ONO, 23NEJIME FW 9 BASILIO, 16 IIO
BENCH 1 MIZUHARA, 8 NAGAI (84 Fujita), 15 KANAZAWA, 20 HIROYAMA (67 Ohashi), 39 SAITO (70 Iio)
The first half was a quick kick to the teeth (sorry,Horvy!) as MF Keisuke Kurihara struck early to put the home squad up 1-0. Basilio managed to get the team level near the end of the half.
The second half started much like the first with our guest of honor putting the home squad up again for a 2-1 lead. Finally, Shingo Nejime got carded, giving Vissel a penalty shot near the end of the game............That's right, Horvy stepped up and put it in.
HORVY IS HAPPY! I however am not.
QUICK THOUGHTS
The combination of Iio and Saito managed 0 shots on goal in the game. Didn't see the game and I can't be really too hard on Saito, because he was only in for 20 minutes but when you play 70 minutes as a striker and don't get a shot, you're not doing your job. 11 shots and Iio didn't get one. I'm not sure if it was a problem with the midfield not getting him the ball or him not being aggressive but it's pretty disappointing. Judging by the stats, it looks like the team was game but just didn't come out ready to start either half. This happened in the Thespa game as well, with them letting up 2 early goals in the second half. For the second game in a row, Takagi and the back 4 were victimized for 3 goals. That gives Takagi a whopping 1.80 GAA, putting him just ahead of Takagi of Thespa. Compare that with 0.3 GAA posted by Vegalta (and former Verdy keeper) Daijiro Takakuwa or Yokohama FC keeper Takanori Sugeno. That's a reflection on the whole D unit and the midfield, not just Takagi (or Mizuhara).
The good news is that Basilio and Hiramoto are 1 and 2 in goals scored. So that is nice. I think the constant changes (while it's good to see new blood) are messing up the team execution. I'll look it up but I don't think the same team has started twice yet this year. Nurishi last week, Nejime this week........Kuba, RICKHIKI, Tsurumaki, one of the other ONO's?
Live by the score, die by the score................never boring on planet Verdy.
Anyhow, if the season were to end today.....I'd have to prepare stories about Takuya Yamada leading Cerezo Osaka against his old team in the second year of J2. Verdy is in 4th.
Anyhow Consadole Sapporo on the 29th at Nishigaoka.....If anyone saw the Sendai or Vissel slaughters, please drop me a line! and if you know how the hell to get to Nishigaoka (what train, what line, what station.......) please let me know!
Friday, April 21, 2006
Verdy lineup for todays game
GK 21 TAKAGI
DF 2 HAGIMURA, 3 FUJITA, 4 TOGAWA 27 AOBA
MF 7 OHASHI, 10 ANAILSON, 11 ONO, 23 NEJIME
FW 9 BASILIO, 16 IIO
BENCH 1 MIZUHARA, 8 NAGAI, 15 KANAZAWA, 20 HIROYAMA, 39 SAITO
Let's see how this collection works. Here's hoping Saito notches a few today and Nejime has a good game
DF 2 HAGIMURA, 3 FUJITA, 4 TOGAWA 27 AOBA
MF 7 OHASHI, 10 ANAILSON, 11 ONO, 23 NEJIME
FW 9 BASILIO, 16 IIO
BENCH 1 MIZUHARA, 8 NAGAI, 15 KANAZAWA, 20 HIROYAMA, 39 SAITO
Let's see how this collection works. Here's hoping Saito notches a few today and Nejime has a good game
Thursday, April 20, 2006
More thoughts on the blowout/RSN update
First off, Matsu of the Rising Sun News e-mailed and said his site is working again.....good news.
Second......I have more to say on yesterdays game. I have given Ramos credit for his in game substitutions and coaching......that being said, the red cards fall on his head as well. First it was Fujita the idiot boy, then Basilio, next it was the Diabolical Dedimar and now Hiramoto........4 reds in 9 games is inexcusable.....that is a lapse in discipline. The team has been playing hard but they've had mental lapses and breakdowns. That also falls on Ramos. I'm not in panic mode.......yet, but the midfield and D line need to tighten up soon. Looking at the top 5, Verdy is the only team with a less than stellar D, Basilio and Hiramoto have masked the stench with the effervescent fragrance of their scoring prowess.
Vegalta have allowed 3 goals in 9 games, Yokohama FC 3 in 9, Consadole Sapporo 6 in 9 games, and Kashiwa 9 in 10 games (6 in the last 3 games......all losses). Warning signs abound.
After allowing 5 goals in 2 games, I don't see the back line of Hagimura, Fujita, Togawa, and Aoba being long for this world. I'm not quite sure who Ramos goes to though........maybe RICKHIKI but I'm hoping no more Yanagisawa or Dedimar.
The midfield is more of a conundrum. Ohashi seems to fade after every good game in the national. Nagai and Kanazawa didn't look awful in the Thespa game, at least not awful enough to drop completely from the main squad. The keeper situation is a mess, I'd like to see Kurokawa get a shot but he's been stinking up training matches, from what the reports have said.
Finally, the Hiramoto red card might give Saito a second chance at redemption. I'm guessing Iio is going to be partnered with Basilio but I'd like to see Saito break through and get the third spot. Unless Mini Moto is completely healed, then I'd like to see him as the three.
Second......I have more to say on yesterdays game. I have given Ramos credit for his in game substitutions and coaching......that being said, the red cards fall on his head as well. First it was Fujita the idiot boy, then Basilio, next it was the Diabolical Dedimar and now Hiramoto........4 reds in 9 games is inexcusable.....that is a lapse in discipline. The team has been playing hard but they've had mental lapses and breakdowns. That also falls on Ramos. I'm not in panic mode.......yet, but the midfield and D line need to tighten up soon. Looking at the top 5, Verdy is the only team with a less than stellar D, Basilio and Hiramoto have masked the stench with the effervescent fragrance of their scoring prowess.
Vegalta have allowed 3 goals in 9 games, Yokohama FC 3 in 9, Consadole Sapporo 6 in 9 games, and Kashiwa 9 in 10 games (6 in the last 3 games......all losses). Warning signs abound.
After allowing 5 goals in 2 games, I don't see the back line of Hagimura, Fujita, Togawa, and Aoba being long for this world. I'm not quite sure who Ramos goes to though........maybe RICKHIKI but I'm hoping no more Yanagisawa or Dedimar.
The midfield is more of a conundrum. Ohashi seems to fade after every good game in the national. Nagai and Kanazawa didn't look awful in the Thespa game, at least not awful enough to drop completely from the main squad. The keeper situation is a mess, I'd like to see Kurokawa get a shot but he's been stinking up training matches, from what the reports have said.
Finally, the Hiramoto red card might give Saito a second chance at redemption. I'm guessing Iio is going to be partnered with Basilio but I'd like to see Saito break through and get the third spot. Unless Mini Moto is completely healed, then I'd like to see him as the three.
Wednesday, April 19, 2006
Where Verdy sits in the pecking order-Verdy vs Vegalta
Here's a little visual to show you the results of the Verdy/Vegalta match on tuesday. Not good, not pretty and it gets even worse.
Verdy was coming in a 3 game winning streak, led by the majestic Hiramoto and his 5 goals in 3 games.
Buoyed by a last minute PK save from the bright pink monster in the net, Verdy hoped to go atop of J2.......anyhow, that didn't happen
THE LINEUP
VERDY only
GK 21 TAKAGI
DF 2 HAGIMURA, 3 FUJITA, 4 TOGAWA, 27 AOBA
MF 7 OHASHI, 10 ANAILSON, 40 NURISHI, 11 ONO
FW 9 BASILIO, 25 HIRAMOTO
SUBS: GK 1 MIZUHARA, 20 HIROYAMA (61 FUJITA), 16 IIO (74 ANAILSON), 23 NEJIME, 42 RICK not Hiki(69 AOBA)
According to the interviews, it looks like Verdy had a really strong first half, only to have a defensive lapse in the 44th minute benifitting Vegalta mid Ryan Yon Gi. The second half saw 2 more scores for the home yellow as imports Borges and Thiago Neves also notched goals for Vegalta. A 3-0 loss was pretty predictable considering Verdy had scraped by in 3 games but a Hiramoto red card was a little too much to bear. The good news is Kashiwa is a 3 game tailspin and no ground was lost..........the bad news is that Vegalta and Yokohama FC are now creeping up.
Nice to see (or read in my case) that Ramos refuses to stand pat and lets new blood into the lineup with the addition of Ryo Nurishi and the continued inclusion of RICKHIKI. Don't know if Dedimar is on the outs soon or if it's just a chance to see what RICKHIKI can do. Kanazawa and Nagai were also jettisoned off the first squad again.
Next up is a saturday battle in Kobe against the Vissel. Vissel dropped a game to Yokohama FC and also lost their starting keeper to a red card. That's almost impossible.
Monday, April 17, 2006
Vegalta/Rising Sun News/Nicks views
No time for the Vegalta preview.........I have a bad feeling about this game tomorrow.
Matsu at Rising Sun News gave me an update on his website.......seems the server went down and he is trying mightily to resurrect the site. Hopefully it won't last too long, there are only a handful of reputable sites on J League shenanigans and I count RSN among the top (I do like Lost in Translation and G!G!OA is my second home). Anyhow, keep your fingers crossed!
Finally, The Notorious N.I.C. (Nick actually) has graced us with some pearls of wisdom and yes we will have beer at Consadole game.
Nick has left a new comment on your post "Ballhawk Down.........Sagan Tosu vs. VERDY": Again the Boys make us sweat for the win!! Its never easy with Verdy,they like to tease you,pretend they don`t want the points and are completely contented to stay in this crap division!! Game of about three and a half halfs if you get what I mean. Anyway,to begin with first 20 minutes Verdy looked like Rocky Ballboa`s Golden XL v A Particularly Inept Ashmatic Lactose Intolerant Inhaler Wielding Flat Foot Invitational AllStars B Team. The passes were zinging around,nice build up plays, a couple of chances, Hiramoto forcing a great save from the keeper after a quality ball in from a free kick by Anailson.After about 10 minutes of concerted Verdy pressure a Kustsu defender was carefully sheperding a seemingly harmless ball out for a goal kick,when from nowhere Ono (of all people!!) sneaked in behind and robbed the hapless numpty of the ball.Ono whipped in a perfect cross onto the head of Hiramoto who knocked it passed the keeper. The keeper managed to get a bit of a hand to it,but Hiramoto had just enough on it to send it trundling into the net. Great work from our often (by me a lot at least) derided Captain. Great goal,a goal that came from chasing a lost cause,the man Ono earned a good number of brownie points with this set up. Superb. Anyway,at this point I was considering by how many goals Verdy would win by, Kusatsu hadnt offered a thing apart from a skied effort which Furita probably blasted for a home run in Jingu Stadium next door.As always though, these easy victorys are never that easy. Slowly as the half wore on,Verdys previously explosive attacking play became more and more laboured and slowly Kusatsu began to creep back into the match. A period of midfield stalemate ensued with few chances at either end.However Kusatsu began to force the issue just before half time with some considerable pressure especially down Fujitas right side. They forced Takagi into a neat one handed save just before the break and worse was to follow....The twp teams lined up second half the same as the first. Agian, as seems to be so often this year Verdy were caught napping after the break. The ball had gone for a corner after a neat move from Kusatsu on the left, the corner came in and nobody seemed to notice the GIANT Kusatsu forward lurking around the penalty spot. The commentaters informed me (about 500 times throughout the game) that the said forward measuerd 196cm. Now Im not an expert on the average size of forwards,but is it only me or is this guy massive?? You`d think someone in the defence would think "Ah! this guys huge, better keep an eye out for him lurking around the box area....." nope! free header and the ball in the back of the net.Again, the old Ah well! d`unt matter,we`ll still do `em mentality kicked in....for about five minutes till the same GIANT steamed past Fujita ,(who had his hand up for offside,and in doing so lost about 3 yards on the said Bohemuth)and smashed the ball into the roof of the net at Takagis near post. (No blame for the guy in pink here, but Fujita....play to the whistle for pitys sake,schoolboy coaching). So,once again the Boys had it all to do. Ramos brought on Hiki and Ohashi for Nagai and Kanazawa (I think). They both made good contributions today,Hashi in particular looked dangerous going forward and was the man for the job. Hiki took a while to get into the game and had a few wayward passes,particularly one for Basillio when he was in a great position,but he also had his moments. Ramos put the attacking guys in when needed and no doubt hes not scared to give it a shot,when we are behind. His philosophy seems to be, if we are gonna lose then at least we are gonna do it attacking!! he is Verdy through and through!! Losing 5-4 is better than drawing 0-0!"!As a spectater I fully agree. Anyway,after a scrambled corner, to which Ono had a goalward bound header cleared off the line, Hiramoto bundled in the rebound to make it 2-2.We were back in the game and going by results so far this season concerning come from behind wins,there was only ever gonna be one winner.And so it was, in the 80th (ish) minute Hiramoto broke clear on the left after being found by Anailson(i think) and headed off towards goal, the Kusatsu full backs valiantly raising their arms in the hope of offside (until they saw the centre back virtually playing Takagi onside!!) Basillio was calling for the ball in the middle but there was only ever one place Hiramoto was going to go for when on a hat trick.....the bottom corner of the onion bag for three points. Neat finish from a quality pass from Anailson (i think again).Ramos hailed Hiramoto as The Master from the touchline and it was game over from here on in. Again The Boys had done their very best to try and lose but they just couldnt do it!! How the hell have we won so many games when we could have had no complaints if we had lost them all!! Black Magic?? Voodoo?? The secret must be Ramos` Lucky Perm. Im not joking, if he ever has a haircut we will sink like a stone.Im convinced. Onwards and Upwards. The Boys March On.All Hail The Do!!!Stars for the day. Hiramoto,Hiramoto and Hiramoto.(thought Aoba looked solid.played ok,Fujita is a D=O-N-K-E-Y).ps got my tickets for Consadole match today.Defo on for a few beers,its my first day of Golden Week holidays.
Matsu at Rising Sun News gave me an update on his website.......seems the server went down and he is trying mightily to resurrect the site. Hopefully it won't last too long, there are only a handful of reputable sites on J League shenanigans and I count RSN among the top (I do like Lost in Translation and G!G!OA is my second home). Anyhow, keep your fingers crossed!
Finally, The Notorious N.I.C. (Nick actually) has graced us with some pearls of wisdom and yes we will have beer at Consadole game.
Nick has left a new comment on your post "Ballhawk Down.........Sagan Tosu vs. VERDY": Again the Boys make us sweat for the win!! Its never easy with Verdy,they like to tease you,pretend they don`t want the points and are completely contented to stay in this crap division!! Game of about three and a half halfs if you get what I mean. Anyway,to begin with first 20 minutes Verdy looked like Rocky Ballboa`s Golden XL v A Particularly Inept Ashmatic Lactose Intolerant Inhaler Wielding Flat Foot Invitational AllStars B Team. The passes were zinging around,nice build up plays, a couple of chances, Hiramoto forcing a great save from the keeper after a quality ball in from a free kick by Anailson.After about 10 minutes of concerted Verdy pressure a Kustsu defender was carefully sheperding a seemingly harmless ball out for a goal kick,when from nowhere Ono (of all people!!) sneaked in behind and robbed the hapless numpty of the ball.Ono whipped in a perfect cross onto the head of Hiramoto who knocked it passed the keeper. The keeper managed to get a bit of a hand to it,but Hiramoto had just enough on it to send it trundling into the net. Great work from our often (by me a lot at least) derided Captain. Great goal,a goal that came from chasing a lost cause,the man Ono earned a good number of brownie points with this set up. Superb. Anyway,at this point I was considering by how many goals Verdy would win by, Kusatsu hadnt offered a thing apart from a skied effort which Furita probably blasted for a home run in Jingu Stadium next door.As always though, these easy victorys are never that easy. Slowly as the half wore on,Verdys previously explosive attacking play became more and more laboured and slowly Kusatsu began to creep back into the match. A period of midfield stalemate ensued with few chances at either end.However Kusatsu began to force the issue just before half time with some considerable pressure especially down Fujitas right side. They forced Takagi into a neat one handed save just before the break and worse was to follow....The twp teams lined up second half the same as the first. Agian, as seems to be so often this year Verdy were caught napping after the break. The ball had gone for a corner after a neat move from Kusatsu on the left, the corner came in and nobody seemed to notice the GIANT Kusatsu forward lurking around the penalty spot. The commentaters informed me (about 500 times throughout the game) that the said forward measuerd 196cm. Now Im not an expert on the average size of forwards,but is it only me or is this guy massive?? You`d think someone in the defence would think "Ah! this guys huge, better keep an eye out for him lurking around the box area....." nope! free header and the ball in the back of the net.Again, the old Ah well! d`unt matter,we`ll still do `em mentality kicked in....for about five minutes till the same GIANT steamed past Fujita ,(who had his hand up for offside,and in doing so lost about 3 yards on the said Bohemuth)and smashed the ball into the roof of the net at Takagis near post. (No blame for the guy in pink here, but Fujita....play to the whistle for pitys sake,schoolboy coaching). So,once again the Boys had it all to do. Ramos brought on Hiki and Ohashi for Nagai and Kanazawa (I think). They both made good contributions today,Hashi in particular looked dangerous going forward and was the man for the job. Hiki took a while to get into the game and had a few wayward passes,particularly one for Basillio when he was in a great position,but he also had his moments. Ramos put the attacking guys in when needed and no doubt hes not scared to give it a shot,when we are behind. His philosophy seems to be, if we are gonna lose then at least we are gonna do it attacking!! he is Verdy through and through!! Losing 5-4 is better than drawing 0-0!"!As a spectater I fully agree. Anyway,after a scrambled corner, to which Ono had a goalward bound header cleared off the line, Hiramoto bundled in the rebound to make it 2-2.We were back in the game and going by results so far this season concerning come from behind wins,there was only ever gonna be one winner.And so it was, in the 80th (ish) minute Hiramoto broke clear on the left after being found by Anailson(i think) and headed off towards goal, the Kusatsu full backs valiantly raising their arms in the hope of offside (until they saw the centre back virtually playing Takagi onside!!) Basillio was calling for the ball in the middle but there was only ever one place Hiramoto was going to go for when on a hat trick.....the bottom corner of the onion bag for three points. Neat finish from a quality pass from Anailson (i think again).Ramos hailed Hiramoto as The Master from the touchline and it was game over from here on in. Again The Boys had done their very best to try and lose but they just couldnt do it!! How the hell have we won so many games when we could have had no complaints if we had lost them all!! Black Magic?? Voodoo?? The secret must be Ramos` Lucky Perm. Im not joking, if he ever has a haircut we will sink like a stone.Im convinced. Onwards and Upwards. The Boys March On.All Hail The Do!!!Stars for the day. Hiramoto,Hiramoto and Hiramoto.(thought Aoba looked solid.played ok,Fujita is a D=O-N-K-E-Y).ps got my tickets for Consadole match today.Defo on for a few beers,its my first day of Golden Week holidays.
Saturday, April 15, 2006
My Takagi is bigger than yours-THESPA vs VERDY
I'm going to preface this post with a little story about my mood before the match. I was in a bad mood, a very bad mood. I don't like the train ride to Tokyo so I got there in a steam. I went to get my bag checked and after 15 minutes, they finally found my soda (no pet bottles are allowed in Tokyo stadiums). I then went to the beverage guy so he could empty the contents of said bottle into a cup........or around the cup,on the cup, and on the ground. His one job and he's failing miserably. He hands me the sticky cup and I grab another one to put the mess into and walk to my seat. I get to one area where they say that the seats are and the ushers tell me to go all the way around the stadium in the opposite direction.
OK, I'm pissed now.........I go to the Tokyo Verdy supporters booth to get my card points added for no reason, I suppose because I haven't ever qualified for anything. Not even sure what the card is good for. The supporter people are blabbering at me about how I don't get anything until January and two others have a loud speaker and are shouting "Join the club" while the people are blabbering really fast. So finally, I yell "SHUT UP" at the megaphone people. They pause for a second, start blabbering again and I turn around and yell "SHUUUUUUUT UP" again. Problem solved.
I then go to the 1969 seats which are way up there......I'm by myself until a family of 5 come up behind me with those frigging Thunder Stix and the kids start banging them right behind my head. I move away, settle in and drink what's left of my soda. Let's get to the game.
LINEUPS
THESPA KUSATSU
GK 1 Takahiro TAKAGI
DF 2 Masahiro MOMITANI ,6 Nobuhito TORIIZUKA, 4 Ryu SAITO, 3 Mitsumasa YODA
MF 15 Yoshiki NAKAI, 13 Wataru YAMAZAKI, 10 Yusuke SHIMADA, 7 Sotaro SADA
FW 20 Atsushi YOSHIMOTO, 24 Keisuke OTA
SUBS: MF 19 Ryo GOTO (81 Yamazaki), FW 14 Masami SATO (81 Yoda), FW 9 Yasunori TAKADA (78 Yoshimoto)
VERDY 1969
GK 21 TAKAGI
DF 2 HAGIMURA, 3 FUJITA, 4 TOGAWA, 27 AOBA
MF 8 NAGAI, 10 ANAILSON, 11 ONO, 15 KANAZAWA
FW 9 BASILIO, 25 HIRAMOTO
SUBS: GK 1 MIZUHARA, 7 OHASHI (51 NAGAI), 16 IIO (68 FUJITA), 32 KUBA, 42 RICK not Hiki(51 KANAZAWA)
THE MATCH
Coming off of two hard fought and, some would say, fortuitous wins on the road, EL BUITRE came in to fight the young and struggling spa men of Kusatsu. Led by a couple of former Omiya Ardija players in GK Takahiro Takagi and MF Yusuke Shimada, Thespa has only managed 7 points in 7 games to sit second from bottom.
Possibly buoyed by their recent run of wins (or maybe because they were home) Verdy went out early on the attack. Hiramoto, in a preview of things to come, started things off with a crack shot that Thespa Takagi was able to wrangle in. Verdy really looked lively, breaking through early against a Thespa defense that was severely lacking. The first goal would come quick as a hustling Harutaka Ono started to show glimpses of why Ramos named him captain. Ono outran a Thespa defender, kept the ball in play on the endline, dribbled, and sent a beautiful cross right to the head of a well positioned Hiramoto. 1-0 VERDY.
Surprisingly, this caused Verdy to relax a bit too much. Thespa took over the role of agressor, consistently breaking down Verdy's D line. Thespa Shimada weaved in and out of the back 4, consistently setting up the massive Keisuke Ota. Ota, for his part was depositing the ball everywhere except near the goal. In the first half, it could be argued that he was the best Verdy defender. The only shot that was really on goal was a weak header that VERDY Takagi managed to muff and drop out of bounds for a gift corner. Thespa then got it to Ota who managed to kick it into the Thespa supporter section.
The second half would start like the first ended, with Thespa on the attack. First minute of the second half sees sloppy play from the back 4. Unable to clear, Thespa gets a cross into Ota who puts a clean header into the back of the net............VERDY Takagi is like a statue. No response at all. 3 minutes later, Ota isolates Togawa, who is completely inept on the play. Ota gets into a strange angle at the goal and puts a bullet into the net. Again, Takagi is frozen in place. 2-1 Thespa.
Ramos goes to his bench in the 51st minute, pulling Kanazawa and Nagai, and inserting Ohashi and Rick/Hiki. Both players provide a nice push and the game creeps slowly back in the buzzards control. Verdy manages to force a corner which Ohashi delivers perfectly to Ono. Ono clanks a header off the post, falling fortuitously at the feet of Hiramoto. Hiramoto does what he does best and puts it in the net to tie things up. 2-2
Verdy is in a 3-4-3 formation from what I could tell with Iio joining Basilio and Hiramoto up top. Another breakaway situation found Hiramoto isolated on the keeper. Not one to pass up a shooting opportunity, Hiramoto waved off a streaking Basilio and faked Takagi out of his shoes and put in the third goal for a hat trick. 3-2 Verdy.
Thespa then picked up the pace, pushing up into the Verdy end. Yasunori Takada got into the Verdy box and was taken down by a late reacting VERDY Takagi in the 84th minute. Yellow card, Takagi.........penalty kick THESPA. Takada lines up for the shot and sends a bullet at Takagi who springs up ad knocks it over the net......no goal, Goat to Hero in an instant.
VERDY is victorious again.
MEN OF THE MATCH
1. Hiramoto-The streak continues. It's funny that his hot streak has coincided with the emergence of Morimoto in training. 5 goals in three games, including 3 game winners.
2. Ohashi-His best performances have taken place in the National. Nice pace and the corner kick brought Verdy back from the brink.
3.Ono-I believe he had a hand in all 3 goals today. Play of the year hustling for the loose ball and setting up Hiramoto on the first goal. Finally, he did something right.
THE RICK REPORT
I really like what I saw from this kid. not polished yet but he has decent speed and good strength. He stood his ground on a couple of knocks and had a nice touch on the ball. It looks like he knows what he wants to do with the ball but isn't quite there yet with the passes. If I had to choose between the 4 Brazilians, I'd pick him to go with Anailson and Basilio over Dedimar. Nice find by Ramos. Defense is a little suspect, but on this team whose isn't?
FINAL THOUGHTS
I like the fact that Verdy is able to fight back after falling behind. What I'm not impressed with is the falling behind part. Verdy could have easily put this game away but they let up and Ota took advantage. Except for Ono and the subs, there wasn't much to be impressed about with the midfield yesterday. Definetely a regression for a 4 that's been playing well. The 3-4-3 shift worked well..............Ramos has been amazing with the subs, I don't think he's made a bad call yet. Thespa is really light on talent.......Shimada and Takada are quality, Ota redeemed himself in the second half and Sotaro Sada is a nice player but the rest of the team is lacking, Shimada was also Dedimar disasterous on the free kicks.
Finally I have to save a special paragraph for the defense and keeper. It's a nightmare. Right now Verdy is playing the lesser lights of J2 but looming in the wings are Vegalta, Consadole, and (can't believe I'm saying this) Yokohama FC. Those are teams with solid D. Those are teams that score on counterattacks and don't make mistakes. I fear danger is coming soon and a back 4 that is like swiss cheese and a Keeper with the reflexes of a Madame Tussaud creation is not fostering confidence.
NEXT MATCH: Tuesday 4/18 vs Vegalta at 7pm in Sendai
I'll post Nick's comments on the game on the main board Tomorrow night (Thanks, Nick!)
I'll try and get a preview for Vegalta tomorrow as well. again if you saw the game and have comments, send em in and I'll give you the board!
OK, I'm pissed now.........I go to the Tokyo Verdy supporters booth to get my card points added for no reason, I suppose because I haven't ever qualified for anything. Not even sure what the card is good for. The supporter people are blabbering at me about how I don't get anything until January and two others have a loud speaker and are shouting "Join the club" while the people are blabbering really fast. So finally, I yell "SHUT UP" at the megaphone people. They pause for a second, start blabbering again and I turn around and yell "SHUUUUUUUT UP" again. Problem solved.
I then go to the 1969 seats which are way up there......I'm by myself until a family of 5 come up behind me with those frigging Thunder Stix and the kids start banging them right behind my head. I move away, settle in and drink what's left of my soda. Let's get to the game.
LINEUPS
THESPA KUSATSU
GK 1 Takahiro TAKAGI
DF 2 Masahiro MOMITANI ,6 Nobuhito TORIIZUKA, 4 Ryu SAITO, 3 Mitsumasa YODA
MF 15 Yoshiki NAKAI, 13 Wataru YAMAZAKI, 10 Yusuke SHIMADA, 7 Sotaro SADA
FW 20 Atsushi YOSHIMOTO, 24 Keisuke OTA
SUBS: MF 19 Ryo GOTO (81 Yamazaki), FW 14 Masami SATO (81 Yoda), FW 9 Yasunori TAKADA (78 Yoshimoto)
VERDY 1969
GK 21 TAKAGI
DF 2 HAGIMURA, 3 FUJITA, 4 TOGAWA, 27 AOBA
MF 8 NAGAI, 10 ANAILSON, 11 ONO, 15 KANAZAWA
FW 9 BASILIO, 25 HIRAMOTO
SUBS: GK 1 MIZUHARA, 7 OHASHI (51 NAGAI), 16 IIO (68 FUJITA), 32 KUBA, 42 RICK not Hiki(51 KANAZAWA)
THE MATCH
Coming off of two hard fought and, some would say, fortuitous wins on the road, EL BUITRE came in to fight the young and struggling spa men of Kusatsu. Led by a couple of former Omiya Ardija players in GK Takahiro Takagi and MF Yusuke Shimada, Thespa has only managed 7 points in 7 games to sit second from bottom.
Possibly buoyed by their recent run of wins (or maybe because they were home) Verdy went out early on the attack. Hiramoto, in a preview of things to come, started things off with a crack shot that Thespa Takagi was able to wrangle in. Verdy really looked lively, breaking through early against a Thespa defense that was severely lacking. The first goal would come quick as a hustling Harutaka Ono started to show glimpses of why Ramos named him captain. Ono outran a Thespa defender, kept the ball in play on the endline, dribbled, and sent a beautiful cross right to the head of a well positioned Hiramoto. 1-0 VERDY.
Surprisingly, this caused Verdy to relax a bit too much. Thespa took over the role of agressor, consistently breaking down Verdy's D line. Thespa Shimada weaved in and out of the back 4, consistently setting up the massive Keisuke Ota. Ota, for his part was depositing the ball everywhere except near the goal. In the first half, it could be argued that he was the best Verdy defender. The only shot that was really on goal was a weak header that VERDY Takagi managed to muff and drop out of bounds for a gift corner. Thespa then got it to Ota who managed to kick it into the Thespa supporter section.
The second half would start like the first ended, with Thespa on the attack. First minute of the second half sees sloppy play from the back 4. Unable to clear, Thespa gets a cross into Ota who puts a clean header into the back of the net............VERDY Takagi is like a statue. No response at all. 3 minutes later, Ota isolates Togawa, who is completely inept on the play. Ota gets into a strange angle at the goal and puts a bullet into the net. Again, Takagi is frozen in place. 2-1 Thespa.
Ramos goes to his bench in the 51st minute, pulling Kanazawa and Nagai, and inserting Ohashi and Rick/Hiki. Both players provide a nice push and the game creeps slowly back in the buzzards control. Verdy manages to force a corner which Ohashi delivers perfectly to Ono. Ono clanks a header off the post, falling fortuitously at the feet of Hiramoto. Hiramoto does what he does best and puts it in the net to tie things up. 2-2
Verdy is in a 3-4-3 formation from what I could tell with Iio joining Basilio and Hiramoto up top. Another breakaway situation found Hiramoto isolated on the keeper. Not one to pass up a shooting opportunity, Hiramoto waved off a streaking Basilio and faked Takagi out of his shoes and put in the third goal for a hat trick. 3-2 Verdy.
Thespa then picked up the pace, pushing up into the Verdy end. Yasunori Takada got into the Verdy box and was taken down by a late reacting VERDY Takagi in the 84th minute. Yellow card, Takagi.........penalty kick THESPA. Takada lines up for the shot and sends a bullet at Takagi who springs up ad knocks it over the net......no goal, Goat to Hero in an instant.
VERDY is victorious again.
MEN OF THE MATCH
1. Hiramoto-The streak continues. It's funny that his hot streak has coincided with the emergence of Morimoto in training. 5 goals in three games, including 3 game winners.
2. Ohashi-His best performances have taken place in the National. Nice pace and the corner kick brought Verdy back from the brink.
3.Ono-I believe he had a hand in all 3 goals today. Play of the year hustling for the loose ball and setting up Hiramoto on the first goal. Finally, he did something right.
THE RICK REPORT
I really like what I saw from this kid. not polished yet but he has decent speed and good strength. He stood his ground on a couple of knocks and had a nice touch on the ball. It looks like he knows what he wants to do with the ball but isn't quite there yet with the passes. If I had to choose between the 4 Brazilians, I'd pick him to go with Anailson and Basilio over Dedimar. Nice find by Ramos. Defense is a little suspect, but on this team whose isn't?
FINAL THOUGHTS
I like the fact that Verdy is able to fight back after falling behind. What I'm not impressed with is the falling behind part. Verdy could have easily put this game away but they let up and Ota took advantage. Except for Ono and the subs, there wasn't much to be impressed about with the midfield yesterday. Definetely a regression for a 4 that's been playing well. The 3-4-3 shift worked well..............Ramos has been amazing with the subs, I don't think he's made a bad call yet. Thespa is really light on talent.......Shimada and Takada are quality, Ota redeemed himself in the second half and Sotaro Sada is a nice player but the rest of the team is lacking, Shimada was also Dedimar disasterous on the free kicks.
Finally I have to save a special paragraph for the defense and keeper. It's a nightmare. Right now Verdy is playing the lesser lights of J2 but looming in the wings are Vegalta, Consadole, and (can't believe I'm saying this) Yokohama FC. Those are teams with solid D. Those are teams that score on counterattacks and don't make mistakes. I fear danger is coming soon and a back 4 that is like swiss cheese and a Keeper with the reflexes of a Madame Tussaud creation is not fostering confidence.
NEXT MATCH: Tuesday 4/18 vs Vegalta at 7pm in Sendai
I'll post Nick's comments on the game on the main board Tomorrow night (Thanks, Nick!)
I'll try and get a preview for Vegalta tomorrow as well. again if you saw the game and have comments, send em in and I'll give you the board!
4/12 The Meiji University Training match
Wednesday saw the Buzzards take on the young lads of Meiji University. I'm not gonna go into too many details on this because I need to work on the game report but here are the essentials..............3 halves at 30 minutes apiece, Starters played the first 30, second team came on in period 2, and the sattelites and training players were among the final 3.
Hiki (or Rick, as I found out at the game) played with the starting 11 and the second unit.
The scoring ended up 2-0, 0-0, 3-3 for a final of 5-3 Verdy.
Young Mr. Morimoto scored twice in the final period. Masa Ono (Shinji's little brother) also found his way in the final 3. Iio took Basilio's place in the starting 11. It looks like Saito is slowly fading out of the first team picture.
Dedimar played in the second and third period wih new signing Killoran. Korea looms in a couple of weeks so I can't imagine sending the first team out.
Hiki (or Rick, as I found out at the game) played with the starting 11 and the second unit.
The scoring ended up 2-0, 0-0, 3-3 for a final of 5-3 Verdy.
Young Mr. Morimoto scored twice in the final period. Masa Ono (Shinji's little brother) also found his way in the final 3. Iio took Basilio's place in the starting 11. It looks like Saito is slowly fading out of the first team picture.
Dedimar played in the second and third period wih new signing Killoran. Korea looms in a couple of weeks so I can't imagine sending the first team out.
Apologies
I'm a bit sick right now......I'll have the training match, Thespa game and Vegalta preview tomorrow.Stay tuned
Monday, April 10, 2006
Just for fun-My former Verdy 11
So........nothing is going on in Buzzardland. I decided to pick a team of active J-leaguers who used to wear the green....11 starters and 3 subs. Talented but flawed!
Forwards- Washington (Urawa) and Kazu Miura(Yokohama FC) I picked these two to start because one is a huge tank that can't be stopped and the other is a crowd pleaser who hits once in awhile. I have 2 forwards in reserve in Naoto Sakurai (Omiya) and Marquinhos (Shimizu S-Pulse). Marquinhos can fill the Washington spot when he gets lazy and Naoto can come in and change the pace of the game with his speed.
Midfielders- This is a bit thin..................I chose Daigo Kobayashi (Omiya) because he is a one man force (4 goals 6 assists). Kentaro Hayashi (Ventforet Kofu) and Takahito Soma (Urawa) fill the wings. Hayashi has been especially impressive anchoring the middle for the new J1 squad.
Finally because the field is thin, I picked Takuya Yamada (Cherry blossom Osaka delightful terminator). I left off Toda because he is stinking up Sanfrecce and Yoshiyuki Kobayashi because I have 3 Omiya players on the squad.
Defenders- Yuji Nakazawa (Yokohama FM) is the heart of this thin collection of talent. Atsuhiro Miura (Vissel Kobe), Yukio Tsuchiya (Omiya), and Atsushi Yoneyama (Kawasaki Frontale) fill out the back line. Junji Nishizawa (Consadole Sapporo) is the 5th defender and can in for short stints.
Goalkeeper- Daijiro Takakuwa (Vegalta Sendai) this Veteran keeper has only let in 3 goals in 7 games. Considering what's in net.......I would think Verdy would kill to have him back.
My coach would be Kashiwas Nobuhiro Ishizaki. You might remeber him as the skipper last year who led the team to wins over Fiorentina and Real Madrid. He also has Reysol at the top of J2 with a 6-1-1 record.
Just my 2 cents...................BTW........Nick, check the comments page below.
Forwards- Washington (Urawa) and Kazu Miura(Yokohama FC) I picked these two to start because one is a huge tank that can't be stopped and the other is a crowd pleaser who hits once in awhile. I have 2 forwards in reserve in Naoto Sakurai (Omiya) and Marquinhos (Shimizu S-Pulse). Marquinhos can fill the Washington spot when he gets lazy and Naoto can come in and change the pace of the game with his speed.
Midfielders- This is a bit thin..................I chose Daigo Kobayashi (Omiya) because he is a one man force (4 goals 6 assists). Kentaro Hayashi (Ventforet Kofu) and Takahito Soma (Urawa) fill the wings. Hayashi has been especially impressive anchoring the middle for the new J1 squad.
Finally because the field is thin, I picked Takuya Yamada (Cherry blossom Osaka delightful terminator). I left off Toda because he is stinking up Sanfrecce and Yoshiyuki Kobayashi because I have 3 Omiya players on the squad.
Defenders- Yuji Nakazawa (Yokohama FM) is the heart of this thin collection of talent. Atsuhiro Miura (Vissel Kobe), Yukio Tsuchiya (Omiya), and Atsushi Yoneyama (Kawasaki Frontale) fill out the back line. Junji Nishizawa (Consadole Sapporo) is the 5th defender and can in for short stints.
Goalkeeper- Daijiro Takakuwa (Vegalta Sendai) this Veteran keeper has only let in 3 goals in 7 games. Considering what's in net.......I would think Verdy would kill to have him back.
My coach would be Kashiwas Nobuhiro Ishizaki. You might remeber him as the skipper last year who led the team to wins over Fiorentina and Real Madrid. He also has Reysol at the top of J2 with a 6-1-1 record.
Just my 2 cents...................BTW........Nick, check the comments page below.
Saturday, April 08, 2006
Ballhawk Down.........Sagan Tosu vs. VERDY
26 minutes. That's how long Verdy was on equal terms with the pale blue and pink warriors of Sagan Tosu. It's getting to be a pathological problem with Verdy. 26 minutes. Has nobody learned the damage that can be caused by making stupid tackles? 26 minutes. Two yellows in a 26 minute span....................
THE LINEUPS
Sagan Tosu
GK 31 Toshimitsu ASAI
DF 26 Toyoki HASEGAWA, 13 Megumu YOSHIDA, 4 Kazuya IIO, 16 Keiji TAKACHI
MF 7 Takeshi HAMADA, 14 Yoshiki TAKAHASHI,8 YOON Jong Hwan, 34 Junya YAMASHIRO
FW 25 Yoshihito FUJITA, 11 Tatsunori ARAI
SUBS: FW 9 Taakaki SUZUKI (54 min FUJITA), MF 20 Takayuki YAMAGUCHI (69 min TAKAHASHI), MF 30 Tatsuya KAMOHARA (75 min HAMADA)
TOKYO VERDY 1969
GK 21 TAKAGI
DF 13 YANAGISAWA, 5 DEDIMAR, 2 HAGIMURA, 27 AOBA
MF 8 NAGAI, 11 ONO, 15 KANAZAWA, 10 ANAILSON
9 BASILIO, 25 HIRAMOTO
BENCH: GK 1 MIZUHARA, 16 IIO, MF 20 HIROYAMA (45 min YANAGISAWA) , 32 KUBA (63 min KANAZAWA) , DF 23 NEJIME (28 min NAGAI)
After the Mito game, Saito was banished to the netherworld of satellite football and replaced by Iio, the rest of the lineup was similar to last week. As I alluded to in the opening, one of Verdy's illustrious defenders managed to get himself run after a mere 26 minutes. That man was the diabolical master of the muffed free kick, DEDIMAR. Dedimar got run after a late tackle, causing Ramos to change tactics on the fly. Out goes Nagai, In comes Nejime, who is starting to become a man down specialist. The tension built as the team went to a 3-4-2 formation, surviving an onslaught from Sagan striker Tatsunori Arai.
After a halftime switch of Hiroyama for Yanagisawa and later, Kuba for Kanazawa, Verdy amazingly broke through first on a Basilio strike in the 68th minute. Maybe this goal shocked Sagan awake, because Arai evened things up one minute later.
The 81st minute would bring the deciding goal. Now, I was all ready to curse the mess known as DEDIMAR for blowing the game. I was going to release Fujita from his Idiot boy name and heap abuse on #5. I was thouroughly prepared to do this...........but Hiramoto scored the deciding goal. That's right, even with a man out and the bald dandelion in goal, Hiramoto was able to score his second game winner in as many games. Remarkable! Amazing! Verdy wins again.......on the road.......10 men left. 64 minutes.
STARS OF THE GAME:
1. Shingo Nejime- The guy come in and solidifies the team for 64+ minutes. He has to be on the first team bench for the rest of the season.
2. Nozomi Hiroyama- Another guy who's solidifying his place on the first team. I believe he had the pass that led to the game winning goal.
3. The Dynamic Duo- Hiramoto and Basilio manage to get it done again, putting them first and fifth in the league leaders for goals (6 goals and 3 goals). The most amazing thing about Basilio's total is the accuracy.........6 goals on an economical 12 shots.
FINAL THOUGHTS:
I'm about ready to drink the Ramos kool-aid. This guy has really good game instincts, I'm not crazy about his talent selection per se, but he did the right things to steal a win under trying circumstances. I don't enjoy the sideline antics and the media hogging, but his game calls have been spot on so far.
The one thing the team really needs to work on is team discipline. These constant flurries of yellows (and now reds) are really gonna come back and bite Verdy real soon. The back line isn't the deepest to begin with, now they have to go further down the depth chart. Maybe that's why Verdy keeps signing more DF's.
I'm not crazy about DEDIMAR to begin with, and when he's paired with my nemisis, Yanagisawa, it scares me. Add the lackluster talent in goal and I fear the worst is coming. That being said, I think Takagi has cemented his position in goal.
Next game is against Thespa Kusatsu at the National. I'll be there with a report. As always.........send in what you saw!
THE LINEUPS
Sagan Tosu
GK 31 Toshimitsu ASAI
DF 26 Toyoki HASEGAWA, 13 Megumu YOSHIDA, 4 Kazuya IIO, 16 Keiji TAKACHI
MF 7 Takeshi HAMADA, 14 Yoshiki TAKAHASHI,8 YOON Jong Hwan, 34 Junya YAMASHIRO
FW 25 Yoshihito FUJITA, 11 Tatsunori ARAI
SUBS: FW 9 Taakaki SUZUKI (54 min FUJITA), MF 20 Takayuki YAMAGUCHI (69 min TAKAHASHI), MF 30 Tatsuya KAMOHARA (75 min HAMADA)
TOKYO VERDY 1969
GK 21 TAKAGI
DF 13 YANAGISAWA, 5 DEDIMAR, 2 HAGIMURA, 27 AOBA
MF 8 NAGAI, 11 ONO, 15 KANAZAWA, 10 ANAILSON
9 BASILIO, 25 HIRAMOTO
BENCH: GK 1 MIZUHARA, 16 IIO, MF 20 HIROYAMA (45 min YANAGISAWA) , 32 KUBA (63 min KANAZAWA) , DF 23 NEJIME (28 min NAGAI)
After the Mito game, Saito was banished to the netherworld of satellite football and replaced by Iio, the rest of the lineup was similar to last week. As I alluded to in the opening, one of Verdy's illustrious defenders managed to get himself run after a mere 26 minutes. That man was the diabolical master of the muffed free kick, DEDIMAR. Dedimar got run after a late tackle, causing Ramos to change tactics on the fly. Out goes Nagai, In comes Nejime, who is starting to become a man down specialist. The tension built as the team went to a 3-4-2 formation, surviving an onslaught from Sagan striker Tatsunori Arai.
After a halftime switch of Hiroyama for Yanagisawa and later, Kuba for Kanazawa, Verdy amazingly broke through first on a Basilio strike in the 68th minute. Maybe this goal shocked Sagan awake, because Arai evened things up one minute later.
The 81st minute would bring the deciding goal. Now, I was all ready to curse the mess known as DEDIMAR for blowing the game. I was going to release Fujita from his Idiot boy name and heap abuse on #5. I was thouroughly prepared to do this...........but Hiramoto scored the deciding goal. That's right, even with a man out and the bald dandelion in goal, Hiramoto was able to score his second game winner in as many games. Remarkable! Amazing! Verdy wins again.......on the road.......10 men left. 64 minutes.
STARS OF THE GAME:
1. Shingo Nejime- The guy come in and solidifies the team for 64+ minutes. He has to be on the first team bench for the rest of the season.
2. Nozomi Hiroyama- Another guy who's solidifying his place on the first team. I believe he had the pass that led to the game winning goal.
3. The Dynamic Duo- Hiramoto and Basilio manage to get it done again, putting them first and fifth in the league leaders for goals (6 goals and 3 goals). The most amazing thing about Basilio's total is the accuracy.........6 goals on an economical 12 shots.
FINAL THOUGHTS:
I'm about ready to drink the Ramos kool-aid. This guy has really good game instincts, I'm not crazy about his talent selection per se, but he did the right things to steal a win under trying circumstances. I don't enjoy the sideline antics and the media hogging, but his game calls have been spot on so far.
The one thing the team really needs to work on is team discipline. These constant flurries of yellows (and now reds) are really gonna come back and bite Verdy real soon. The back line isn't the deepest to begin with, now they have to go further down the depth chart. Maybe that's why Verdy keeps signing more DF's.
I'm not crazy about DEDIMAR to begin with, and when he's paired with my nemisis, Yanagisawa, it scares me. Add the lackluster talent in goal and I fear the worst is coming. That being said, I think Takagi has cemented his position in goal.
Next game is against Thespa Kusatsu at the National. I'll be there with a report. As always.........send in what you saw!
Friday, April 07, 2006
GAMETIME 4/8: Sagan Tosu vs. VERDY
Verdy finishes up a two game road swing against the Brilliant Budgies of Sagan Tosu. Tosu is another struggling club, sitting in 11th place. Right now, Tosu is sitting in a perfect storm of ineptitude, having the worst goal production in the league (4, tied with Montedio) and the 3rd worst goals allowed tally in the league(10). Sagan Tosu is coming off a 3-0 thumping at the hands of Vegalta Sendai. During the game, Tosu lost something else when Korean DF Yoo Jin Kim got run with a straight red card in the 77th minute. Meanwhile, Verdy gets two of their own back from suspension with the return of striker extraordinaire Basilio and Fujita the idiot boy (a little harsh but he cost the team 3 points with ridiculous tackles).
POTENTIAL LINEUPS
SAGAN TOSU:
GK 31 Toshimitsu ASAI
DF 26 Toyoki HASEGAWA, 3 Hidenori KATO, 4 Kazuya IIO, 16 Keiji TAKACHI
MF 7 Takeshi HAMADA, 14 Yoshiki TAKAHASHI,8 YOON Jong Hwan, 34 Junya YAMASHIRO
FW 25 Yoshihito FUJITA, 11 Tatsunori ARAI
TOKYO VERDY 1969:
GK 21 TAKAGI
DF 13 YANAGISAWA, 5 DEDIMAR, 2 HAGIMURA, 3 FUJITA (Could be Aoba on this one but I think Ramos goes back to Fujita unless Togawa is available, then it will be him)
MF 8 NAGAI, 11 ONO, 15 KANAZAWA, 10 DEDIMAR
9 BASILIO, 25 HIRAMOTO
BENCH: GK 1 MIZUHARA, 16 IIO, MF 20 HIROYAMA, 32 KUBA, DF 27 AOBA ( I think Saito gets sent to the Satellite after the Mito game. Ramos seems to go with the hot hand and Iio had a hand in the goal. I have no reports on the Satellite game against Sagawa Kyubin Tokyo so I don't know if there will be another surprise. )
ONE TO WATCH:
Only two this time, the striker combination of Arai and Fujita. They really need to start scoring soon or else Sagan Tosu will be hovering around the bottom for a long time. Takagi was relatively untested last game and an early strike could cause him to crack.
WHEN AND WHERE: Saturday, 2pm 4/8 in Tosu
Send in eyewitness reports......I'll be at the Omiya/Yokohama FM game so as always.....no eyewitness road reports. Stupid Skyperfect TV
POTENTIAL LINEUPS
SAGAN TOSU:
GK 31 Toshimitsu ASAI
DF 26 Toyoki HASEGAWA, 3 Hidenori KATO, 4 Kazuya IIO, 16 Keiji TAKACHI
MF 7 Takeshi HAMADA, 14 Yoshiki TAKAHASHI,8 YOON Jong Hwan, 34 Junya YAMASHIRO
FW 25 Yoshihito FUJITA, 11 Tatsunori ARAI
TOKYO VERDY 1969:
GK 21 TAKAGI
DF 13 YANAGISAWA, 5 DEDIMAR, 2 HAGIMURA, 3 FUJITA (Could be Aoba on this one but I think Ramos goes back to Fujita unless Togawa is available, then it will be him)
MF 8 NAGAI, 11 ONO, 15 KANAZAWA, 10 DEDIMAR
9 BASILIO, 25 HIRAMOTO
BENCH: GK 1 MIZUHARA, 16 IIO, MF 20 HIROYAMA, 32 KUBA, DF 27 AOBA ( I think Saito gets sent to the Satellite after the Mito game. Ramos seems to go with the hot hand and Iio had a hand in the goal. I have no reports on the Satellite game against Sagawa Kyubin Tokyo so I don't know if there will be another surprise. )
ONE TO WATCH:
Only two this time, the striker combination of Arai and Fujita. They really need to start scoring soon or else Sagan Tosu will be hovering around the bottom for a long time. Takagi was relatively untested last game and an early strike could cause him to crack.
WHEN AND WHERE: Saturday, 2pm 4/8 in Tosu
Send in eyewitness reports......I'll be at the Omiya/Yokohama FM game so as always.....no eyewitness road reports. Stupid Skyperfect TV
Thursday, April 06, 2006
Number 43?
Well, it looks like Rui is not sitting still with the back four. The newest member of Tokyo Verdy is Waseda University Defender and former Verdy youth, Ryo Nerishi. I'm not quite sure what number he'll wear...........maybe 43.........maybe XLIII.......I dunno. 19 years old and standing 175cm and 72 kilo......Nerishi could challenge for a back 4 spot.
Shinji Ono's little brother is still lurking, his trial should be up soon.
Wednesday, April 05, 2006
An eyewitness account of the Hollyhock Hoopla
Nick has provided another fascinating account of what happened to Verdy on their road to redemption.
ED NOTE: This is a PG version of the post he wrote........the more "colorful version can be found in it's entirety Here: "Spring is here and out comes the dandelion!" So if you wanna read about Takagi and his dog http://ameblo.jp/yoshinari-takagi click the link.
The man is back!!Indeed a clean sheet and Im guessing his shorts,trademark pink top and socks are all as good as new too. **** ground, no fans, **** game but an absolute blinder of a goal from Hiramoto to warm the cockles of the 30 odd strong travelling hordes of the Green Army!! The game kicked off in pissing rain in a virtually empty,freezing cold looking stadium.Basillio indeed gone, replaced by Saito,Hagimura back in the line up,Yanagisawa still in the line up, The Cat on the bench/cutting the half time oranges/managing Ramos` spare wig and grovelling praying to be given another crack in nets, desperatly hoping Takagi is not gonna be in for the next three seasons like since the last time he got dropped. Its kind of difficult to write about anything,when nothing seemed to happen, pass,pass give the ball away,pass pass same again,foul, free kick comes to nothing,edge of the box ball goes out for a corner,corner comes to nothing, Im sure you get the picture. On the plus side, Verdy restricted Mito to pretty much zero worthwhile shots on goal,as I say Takagi must be the cleanest keeper to have played 90 minutes. If he told his Missus he was off for a game of footy and returned in the same kit after,suspicions would arise...where had he REALLY been?? Questions would have to be asked. In the entire first half, Verdy had two "chances" Anailson escaped the attentions of his marker on the right and knocked in a nice cross from the edge of the box to Hiramoto who was free with a good deal of time to line it up and pull the trigger, however he seemed to miscontrol it,scuff his effort which hit Saito`s hand and resulted in a free kick. He had his head in his hands and so he should. Saito also had an opportunity a looping header which just cleared the bar unfortunately. As I say Mito managed a few decent runs and had a bit of pressure through the half but as for clear cut chances,nothing really.Anyway half time came and went and the second half continued pretty much in the same vein, lots of mistakes (still pissing down at this point so maybe the pitch was a factor). As on Saturday against Reysol, the yellow cards were piling up and I was beginning to think someone was gonna see red soon. Even worse I thought I was gonna have sat through 90 minutes without even an OOh!! or an AAHH!! without even being close to rising from the chair, but Hiramoto came to the rescue in the 85th minute. He scored a goal which if scored in the summer in the World Cup will be goal of the tournament and the scorer will be able to add a couple of zeros to his price tag. Anyway, a fluffed Mito throw in came in from the right touchline just by the dug outs, a flick on resulted in the ball landing at the feet of someone in a white top (one of ours) who quickly zipped a powerful pass up to Iio, Iio headed it perfectly across the box into the path of Hiramoto who, at the edge of the box, controlled it (at about knee height) with his right foot and struck it OH! so sweetly with his left in one quick swivel!! Spectacular goal and worth sitting through the previous 85 minutes.This is the EXACT reason why we sit through crap football, just on the off chance of witnessing a bit of magic.He certainly made up for his miss earlier on. After the goal, there was no way Mito were gonna do anything as they hadn`t threatened Takagi all night. One worrying thing (again) was the yellow cards!! At least 4 or 5 again although I didnt really count.Ive not looked at the other results yet tonight,but this can only be good for us obviously. As each game goes by Im becoming more confident about our chances. We lost on Saturday but I think if we had kept 11 on the field we would have gone on to win the game. We bounced back tonight with a win.Even though the game was poor and we didnt create much ourselves, the opposition were stifled and a clean sheet is always welcome. There are 31 stars tonight, the 30 odd people who braved the ***** weather, ****** ground and ****** game who were rewarded by the other star Hiramoto for scoring a cracker to send them home happy. Onwards and Upwards!! C`mon the Boys!!
Kinda thought the game was like that. Thank you as always for providing color commentary, Nick!
ED NOTE: This is a PG version of the post he wrote........the more "colorful version can be found in it's entirety Here: "Spring is here and out comes the dandelion!" So if you wanna read about Takagi and his dog http://ameblo.jp/yoshinari-takagi click the link.
The man is back!!Indeed a clean sheet and Im guessing his shorts,trademark pink top and socks are all as good as new too. **** ground, no fans, **** game but an absolute blinder of a goal from Hiramoto to warm the cockles of the 30 odd strong travelling hordes of the Green Army!! The game kicked off in pissing rain in a virtually empty,freezing cold looking stadium.Basillio indeed gone, replaced by Saito,Hagimura back in the line up,Yanagisawa still in the line up, The Cat on the bench/cutting the half time oranges/managing Ramos` spare wig and grovelling praying to be given another crack in nets, desperatly hoping Takagi is not gonna be in for the next three seasons like since the last time he got dropped. Its kind of difficult to write about anything,when nothing seemed to happen, pass,pass give the ball away,pass pass same again,foul, free kick comes to nothing,edge of the box ball goes out for a corner,corner comes to nothing, Im sure you get the picture. On the plus side, Verdy restricted Mito to pretty much zero worthwhile shots on goal,as I say Takagi must be the cleanest keeper to have played 90 minutes. If he told his Missus he was off for a game of footy and returned in the same kit after,suspicions would arise...where had he REALLY been?? Questions would have to be asked. In the entire first half, Verdy had two "chances" Anailson escaped the attentions of his marker on the right and knocked in a nice cross from the edge of the box to Hiramoto who was free with a good deal of time to line it up and pull the trigger, however he seemed to miscontrol it,scuff his effort which hit Saito`s hand and resulted in a free kick. He had his head in his hands and so he should. Saito also had an opportunity a looping header which just cleared the bar unfortunately. As I say Mito managed a few decent runs and had a bit of pressure through the half but as for clear cut chances,nothing really.Anyway half time came and went and the second half continued pretty much in the same vein, lots of mistakes (still pissing down at this point so maybe the pitch was a factor). As on Saturday against Reysol, the yellow cards were piling up and I was beginning to think someone was gonna see red soon. Even worse I thought I was gonna have sat through 90 minutes without even an OOh!! or an AAHH!! without even being close to rising from the chair, but Hiramoto came to the rescue in the 85th minute. He scored a goal which if scored in the summer in the World Cup will be goal of the tournament and the scorer will be able to add a couple of zeros to his price tag. Anyway, a fluffed Mito throw in came in from the right touchline just by the dug outs, a flick on resulted in the ball landing at the feet of someone in a white top (one of ours) who quickly zipped a powerful pass up to Iio, Iio headed it perfectly across the box into the path of Hiramoto who, at the edge of the box, controlled it (at about knee height) with his right foot and struck it OH! so sweetly with his left in one quick swivel!! Spectacular goal and worth sitting through the previous 85 minutes.This is the EXACT reason why we sit through crap football, just on the off chance of witnessing a bit of magic.He certainly made up for his miss earlier on. After the goal, there was no way Mito were gonna do anything as they hadn`t threatened Takagi all night. One worrying thing (again) was the yellow cards!! At least 4 or 5 again although I didnt really count.Ive not looked at the other results yet tonight,but this can only be good for us obviously. As each game goes by Im becoming more confident about our chances. We lost on Saturday but I think if we had kept 11 on the field we would have gone on to win the game. We bounced back tonight with a win.Even though the game was poor and we didnt create much ourselves, the opposition were stifled and a clean sheet is always welcome. There are 31 stars tonight, the 30 odd people who braved the ***** weather, ****** ground and ****** game who were rewarded by the other star Hiramoto for scoring a cracker to send them home happy. Onwards and Upwards!! C`mon the Boys!!
Kinda thought the game was like that. Thank you as always for providing color commentary, Nick!
Ch..Ch..Ch..Changes.....turn and face Hollyhock
Change was the name of tonight's game. Both Mito and Verdy came in with a different crew for the match after disappointing performances over the weekend. Verdy made 4 changes to their lineup, 2 due to suspension and Mito sent 5 of their saturday starters to the pine.
LINEUPS
Mito Hollyhock:
GK 21 Hiroyuki Takeda
DF 20 Takashi Kuramoto, 32 Masahi Owada, 14 Takafumi Morimoto, 5 Yu Tokisaki
MF 6 Shohei Ogura, 13 Takuya Shihara, 7 Kenji Hada, 24 Shuta Takahashi (87 min-11 Shogo Shiozawa)
FW 9 Anderson, 29 Kasuhika Shingyoji
TOKYO VERDY 1969:
GK 21 Yoshinari Takagi
DF 13 Yanagisawa, 5 Dedimar, 2 Hagimura, 27 Aoba
MF 8 Nagai (45 min 20 Hiroyama) 10 Anailson, 11 Ono, 15 Kanazawa
FW 25 Hiramoto, 39 Saito (68 min 16 Iio)
Not used: GK 1 Mizuhara, DF 42 Hiki, 32 Kuba
*Quick thoughts-I'm a little surprised that Hiki found his way onto the first team this early, but suspensions and a sattelite game probably meant that Ramos just wanted to fill the spot. A little risky if the defense was struggling but it's nice to see that anyone can get a chance on the squad.
J2 was in some sort of a league wide lethargy tonight. The first score in the entire league took place with 2 minutes left to go in the first half. 4 games went to the break at 0-0, and for awhile it looked like we were going to have a league wide shutout. the Verdy-Mito game was no different. Judging by the stats, it seemed that neither team could get things going offensively. Verdy was only able to manage one shot on goal in the first half. Also continuing a trend, Verdy managed to get carded 4 times, including every defender not named Dedimar and Hiramoto.
In the 39th minute of the second half, Hiramoto put in the only score of the night. Last year's starting keeper and Soilent Green's favorite whipping boy, the Mighty Takagi, posted a shutout win by turning back 8 shots, including 4 by an active Shuta Takahashi.
I'm guessing it wasn't a pretty win for Verdy but they get the 3 points and keep pace with front running Kashiwa. Mito on the other hand continues their downward spiral with their 4th shutout loss in a row.
Star of the Game:
I have to give it to the dandelion, Yoshinari Takagi. Pulling the shutout after being on the bench deserves respect. I'm investigating the whole CyberAgent connection on this one......they buy 48.1 percent of the company and magically their two blogboys (Yanagisawa and Takagi) reappear on the first teams.
Other Results/The Table
Sapporo 3-0 Thespa
Sendai 3-0 Tosu
Yamagata 0-0 Vissel
Kashiwa 1-0 Ehime FC
Tokushima 1-1 Shonan
So in the end, only one game ended in a 0-0 tie when Vissel held off Yamagata with only 10 men for over 55 minutes. Satoshi Yokoyama went off very early in the tie with Vortis. Sendai blew out a 10 man Tosu side, Consadole finally shook off their home funk by pasting Thespa, and Kashiwa returned to their lockdown defense by posting their 5th shutout over Ehime.
1 Kashiwa 19 (+10) 6-1-0
2 Sendai 12 (+8) 4-0-2
3 Verdy 12 (+3)4-0-2
4 Yokohama FC 11 (+3) 3-2-1
5 Kobe 10 (-)3-1-3
6 Sapporo 9 (+2) 3-0-3
7 Ehime 9 (-2) 3-0-4
8 Shonan 8 (-1) 2-2-2
9 Tokushima 8 (-3) 2-2-3
10 Mito 7 (-4) 2-1-4
11 Tosu 7 (-6) 2-1-4
12 Kusatsu 6 (-5) 2-0-4
13 Yamagata 2 (-5) 0-2-4
The road fun continues as Verdy heads off for a Saturday showdown against the shocking pink budgies in Tosu.
Who,When and Where: Sagan Tosu 4/8 Saturday at 2pm in Tosu
As always........if you saw Takagi in all his splendor tonight, drop me a line and I'll post it.
LINEUPS
Mito Hollyhock:
GK 21 Hiroyuki Takeda
DF 20 Takashi Kuramoto, 32 Masahi Owada, 14 Takafumi Morimoto, 5 Yu Tokisaki
MF 6 Shohei Ogura, 13 Takuya Shihara, 7 Kenji Hada, 24 Shuta Takahashi (87 min-11 Shogo Shiozawa)
FW 9 Anderson, 29 Kasuhika Shingyoji
TOKYO VERDY 1969:
GK 21 Yoshinari Takagi
DF 13 Yanagisawa, 5 Dedimar, 2 Hagimura, 27 Aoba
MF 8 Nagai (45 min 20 Hiroyama) 10 Anailson, 11 Ono, 15 Kanazawa
FW 25 Hiramoto, 39 Saito (68 min 16 Iio)
Not used: GK 1 Mizuhara, DF 42 Hiki, 32 Kuba
*Quick thoughts-I'm a little surprised that Hiki found his way onto the first team this early, but suspensions and a sattelite game probably meant that Ramos just wanted to fill the spot. A little risky if the defense was struggling but it's nice to see that anyone can get a chance on the squad.
J2 was in some sort of a league wide lethargy tonight. The first score in the entire league took place with 2 minutes left to go in the first half. 4 games went to the break at 0-0, and for awhile it looked like we were going to have a league wide shutout. the Verdy-Mito game was no different. Judging by the stats, it seemed that neither team could get things going offensively. Verdy was only able to manage one shot on goal in the first half. Also continuing a trend, Verdy managed to get carded 4 times, including every defender not named Dedimar and Hiramoto.
In the 39th minute of the second half, Hiramoto put in the only score of the night. Last year's starting keeper and Soilent Green's favorite whipping boy, the Mighty Takagi, posted a shutout win by turning back 8 shots, including 4 by an active Shuta Takahashi.
I'm guessing it wasn't a pretty win for Verdy but they get the 3 points and keep pace with front running Kashiwa. Mito on the other hand continues their downward spiral with their 4th shutout loss in a row.
Star of the Game:
I have to give it to the dandelion, Yoshinari Takagi. Pulling the shutout after being on the bench deserves respect. I'm investigating the whole CyberAgent connection on this one......they buy 48.1 percent of the company and magically their two blogboys (Yanagisawa and Takagi) reappear on the first teams.
Other Results/The Table
Sapporo 3-0 Thespa
Sendai 3-0 Tosu
Yamagata 0-0 Vissel
Kashiwa 1-0 Ehime FC
Tokushima 1-1 Shonan
So in the end, only one game ended in a 0-0 tie when Vissel held off Yamagata with only 10 men for over 55 minutes. Satoshi Yokoyama went off very early in the tie with Vortis. Sendai blew out a 10 man Tosu side, Consadole finally shook off their home funk by pasting Thespa, and Kashiwa returned to their lockdown defense by posting their 5th shutout over Ehime.
1 Kashiwa 19 (+10) 6-1-0
2 Sendai 12 (+8) 4-0-2
3 Verdy 12 (+3)4-0-2
4 Yokohama FC 11 (+3) 3-2-1
5 Kobe 10 (-)3-1-3
6 Sapporo 9 (+2) 3-0-3
7 Ehime 9 (-2) 3-0-4
8 Shonan 8 (-1) 2-2-2
9 Tokushima 8 (-3) 2-2-3
10 Mito 7 (-4) 2-1-4
11 Tosu 7 (-6) 2-1-4
12 Kusatsu 6 (-5) 2-0-4
13 Yamagata 2 (-5) 0-2-4
The road fun continues as Verdy heads off for a Saturday showdown against the shocking pink budgies in Tosu.
Who,When and Where: Sagan Tosu 4/8 Saturday at 2pm in Tosu
As always........if you saw Takagi in all his splendor tonight, drop me a line and I'll post it.
Spring is here and out comes the dandelion!
The hair is gone but the man is back.......t minus 2 minutes to terrible T
Tuesday, April 04, 2006
My Skyperfect dream is dead!
Well........I put down 25,800 for a dish and skyperfect. The guys said they could install it for 15,000 more............I was hesitant but said OK. Then they said I'd need a special stand because I had no balcony.....that plus the cord would cost me another 15000 plus. Total so far 55,800 yen before I even saw one minute of TV and paid the fees. I STILL WAS GONNA DO IT! Then here comes the kicker, they said they wouldn't guarantee it. So I ask (through my friend) what happens if the dish falls down and breaks tonight when you guys leave..........56000 and nothing to show for it. They sucked on their teeth and said Sookana and finally begrudgingly said yeah. The guy was nice enough to give me my money back so no harm, no foul......but I won't be able to see over half the matches. As always......if you see the games, feel free to give me a report and I'll put it up.
Sorry.
So this isn't completely useless............Verdy's sattelite team has a game against Sagawa Kyubin Tokyo tomorrow at Iriki and Saturday against Kawasaki Frontale in Kawasaki.
Sorry.
So this isn't completely useless............Verdy's sattelite team has a game against Sagawa Kyubin Tokyo tomorrow at Iriki and Saturday against Kawasaki Frontale in Kawasaki.
Monday, April 03, 2006
Gametime:4/5 Mito Hollyhock vs VERDY
After a tough loss to Kashiwa Reysol in which two regulars got run like groping drunks in Roppongi, Verdy visits the little dragons of Mito in a battle that's sure to astound and amaze. Mito started off the 2006 campaign strong, with wins at Sapporo and a 3-0 pasting of Shonan Bellmare, but the bottom has dropped out as of late. A gutty 1-0 loss to kashiwa is sandwiched between two drubbings at the hands of Vissel Kobe (4-0) and Yokohama FC (2-0). If Verdy's past performance against Kashiwa is indicative of how the team will play, then it should eb an easy match for El Buitre. However, anyone who has followed the team this season knows that nothing comes easy for Verdy.
Potential lineups:
Mito Hollyhock
GK 21 Hiroyuki TAKEDA
DF 4 Jungo KONO, 5 Yu TOKISAKI,14 Takafumi YOSHIMOTO,32 Masashi OWADA
MF 20 Takashi KURAMOTO, 8 Yusuke GONDO,13 Takuya SHIIHARA,7 Kenji HADA
FW,9 ANDERSON,23 Yuki OKAMOTO
TOKYO VERDY 1969
GK 21 TAKAGI (sorry Nick, but I think Wednesday is the day that the dandelion is back between the pipes.......it's a short week and Mizuhara has been less than stellar. I would hope for Kurokawa but I think the keeper will be Takagi.)
DF 13 YANAGISAWA, 5 DEDIMAR, 4 TOGAWA, 27 AOBA (With the injuries to Hagimura, the banishment? of Sugawara and the ejection of Fujita, the team is especially thin on the back line. It might not be too costly, considering that Mito is going through a three game shutout drought but this area is the main cause of concern. )
MF 10 ANAILSON, 11 ONO, 15 KANAZAWA, 8 NAGAI (Best game of the season for the middle 4. Anailson might be the key figure for the suspect back 4 of Mito. If the middle is solid in this game, Verdy will roll.......if the middle struggles however, Mito will probably get the result. )
FW 25 HIRAMOTO, 39 SAITO (Saito is probably the one Ramos will put in the front. Didn't get a chance to play with the Fujita ejection. Hiramoto has picked it up as well. If anything, it gives Basilio a good chance to get a little rest for the weekend.)
BENCH: GK 1 MIZUHARA, FW 16 IIO, MF 20 HIROYAMA, 7 OHASHI, DF 19 UEMURA
One to watch:
Actually, four to watch.......the back line of Mito has been falling apart. Yokohama FC (nobody accuses them of being an offesive juggernaut) managed to get 17 shots on goal. If not for the skill of Hiroyuki Takeda in net, the damage could have been much worse. Messrs. Konno, Tokisaki, Yoshimoto, and Owata need to tighten it up or it will be a very long season for Mito.
Time and place: 4/5 7:00 pm in Mito
I won't be able to watch.......my dish is not up and running and Skyperfect is starting to be a major money drain. If anyone has a chance to view the game, as always I will give you some column space!
Sunday, April 02, 2006
An eyewitness account-Notes from the Solar Flameout
Here is some more of the wit and wisdom of our intrepid reader, Nick-
4/1 Kashiwa vs VERDY:Here comes the sun":
I saw the Kashiwa game yesterday and was half pleased with what I saw.On the one hand we should have got something from the game after going in at half time in the lead.Apart from the first 10 minutes I thought we were good value for our lead. We played very well,even the midfield!! Nagai had his best outing so far and it was his quick thinking which led to the second goal,Ono had a couple of powerful runs and looked half decent. Basillio took his goals very well. His second booking was for handball,he claimed he didnt handle it but the TV replays showed that he did so he can`t have any complaints apart from that maybe it was accidental.Dejimar could have no complaints if he was sent off for his "challenge" for his booking he nearly cut the guy in half! After a poor start, (what the hell was Yanagisawa doing!!) we got ourselves back into the game and seemed to be cruising only to shoot ourselves in the foot second half.As you say,all the bookings seemed fair enough,the ref did fine but if we are gonna carry on in this vein we will have no players left in a couple of weeks,everyone will be suspended. Any ideas on the yellow card/suspension rules? Im guessing Basillio`s gonna be missing games plus Kanazawa.Apart from the suicidal goings on in the second half,I saw a lot of reason for hope,if Reysol are (and the table says they are) the best squad in the league, we should have no problems getting up as we more than matched them up until the first red card. Saturday I would say was a very encouraging (if a little ridiculous) performance and we can look forward with confidence to a crushing defeat of Mito!! Then again, its Verdy so we`ll probably get a shoeing!! C`mon the Boys!! Onwards and Upwards.
4/1 Kashiwa vs VERDY:Here comes the sun":
I saw the Kashiwa game yesterday and was half pleased with what I saw.On the one hand we should have got something from the game after going in at half time in the lead.Apart from the first 10 minutes I thought we were good value for our lead. We played very well,even the midfield!! Nagai had his best outing so far and it was his quick thinking which led to the second goal,Ono had a couple of powerful runs and looked half decent. Basillio took his goals very well. His second booking was for handball,he claimed he didnt handle it but the TV replays showed that he did so he can`t have any complaints apart from that maybe it was accidental.Dejimar could have no complaints if he was sent off for his "challenge" for his booking he nearly cut the guy in half! After a poor start, (what the hell was Yanagisawa doing!!) we got ourselves back into the game and seemed to be cruising only to shoot ourselves in the foot second half.As you say,all the bookings seemed fair enough,the ref did fine but if we are gonna carry on in this vein we will have no players left in a couple of weeks,everyone will be suspended. Any ideas on the yellow card/suspension rules? Im guessing Basillio`s gonna be missing games plus Kanazawa.Apart from the suicidal goings on in the second half,I saw a lot of reason for hope,if Reysol are (and the table says they are) the best squad in the league, we should have no problems getting up as we more than matched them up until the first red card. Saturday I would say was a very encouraging (if a little ridiculous) performance and we can look forward with confidence to a crushing defeat of Mito!! Then again, its Verdy so we`ll probably get a shoeing!! C`mon the Boys!! Onwards and Upwards.
Sattelite game vs. Yokohama F Marinos
Well it wasn't a completely lost weekend. Verdy knocked off the second teamers of Yokohama F Marinos in a 70 minute training match in Yokohama. Masahiro Ohashi tried to get back on the road to redemption by notching a goal in the match. Other scores were put in by Kazunori Iio and Koji Maatsura. I imagine all three were vying for the coveted third striker/extra midfield spot for Wednesdays game at Mito.
Saturday, April 01, 2006
4/1 Kashiwa vs VERDY:Here comes the sun
After 4 hours of train riding, 70 minutes of cavorting with the enemy, and waking up in the middle of the night to watch the 20+ minutes of soccer I was not able to catch because of the train trip, I am now finally ready to report to you what I saw on my visit to Ajinomoto Stadium.
Anyhow........here is the lineup
Kashiwa Reysol
GK 1 Yuta MINAMI
DF 2 Ryo KOBAYASHI DF 7 Hidekazu OTANI DF 32 Kazunari OKAYAMA DF 13 Yuzo KOBAYASHI
MF 28Tatsuya YAZAWA MF11DIEGO MF 18 Iwao YAMANE MF 24 Tomonori HIRAYAMA
FW 22Tatsuya SUZUKI FW 25 Hideaki KITAJIMA
SUBS: 10 Franca (61-Kitajima), 19 Yuji Unozawa (70-Suzuki)
VERDY
GK 1 Mizuhara
DF 13 Yanagisawa, 3 Fujita, 4 Togawa, 5 Dedimar
MF 8 Nagai, 15 Kanazawa, 10 Anailson, 11 Ono
FW 9 Basilio, 25 Hiramoto
SUBS: GK 21 Takagi, DF 27 Aoba (56-Nagai), MF 20 Hiroyama(70-Hiramoto), 23 Nejime (72-Nagai), FW 39 Saito
The first half was a back and forth affair, Kashiwa came out early and looked to establish their dominance. Verdy showed early on that they were going to struggle with clearing..........not being able to get the ball out of their side and having constant turnovers. Finally in the second minute, Yanagisawa half-whiffed on a ball that went to Kashiwa's Kitajima. Instead of going back and covering the goal, superkeeper Mizuhara decides to rush right up behind Yanagisawa. Why? I don't know, but the wacky strategy failed miserably, because Kitajima was able to deposit an easy shot into the wide open net.
Being down, woke up the buzzards because the domination of the midfield slowly began turning towards Verdy. In the 18th minute, Nagai started what would be a card festival for the home squad , cutting out Diego's legs. At this point, I liked the upsurge in intensity but I thought they were pushing it a bit. Sure enough, 3 cards were soon to follow for Taisei Fujita, Basilio, and Dedimar. The Fujita and Dedimar fouls were stupid and reckless. Basilio had an argument on his, he was going for the ball.
Finally, after alot of hard work and dangerous attempts at the Kashiwa defense.......PAYDIRT! Yanagisawa started the break on a free kick to Anailson with a very fast restart. Anailson handled the ball and flicked it up to Basilio on a beautiful setup. Basilio headed it in for the goal to tie it up. At this point, Kashiwa was put back on their heels.
Verdy kept up the attack with more dangerous attempts, including Hiramoto going very low on a header that ended up just wide. Kashiwa startd to show their frustration by pulling down Basilio around midfield. Another heady move on a free kick (this time Nagai) allowed Basilio to get freed up and speed past the Kashiwa defense, kicking a soft knuckler past a befuddled Minami.
2-1 Halftime and i'm sitting around thinking of witty ways to use the word Eclipse.
The second half however started much like the first, with Kashiwa revitalizing their attack. Kashiwa manager (and boss of Verdy when they humiliated Real) Nobuhiro Ishizaki must have given them an earful......that guy looks like he could kill with that stare alone.
Shin Kanazawa picked up the first yellow of the second half with a rough tackle...........more of the same struggling and flailing for 9 minutes and then the Verdy goat would rear his ugly horns. After getting beat by a Kashiwa attacker, Fujita decides to go spikes up into his foe. 9 minutes in to the second half and Verdy goes a man down. Stupid play. No excuse, Fujita effectively gave the game away. 2 minutes later Kashiwa defender Ryo Kobayashi whips a wicked kick around two Verdy defenders and the outstretched arms of Mizuhara to pull Kashiwa even.
The deciding goal would come 10 minutes later as Kashiwas two bumbling Brazilians would team up for what had to be the slowest and ugliest 2 man set up I have ever seen in my entire life. It looked at first like Fransa and Diego had tangled up with eachother, possibly freezing the defense. a slow pass in the middle went to Diego, who at this moment resembled a bear on rollerskates. Diego kicks it past Mizuhara for goal 3........game set and match.
Kashiwa pulled it's foot from the gas and coasted to the end, not really challenging Verdy. In fact, after Basilio was run off with a second yellow, Verdy had the last dangerous chance, when Aoba was dragged down just inches in front of the penalty box in the final minute of stoppage time. After wasting the last minute by trying to organize the wall and arguing, FK "Specialist" Dedimar put a lame attempt right into the chest of a Kashiwa defender. Game over.
Stars of the Match
I'm not gonna give it to anybody because there was enough to criticize about everyones performance on both sides. Basilio was great on the goals but he got a red card, possibly costing the team next match. Kashiwa didn't really stand out.......I think they benifited from Verdy mistakes more than their own play. I guess I could give it to Ono for being one of the few not to get carded in a major upset.
Final Thoughts
I was happy to see some new blood in with the additions of Aoba and Nejime. They both played decent under some bad circumstances. I'm hoping Saito has a monster game.......he's been good at setting up people on goals and I hope he gets another chance to breakthrough. I kinda thought it wasn't completely fair to start Basilio over him in this game but it worked. What worked less was the reintroduction of Yanagisawa.....................maybe it's because he has a cyberagent blog but I'm not impressed with that guys play at all. It seems like Verdy can't clear when he's in the lineup. I'm hoping Hagimura comes back from injury soon or they go to Aoba or Sugawara. He killed more attacks with errant kicks yesterday than i care to recount. I will say that I liked the contribution from the midfield today........by far their best effort of the year. I also liked the effort today...........I didn't like the stupid mistakes though. Finally, I never thought I'd see a game where one team would get 7 yellows and 2 reds while the other team gets only one late yellow..............and think the officials did a good job. No complaints on the officiating. Verdy shot themselves in the foot with the cards, the lack of clearing, and the time management at the end of the game........inexcusable.
NEXT GAME: Mito Hollyhock 7pm 4/5 at Mito.
As always.....if you saw the game and want to comment, I'll give you some space. The dish comes on Tuesday so I might be viewing the Mito match.
CORRECTIONS/OMISSIONS: Yanagisawa has a cyberagent blog.....I was implying that's why he suddenly was playing again because of the whole Cyberagent ownership deal.......bad joke and I blew it.
I wonder why no Kuba.......he was the hero of the Montedio game. I also think Sugawara got dinged, I'll find out about that.
Anyhow........here is the lineup
Kashiwa Reysol
GK 1 Yuta MINAMI
DF 2 Ryo KOBAYASHI DF 7 Hidekazu OTANI DF 32 Kazunari OKAYAMA DF 13 Yuzo KOBAYASHI
MF 28Tatsuya YAZAWA MF11DIEGO MF 18 Iwao YAMANE MF 24 Tomonori HIRAYAMA
FW 22Tatsuya SUZUKI FW 25 Hideaki KITAJIMA
SUBS: 10 Franca (61-Kitajima), 19 Yuji Unozawa (70-Suzuki)
VERDY
GK 1 Mizuhara
DF 13 Yanagisawa, 3 Fujita, 4 Togawa, 5 Dedimar
MF 8 Nagai, 15 Kanazawa, 10 Anailson, 11 Ono
FW 9 Basilio, 25 Hiramoto
SUBS: GK 21 Takagi, DF 27 Aoba (56-Nagai), MF 20 Hiroyama(70-Hiramoto), 23 Nejime (72-Nagai), FW 39 Saito
The first half was a back and forth affair, Kashiwa came out early and looked to establish their dominance. Verdy showed early on that they were going to struggle with clearing..........not being able to get the ball out of their side and having constant turnovers. Finally in the second minute, Yanagisawa half-whiffed on a ball that went to Kashiwa's Kitajima. Instead of going back and covering the goal, superkeeper Mizuhara decides to rush right up behind Yanagisawa. Why? I don't know, but the wacky strategy failed miserably, because Kitajima was able to deposit an easy shot into the wide open net.
Being down, woke up the buzzards because the domination of the midfield slowly began turning towards Verdy. In the 18th minute, Nagai started what would be a card festival for the home squad , cutting out Diego's legs. At this point, I liked the upsurge in intensity but I thought they were pushing it a bit. Sure enough, 3 cards were soon to follow for Taisei Fujita, Basilio, and Dedimar. The Fujita and Dedimar fouls were stupid and reckless. Basilio had an argument on his, he was going for the ball.
Finally, after alot of hard work and dangerous attempts at the Kashiwa defense.......PAYDIRT! Yanagisawa started the break on a free kick to Anailson with a very fast restart. Anailson handled the ball and flicked it up to Basilio on a beautiful setup. Basilio headed it in for the goal to tie it up. At this point, Kashiwa was put back on their heels.
Verdy kept up the attack with more dangerous attempts, including Hiramoto going very low on a header that ended up just wide. Kashiwa startd to show their frustration by pulling down Basilio around midfield. Another heady move on a free kick (this time Nagai) allowed Basilio to get freed up and speed past the Kashiwa defense, kicking a soft knuckler past a befuddled Minami.
2-1 Halftime and i'm sitting around thinking of witty ways to use the word Eclipse.
The second half however started much like the first, with Kashiwa revitalizing their attack. Kashiwa manager (and boss of Verdy when they humiliated Real) Nobuhiro Ishizaki must have given them an earful......that guy looks like he could kill with that stare alone.
Shin Kanazawa picked up the first yellow of the second half with a rough tackle...........more of the same struggling and flailing for 9 minutes and then the Verdy goat would rear his ugly horns. After getting beat by a Kashiwa attacker, Fujita decides to go spikes up into his foe. 9 minutes in to the second half and Verdy goes a man down. Stupid play. No excuse, Fujita effectively gave the game away. 2 minutes later Kashiwa defender Ryo Kobayashi whips a wicked kick around two Verdy defenders and the outstretched arms of Mizuhara to pull Kashiwa even.
The deciding goal would come 10 minutes later as Kashiwas two bumbling Brazilians would team up for what had to be the slowest and ugliest 2 man set up I have ever seen in my entire life. It looked at first like Fransa and Diego had tangled up with eachother, possibly freezing the defense. a slow pass in the middle went to Diego, who at this moment resembled a bear on rollerskates. Diego kicks it past Mizuhara for goal 3........game set and match.
Kashiwa pulled it's foot from the gas and coasted to the end, not really challenging Verdy. In fact, after Basilio was run off with a second yellow, Verdy had the last dangerous chance, when Aoba was dragged down just inches in front of the penalty box in the final minute of stoppage time. After wasting the last minute by trying to organize the wall and arguing, FK "Specialist" Dedimar put a lame attempt right into the chest of a Kashiwa defender. Game over.
Stars of the Match
I'm not gonna give it to anybody because there was enough to criticize about everyones performance on both sides. Basilio was great on the goals but he got a red card, possibly costing the team next match. Kashiwa didn't really stand out.......I think they benifited from Verdy mistakes more than their own play. I guess I could give it to Ono for being one of the few not to get carded in a major upset.
Final Thoughts
I was happy to see some new blood in with the additions of Aoba and Nejime. They both played decent under some bad circumstances. I'm hoping Saito has a monster game.......he's been good at setting up people on goals and I hope he gets another chance to breakthrough. I kinda thought it wasn't completely fair to start Basilio over him in this game but it worked. What worked less was the reintroduction of Yanagisawa.....................maybe it's because he has a cyberagent blog but I'm not impressed with that guys play at all. It seems like Verdy can't clear when he's in the lineup. I'm hoping Hagimura comes back from injury soon or they go to Aoba or Sugawara. He killed more attacks with errant kicks yesterday than i care to recount. I will say that I liked the contribution from the midfield today........by far their best effort of the year. I also liked the effort today...........I didn't like the stupid mistakes though. Finally, I never thought I'd see a game where one team would get 7 yellows and 2 reds while the other team gets only one late yellow..............and think the officials did a good job. No complaints on the officiating. Verdy shot themselves in the foot with the cards, the lack of clearing, and the time management at the end of the game........inexcusable.
NEXT GAME: Mito Hollyhock 7pm 4/5 at Mito.
As always.....if you saw the game and want to comment, I'll give you some space. The dish comes on Tuesday so I might be viewing the Mito match.
CORRECTIONS/OMISSIONS: Yanagisawa has a cyberagent blog.....I was implying that's why he suddenly was playing again because of the whole Cyberagent ownership deal.......bad joke and I blew it.
I wonder why no Kuba.......he was the hero of the Montedio game. I also think Sugawara got dinged, I'll find out about that.
Table and results 4-1-2006
Kashiwa Reysol 16pts 4-1-0 +9
Yokohama FC (Whaaaaaaat?) 11pts 3-2-1 +3
Vegalta Sendai 3-0-2 +1 game 9pts 3-0-2 +5
TOKYO VERDY 1969 9pts 3-0-2 +2 +1 game
Vissel Kobe 9pts 3-0-3 0
Ehime FC 9pts 3-0-3 -1
Shonan Bellmare 7pts 2-1-2 -1 +1 game
Tokushima Vortis 7pts 2-1-3 -3
Mito Hollyhock 7pts 2-1-3 -3
Sagan Tosu 7pts 2-1-3 -3
Consadole Sapporo 6pts 2-0-3 -1 +1 game
Thespa Kusatsu 6pts 2-0-3 -2 +1 game
Montedio Yamagata 1pt 0-1-4 -5 +1 game
Thespa 3-Montedio 1
VERDY 2-Kashiwa 3
Yokohama FC 2-Mito 0
Shonan 0-Sagan 1
Ehime 1-Tokushima 0
Vissel 0-Vegalta 1
Looks like the bottom is falling out of Montedio. Kashiwa got roughed up a bit but won. finally the surprise team is Yokohama FC who continues the unbeaten streak under the new skipper.
Yokohama FC (Whaaaaaaat?) 11pts 3-2-1 +3
Vegalta Sendai 3-0-2 +1 game 9pts 3-0-2 +5
TOKYO VERDY 1969 9pts 3-0-2 +2 +1 game
Vissel Kobe 9pts 3-0-3 0
Ehime FC 9pts 3-0-3 -1
Shonan Bellmare 7pts 2-1-2 -1 +1 game
Tokushima Vortis 7pts 2-1-3 -3
Mito Hollyhock 7pts 2-1-3 -3
Sagan Tosu 7pts 2-1-3 -3
Consadole Sapporo 6pts 2-0-3 -1 +1 game
Thespa Kusatsu 6pts 2-0-3 -2 +1 game
Montedio Yamagata 1pt 0-1-4 -5 +1 game
Thespa 3-Montedio 1
VERDY 2-Kashiwa 3
Yokohama FC 2-Mito 0
Shonan 0-Sagan 1
Ehime 1-Tokushima 0
Vissel 0-Vegalta 1
Looks like the bottom is falling out of Montedio. Kashiwa got roughed up a bit but won. finally the surprise team is Yokohama FC who continues the unbeaten streak under the new skipper.
VERDY vs Kashiwa Reysol:Not in the cards
I'll write it up tomorrow morning-------------------------3-2 Kashiwa Reysol with the victory
7 yellows/2 reds......and that was just for Verdy!
Great game, great crowd........gonna watch the replay at 4am and then write something up.
Stay tuned!
7 yellows/2 reds......and that was just for Verdy!
Great game, great crowd........gonna watch the replay at 4am and then write something up.
Stay tuned!
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