J-League, Let's Go!

[Magik]

J-League, Let's Go!

Thanks for that, if anything more comes to your mind shoot straightaway.

Re Matsui or japanese football generally, it's all very interesting.

[Furtho]

J-League, Let's Go!

Magik - there's a story in one of the Japanese sports tabloids on Wednesday linking Matsui with a move to Sagan Tosu, a smaller club close to the bottom of J1.

[Furtho]

J-League, Let's Go!

A couple of records to report in a quick round-up of Wednesday's full set of J2 fixtures. Leaders Gamba Osaka went to bottom side FC Gifu and delivered a merciless crushing to the tune of 8-2, ten goals being the most ever scored in a single J2 game; the crowd of 11,719 was also, by the by, Gifu's highest home attendance. Meanwhile Kazu Miura of Yokohama FC broke his own record as the oldest player to score in a J-League match when the 46-year-old (yes, 46) took advantage of some rubbishy Tochigi SC defending to net in the first minute of their match; Yokohama went on to win 3-1.

J2 results

Ehime 1-1 Kumamoto
Fukuoka 1-0 Gunma
Gifu 2-8 Gamba
Kitakyushu 1-2 Nagasaki
Matsumoto 2-0 Mito
Okayama 1-0 Kobe
Tokushima 1-0 Sapporo
Toyama 1-2 JEF
Verdy 0-5 Kyoto
Yamagata 2-3 Tottori
Yokohama FC 3-1 Tochigi

J2 top six

1. Gamba 49pts
2. Kobe 44
3. Nagasaki 39
4. Kyoto 38
5. JEF 38
6. Tochigi 34

J2 bottom six

17. Kumamoto 22
18. Tottori 22
19. Toyama 21
20. Kitakyushu 20
21. Gunma 19
22. Gifu 17

[Magik]

J-League, Let's Go!

Yeah heard there were some last - minute offers for Matsui but he signed with us. So in 2 coming days the official site had more hits from Japan than it had overall when it was announced that we ll play Barca i a friendly. Speaking of which there is PM for you on the way....

[Furtho]

J-League, Let's Go!

Responded, Magik.

[Furtho]

J-League, Let's Go!

The J1 season got back underway on Saturday with a full round of fixtures following a six-week break for World Cup games and the Confederations Cup. Two of the top three sides slipped up against struggling opposition, surprise leaders Omiya Ardija and Yokohama F Marinos being held to 1-1 home draws by Sagan Tosu and Oita Trinita respectively. Urawa Reds and 2012 champions Sanfrecce Hiroshima gained ground by picking up late wins, this peachy Park Hyung Jin free kick clinching it for Sanfrecce in injury time at FC Tokyo.

J1 results

FC Tokyo 0-1 Hiroshima
Jubilo 2-2 Cerezo
Kawasaki 4-2 Kashima
Kofu 0-1 Urawa
Marinos 1-1 Oita
Nagoya 2-1 S-Pulse
Niigata 3-2 Kashiwa
Omiya 1-1 Tosu
Sendai 0-0 Shonan

J1 top six

1. Omiya 33pts
2. Urawa 30
3. Marinos 28
4. Hiroshima 27
5. Kashima 25
6. Cerezo 24

J1 bottom six

13. Nagoya 15
14. Kofu 14
15. Tosu 11
16. Shonan 10
17. Jubilo 8
18. Oita 8

[Furtho]

J-League, Let's Go!

Another very nice highlight from Saturday's J1 games -- check out Hiroki Yamada's assist for Ryoichi Maeda to score for Jubilo Iwata, here.

[Furtho]

J-League, Let's Go!

Not match doubting the game or result of the day in J2 today, where JEF United inflicted only a second defeat of the season on leaders Gamba Osaka. Former Gamba players Satoshi Yamaguchi and Shohei Otsuka were both on target for an impressive-looking JEF, whose 3-0 win bolstered their place among the play-off spots. Currently occupying the last of those spots, Tochigi SC's failure to beat lowly Kataller Toyama despite dominating the game means that a six-point gap has now opened up ahead of them in the standings. Look six points in the other direction and it becomes apparent how exposed Tochigi are, as there are no fewer than nine teams in that bunch down to Tokyo Verdy in 15th.

J2 results

Gunma 0-1 Mito
JEF 3-0 Gamba
Kyoto 2-0 Gifu
Kitakyushu 0-2 Tokushima
Kobe 2-0 Ehime
Nagasaki 2-1 Yamagata
Okayama 0-0 Yokohama FC
Sapporo 3-0 Fukuoka
Tochigi 1-1 Toyama
Tottori 1-1 Verdy

J2 top six

1. Gamba 49pts
2. Kobe 47
--------
3. Nagasaki 42
4. Kyoto 41
5. JEF 41
6. Tochigi 35

J2 bottom six

17. Tottori 23
18. Toyama 22
19. Kumamoto 22
20. Kitakyushu 20
21. Gunma 19
22. Gifu 17

[Rogin the Armchair fan]

J-League, Let's Go!

Furtho, is there any reaction/comment in Japan to the fact that of their 4 AFC champions league entrants this year, the only ones left standing (heading into the quarter-final stage) are Kashiwa Reysol, who I think got in as Emperor's Cup winners and are about 10th in the league but have outlasted last year's top 3 J-League sides?

I'm amused by the parallel of many over here saying one of England's four CL entrants should be the FA Cup winners (which I agree with), Kashiwa this year are like Wigan next year reaching the CL QFs while United, City and Chelsea all go out, aren't they?

[Furtho]

J-League, Let's Go!

Rogin - Japanese clubs and fans don' t think about the ACL in the same way that English clubs and fans do about the Champions League. It's probably more akin to the way that a lower division English side might view the Johnstone's Paint Cup, or whatever it's called: really not at all interested for the first few rounds but if the team happens to win some games, at the end of it there's a nice trip to Wembley and the chance of a trophy. Even then the parallel doesn't quite work because for J-League clubs the carrot isn't so much that they might be champions of Asia, more that they would then get a chance to participate in the Club World Cup and match themselves against the best from Europe and South America.

Another point of comparison is that the balance of power within the J-League is different from the Premier League to a mind-bending degree. No-one in Japan would look at Reysol's current league position and conclude that they were a kind of equivalent to Wigan: they're a dangerous team with a good coach and some very good players, easily capable of beating anyone in the top three or four. Hence it's no particular surprise that Reysol have progressed further in the ACL than those clubs that qualified via the league. Of course I do know that Wigan won the FA Cup and beat a metaphorical BRC to do so, but in terms of general competitiveness in the context of English football they're miles away from where Kashiwa are in Japan.

In saying this I'm not trying to pin too much on the specific circumstances of Kashiwa Reysol and Wigan Athletic; I think you could make basically the same point about any club in similar positions in the two leagues. However, it so happens that Kashiwa do provide a good example of the balance that exists within the J-League and which goes a long way to explaining why it's such an engrossing league to follow. Their recent history goes like this:

In 2009 they got relegated from J1.

In 2010 they were promoted back as champions of J2.

In 2011 they won the J-League title.

In 2012 they won the Emperor's Cup.

All of this has happened under the same coach, with no significant changes to the budget and only the sort of evolution to the squad that would happen over that sort of period. I remember before the 2011 season there was the usual debate about who the contenders were and although it would have been possible to make a case for getting on for half the division, Reysol were not among the clubs anyone thought had a chance. Here we get excited about Swansea City or West Brom finishing mid-table. In Japan teams like that win the league.

[Furtho]

J-League, Let's Go!

On a hot and humid evening there was today a full round of J1 fixtures, with some potentially decisive results at the top and bottom of the table. Starting this time around the relegation zone Jubilo Iwata picked up only their second win of the season at home to Albirex Niigata, Ryohei Yamazaki's injury time goal making it 2-1 to the beleaguered Shizuoka-ites. And just as Yamazaki was doing his stuff, Yohei Toyoda was scoring for Sagan Tosu in their six-pointer with Ventforet Kofu. A 2-1 victory for Tosu means there's now clear water between them and the bottom three, where Oita Trinita and Shonan Bellmare were both losers.

Big winners higher up the table were reigning champions Sanfrecce Hiroshima, who moved third following their 4-2 win over Kawasaki Frontale. A hat-trick for Hisato Sato means that Hiroshima's star striker has now scored at least ten goals in ten consecutive league seasons. Urawa Reds nicked a late draw with FC Tokyo to stay second but defeat for Yokohama F Marinos at Cerezo Osaka saw the Sailors slip below Sanfrecce. Meanwhile shock pacesetters Omiya Ardija have opened up a five-point gap at the top of the table. Coming off a disappointing result at the weekend, the Squirrels conceded early at home to Nagoya Grampus but turned things around in the second half to win 2-1.

J1 results

Cerezo 2-1 Marinos
Hiroshima 4-2 Kawasaki
Jubilo 2-1 Niigata
Kashima 3-1 S-Pulse
Oita 0-1 Sendai
Omiya 2-1 Nagoya
Shonan 1-2 Kashiwa
Tosu 2-1 Kofu
Urawa 2-2 FC Tokyo

J1 top six

1. Omiya 36pts
2. Urawa 31
3. Hiroshima 30
4. Marinos 28
5. Kashima 28
6. Cerezo 27

J1 bottom six

13. Nagoya 15
14. Kofu 14
15. Tosu 14
--------
16. Jubilo 11
17. Shonan 10
18. Oita 8

[Furtho]

J-League, Let's Go!

A very nice compilation video of the best J1 goals during May is here. The last one, by Sanfrecce Hiroshima's Yojiro Takahagi, is a thing of rare beauty.

[Furtho]

J-League, Let's Go!

On another night of burning heat and stifling humidity a dent was put in the title hopes of both the Saitama clubs leading the way in the J1 table. A lacklustre first half performance did for Omiya Ardija at Yokohama F Marinos, for whom Manabu Saito scored an outstanding goal as the Sailors beat the Squirrels 2-1. For Urawa Reds it was even worse -- they were three down at half time against Kawasaki Frontale and eventually lost 4-0, Kawasaki's resurgent former international striker Yoshito Okubo rounding off the scoring with his 11th of the season, the 100th J1 goal of his career. Urawa drop to third, overtaken by a Sanfrecce Hiroshima side who nicked a win over Cerezo Osaka in the fifth minute of injury time. At the bottom of the table Shonan Bellmare recorded only two shots in the whole of the game but still won the six-pointer at Ventforet Kofu to move within a point of safety.

J1 results

Hiroshima 1-0 Cerezo
Kashiwa 2-1 Kashima
Kawasaki 4-0 Urawa
Kofu 0-1 Shonan
Marinos 2-1 Omiya
Nagoya 3-2 Tosu
Niigata 0-3 FC Tokyo
S-Pulse 3-1 Oita
Sendai 1-1 Jubilo

J1 top six

1. Omiya 36pts
2. Hiroshima 33
3. Urawa 31
4. Marinos 31
5. Kashima 28
6. Cerezo 27

J1 bottom six

13. Niigata 17
14. Kofu 14
15. Tosu 14
--------
16. Shonan 13
17. Jubilo 12
18. Oita 8

[Furtho]

J-League, Let's Go!

Vissel Kobe moved back level on points with Gamba Osaka at the top of J2 on Sunday, closing the gap thanks to a 1-0 win over Kataller Toyama while Gamba could only draw with Giravanz Kitakyushu. Kobe dominated their game with lowly Toyama but had to wait until two minutes from time for Brazilian forward Mazinho to score the only goal of the game. Gamba controlled their game too and were heading for a win until Koki Kotegawa equalised from the spot for Giravanz with 12 minutes to go. A week after beating Gamba in-form JEF United go fourth, the Chiba Dogs easing past Montedio Yamagata.

This time against Thespakusatsu Gunma, V Varen Nagasaki managed yet another narrow win -- 11 of their 13 victories so far have been by a single goal -- to stay third in what is turning out to be a miraculous debut season. Not surprisingly there has been much press interest in the V Varen phenomenon, bearing in mind the significant difficulty most clubs have in adjusting to fully pro J2 football in the years following promotion from the third-tier JFL. The players added to the Nagasaki squad prior to the start of the season were mostly no more than reserve team members from other J2 sides, pretty much the only one with regular first team experience being forward Koichi Sato from the distinctly unphenomenal FC Gifu.

So what's the secret? Japanese culture has a tendency to make a big deal out of the idea of home town and with incoming coach Takuya Takagi being a Nagasaki lad, the orthodox line goes, obviously he's been super-motivated to make his local side's early experience of the J-League a success. Be that as it may, Takagi evidently knows how to make the absolute most out of what he's got -- perhaps the most important single attribute any coach working in Japan can have -- and his V Varen are a hard-working team, no respecters of reputation and, as one observer put it, "not afraid to leave a foot in". The crowds have levelled out at 3000-4000, respectable in comparison with first-season averages for most of the clubs promoted to J2 in recent years, but very modest when stacked up against the attendances of those teams around them in the league table.

As time goes by it's becoming harder and harder to rule Nagasaki out of one of the four play-off spots and if Vissel or Gamba do go on to experience a dip in form, it's the consistency of Takagi's team that has them best placed to react. September is a tricky month, containing as it does games against not only the leading two but also Kyoto Sanga, but V Varen have demonstrated very well that they have nothing to fear.

J2 results

Ehime 0-2 Tokushima
Fukuoka 2-0 Tochigi
Gamba 1-1 Kitakyushu
Kobe 1-0 Toyama
Kumamoto 1-1 Gifu
Matsumoto 1-1 Kyoto
Mito 1-0 Okayama
Nagasaki 1-0 Gunma
Tottori 0-0 Yokohama FC
Verdy 2-1 Sapporo
Yamagata 0-3 JEF

J2 top six

1. Gamba 50pts
2. Kobe 50
--------
3. Nagasaki 45
4. JEF 44
5. Kyoto 42
6. Fukuoka 37

J2 bottom six

17. Tottori 24
18. Kumamoto 23
19. Toyama 22
20. Kitakyushu 21
21. Gunma 19
22. Gifu 18

[Furtho]

J-League, Let's Go!

After Wednesday night's games J1 now goes into another short break as the Japan national team heads off to compete in the East Asian Cup, and there's a new name to be found at the top of the division. Reigning champions Sanfrecce Hiroshima head the standings for the first time this year following their 2-0 win at Vegalta Sendai. Two goals inside a minute early in the first half sealed the points for Sanfrecce, while previous leaders Omiya Ardija stumbled to a 3-2 defeat at home to in-form Kawasaki Frontale. Baby-faced Brazilian forward Renato scored Frontale's decisive goal from the penalty spot in injury time.

In other news, the J-League this week made the somewhat surprising announcement that the new J3 division will go ahead in 2014 with 12 member clubs. This has raised eyebrows for a couple of reasons. First, timing: as I mentioned on this thread at the end of June, a large proportion of the possible entrants have only just submitted their applications, so it seems odd to be talking publicly now about how many of them are likely to be successful. The second reason is that, with what some might describe as an uncharacteristic lack of caution on the part of J-League officials, it goes against the tried and tested model of 10 teams to start a new division, as was the case with both J1 and J2.

Something of a wild card here is that it's looking more and more likely one of the teams in J3 for 2014 will be made up of young players registered with existing J1 and J2 clubs. This proposal has come from the JFA, stung at the lack of recent success of the national side at youth and U22 level, their thinking being that such an arrangement would increase the amount of competitive football experienced by decent young players who are not yet first teamers at their main clubs. What makes the idea a real possibility is that one reason for the founding of the J-League was to make the Japanese national team more competitive, hence the league is to an extent set up to be compliant to this sort of demand from the JFA.

J1 results

Cerezo 4-1 Tosu
FC Tokyo 4-1 Kofu
Kashima 1-1 Jubilo
Kashiwa 2-2 S-Pulse
Oita 1-2 Nagoya
Omiya 2-3 Kawasaki
Sendai 0-2 Hiroshima
Shonan 0-2 Niigata
Urawa 2-3 Marinos

J1 top six

1. Hiroshima 36pts
2. Omiya 36
3. Marinos 34
4. Urawa 31
5. Cerezo 30
6. Kashima 29

J1 bottom six

13. Niigata 20
14. Kofu 14
15. Tosu 14
--------
16. Jubilo 13
17. Shonan 13
18. Oita 8

[Furtho]

J-League, Let's Go!

Gamba Osaka moved three points clear at the top of J2 after triumphing over their neighbours and nearest challengers Vissel Kobe on Saturday. In his first game after returning from a loan spell in Germany Takashi Usami was the hero for Gamba, scoring twice in the 3-2 win. JEF United continued their good run of form as they beat Ehime 1-0 to go third, overhauling V Varen Nagasaki who conceded a late equaliser at Kataller Toyama. The Kyushu Wasps of Avispa Fukuoka climbed into the play-off places for the first time this season as a result of their 2-0 win at wooden-spooners FC Gifu.

J2 results

Ehime 0-1 JEF
Gamba 3-2 Kobe
Gifu 0-2 Fukuoka
Kitakyushu 1-1 Kyoto
Matsumoto 2-4 Sapporo
Mito 2-2 Tottori
Tochigi 0-1 Kumamoto
Tokushima 4-1 Gunma
Toyama 1-1 Nagasaki
Yamagata 1-2 Okayama
Yokohama FC 2-3 Verdy

J2 top six

1. Gamba 53pts
2. Kobe 50
- - - - - - - -
3. JEF 47
4. Nagasaki 46
5. Kyoto 43
6. Fukuoka 40

J2 bottom six

17. Ehime 25
18. Tottori 25
19. Toyama 23
20. Kitakyushu 22
21. Gunma 19
22. Gifu 18

[Magik]

J-League, Let's Go!

Daisuke Matsui 2 goals in his debut but only 2 all draw with a goal conceded in 3rd minute of added time. Matsu is a star already.

[Furtho]

J-League, Let's Go!

The batch of friendlies between J-League and English teams has now come to an end, I think, and although the Japanese sides have been affected by some of their star men being off with the national team things haven't gone too badly. Arsenal beat Nagoya Grampus 3-1 and Urawa Reds 2-1, Manchester United drew 2-2 with Cerezo Osaka and lost 3-2 to Yokohama F Marinos. The most eyecatching moment was Takumi Minamino's peach of a goal for Cerezo, which is here.

[Magik]

J-League, Let's Go!

Furtho - if any japanese journos/tourists would like to visit Matsu in Free City give them my details i ll be more than happy to help. There were some here for the first game.

[Furtho]

J-League, Let's Go!

Haven't really followed either the men's or women's tournaments especially closely, but here are the details of the East Asian Cup, played over the last week in Seoul. They're both straight round-robin competitions -- no knock-out, no final -- Japan winning the men's and North Korea the women's.

Men's

20 Jul: South Korea 0-0 Australia
21 Jul: Japan 3-3 China
24 Jul: South Korea 0-0 China
25 Jul: Japan 3-2 Australia
28 Jul: Australia 3-4 China
28 Jul: South Korea 1-2 Japan

1. Japan 7pts
2. China 5
3. South Korea 2
4. Australia 1

Women's

20 Jul: Japan 2-0 China
21 Jul: South Korea 1-2 North Korea
24 Jul: South Korea 1-2 China
25 Jul: Japan 0-0 North Korea
27 Jul: North Korea 1-0 China
27 Jul: South Korea 2-1 Japan

1. North Korea 7pts
2. Japan 4
3. South Korea 3
4. China 3

[Rogin the Armchair fan]

J-League, Let's Go!

China's results look on the up there, after their dismal showings in recent World Cup qualification?

[Furtho]

J-League, Let's Go!

Very positive for China after some recent extremely poor results -- they were beaten 5-1 by Thailand in the last friendly before this tournament. I don't know how strong the team they put out was, though, and from what I can gather all the other participants were trying out younger players.

[Anton Gramscescu]

J-League, Let's Go!

Lucas Neill is Orange and Happy.

Omiya have lost six in a row? Talk about reversion to the mean.

[Furtho]

J-League, Let's Go!

It's too long and complicated to go into here, AG. They sacked the coach last weekend. No idea how things are going to play out during the rest of the season.

[Anton Gramscescu]

J-League, Let's Go!

Six games in a row is not good but it seems like rank ingratitude to do a coach who only a few weeks ago had the team on the J-league's longest unbeaten run. I'm guessing they wouldn't have done that to a Japanese coach.

How have the Slovenian (Slovakian? I forget) players taken the firing? Are they still committed to the cause or are they on the way out?