Don't count your victories before they're hatched

Hulk showed up and put in two......but so did Thespa, including one in the final moments to snatch a point away from Verdy.

Two games in a row, the defense has failed to stop a charging squad.....this time they got burned, possibly losing the J2 Championship with this game

3 games to go.......it's not over yet.

Kobe gets in on the bidding war

That picture has nothing to do with the headline......I'll get to that later

First- Sports Hochi Yomiuri is reporting that Vissel Kobe is making it priority one to sign Vegalta Sendai man and main Urawa target Lopes to strengthen their back line. Good fit as a distributor and would help feed Okubo and Leandro. Somehow though, the cash splashing by Rakuten doesn't sit too well with me. I think they have more problems with their leadership structure. A team with that much firepower shouldn't be struggling as much as they do. FC Tokyo of the South.

Second-The picture above took place yesterday in Mitsuzawa as J2 debutante Yokoham FC crashed to their 9th loss in a row and 25th in 30 games. The team hasn't scored since the 69th minute of a 2-1 loss to Sanfrecce Hiroshima on the first game of September.......561 minutes and over 6 games ago. Their current coach, Julio Leal has not won in his 8 games as head man.

I was in attendance yesterday as a team laden with misfit Verdy players from yesteryear took to battle against a squad with less misfit Verdy players from yesteryear. The game was decided on a goal from......yes.....a Verdy player from yesteryear against a product of the Verdy youth system.....1-0 Verdy misfit players from yesteryear over even more Verdy misfit players from yesteryear.

The game was played in front of 4,114......2800 came pissed off....were pissed off during the game...and went home pissed off. At the start of the match, The Yokohama Oen were dead silent when the 11 came out for warmups. The game was started with a SAKAMOTO YAMEROO chant (Sakamoto out). 90 minutes of hurricane weather and slick ball later and Yokohama was finished. The end of the game started like the beginning with another out chant. Finally, the man of the moment skulked out to face the angry pale blue mob. I give him credit, there was a lot of anger.

Third-JESSE FINK RETURNS

Friend of SG Jesse Fink is back starting tomorrow with his sometimes scathing, always entertaining takes on Australian Soccer. Fox is out, THE WORLD GAME is in.....here is the link, which does not seem to work at the moment http://www.theworldgame.com.au/ Anyhow, glad to see Jesse is off his backside and writing again......on his backside, I guess.

Finally- A reasonably similar starting 11 takes the field in an hour against the Spa boys of Thespa in a battle of teams I blogged about. Verdy has a real chance to solidify their promotion aspirations today with a win and stay in reach of a championship.

With Vegalta and Consadole winning and Kyoto crashing out, the race for promotion is starting to take shape. A win would knock Shonan Bellmare out of contention for automatic promotion and put some distance between Verdy and third place Vegalta Sendai before their big clash on November 10th.

P.S. The tWo is getting pounded today 4-0 against Kawasaki Frontale at the half..........I'm hoping for double digits. Down with FCT!

A trophy you really don't want

Yokohama FC just completed the fastest burnout in J league history with a 3-0 loss today to fellow promotion partner from 2006, Vissel Kobe. The truly stunning thing about the fall of Verdy Blue is the thouroughly pathetic results they have put out in 29 games.

The major highlights in this season were wins to crosstown rival Yokohama F Marinos and a tie to Gamba Osaka. Under current manager Julio Real, the baby blues have lost 7 straight, getting outscored 14-1 in the Brazilians short and cloudy tenure as gaffer.

Yokohama FC follows the lead of 2005 J2 Champ Kyoto Sanga in crashing out after 1 year at the top.

Another squad to take a plunge after 1 year in the big time saw their chance for promotion slowly fade into oblivion. Avispa Fukuoka dropped a 1-0 decision to the frontrunner for next years bottom dweller (if the championship curse holds true) Consadole Sapporo after playing a man up for over an hour but not cracking the Sapporo defense.

3 big games take place tomorrow with Verdy taking on a dangerous Montedio side in Yamagata. Kyoto goes to Tokushima to play a struggling Vortis squad. Finally the game of the day belongs to 3rd place Vegalta Sendai against a surging Cerezo Osaka squad who is looking to steal a spot in the top 3.

Finally, J1 squads who are on the cusp of falling off the cliff took to battle today in 2 seperate games. Omiya finally broke through against a truly dismal Sanfrecce side, 1-0. Sanfrecce reminded me of last year's collection of has beens and malcontents in Osaka's pink sector with their lacsadaisacal play. Now I'm not saying Omiya deserves to stay up this year but if Sanfrecce is still around after their collection of talent has put out consistently bad performances and low effort then there is something wrong.

Oita on the other hand suffer from youthful mental lapses. The young Trinitans pulled off a respectable 2-1 victory against a surprising Kashiwa side. Kashiwa didn't attempt a shot in the first half.

Finally, congratulations go out to Nagoya's own Chunichi Dragons who swept both Hanshin and Yomiuri to earn the right to get their taints handed to them again by the Sapporo Nippon Ham Fighters......always second except for in my heart.....somewhere Tom Selleck is gently weeping tears of joy.

How would Hulk look in Red?

According to WEEKLY SOCCER MAGAZINE SHA, Urawa is targeting a bevy of J League stars in attempts to bolster their sad, sad lineup that only managed to lose 2 games and advance to the Semi-Finals of the ACL. Included in Urawa's alleged shopping list is FW Hulk, Vegalta super midfielder Lopes, JEF Chiba midfielder Koki Mizuno, and former Urawa Red and current RedBull Salzberg MF Alessandro Santos. Arguably Urawa got the pick of the amateur class in FW Hiroyuki Takasaki as well.

Other rumored moves include Washington to Nagoya Grampus Eight.

Shonan stumble in a J2 rumble

4 million spectators went through Verdy turnstiles.....not too shabby

I gotta say that the team I saw today looks nothing like the one at the start of the season. For 70 minutes, Verdy played the best ball I have ever seen them play, controlling the midfield, shutting off all danger, and creating chances at will. Hulk was the first to notch a goal with a free kick that was earned after getting taken down a few yards outside the box. An in shape Diego tormented the Bellmare defense with fluid runs down the middle, dishing off a textbook pass to a streaking Silva for score number 2. Finally, Tsuchiya put in a header off a nice cross from Hattori. It seems like the squad took their foot off the gas near the end of the game and only a determined Takagi kept the clean sheet for the squad. Hell, even Kaz Iio looked like a player today.

One thing that might help Verdy on their road back to J1 is the shakeup down in Kyoto. Former Verdy man Hisashi Kato.....one of the first Yomiuri/Verdy players to don the blue shirt of Japan....has taken over for Naohiko Minobe. Shonan has pretty much been eliminated.

Finally, we have to say a sad farewell to Jesse Fink and Half time Orange. Jesse, as you might know, is a friend of Soilent Green and wrote a fabulous book called 15 Days in June about the Socceroos march in the 2006 World Cup and the history of Australian Soccer. If you get the chance, pick it up. The photo is courtesy of Jesse via former Yomiuri FC goalkeeper Dennis Boland. I didn't completely get permission so it might come down really quick. Just my little way to honor a good soccer writer! Good Luck Jesse and come back soon!

True Confessions

I have seen a few people have written posts asking where I am and why I haven't posted.

The short, terse answer is I haven't really cared. It's funny...the team is playing great now, they fought back into second and I can't be bothered for some odd reason. Maybe it's because Ramos is making the right decisions and I can't handle it. Maybe it's because he's winning with guys I really don't like as players. Maybe it's because the team did the entirely opposite thing instead of conventional wisdom and are succeeding.

I dunno.......I just remember sitting in Ajinomoto stadium on a beautiful day when Verdy played Ehime and absolutely not caring about whether or not the team won.

I feel like a fraud.

You guys deserve a blog written by someone who actually cares about the team. I'm not that guy. I'm an Omiya fan. I know that because I've gone to every home game and a couple road games and they sucked (for the most part).......and I have no intention of stopping going to those games.

My dream is that someone out there gets pissed off enough to think......hell, I could a better job than Soilent Green and they write a blog about Verdy.

I will be going to see Verdy play Shonan......maybe my last one for the season.

I'll try to write more.......but no promises.

THE END OF THE WORLD AS WE KNOW IT?

Verdy Blog and Pride of Green as well as other numerous sites are reporting on a story released by Nikkan Gendai

Before I tell the sordid details, let me say 2 things

1. Nikkan Gendai is a tabloid variety publication and has some credibility issues
2. No other publication has picked up the story

Anyhow the story states that CyberAgent and Yomiuri publications/NTV are looking to pull out all of their capital in Tokyo Verdy due to lackluster ticket sales and a loss of money. The story states that Yokohama FC would buy the name "VERDY" and become Yokohama Verdy FC next year.

WHY IT'S BELIEVABLE

Verdy has lost a ton of money due to overspending, bad personnel decisions, and a declining fan base. Old stars such as Nanami and Hattori failed to give the team a boost in the gates that CyberAgent had hoped for. Verdy has alot of money invested in land as well as renting out a huge facility in Ajinimoto while only averaging 10 percent of capacity.

WHY IT'S NOT BELIEVABLE

I think that if Yokohama FC rebranded to Verdy, the supporters who went through the whole Flugel tragedy and spent their early J League fandom hating prefectural rival Kawasaki Verdy would probably go on a killing spree the likes of which hasn't been seen since Atilla was still kickin. Even with the Verdy reunion tour going on right now at relegation ground zero, I don't think Yokohama FC woud do that. The goodwill that they are getting from reaching J1 would be destroyed.......relegation, they'll survive.......rebranding and you'll see two teams die.

I'll keep an eye on this story

A Blast from the past?

Pride of Green went to practice and found a familiar face among the regulars

Here are some hints.......He's young

He's Brazilian

He played for Yokohama FC

Give up?

http://ameblo.jp/verdy-yoshikazu/entry-10045529066.html

Good pickup if it goes through

Hulk teaming up with Silva.......that's a ton of speed at the top

Ze Luis has left the building

The team announced today that defensive Midfielder Ze Luis has left the team and is joining San Paulo FC. Ze notched 4 goals in 36 games over the 2006 and 2007 campaign. The move theoretically opens up a space for what I assume will be a more offensive import to team up top with Hulk. Good luck to Ze.....not quite the impact player that I thought he would be but not bad either.

The Rise and Fall of the Baby Blue Buzzards

Asahi Shimbun is reporting that last year's miracle maker, Takuya Takagi is being shown the door after a disaster of a J1 Campaign.

While some of the blame lies on the head mans shoulders, it must be said that the main failing lies in a team made up of retreads and castoffs from teams as lowly as J2 bottomfeeders Tokushima Vortis.

Leading the parade of misfit soccer players is a veritable collection of Who's Who in Verdy lore, starting with Takuya Yamada.......the Angel of Death
Verdy preseason hero Kazuki Hiramoto has failed to impress, only notching 3 goals in a role that wildly fluctuates from starter to bench to trainee
The patron saint of FC, Kazu Miura has hardly been seen this year.....the last time he was seen in a game was in June.

Shingo Nejime has been a bright spot in a dismal season. Jun Tamano has barely been seen. Atsuhiro Miura has yet to don pale blue. Gimar was released.

Dismal............

LOST IN AMERICA-Soilent Green #2

Ohhhhhh, I'm enjoying watching the Beckham non-show parade around the US of A. I'm starting to wonder if he will actually play or if they will just wheel him out for personal appearances. I also got a chance to watch some second division sides play to varying degrees of success. Pretty sure even Kaz Iio could score on the California Victory but I digress.

Anyhow Verdy played a couple of games down south when they went head to head with Avispa Fukuoka (loss) and Ehime FC (tie). Both games took place without the services of Hulk who is still serving a suspension for card accumulation. One notable player was Verdy youth MF Hiroki Kawano, who slipped in for 5 minutes. Ryutsu Keisai DF Masaki Iida was also on the bench for the club, but saw no time in the game.

J1 Shenanigans

Last post, I mentioned the disaster that is JEF Chiba and how I wished for their demise. Well, it seems the geniuses at Omiya misunderstood and decided that THEY would be the team to make the drop. After scathing criticism by Robert Verbeek in the press.....wait a minute...after Robert Verbeek stated the obvious and the girlish and thin skinned mouth breather Satoru Sakuma got his feelings hurt after reading that the team needed help at the forward position and in the back, Messrs Verbeek was summarily dismissed from his position as head man and replaced by......wait for it.......Satoru Sakuma.

If you are not familiar with Satoru Sakuma, he was the man who took Daigo Kobayashi, Yoshiyuki Kobayashi, and Yukio Tsuchiya from relegated teams and made them into a 12th place squad......THAT WAS HIS HIGH POINT

Sakuma was the genius who released Bare and Leandro from Omiya for a head case named Christian and a flop by the name of Saul "Speedy" Martinez. Sakuma was the mastermind who brought in Naoya Saeki and rented him to Avispa during a relegation fight WITH AVISPA. Sakuma was the man who decided that the pairing of Takuro Nishimura and Yasuhiro Hato were even remotely adequate enough to play first division soccer. Sakuma was the man that brought you the two headed forward ghidra known as Morita-Salles. One word....ENILTON.
Sakuma allowed former coach Toshiya Miura to take GK Takahiro Takagi and let him become the best goalkeeper in J2.......leaving the squad with a frail Aratani and an inept Ezumi.

Satoru Sakuma....you sir make Ramos Rui look like a coaching genius.

Soilent Green American Style!

Still haven't seen David Beckham play yet but I have been watching some good footy

MLS-FMF Superliga has been everything the A3 championships aren't....good hard fought matches providing entertainment and controversy. Shockingly, CONCACAF club champion and COPA somethin or other champs Pachuca find themselves at the bottom of their group after two disappointing results to MLS squads Galaxy and FC Dallas......meanwhile The Urawa Reds of Mexico, CD Chivas Guadalajara and their merry band of urine throwers find themselves on top of their group after a controversial hand ball goal and dives aplenty.

Meanwhile, Tokyo Verdy had an up and down week, beating the snot outta Cerezo Osaka 4-0. Last night, Verdy went back to the scene of the early season collapse which nearly cost them their season. Like the fateful game in Fukuoka, Rui Ramos chose to start my least favorite player and constant rally killer Kaz Iio, like in that match Iio failed to generate any offense, and like that match Verdy lost 2-1. No Hulk, so Iio probably wasn't first selection but Taira Inoue couldn't do the job?

Another note....check out the Verdy Blog linked on the site and scroll down a bit..........looks like old Verdy forward and resident Urawa crybaby Wahhhhhhshington turned up at Nishigaoka to see his old team crush Cerezo

Speaking of Cerezo, Satoshi Tsunami got hired to assist to the Japan U-16 National Squad....Good Luck to the big man.

Finally Ivica Osim needs to look for a new job after that Abortion of a coaching job he pulled in the Asian Cup.......Seriously, is everything JEF Chiba affiliated with crap right now? Maybe JEF reserves are allright but the rest of it is sinking fast. Hurry up and die already, do the right thing and let yourself get relegated.

Hulk in Samurai Blue?

　東京Ｖのブラジル人ＦＷフッキが２０日、日本への帰化と日本代表への思いを口にした。日本語はまったく話せないが「日本代表？　それも選択肢の一つ。日本代表のユニホームを着てプレーしたい」。フッキは前節１４日の山形戦（西が丘）では終了間際に同点ゴールを決めるなど１８得点でＪ２得点王。

Sankei Sports is reporting that Hulk would like to obtain Japanese Citizenship even though he doesn't speak the greatest Japanese. While the outcome doesn't look likely and probably would take a looooooong time if it ever happened, it would solve some problems up top for the Japanese National Team.

TSUNAMI COMES HOME

Tokyo Verdy brought back Verdy legend Satoshi Tsunami as a special advisor. Good move and classy. Here's hoping he helps.

ALEMAO CORRECTION

I mistakenly reported that Alemao was at Vasco De Gama at the time of his death.....He was actually a member of Palmieras.....one of the readers pointed that out to me, Thank You and Mea Culpa.

VACATION

I'm headed back to the Land of Dog Fights and Steroids tomorrow so I will be erratic in my posting.......just like now so no real difference. Have a good summer and stay safe!

Hulk saves the day

Last minute, Torrential rain and big Hulk scores one at the end to steal a point away from Montedio.....good result considring the back 5 were a bit patchwork at best

Didn't see the game

VENDO'S BRUSH WITH GREATNESS......Alright Vendo's brush with Rui

Our friend Vendo from Mito Hollyhock News and Report ran into a bunch of the guys after the Mito match.....here is his account

Mito outplayed Tokyo Verdy in all ways but the one that counts. Since soccer isn't scored on judging, it's another loss and another three points in the divide between Mito and the rest of the field.Unfortunately I couldn't see most of the game live because there was a massive crowd that filled Hitachinaka's stadium to beyond capacity. Since I was working the gate, I was going hard trying to keep nearly 4,000 fans in order going in and out of a single gate. There was too much to do until the final 10 minutes or so, unlike Kasamatsu which usually can allow watching from whistle to whistle. I had to see the recording at home late night after finishing stadium work.Speaking of that crowd, the final number reached over 5,500 in a stadium that seats 5,000. (Well, "seats" are only in the higher priced section...) It marks the first time in 2007 that Mito's fan count was higher than another J. League game, and was in fact more than twice the size of Ehime's home game against Tokushima.After the game, in the locker room area, I talked with a few Japanese players from both teams and tried to do the same with Hulk, but there was a language barrier there. As I headed back into the main hall from the locker room area, Tokyo coach Rui Ramos came out of the press room and walked just beside me. He seemed kind of shocked to see a white guy working in the back for Mito and after a brief exchange of greetings and the equivalent of "good game" on both sides, I wished him luck for the future. He honestly came off as very nice and personable, but then again he had just won a hard game against a team that had embarrassed him in the last meeting. He seemed in a hurry to leave so I resisted the urge to ask for a picture. I also resisted the urge to ask why he pitched a tantrum on the sidelines after his keeper refused to hold the ball at the end of the game. It was probably for the best.He walked out of the front door to the waiting Tokyo fans who waited for player pictures and autographs. They were rabid and happy just to see them in person. On one hand, I was jealous that Tokyo had a fan base so rabid as to wait more than an hour just to see the players get on the bus. On the other, I felt bad for that fan base that the players seemed so inaccessable and untouchable, as if on a pedestal. I realized that different fan bases enjoy different teams in different ways. Mito's fans feel that they are closer to the team and know the players personally, supporting them one-on-one in addition to as a group. The downside is that if the team loses, the supporters don't just feel bad... The fans feel like losers, too.After my roles were finished and I waited for the rest, those of us who were waiting grabbed a ball and headed out to the field, still pockmarked from the steps and slides of the match, and played around for a bit. A couple of others stood where the Tokyo front line had been less than two hours earlier, while I took goalkeeper Takeda's spot. Although I wasn't up against the top scorer in the division, I wish that Takeda had been as successful as I was for those few minutes.Around three hours after the final whistle, I finally was able to head back to my car to make the drive home. As I put the key into the ignition, the lights on the field went out, and the first half of the season went dark. While no team can be mathematically eliminated from promotion at this point and thus hope must remain, it is clear that Mito is likely is headed to one of its worst season records ever despite playing some of its best quality games. I pondered that for a moment and came to the realization that it didn't matter. I feel so lucky to have this team and plan to do all I can to help it as much as possible.I just kind of wish the wins would come along a little more often.

Nice work Vendo

Weekly wrap

Getting close to Vacation time for Soilent Green (3 weeks in Beckham Valley) So here you go.....

ALEMAO AND MARCUS

I was in attendance last year as two Brazilian players went down from J1 to J2. Tokyo Verdy had just acquired the services of longtime veteran midfielder Marcus from high flying Kawasaki Frontale. Yokohama FC picked up the services of a young mercurial striker by the name of Alemao from soon to be relegated Kyoto Sanga. On a rain soaked summer night in Yokohama, neither did a damn thing as both teams wallowed in a 0-0 slog.

Marcus would struggle through the rest of the year, hovering between injury, erratic play, and aging legs. Alemao meanwhile, would tear the league apart, scoring about a goal a game and putting the offense of the little blue squad from Yokohama on his narrow shoulders. Irritating to watch at times, theatrical and annoying, there was no doubt about the young man's talent. He wasn't my favorite player but he was impressive.

The close of the season would find both men leaving their squads......Alemao to Vasco De Gama, and Marcus to Yokohama. Last week saw the two intertwined again. Marcus would see the end of his J league career after a disappointing end. Alemao saw the end of his life. While driving in a suburb of Rio De Janiero, Alemao crashed his car and died. He was 23 years old, far too young to be in the grave.

Our friend Cesare wrote a moving piece about the young striker on his Kyoto blog

http://sangananbanjin.blogspot.com/2007/07/alemao.html

Here's hoping you and your family find peace, Alemao.

GET USED TO TAKAGI

Shinya Yoshihara is out for 6 weeks after getting banged up in the game against Cerezo. That's why you bring in a couple good keepers.

VERDY VAULTS TO 4th AFTER A VICTORY OVER VEGALTA

Hulkamania ran wild in Sendai as the green machine thumped Vegalta on the road 4-1. One of the few bright spots in the Rui era has been the domination of the Sendai side. Verdy now holds a 5-1-1 record against the hawks. Call it Tsunami's revenge......(Speaking of which, 2-0-0 against Cerezo as well)

MONTEDIO AT NISHIGAOKA

Hagimura is out......back three of Ichiyanagi, Togawa, and Tomisawa with Ono and Sugayama in the middle and Takagi in net, Hattori and Kaimoto on the wings

Could be a shootout.

Half Finished

The season hit the halfway mark yesterday with Verdy finding themselves in 5th place, 6 points behind 2nd place Kyoto Purple Sanga.

Here is Verdy half wrap

BIGGEST WIN: At Kyoto 4-1.......Verdy found themselves in a 7 game morass before taking it to the purple gang of Kyoto. A loss here would have ended all chances of recovering and Verdy behind the two Brazilians came through big.

WORST LOSS: Ehime 1-0......some will say the 5-1 drubbing at the hands of Mito was the worst loss and it's hard to argue against them. I will contend however that outshooting and out powering little Ehime while not finding the net was a killer. Ehime robbed points from Verdy. It was the game that caused me to stop writng for a month.

MVP: Hulk 13 goals 8 assists, constant threats, powerful runs in the box.

Surprise of the year: Shigenori Hagimura, the guy has done the most with his chances after a dreadful season in 2006.

No surprise: Kaz Iio, THE STRIKER THAT DOESN'T SHOOT

What about Rui? I still say he is overmatched as a coach and he does things that I disagree with. I would have fired him......that being said, he did institute the switch to 3-5-2 that jumpstarted the 2007 campaign and put the squad back in contention for promotion...that he deserves credit for.

Changes? Tsuchiya will be back so Togawa probably loses his spot. Funakoshi is back as a starter, although I'm not quite sure why. Possibly the adddition of another big name from the past and maybe a replacement for Ze Luis, who has disappeared completely.

Mystery?????? What happened to Masaki Saito? Did he die? Where is the guy?

Forecast for the second half- If everything breaks right, 3rd place and a chance to play against JEF Chiba for the last spot in J1.

J2's upcoming crisis

Next year will see the inclusion of up to 3 more teams into the ranks of J2. While the number of squads has made for a tidy if bit long 48 game schedule, the addition of 2 more teams could throw a huge monkey wrench into the works. 15 teams would mean the loss of 18 games on the schedule, down to a paltry 28 games. Lacking a cup situation would mean loss of revenue and less chances for players to see meaningful playing time.

Therefore Soilent Green proposes something completely different and possibly really stupid......the two tiered season.

Unlike the two stage mess that was in the J league, this two tiered system would have a purpose........

STEP 1- The 28 game preliminaries
STEP 2- The final rounds
Each team would get a home and home series against every opponent in J2. At the end of the 28 game season teams would be classified into two groups......the promotion group and the cup group. The promotion group (top 8) would play another 14 game home and home set against the other 7 top finishers. The cup group (bottom 7) would play a 12 game set against the other also rans in their group. Instead of promotion, the cup group would play for a monetary prize and a cup, so even the smallest fish could have dreams of winning something.

Scheduling would be a difficulty, arranging travel plans and putting out advertisements would be done on an unfortunate truncated schedule. However, every team has a competition to play in so venues could be reserved at the start of the the season.

The second problem with this is the age old question of cheapening the season versus making every game count. Don't know where I stand when it comes to this. I don't mind playoffs, especially since the Colaship and other various leagues have a playoff system in place in relation to promotion. The one problem I do see with this is the devaluing of performance in the earlier stages. Kashiwa had a monster start last year and a bit of a dropoff in form near the end. In my scenario, a loss in form could doom a team who consistently performed well during a majority of the season.

Just a thought.....all I know is Thespa vs Tokushima is Booooooooring right now!

Lucky 7

To start this week's edition of Soilent Green, we start with the long awaited arrival of FOSG Jesse Fink's book on the socceroos and former Yomiuri FC goalkeeper Dennis Boland. Titled 15 days in June, it details the rise of a new power in Asian football. I've gotten through the first three chapters and it is a fast and interesting read. Not sure where you can buy it in Japan or Europe..(probably Amazon or E-Bay). Anyhow, congratulations on the new book Jesseand here's hoping you come to Japan and write 1 and a half long damn years in Tokyo.....How Rui messed up a sure thing!
Today, Verdy ventures to Ibaraki prefecture to take on Vendo's own Mito Hollyhock. Yahoo.co.jp posted this as the potential lineup, and it seems that there is an Albirex tinge to the lineup. The key to the game will be effective counter-attacking, Mito love to push the ball lately and a hawk like Hulk could put his stamp on the game.

Three Brazilians, Hulk and Diego for Verdy and new signing Biju for Mito did not appear in the last contest. Another thing in Verdy's favor is the fact that last year the teams split the season series two apiece with road teams winning all the games.

Reversal of fortune? Possibly.

MIURA IN LIMBO

Well, as of today there is still no movement on the transfer of Atsuhiro Miura. Spots Hochi has thrown Yokohama FC back into the mix in regards to making a move on the longtime pro. Makes sense, considering he was one of the best players in Flugel history and has connections up the ying yang to the Yokohama squad.

Like Bad Breath........

I'm back.

Couple of interesting tidbits to pass along as I try to get back into the swing of things

1. Yukio Tsuchiya is out for 6 weeks. He came up injured in the game against Flaming Pink on Wednesday.

2. Atsuhiro Miura is allegedly a target for Ramos and friends. The 32 year old former captain of Vissel Kobe was told to hit the road after criticizing Vissels manager for his player selection and tactics. The team said that he had to apologize, he didn't and he was let go.

Over the past couple of weeks, Ramos has made overtures to his former teammate from Verdy days of yore in an attempt to lure him back as a wing.

It was easy to dismiss the overtures as another attempt by Rui to get his name in the papers and make him look like he was trying to do something to save the SS Green Titanic. Another mercurial former foreign legend from the days of J league infancy, Pierre Littbarski, also has made advances towards the gritty professional.

One had to be wondering why Miura would take a step back into J2 when some of the lower rung J1 squads were begging for his services and leadership. It seems to me the clock was ticking on his J1 career and road trips to Tosu couldn't be too palatable for the former National teamer.

The first sign that maybe Verdy's overtures were more credible came in the form of a response by Yokohama FC that they would not be pursuing the services of Miura because of money and desire. Now, when a team with a massive Verdy fetish like Yokohama FC turns down the chance to get one of its former legends, you know that something is cooking....by last count they had Silva, Kazu, Yamada, Sugeno, Nejime, Tamano, Takagi, Hiramoto and new signing Hayashi all claiming ties to the Green.

A few days ago, Vissel added to the speculation that Miura would take the field in green by issuing a statement saying that they would only transfer Miura to a J2 squad......J1 was out of the question. Reasonable enough, Vissel kind of is mediocre bordering on suck and they don't want a pissed off former player going at them directly or indirectly for a rival.

Like everything Verdy does, this move could be good or bad..........

What will Miura do when he sees that Ramos (or Littbarski) are both mediocre as managers and have the same aggravating style of indecision and constant player moves?

What will adding another "crony" do to the likes of a Fukuda who hasn't seen the pitch in a long time?

Why is a team who is mid table second division trying to get older?

What does this do to the leadership structure of the squad.........Is Ono still the captain? Hattori? Does Miura get the band after walking in?

Is he a forward or defender?

Any other manager, I'd say bring him in........but Rui? He'll mess up for sure.

Game on!

GONE FISHIN!

I have decided to take a break from blogging for the month of June.......I will be back on July 1st, hopefully relaxed and refreshed.

Kinda came to this conclusion during the game when I was doing everything but paying attention to what was on the field yesterday.

OH YEAH......I blame Kaz Iio for th loss yesterday.....I don't know why Rui insists on playing the guy after win streaks but he is the biggest jinx I've ever seen.

So look for me on July 1st to blog again.......much apologies, feel free to keep the discussions going though here.