The J1 season for 2012 has come to an end. Omiya Ardija finished their season with a rather tame but essentially unimportant 0-0 draw away to Shimizu S-Pulse. The goalless draw continued Ardija's unbeaten run, which now stretches to 11 games in the league. A considerable effort which guaranteed Omiya's presence in next season's J1 league. With Kashima and Jubilo both winning, there was no way the Squirrels could finish any higher than 14th, because of our vastly inferior goal difference. 14th place for Ardija fans feels ever so familiar, yet this season we knew the chance of a better finish had evaporated fast under the terrible start to the season with the previous coach, Jun Suzuki. The important point for Omiya Ardija is where do we go from here?
Twitter is already awash with rumours of players leaving, and the names of those players fans would dearly love to leave. The key at stake here is surely the core of the team which has kept us in J1 and which coach Verdenik has worked hard to get into a unit that just might be able to play attractive football, win games and not concede too many goals.
Well, that would be the plan ( and the dream!) but even before the season ended, it was widely believed that Novakovic was unhappy plying his trade in Japan and was looking for a way back to Europe. His end of season form certainly won't have hurt his chances to do just that. However it would disappoint Squirrels fans who have rightly appreciated his goalscoring efforts, and his hard work in leading the front line.
Currently Zlatan is back in Slovenia recovering from the injury he received during the last home game to Jubilo Iwata. We must hope he comes back to Ardija. His touch and technique, as well as his scoring boots would be sorely missed, if he chose to remain in Europe.
Next to consider is the coach who brought the Slovenian duo to Ardija and who found the system to fit them into the rest of Ardija's squad. I have heard nothing to suggest that Verdenik wishes to quit now, and really hope he does not jump ship just yet. He has found a formula the players are responding well to. Kikuchi and Komano look well matched, and players who previously failed to delight, have started to shine. I'm thinking of Watanabe, Watabe, Cho Yong-Cheol and Shimohira.
Let's say Zlatan stays, Novakovic and Higashi leave. With a steady unit that saw us through the last part of the season unbeaten, transfer targets would be easy to focus on. If it were all that easy! I have no idea of how contracts lie with other players and how they feel about where they want to play next season.
Another rumour doing the rounds, is that Rafael who left Ardija earlier in the season to return to Brazil, will return after not fitting in at Botafogo. I am not sure how much seriousness I can yet take this rumour and further I am not at all certain it would be a wise move for either club or player alike.
For now, all we can do is concentrate on our next game which is in the Emperor's Cup at home to Kawasaki Frontale on Saturday 15th December and look to stay unbeaten and give Squirrels' fans the hopes of an exciting cup run.
Thursday 6 December 2012
Friday 30 November 2012
"Great" Escape
So Omiya Ardija have done it again. With one game to go in the J1 league for season 2012, away to Shimizu S-Pulse, Omiya have already guaranteed their status in J1 for next year. A 2-0 win over Jubilo Iwata, care of a superb strike from Kanazawa and a second goal neatly finished by Watanabe after good work from Zlatan in the 5.30pm kick off on Saturday November 24th was enough to keep Ardija out of the drama of the last day of the season relegation dogfight tomorrow.
Who could blame the Squirrels if they decided to put their feet up during the last game of the season at the Outsourcing stadium tomorrow. After all, for much of the season the Squirrels seemed favourite to go down. Unable to score, with a porous defence, and a hapless coach in Jun Suzuki, the future for Ardija seemed to have J2 written all over it. Instead a lot of hard work from new coach Verdenik, his staff, 3 astute purchases which at the time, like the choice of new coach, seemed rather less than inspiring, and commitment from all the players to Verdenik's system have produced such a great outcome for the Omiya fans.
Every holiday season that hoary old classic film, The Great Escape is rolled out across the TV screens in the UK for the viewing public's enjoyment. Without fail. And each time I watch it, Steve McQueen fails to jump the barbed wire on his bike, and only 2 prisoners of war make it to safety.
Likewise season after season in Japan it seems that Omiya Ardija's name and The Great Escape are inextricably linked together.
Yet this time the word "Great" should be the focus for how we played our way out of trouble, not merely the fact of another "Escape." This wasn't a last ditch, backs to the wall effort to get us the points we needed for safety. Similarly it wasn't a hoof it clear, bang it up front and hope we score type of performance either.
This victory, and the one the week before at Cerezo were well constructed performances. Komoto has made a huge impact in defence, playing well with Kikuchi and giving the back line a confidence that was previously missing. Up front, the foreign imports from Slovenia, Zlatan and Novakovic give the opposition defenders something to really worry about, and following on from this, the Ardija midfielders have the confidence that the forwards might score, but also that they will keep possession in dangerous positions. Earlier in the season we would lose the ball far too quickly and too often, and very soon we would be back in our own half and under pressure. In recent weeks, when playing, Watabe, Higashi, Cho Yong-Cheol and Watanabe have looked transformed players, capable of joining and maintaining the attack, even scoring.
In the first half of this game Cho and Shimohira continually linked up well down the left side and provided decent service for the two strikers. Under Jun Suzuki, Cho looked out of position and unable to do much with the ball. Against Iwata, he looked sharp, full of running and a danger to Iwata. This has surely come about because of the presence of Zlatan and Novakovic providing a real focus for the wide players to go for.
The team is looking in good shape, just as the season is about to end. I am very confident the Squirrels will not be putting their feet up at Nihondaira, but instead they will be looking to extend their unbeaten streak in the league to 12 games. A win for Ardija would be a third straight win. Impressive end of season form by anyone's standards. It could even secure us our best ever J1 league finishing position. Omiya as yet have never finished higher than twelfth. Unfortunately they will have to do it without Zlatan, who picked up a season ending injury in the second half of the Iwata game. This does give Verdenik the chance to experiment with the front two. I guess he will go with Novakovic and Hasegawa, however I'd rather see the lively looking Shintaro Shimizu start, with Hasegawa given a run in the second half.
What lies ahead for Omiya. Well, a run in the Emperor's cup would be good for the club and welcome for the fans. More importantly, is keeping the squad together, the belief and confidence, and building on it during the off-season, so that Ardija might not have to take the starring role in next season's version of The Great Escape.
Who could blame the Squirrels if they decided to put their feet up during the last game of the season at the Outsourcing stadium tomorrow. After all, for much of the season the Squirrels seemed favourite to go down. Unable to score, with a porous defence, and a hapless coach in Jun Suzuki, the future for Ardija seemed to have J2 written all over it. Instead a lot of hard work from new coach Verdenik, his staff, 3 astute purchases which at the time, like the choice of new coach, seemed rather less than inspiring, and commitment from all the players to Verdenik's system have produced such a great outcome for the Omiya fans.
Every holiday season that hoary old classic film, The Great Escape is rolled out across the TV screens in the UK for the viewing public's enjoyment. Without fail. And each time I watch it, Steve McQueen fails to jump the barbed wire on his bike, and only 2 prisoners of war make it to safety.
Likewise season after season in Japan it seems that Omiya Ardija's name and The Great Escape are inextricably linked together.
Yet this time the word "Great" should be the focus for how we played our way out of trouble, not merely the fact of another "Escape." This wasn't a last ditch, backs to the wall effort to get us the points we needed for safety. Similarly it wasn't a hoof it clear, bang it up front and hope we score type of performance either.
This victory, and the one the week before at Cerezo were well constructed performances. Komoto has made a huge impact in defence, playing well with Kikuchi and giving the back line a confidence that was previously missing. Up front, the foreign imports from Slovenia, Zlatan and Novakovic give the opposition defenders something to really worry about, and following on from this, the Ardija midfielders have the confidence that the forwards might score, but also that they will keep possession in dangerous positions. Earlier in the season we would lose the ball far too quickly and too often, and very soon we would be back in our own half and under pressure. In recent weeks, when playing, Watabe, Higashi, Cho Yong-Cheol and Watanabe have looked transformed players, capable of joining and maintaining the attack, even scoring.
In the first half of this game Cho and Shimohira continually linked up well down the left side and provided decent service for the two strikers. Under Jun Suzuki, Cho looked out of position and unable to do much with the ball. Against Iwata, he looked sharp, full of running and a danger to Iwata. This has surely come about because of the presence of Zlatan and Novakovic providing a real focus for the wide players to go for.
The team is looking in good shape, just as the season is about to end. I am very confident the Squirrels will not be putting their feet up at Nihondaira, but instead they will be looking to extend their unbeaten streak in the league to 12 games. A win for Ardija would be a third straight win. Impressive end of season form by anyone's standards. It could even secure us our best ever J1 league finishing position. Omiya as yet have never finished higher than twelfth. Unfortunately they will have to do it without Zlatan, who picked up a season ending injury in the second half of the Iwata game. This does give Verdenik the chance to experiment with the front two. I guess he will go with Novakovic and Hasegawa, however I'd rather see the lively looking Shintaro Shimizu start, with Hasegawa given a run in the second half.
What lies ahead for Omiya. Well, a run in the Emperor's cup would be good for the club and welcome for the fans. More importantly, is keeping the squad together, the belief and confidence, and building on it during the off-season, so that Ardija might not have to take the starring role in next season's version of The Great Escape.
Friday 23 November 2012
Cerezo away!
The Squirrels went to a rainswept Cerezo Osaka and took all three points in a fantastic 3-1 away win. Goals from Novakovic, Watabe and Aoki sealed the win. A win which unfortunately due to the incredibly close nature of the J1 league has not made us safe, but nevertheless it's a win that keeps our heads just above the water and moves us a step nearer to the longed for safety.
A terrific performance from the lads, and a team performance. In the wet conditions of the first half and the slightly better conditions of the second half, Ardija played as a unit and errors - passing or defencive ones were kept to a minimum. Scoring three goals away from home is no mean achievement for any team, but for Ardija to do so at this late stage of the season, when victory could mean so much, it was a great performance. With Kobe and Gamba both winning away from home too, it kept us above those two relegation rivals and out of the bottom three.
It has to be said that the team has improved under Verdenik and he has turned the team around from one which looked a shambles, poor passing, weak defending, too many errors, and an ineffectual attack that generally failed to frighten the opponent's goalkeeper let alone the back of the net, into a working unit. In this game the team never lost it's shape. Each part of the unit knew it's job and did it mostly well. Players knew where each other were and looked to find them with direct passes or passes to run on to, and we broke with speed and looked likely to score. 5-1 or 6-1 would not have surprised me at the end of the game. The addition of Zlatan and Novakovic, though initially viewed by some fans with scepticism, has proved to be a success and they have shown themselves to be valuable members of the team, providing goals (including hat-tricks from both players) and leading the front line as well as working hard for the team.
Let's not get too carried away, and I may have already done so! But this was a good performance, when I had expected a nervy, edgy showing from Ardija, understandable given our precarious position. Ardija don't do nervy and edgy well. Does anyone? Albirex at home only 3 weeks before this game was a distinctly poor showing, when in that game I thought the opposition were unlucky to lose the game, and looked much better than the Squirrels who seemed aimless, error-strewn and shapeless. The team against Cerezo, with only Zlatan and Watanabe missing from the Nigata line-up, looked a different set of players.
Let's hope the confidence shown during this game and gained from the result will carry on into our last two crucial games of the season, home to Jubilo and away to Shimizu. Hello Shizuoka! What do you have in store for the Squirrels?!
Back to the Cerezo game and Novakovic kicked things off with a first half strike from a free kick, which was superb, then in the second half we went 2 nil up through a swift passing move that came on the counter that lead to Watabe's goal and was exciting to watch as we swept forward and extended our lead. Cerezo hit back with a goal but never really threatened to get even and when an error from Cerezo defender Kim gave Aoki the chance to make it 3-1 the points were safe.
The win came without Brazilian midfielder Carlinhos, a player whose performances earlier in the season have been underestimated due to the poor quality of the side at that time. He does a lot of the groundwork in front of the defence and likes to get the ball forward to the more creative midfielders quickly. Some of his work on the pitch is important but maybe goes unnoticed as fans prefer to focus on the flashier elements in the side now the team is playing better. Yet when those players were badly misfiring earlier in the season I think Carlinhos helped to keep us afloat at times. I don't know if he is injured or just doesn't fit into Coach Verdenik's vision for the team now, and I am not sure how much longer he will be at Ardija. I hope to get the chance to watch him play and bury one of his piledrivers in the back of Jubilo or S-Pulse's net.
A final note on this game. A fillip to the fans who travelled all the way to Kansai to watch the team play in terrible conditions and seeming to stand on what looked very much like a grass bank terrace. I may be wrong about this, but that is what it looked like on the television. I am surprised that such an away end has passed the standards required for a J1 or J2 team. I don't think it would in many other footballing nations, certainly in Europe. It must have been a wet and muddy experience. Thankfully the players gave the fans a performance to enjoy and to forget the conditions.
Next up is a home game to Jubilo Iwata. Ardija fans will be looking for a similar performance and result.
A terrific performance from the lads, and a team performance. In the wet conditions of the first half and the slightly better conditions of the second half, Ardija played as a unit and errors - passing or defencive ones were kept to a minimum. Scoring three goals away from home is no mean achievement for any team, but for Ardija to do so at this late stage of the season, when victory could mean so much, it was a great performance. With Kobe and Gamba both winning away from home too, it kept us above those two relegation rivals and out of the bottom three.
It has to be said that the team has improved under Verdenik and he has turned the team around from one which looked a shambles, poor passing, weak defending, too many errors, and an ineffectual attack that generally failed to frighten the opponent's goalkeeper let alone the back of the net, into a working unit. In this game the team never lost it's shape. Each part of the unit knew it's job and did it mostly well. Players knew where each other were and looked to find them with direct passes or passes to run on to, and we broke with speed and looked likely to score. 5-1 or 6-1 would not have surprised me at the end of the game. The addition of Zlatan and Novakovic, though initially viewed by some fans with scepticism, has proved to be a success and they have shown themselves to be valuable members of the team, providing goals (including hat-tricks from both players) and leading the front line as well as working hard for the team.
Let's not get too carried away, and I may have already done so! But this was a good performance, when I had expected a nervy, edgy showing from Ardija, understandable given our precarious position. Ardija don't do nervy and edgy well. Does anyone? Albirex at home only 3 weeks before this game was a distinctly poor showing, when in that game I thought the opposition were unlucky to lose the game, and looked much better than the Squirrels who seemed aimless, error-strewn and shapeless. The team against Cerezo, with only Zlatan and Watanabe missing from the Nigata line-up, looked a different set of players.
Let's hope the confidence shown during this game and gained from the result will carry on into our last two crucial games of the season, home to Jubilo and away to Shimizu. Hello Shizuoka! What do you have in store for the Squirrels?!
Back to the Cerezo game and Novakovic kicked things off with a first half strike from a free kick, which was superb, then in the second half we went 2 nil up through a swift passing move that came on the counter that lead to Watabe's goal and was exciting to watch as we swept forward and extended our lead. Cerezo hit back with a goal but never really threatened to get even and when an error from Cerezo defender Kim gave Aoki the chance to make it 3-1 the points were safe.
The win came without Brazilian midfielder Carlinhos, a player whose performances earlier in the season have been underestimated due to the poor quality of the side at that time. He does a lot of the groundwork in front of the defence and likes to get the ball forward to the more creative midfielders quickly. Some of his work on the pitch is important but maybe goes unnoticed as fans prefer to focus on the flashier elements in the side now the team is playing better. Yet when those players were badly misfiring earlier in the season I think Carlinhos helped to keep us afloat at times. I don't know if he is injured or just doesn't fit into Coach Verdenik's vision for the team now, and I am not sure how much longer he will be at Ardija. I hope to get the chance to watch him play and bury one of his piledrivers in the back of Jubilo or S-Pulse's net.
A final note on this game. A fillip to the fans who travelled all the way to Kansai to watch the team play in terrible conditions and seeming to stand on what looked very much like a grass bank terrace. I may be wrong about this, but that is what it looked like on the television. I am surprised that such an away end has passed the standards required for a J1 or J2 team. I don't think it would in many other footballing nations, certainly in Europe. It must have been a wet and muddy experience. Thankfully the players gave the fans a performance to enjoy and to forget the conditions.
Next up is a home game to Jubilo Iwata. Ardija fans will be looking for a similar performance and result.
Thursday 8 November 2012
At the top
Putting Ardija's perennial struggle for J1 survival aside for one moment, there has been an intriguing battle at the top of the J1 table, which has now come down to two teams. Those two teams have been there or thereabouts all season, and of course they therefore have also been the two most consistent teams in the league. Sanfrecce Hiroshima and Vegalta Sendai.
Urawa Reds have been flashy at times this season, and I have to say, fairly consistently third in the table, but they lack a certain something before they look like winning another J1 title. The killer instinct. They might have it in front of goal at times, but not enough, and they might over-run a team in midfield, with flair and skill which is very pleasing to watch, but they certainly lack it in defence. There are many ways to kill off a team and Reds haven't quite worked out how yet. This has left them unable to pull away from the rest of the pack, and has cost them any realistic hope of winning the title 3 games from the end.
There are a number of teams fighting it out for Asian Champions League places with 3 points currently separating 3rd place Urawa from 8th place Kashiwa Reysol. Of those teams - Reds I have just discussed, the rest are Grampus, S-Pulse, Marinos, Sagan Tosu and Reysol. From among those teams I have been most impressed with S-Pulse. They are a young side looking to build for the future and they play a brand of football which is attractive to watch. I think their coach has the right attitude to football and one which should bring S-Pulse success in the coming years. However I feel right now they still need something extra to push them on to the next level. I imagine that might be a goalscorer to support the goals of Genki Omae and to tighten up their defence.
So back to the two leaders. Sanfrecce and Vegalta at the top means we are going to get a new champion of J1. Sanfrecce did win the stage one of the J1 championship in 1994, but they lost the championship play off to stage 2 winners Verdy Kawasaki. So, effectively we will get a new J1 champion and that can only be a good thing for the development of club football in Japan, and give hope to fans that you don't need to be an Antlers fan to see your club be successful. The clubs have proved the doubters wrong this season, as many pundits predicted that either one of them would fall away at some point in the season. This just hasn't happened and furthermore, neither has one of them managed to pull away and open up a reasonable gap at the top of the table. Perhaps each team's performances and success has driven the other on and consequently they have handled the pressure that comes with leading the table so much better than expected.
So who is going to get over the finishing line in first place.
Many neutrals would vote for the men from Sendai. This is the emotional call. The team has represented the areas in Japan devastated by the March 11th 2011 earthquake with pride and strength, and given many people still suffering in those areas much hope and heart. However, emotions are not enough to win the title, and Vegalta have backed this up with very strong and determined displays on the pitch. Durability and getting results where other teams would have walked away with nothing, has been a key factor in their season. It's built on teamwork and sheer handwork, which might not always be pretty, but it is something I respect the team for. They offer the J League an alternative style to the general rule of how Japanese club sides play. They harry other defenders into making mistakes, and they can counter swiftly and make your team pay for their errors. Their on-pitch attitude can sometimes bring criticisms from fans of other teams, but again I see this as a good thing in the development of the league. The best leagues have a variety of clubs, styles of play, rivalries and players. I still think the J League needs some work in this area. Vegalta Sendai and also this season's J1 newcomers, Sagan Tosu serve up a different brand of football to which most Japanese club sides play. For Vegalta, up front Shingo Akamine has been their goal machine, and he has also been ably supported by Brazilian import, Wilson. If their defence remains strong, and their midfield can win the ball quickly and launch swift attacks, they have the firepower to win the title, and the never-say-die attitude to pull it off.
Sanfrecce Hiroshima finished 7th in the last two J1 seasons, and most people would have expected them to push for an Asian Champions League place this season. Instead, they have surprised J1 observers by challenging for the title at the top of the league for most of the season. Compared to Vegalta, I find Sanfrecce's style of play much more pleasing on the eye. They score goals too. In Hisato Sato they have the league's top scorer and surely he will win the Golden Boot in Japan this season, and perhaps given the rarity of goal machines in Japan, he deserves to be named player of the season and get a spot in the national team. Japan's national team always frustrates me with so much midfield ability and creativity, yet they score so few goals unless they are playing a very low ranked minor footballing nation. Okazaki is a player who surely only gets the nod because of his effort, he's a nice guy and somehow plays in Germany. I wouldn't pick him, if I were coach. Back to Hiroshima, their players are all comfortable on the ball, the forward line displays some impressive inter-play passing and touches as well as doing the business in front of goal. As an Ardija fan, it's both great but galling to see Naoki Ishihara doing so well this season at Sanfrecce.
So who is going to win. From a purist point of view it should be Sanfrecce, from a tactical and pragmatic approach it could very well be Vegalta. It won't be Urawa Reds unless a minor miracle takes place and that will keep us Squirrels fans happy. Finally it will come down to who has the guts and courage to see the job through. A bit of luck too might come in handy. It's been close all the way so far, the next 3 games are going to be fun to watch. Enjoy.
Urawa Reds have been flashy at times this season, and I have to say, fairly consistently third in the table, but they lack a certain something before they look like winning another J1 title. The killer instinct. They might have it in front of goal at times, but not enough, and they might over-run a team in midfield, with flair and skill which is very pleasing to watch, but they certainly lack it in defence. There are many ways to kill off a team and Reds haven't quite worked out how yet. This has left them unable to pull away from the rest of the pack, and has cost them any realistic hope of winning the title 3 games from the end.
There are a number of teams fighting it out for Asian Champions League places with 3 points currently separating 3rd place Urawa from 8th place Kashiwa Reysol. Of those teams - Reds I have just discussed, the rest are Grampus, S-Pulse, Marinos, Sagan Tosu and Reysol. From among those teams I have been most impressed with S-Pulse. They are a young side looking to build for the future and they play a brand of football which is attractive to watch. I think their coach has the right attitude to football and one which should bring S-Pulse success in the coming years. However I feel right now they still need something extra to push them on to the next level. I imagine that might be a goalscorer to support the goals of Genki Omae and to tighten up their defence.
So back to the two leaders. Sanfrecce and Vegalta at the top means we are going to get a new champion of J1. Sanfrecce did win the stage one of the J1 championship in 1994, but they lost the championship play off to stage 2 winners Verdy Kawasaki. So, effectively we will get a new J1 champion and that can only be a good thing for the development of club football in Japan, and give hope to fans that you don't need to be an Antlers fan to see your club be successful. The clubs have proved the doubters wrong this season, as many pundits predicted that either one of them would fall away at some point in the season. This just hasn't happened and furthermore, neither has one of them managed to pull away and open up a reasonable gap at the top of the table. Perhaps each team's performances and success has driven the other on and consequently they have handled the pressure that comes with leading the table so much better than expected.
So who is going to get over the finishing line in first place.
Many neutrals would vote for the men from Sendai. This is the emotional call. The team has represented the areas in Japan devastated by the March 11th 2011 earthquake with pride and strength, and given many people still suffering in those areas much hope and heart. However, emotions are not enough to win the title, and Vegalta have backed this up with very strong and determined displays on the pitch. Durability and getting results where other teams would have walked away with nothing, has been a key factor in their season. It's built on teamwork and sheer handwork, which might not always be pretty, but it is something I respect the team for. They offer the J League an alternative style to the general rule of how Japanese club sides play. They harry other defenders into making mistakes, and they can counter swiftly and make your team pay for their errors. Their on-pitch attitude can sometimes bring criticisms from fans of other teams, but again I see this as a good thing in the development of the league. The best leagues have a variety of clubs, styles of play, rivalries and players. I still think the J League needs some work in this area. Vegalta Sendai and also this season's J1 newcomers, Sagan Tosu serve up a different brand of football to which most Japanese club sides play. For Vegalta, up front Shingo Akamine has been their goal machine, and he has also been ably supported by Brazilian import, Wilson. If their defence remains strong, and their midfield can win the ball quickly and launch swift attacks, they have the firepower to win the title, and the never-say-die attitude to pull it off.
Sanfrecce Hiroshima finished 7th in the last two J1 seasons, and most people would have expected them to push for an Asian Champions League place this season. Instead, they have surprised J1 observers by challenging for the title at the top of the league for most of the season. Compared to Vegalta, I find Sanfrecce's style of play much more pleasing on the eye. They score goals too. In Hisato Sato they have the league's top scorer and surely he will win the Golden Boot in Japan this season, and perhaps given the rarity of goal machines in Japan, he deserves to be named player of the season and get a spot in the national team. Japan's national team always frustrates me with so much midfield ability and creativity, yet they score so few goals unless they are playing a very low ranked minor footballing nation. Okazaki is a player who surely only gets the nod because of his effort, he's a nice guy and somehow plays in Germany. I wouldn't pick him, if I were coach. Back to Hiroshima, their players are all comfortable on the ball, the forward line displays some impressive inter-play passing and touches as well as doing the business in front of goal. As an Ardija fan, it's both great but galling to see Naoki Ishihara doing so well this season at Sanfrecce.
So who is going to win. From a purist point of view it should be Sanfrecce, from a tactical and pragmatic approach it could very well be Vegalta. It won't be Urawa Reds unless a minor miracle takes place and that will keep us Squirrels fans happy. Finally it will come down to who has the guts and courage to see the job through. A bit of luck too might come in handy. It's been close all the way so far, the next 3 games are going to be fun to watch. Enjoy.
Wednesday 7 November 2012
Been a while....
Very sorry about letting this blog about Omiya Ardija drift....It's been quite a season and it's not over yet. 3 games are left and it's still all to play for.
The Squirrels find themselves in 14th place and on 37 points which in most seasons would be enough to avoid the drop into J2. This year, however is very different and 40 or 41 points is likely to be the goal to survive in J1. Then again it might be even more. This season's relegation dogfight has been more exciting and involved then any season I can remember. Going into the last 3 games I make it that 7 teams still have something to worry about. It makes it edgy and nervous for fans of the teams in the mix, but great excitement for neutrals. Ardija's remaining games are away to Cerezo, and then a massive double header against Shizuoka - a final home game against Jubilo followed by the last game of the season away to Afshan Ghotbi's impressive young Shimizu S-Pulse side.
I feel at this stage that Cerezo is our best chance of taking all 3 points, even though trips down to Osaka are never easy. Shimizu on the last day is going to be a very tough proposition with S-Pulse quite likely to be playing for an Asian Champions League place and looking to end their season on a high in front of their own very passionate supporters. Jubilo is never an easy game for us and we were very poor against them earlier in the season when their midfield dominated the game easily and their frontline, if in the mood, can finish chances off. Yet there is some hope, Jubilo recently have been on a terrible run of form and haven't won since a 2-1 victory away to Vissel Kobe on September 15th. Their game before coming to Nack5 is a home game to Grampus whose form is up and down this season, but they have won 3 of their last 4 games so Jubilo could be looking at another defeat against Nagoya.
Meanwhile Cerezo are on a run of 3 draws which followed a superb run of 4 wins that seems to have made them safe as they now sit on 41 points, which as I said at the beginning of this post, is the total that should be enough to survive in J1. Yet nothing is certain this season and Cerezo might be their own worst enemy to think they are out of the woods yet. It's going to be a tricky game for the Squirrels, but I think one that might prove crucial in guaranteeing our safety. A win and two draws is my prediction, but a win, followed by a draw and then a loss might be more likely. Then again.....
The Squirrels find themselves in 14th place and on 37 points which in most seasons would be enough to avoid the drop into J2. This year, however is very different and 40 or 41 points is likely to be the goal to survive in J1. Then again it might be even more. This season's relegation dogfight has been more exciting and involved then any season I can remember. Going into the last 3 games I make it that 7 teams still have something to worry about. It makes it edgy and nervous for fans of the teams in the mix, but great excitement for neutrals. Ardija's remaining games are away to Cerezo, and then a massive double header against Shizuoka - a final home game against Jubilo followed by the last game of the season away to Afshan Ghotbi's impressive young Shimizu S-Pulse side.
I feel at this stage that Cerezo is our best chance of taking all 3 points, even though trips down to Osaka are never easy. Shimizu on the last day is going to be a very tough proposition with S-Pulse quite likely to be playing for an Asian Champions League place and looking to end their season on a high in front of their own very passionate supporters. Jubilo is never an easy game for us and we were very poor against them earlier in the season when their midfield dominated the game easily and their frontline, if in the mood, can finish chances off. Yet there is some hope, Jubilo recently have been on a terrible run of form and haven't won since a 2-1 victory away to Vissel Kobe on September 15th. Their game before coming to Nack5 is a home game to Grampus whose form is up and down this season, but they have won 3 of their last 4 games so Jubilo could be looking at another defeat against Nagoya.
Meanwhile Cerezo are on a run of 3 draws which followed a superb run of 4 wins that seems to have made them safe as they now sit on 41 points, which as I said at the beginning of this post, is the total that should be enough to survive in J1. Yet nothing is certain this season and Cerezo might be their own worst enemy to think they are out of the woods yet. It's going to be a tricky game for the Squirrels, but I think one that might prove crucial in guaranteeing our safety. A win and two draws is my prediction, but a win, followed by a draw and then a loss might be more likely. Then again.....
Friday 6 July 2012
S Pulse at home
A week is a long time in football, and the week that lead up to Ardija's home game versus Shimizu S Pulse, had been anything but quiet.
It started with that unexpected clean sheet at Hiroshima, continued with a quite remarkable Nabisco Cup game at Nigata and all along was overshadowed by strong rumours that star player Rafael was off to Botafogo in Brazil to play for former Kashima Antlers' manager Oliveira's side. Indeed on the Thursday before the match Rafael began retweeting all the goodbye/don't leave comments he received from fans, including me! Well, it's not often I can get a retweet off a professional footballer so I joined in.
Go! Go! Omiya Ardija had already tweeted the Ardija side before I left for the stadium, and I was surprised to see Rafael named as one of the substitutes. I wondered if that was just for the fans, as any injury that he might get on the pitch, would surely jeopardize the proposed transfer.
A good crowd of over 12,000 gathered at the Nack 5 in perfect conditions for an evening kick off. As the team warmed up on the pitch, Rafael looked relaxed as he exercised with the other substitutes. Towards the end of the warm-up he moved to the centre of the penalty box and practiced volleys and half volleys with great aplomb, showing the fans what they would soon be missing.
The first half kicked off and S Pulse were very quick to settle into their stride with their passing and movement dominating the midfield and putting pressure on the Ardija defence. At one point goalkeeper Ezumi was forced into a desperate double save whilst Kikuchi headed it clear from almost under the crossbar. Shinji Ono looked full of intent in midfield and his crosses were full of danger, which Australian striker, Alex Brosque looked to get on the end of, as Shimizu did everything but find the net.
In the first half Shimizu were attacking the goal in front of the Ardija fans. Shinji Ono played at local rivals/enemy Urawa Reds earlier in his career, yet almost no fans booed or heckled him, which almost certainly would have happened in a similar situation in England. In fact, only one man booed loudly from the seats near me, and most Ardija fans looked a bit shocked at a Japanese behaving like this!
Half time came and Ardija and S Pulse were level at 0-0. The second half started and neither manager made a change. Verdenik's system of 4-4-2 had clearly benefitted the defence, who were gradually looking more and more confident as the game went on, with well timed tackles inside the penalty area, much less space afforded to opposing strikers in or near our penalty box. However the same could not be said for the front pairing of Cho and Hasegawa and eventually a change came, and happily for Ardija fans, up stepped Rafael, ready to pull on the Ardija jersey one more time. Off went Cho. The effect was almost immediate, as Rafael took up the reins and barked instructions, and got the engine up front into gear and revving nicely. Suddenly we looked dangerous. The team had shape and the midfield started to wrest control from Shimizu's players, who were starting to fade. Ono would depart the field and another ex Reds player, Takahara would come on, but Omiya entered the dying embers of the match still on equal terms with our higher placed opponents. Ardija were looking comfortable in defence and had posed some danger to the S Pulse goal. As the game entered injury time, the three substitutes all linked beautifully. Shintaro Shimizu, who on first seeing, looks full of hustle and bustle, won the ball and quickly passed to Rafael, who threaded a perfectly weighted pass to Daigo Watanabe who ran onto it and shot the ball through the legs of the S Pulse goalie and peeled away to celebrate in front of the delirious Ardija fans. Mere moments remained, and Ardija were never in danger, the ref blew his whistle and the Squirrels had their hands (paws!) on three well earned and valuable points.
Fans must have walked home happy at the 3 points but wondering just who would replace Rafael, who left the club with a reminder of his talent and presence.
It started with that unexpected clean sheet at Hiroshima, continued with a quite remarkable Nabisco Cup game at Nigata and all along was overshadowed by strong rumours that star player Rafael was off to Botafogo in Brazil to play for former Kashima Antlers' manager Oliveira's side. Indeed on the Thursday before the match Rafael began retweeting all the goodbye/don't leave comments he received from fans, including me! Well, it's not often I can get a retweet off a professional footballer so I joined in.
Go! Go! Omiya Ardija had already tweeted the Ardija side before I left for the stadium, and I was surprised to see Rafael named as one of the substitutes. I wondered if that was just for the fans, as any injury that he might get on the pitch, would surely jeopardize the proposed transfer.
A good crowd of over 12,000 gathered at the Nack 5 in perfect conditions for an evening kick off. As the team warmed up on the pitch, Rafael looked relaxed as he exercised with the other substitutes. Towards the end of the warm-up he moved to the centre of the penalty box and practiced volleys and half volleys with great aplomb, showing the fans what they would soon be missing.
The first half kicked off and S Pulse were very quick to settle into their stride with their passing and movement dominating the midfield and putting pressure on the Ardija defence. At one point goalkeeper Ezumi was forced into a desperate double save whilst Kikuchi headed it clear from almost under the crossbar. Shinji Ono looked full of intent in midfield and his crosses were full of danger, which Australian striker, Alex Brosque looked to get on the end of, as Shimizu did everything but find the net.
In the first half Shimizu were attacking the goal in front of the Ardija fans. Shinji Ono played at local rivals/enemy Urawa Reds earlier in his career, yet almost no fans booed or heckled him, which almost certainly would have happened in a similar situation in England. In fact, only one man booed loudly from the seats near me, and most Ardija fans looked a bit shocked at a Japanese behaving like this!
Half time came and Ardija and S Pulse were level at 0-0. The second half started and neither manager made a change. Verdenik's system of 4-4-2 had clearly benefitted the defence, who were gradually looking more and more confident as the game went on, with well timed tackles inside the penalty area, much less space afforded to opposing strikers in or near our penalty box. However the same could not be said for the front pairing of Cho and Hasegawa and eventually a change came, and happily for Ardija fans, up stepped Rafael, ready to pull on the Ardija jersey one more time. Off went Cho. The effect was almost immediate, as Rafael took up the reins and barked instructions, and got the engine up front into gear and revving nicely. Suddenly we looked dangerous. The team had shape and the midfield started to wrest control from Shimizu's players, who were starting to fade. Ono would depart the field and another ex Reds player, Takahara would come on, but Omiya entered the dying embers of the match still on equal terms with our higher placed opponents. Ardija were looking comfortable in defence and had posed some danger to the S Pulse goal. As the game entered injury time, the three substitutes all linked beautifully. Shintaro Shimizu, who on first seeing, looks full of hustle and bustle, won the ball and quickly passed to Rafael, who threaded a perfectly weighted pass to Daigo Watanabe who ran onto it and shot the ball through the legs of the S Pulse goalie and peeled away to celebrate in front of the delirious Ardija fans. Mere moments remained, and Ardija were never in danger, the ref blew his whistle and the Squirrels had their hands (paws!) on three well earned and valuable points.
Fans must have walked home happy at the 3 points but wondering just who would replace Rafael, who left the club with a reminder of his talent and presence.
Nigata away - A Tale of the Shimizus
On Wednesday June 27th Ardija headed to Nigata to play Albirex in an evening game which beforehand was about as meaningless as any game could get. Both teams were out of the competition, and therefore Verdenik quite rightly chose to play around with the formation. Something I'm not sure Jun Suzuki would have done, but that's a little unfair to say I know.
The new man's changes, most noteably keeper Keiki Shimizu and forward Shintaro Shimizu, would have a large part to play in affairs and as it turned out the fans who turned up that night at the Big Swan stadium were in for a goal feast. 2-0 up half time through goals from Shintaro Shimizu and Daigo Watanabe, Ardija would make it 3 through another strike from Shimizu after 48 minutes and the Squirrels were flying. However just as Ardija fans started to relax and think about the fine prospect we have in Shintaro Shimizu, the defence slowly started to unravel itself and Nigata pulled goals back through Kogure and Hirai. As the game entered its dying moments the Ardija defence eventually crumbled and died, and let Suzuki in for 2 late late goals and the game was lost. The defensive implosion started with the introduction of young South Korean defender Kim and it would appear that Verdenik had seen enough of him as he would soon leave the team to play in China for Guangzhou Evergrande.
Although defensively the second half has to go down as a terrible performance, it was a game where the result did not matter as much as what the new man in charge could learn from it. In the weeks to come, in the important battles that lie ahead, we will see if Mr Verdenik learnt much from this loss and how he put those lessons to use.
The new man's changes, most noteably keeper Keiki Shimizu and forward Shintaro Shimizu, would have a large part to play in affairs and as it turned out the fans who turned up that night at the Big Swan stadium were in for a goal feast. 2-0 up half time through goals from Shintaro Shimizu and Daigo Watanabe, Ardija would make it 3 through another strike from Shimizu after 48 minutes and the Squirrels were flying. However just as Ardija fans started to relax and think about the fine prospect we have in Shintaro Shimizu, the defence slowly started to unravel itself and Nigata pulled goals back through Kogure and Hirai. As the game entered its dying moments the Ardija defence eventually crumbled and died, and let Suzuki in for 2 late late goals and the game was lost. The defensive implosion started with the introduction of young South Korean defender Kim and it would appear that Verdenik had seen enough of him as he would soon leave the team to play in China for Guangzhou Evergrande.
Although defensively the second half has to go down as a terrible performance, it was a game where the result did not matter as much as what the new man in charge could learn from it. In the weeks to come, in the important battles that lie ahead, we will see if Mr Verdenik learnt much from this loss and how he put those lessons to use.
Hiroshima away
The first away game of Verdenik's regime took place on Saturday 23rd June at Sanfrecce's Big Arch stadium in Hiroshima. It brought Ardija up against former striker Naoki Ishihara as well as hot shot Hisato Sato. As the teams lined up, they found themselves at opposite ends of the J1 table, and Verdenik must have been slightly fearful of another battering after the previous week's poor home defensive performance against Reysol.
So the result of this match, a well-earned 0-0 draw, came as a great surprise to me and I guess, many other Squirrel fans too. I have only seen the briefest of highlights of this game, but clearly the defence put in a great shift, and the rest of the team weighed in too.
In only a short time with the team on the training ground, it seems that Verdenik has started to impose a system on the players which reaped full benefit here. Although the stats will point to almost total domination by Sanfrecce, Ardija did have one glorious chance to score through Daisuke Watabe from a Yu Hasegawa cross. Many would argue that Sato and Ishihara and the other Hiroshima attacking players had an off day, but I'd like to think that this clean sheet is a sign of the Ardija defence plugging the holes in their leaky defence.
Negative voices would describe this performance as dour and purely defensive, which it almost certainly was, however I would argue that Verdenik had no choice but to start with improving the defence, and a few shutouts in the next few weeks will build confidence and a platform upon which better football can be built. Suzuki's team had become shapeless and hapless, something had to be done and urgently or our J1 status would be soon to disappear.
A footnote to this game was the absence from the line-up and the bench of Brazilian striker Rafael. Rumours would soon be circulating via twitter that Rafael would leave us for Botafogo in Brazil.
So the result of this match, a well-earned 0-0 draw, came as a great surprise to me and I guess, many other Squirrel fans too. I have only seen the briefest of highlights of this game, but clearly the defence put in a great shift, and the rest of the team weighed in too.
In only a short time with the team on the training ground, it seems that Verdenik has started to impose a system on the players which reaped full benefit here. Although the stats will point to almost total domination by Sanfrecce, Ardija did have one glorious chance to score through Daisuke Watabe from a Yu Hasegawa cross. Many would argue that Sato and Ishihara and the other Hiroshima attacking players had an off day, but I'd like to think that this clean sheet is a sign of the Ardija defence plugging the holes in their leaky defence.
Negative voices would describe this performance as dour and purely defensive, which it almost certainly was, however I would argue that Verdenik had no choice but to start with improving the defence, and a few shutouts in the next few weeks will build confidence and a platform upon which better football can be built. Suzuki's team had become shapeless and hapless, something had to be done and urgently or our J1 status would be soon to disappear.
A footnote to this game was the absence from the line-up and the bench of Brazilian striker Rafael. Rumours would soon be circulating via twitter that Rafael would leave us for Botafogo in Brazil.
Monday 18 June 2012
Reysol at home
June 16th and a new era started at the Nack 5 as Zdenko Verdenik took over the managerial reins of Omiya Ardija from Jun Suzuki. His first test as Ardija coach would be to welcome the defending champions to our stadium, which would prove no easy task. The Slovenian coach must have hoped he could start by plugging a leaky defence, which had already let in 22 goals before the start of this game. Even though Verdenik afterwards might be able to find some praise for a spirited fightback, in truth the Squirrels were again outclassed by the opposition and Reysol won in commanding style to push themselves back into the top half of the league.
Squirrels fans arrived at Nack 5 hoping for the perennial boost teams tend to get when under a new coach. This duly arrived in the 9th minute with a strike from Brazilian exile Carlinhos, who has been one of the few bright sparks in a dim season for Ardija. Despite this positive opening, Ardija could not build on it and in the space of 15 first half minutes Reysol completely turned the match around and opened up what would become an unassailable lead. The equalizer through Leandro Domingues was an absolute stunner, and is no doubt a contender for goal of the season. Leandro demonstrated his masterful touch and finishing from the edge of Ardija's penalty box. Reysol followed this up with goals from Wagner and Kudo and the Squirrels trudged off at half time with their heads bowed and with Verdenik's hopes of an opening win looking very forlorn. The second half started in the worst possible way for Omiya with a 46th minute 4th goal for Reysol and a second goal for Kudo. Reysol now were flying and fans must have feared for our defence, but the players put in a shift to keep Reysol out and set up some scoring chances of our own, one of which Cho took on the 58th minute. Ardija would go on to miss chances that looked easier to score and after the referee blew the whistle to confirm Reysol's 4-2 win, Carlinhos, arguably our best player this season, could be seen deep in conversation with his fellow Brazilian, Rafael. One can quite imagine that Carlinhos is wondering where he has ended up, playing in front of a defence that has three times this season let in 4 goals and with a strike force firing blanks. I can only hope that he will remain to help Ardija in their fight to stay in J1.
As Squirrels fans made their way out of Nack 5 their minds would have turned to two results on this day which could prove key. Gamba Osaka continued their poor form with a 2-1 loss at home to our neighbors Urawa Reds. Yet again Osaka let a late goal in to throw away a point. Their dismal run of form might help Ardija to stay in the J1. However our other main rival for a relegation place, Albirex Nigata, managed a major surprise with a home 1-0 win over high flying S Pulse. Inevitably, Shimizu had most of the possession in this match but failed to score, whilst Albirex scored with their first chance to put them only 3 points behind Ardija. It is distressing to have to rely on other results to stay out of the relegation zone and I am sure that Mr Verdenik will be looking to urge the players on to putting our fate in our own hands by getting some morale boosting wins. Next up for Omiya is a very tricky away game at Sanfrecce Hiroshima and a meeting with our former player Naoki Ishihara, who is playing so well for 2nd placed Hiroshima. Another tough game for Verdenik as he looks to quickly get some points on the board.
Squirrels fans arrived at Nack 5 hoping for the perennial boost teams tend to get when under a new coach. This duly arrived in the 9th minute with a strike from Brazilian exile Carlinhos, who has been one of the few bright sparks in a dim season for Ardija. Despite this positive opening, Ardija could not build on it and in the space of 15 first half minutes Reysol completely turned the match around and opened up what would become an unassailable lead. The equalizer through Leandro Domingues was an absolute stunner, and is no doubt a contender for goal of the season. Leandro demonstrated his masterful touch and finishing from the edge of Ardija's penalty box. Reysol followed this up with goals from Wagner and Kudo and the Squirrels trudged off at half time with their heads bowed and with Verdenik's hopes of an opening win looking very forlorn. The second half started in the worst possible way for Omiya with a 46th minute 4th goal for Reysol and a second goal for Kudo. Reysol now were flying and fans must have feared for our defence, but the players put in a shift to keep Reysol out and set up some scoring chances of our own, one of which Cho took on the 58th minute. Ardija would go on to miss chances that looked easier to score and after the referee blew the whistle to confirm Reysol's 4-2 win, Carlinhos, arguably our best player this season, could be seen deep in conversation with his fellow Brazilian, Rafael. One can quite imagine that Carlinhos is wondering where he has ended up, playing in front of a defence that has three times this season let in 4 goals and with a strike force firing blanks. I can only hope that he will remain to help Ardija in their fight to stay in J1.
As Squirrels fans made their way out of Nack 5 their minds would have turned to two results on this day which could prove key. Gamba Osaka continued their poor form with a 2-1 loss at home to our neighbors Urawa Reds. Yet again Osaka let a late goal in to throw away a point. Their dismal run of form might help Ardija to stay in the J1. However our other main rival for a relegation place, Albirex Nigata, managed a major surprise with a home 1-0 win over high flying S Pulse. Inevitably, Shimizu had most of the possession in this match but failed to score, whilst Albirex scored with their first chance to put them only 3 points behind Ardija. It is distressing to have to rely on other results to stay out of the relegation zone and I am sure that Mr Verdenik will be looking to urge the players on to putting our fate in our own hands by getting some morale boosting wins. Next up for Omiya is a very tricky away game at Sanfrecce Hiroshima and a meeting with our former player Naoki Ishihara, who is playing so well for 2nd placed Hiroshima. Another tough game for Verdenik as he looks to quickly get some points on the board.
Tuesday 5 June 2012
New man in - new hope?
Zdravo, Zdenko Verdenik!
Zdenko Verdenik was announced on Monday as the new coach of Omiya Ardija. 63 year old Verdenik comes from Slovenia and his most recent position in football was as the sports director of the Slovenian National Football Association. Verdenik comes to Omiya with quite a bit of previous in the J League. Indeed he has been manager of 3 Japanese teams - JEF United Chiba, Nagoya Grampus Eight and Vegalta Sendai. His last involvement with a Japanese team was at current J1 leaders Sendai, back in 2003-2004 when unfortunately the team was relegated from J1 down to J2. It seems that he was the first and only prospective candidate on club President, Shigeru Suzuki's list.
There are some important points to make here. Firstly I know next to nothing about Slovenian football so I find it very hard to judge the work Verdenik has done in his own country. Indeed I have very little data on his managerial record there. Secondly as I come from England, where technical or sports directors are relatively new ideas, and generally treated by fans with suspicion, I cannot judge his most recent position with a deal of fairness. Thirdly, I admit openly that I had never heard of him before his name came up last week as being in the running for the Ardija hot seat. In fact I am wondering whether other Ardija fans knew of him before this appointment and what was their opinion of him. Feel free to let me know. I am looking forward to finding out much more about Verdenik in the next few weeks, especially the general style of football he likes to use, his use of tactics and how he gets to know the team and make use of our squad.
According to Japanese daily newspaper, "Mainichi Shimbun" Verdenik said, "I'm very happy to be going back to Japan and working in J1 again. Taking this job is a huge challenge and a responsibility for me. What this team needs is organization so we can perform well on a consistent basis." So we can see that Verdenik has already got a grasp on some of our problems.
Fans have to view his appointment as positive. Certainly it feels good that he knows Japanese football and lifestyle already, so he should be able to move into both the country and the job reasonably smoothly. However the counterbalance is that his last job here was 8 years ago and Japanese football has developed a lot since those days. Hopefully he has been keeping an eye on the game in Japan from afar and maybe things have actually not changed so much that he will fit in pretty easily. His wikipedia profile mentions a role as a University lecturer. I hope that suggests he is a motivator, as our boys certainly need a pick-up, and a quick one at that. If, instead it suggests a quiet donnish type, then I might start to really worry for our plight.
The manager will need to get to know his squad very quickly, and it will be no easy task. Ardija supporters will be wondering if Verdenik will consider some of the players who were generally overlooked by his predecessor. Jun Kanakubo is one player who would fit that profile, and is a player who might very well have something to offer the team.
I heard Cesare Pollenghi, an eloquent and perceptive speaker on football in Japan, and Asia managing editor of Goal.com, on a recent podcast twice or three times mention the words Omiya Ardija alongside the phrase never goes down. Well I understand why he says that, and indeed Jun Suzuki, our outgoing coach, deserves some respect for his role in sustaining that image. But this season we are in real trouble. Teams around us have picked up and improved lots in recent weeks, while we have deteriorated. I'm thinking of early strugglers such as Kawasaki Frontale, Kashima Antlers and Yokohama F Marinos. It's time for Ardija to do the same. There's only Gamba left now and they are only six points below us with plenty of games left. We cannot rely on them to keep losing, we have to improve our game.
According to Mainichi Shimbun, Verdenik will over see his first Ardija training session on June 11th in time for his first J1 game in charge at home to Kashiwa Reysol 5 days later.
I am sure all Ardija supporters are excited to see if he can make a positive impact. Squirrel fans will get behind the new coach and make him feel welcome at the Nack 5 and in Omiya. Over to you, Mr Verdenik.
Zdenko Verdenik was announced on Monday as the new coach of Omiya Ardija. 63 year old Verdenik comes from Slovenia and his most recent position in football was as the sports director of the Slovenian National Football Association. Verdenik comes to Omiya with quite a bit of previous in the J League. Indeed he has been manager of 3 Japanese teams - JEF United Chiba, Nagoya Grampus Eight and Vegalta Sendai. His last involvement with a Japanese team was at current J1 leaders Sendai, back in 2003-2004 when unfortunately the team was relegated from J1 down to J2. It seems that he was the first and only prospective candidate on club President, Shigeru Suzuki's list.
There are some important points to make here. Firstly I know next to nothing about Slovenian football so I find it very hard to judge the work Verdenik has done in his own country. Indeed I have very little data on his managerial record there. Secondly as I come from England, where technical or sports directors are relatively new ideas, and generally treated by fans with suspicion, I cannot judge his most recent position with a deal of fairness. Thirdly, I admit openly that I had never heard of him before his name came up last week as being in the running for the Ardija hot seat. In fact I am wondering whether other Ardija fans knew of him before this appointment and what was their opinion of him. Feel free to let me know. I am looking forward to finding out much more about Verdenik in the next few weeks, especially the general style of football he likes to use, his use of tactics and how he gets to know the team and make use of our squad.According to Japanese daily newspaper, "Mainichi Shimbun" Verdenik said, "I'm very happy to be going back to Japan and working in J1 again. Taking this job is a huge challenge and a responsibility for me. What this team needs is organization so we can perform well on a consistent basis." So we can see that Verdenik has already got a grasp on some of our problems.
Fans have to view his appointment as positive. Certainly it feels good that he knows Japanese football and lifestyle already, so he should be able to move into both the country and the job reasonably smoothly. However the counterbalance is that his last job here was 8 years ago and Japanese football has developed a lot since those days. Hopefully he has been keeping an eye on the game in Japan from afar and maybe things have actually not changed so much that he will fit in pretty easily. His wikipedia profile mentions a role as a University lecturer. I hope that suggests he is a motivator, as our boys certainly need a pick-up, and a quick one at that. If, instead it suggests a quiet donnish type, then I might start to really worry for our plight.
The manager will need to get to know his squad very quickly, and it will be no easy task. Ardija supporters will be wondering if Verdenik will consider some of the players who were generally overlooked by his predecessor. Jun Kanakubo is one player who would fit that profile, and is a player who might very well have something to offer the team.
I heard Cesare Pollenghi, an eloquent and perceptive speaker on football in Japan, and Asia managing editor of Goal.com, on a recent podcast twice or three times mention the words Omiya Ardija alongside the phrase never goes down. Well I understand why he says that, and indeed Jun Suzuki, our outgoing coach, deserves some respect for his role in sustaining that image. But this season we are in real trouble. Teams around us have picked up and improved lots in recent weeks, while we have deteriorated. I'm thinking of early strugglers such as Kawasaki Frontale, Kashima Antlers and Yokohama F Marinos. It's time for Ardija to do the same. There's only Gamba left now and they are only six points below us with plenty of games left. We cannot rely on them to keep losing, we have to improve our game.
According to Mainichi Shimbun, Verdenik will over see his first Ardija training session on June 11th in time for his first J1 game in charge at home to Kashiwa Reysol 5 days later.
I am sure all Ardija supporters are excited to see if he can make a positive impact. Squirrel fans will get behind the new coach and make him feel welcome at the Nack 5 and in Omiya. Over to you, Mr Verdenik.
Friday 1 June 2012
Farewell Jun Suzuki
So after a disappointing run of results, culminating in a 4-0 drubbing away to Jubilo Iwata, the decision was finally taken by the club's management and Jun Suzuki was fired as head coach of Omiya Ardija. At the same time his assistant Tomoyuki Ishii has also left the club.
Suzuki came to Ardija in 2010 after a 3 year spell at Albirex Nigata with the hope that he was a rising young Japanese coach who would bring a fresh impetus into the team that had spent the previous 5 years consolidating its position in the top tier of Japanese football. Omiya believed he would be the man to carry the Squirrels forward from their regular season ending position of 12th -15th place. Sadly things didn't quite work out the way both Suzuki, the club and the fans would have liked. Today Omiya Ardija still finds itself in that same pigeon-hole. Stable in J1 perhaps but that's as far as the excitement goes.
While I'm sure that Jun is a very nice man, that doesn't win prizes in football just faint praise from journalists happy to speak to the guy. Not that Japanese managers or players are noted for their interesting quotes. To me Suzuki comes across as a quiet, bookish type and I don't see him motivating the players in the changing room or from the side of the pitch in difficult situations. I still believe that on the training ground he could be a good coach. Perhaps he will get the chance to take over a position at a middling J2 side and push them forward. I wish him and Ishii well.
As a fan of Ardija though, I am not sorry to see Suzuki go. Recently the team's performances have been poor and Suzuki has failed to offer any other solutions than his standard team and standard tactic of beating teams on the counter-attack. Watching Ardija has become like watching the same formulaic sitcom episode over and over again with just a few bright sparks from time to time to keep the fans coming through the gates of the Nack5.
The under-use and then sale of Naoki Ishihara mystifies many to this day, and it's a bitter pill for us to see him getting on so well at Sanfrecce. I don't believe Suzuki was getting the best out of Ueda and Higashi in the midfield either, where we should be far more creative and controlling possession more than we do. As for the strike power, well I've already mentioned Ishihara's sale and after that there's not much more to say. This season Rafael has looked more like a midfielder than a striker. When Hasegawa has been used, the team has not been sent out to make the most of his height and power, and after that there is seemingly nothing in the squad because they have been ignored by Suzuki. He seems to have been pushing Cho further forward in the belief that he would both score and provide goals. To be fair, Cho has done this and has put a lot of effort in on the pitch. However it must be said he is a midfielder not a striker. The lack of strength upfront has been woeful and the coach must take the blame for that. As for the defence, it has been leaking goals almost everywhere, 4 goals away to Sendai and Jubilo being particular low points. A team that so rarely packs a punch up front must rely on a tight defence, but the Ardija defenders give so much space to the opposing team's forwards to play in, the inevitable soon happens. Even when we weren't getting hammered, too many points would be dropped due to late equalizers.
The club has made this decision at the right time during a short recess in the J League season whilst the national team is playing World Cup qualifiers. There are still 21 games in the league to go which will give the new coach a fair chance of helping Ardija to retain it's J1 status, which sadly must now be the main aim. A run in the Emperor's Cup would be a welcome distraction and boost to the fans too, as our Nabisco Cup chances disappeared long ago.
Finally Suzuki was rumoured to be one of the best paid coaches in J1 so I have no idea what that will mean for the finances of the club in terms of both attracting a new coach and presumably paying Suzuki off.
As the reign of Jun Suzuki comes to an end, let us say goodbye and farewell and leave him to have the final say, "I couldn't respond to expectations and it really is a great shame that I am leaving the team."
Suzuki came to Ardija in 2010 after a 3 year spell at Albirex Nigata with the hope that he was a rising young Japanese coach who would bring a fresh impetus into the team that had spent the previous 5 years consolidating its position in the top tier of Japanese football. Omiya believed he would be the man to carry the Squirrels forward from their regular season ending position of 12th -15th place. Sadly things didn't quite work out the way both Suzuki, the club and the fans would have liked. Today Omiya Ardija still finds itself in that same pigeon-hole. Stable in J1 perhaps but that's as far as the excitement goes.While I'm sure that Jun is a very nice man, that doesn't win prizes in football just faint praise from journalists happy to speak to the guy. Not that Japanese managers or players are noted for their interesting quotes. To me Suzuki comes across as a quiet, bookish type and I don't see him motivating the players in the changing room or from the side of the pitch in difficult situations. I still believe that on the training ground he could be a good coach. Perhaps he will get the chance to take over a position at a middling J2 side and push them forward. I wish him and Ishii well.
As a fan of Ardija though, I am not sorry to see Suzuki go. Recently the team's performances have been poor and Suzuki has failed to offer any other solutions than his standard team and standard tactic of beating teams on the counter-attack. Watching Ardija has become like watching the same formulaic sitcom episode over and over again with just a few bright sparks from time to time to keep the fans coming through the gates of the Nack5.
The under-use and then sale of Naoki Ishihara mystifies many to this day, and it's a bitter pill for us to see him getting on so well at Sanfrecce. I don't believe Suzuki was getting the best out of Ueda and Higashi in the midfield either, where we should be far more creative and controlling possession more than we do. As for the strike power, well I've already mentioned Ishihara's sale and after that there's not much more to say. This season Rafael has looked more like a midfielder than a striker. When Hasegawa has been used, the team has not been sent out to make the most of his height and power, and after that there is seemingly nothing in the squad because they have been ignored by Suzuki. He seems to have been pushing Cho further forward in the belief that he would both score and provide goals. To be fair, Cho has done this and has put a lot of effort in on the pitch. However it must be said he is a midfielder not a striker. The lack of strength upfront has been woeful and the coach must take the blame for that. As for the defence, it has been leaking goals almost everywhere, 4 goals away to Sendai and Jubilo being particular low points. A team that so rarely packs a punch up front must rely on a tight defence, but the Ardija defenders give so much space to the opposing team's forwards to play in, the inevitable soon happens. Even when we weren't getting hammered, too many points would be dropped due to late equalizers.The club has made this decision at the right time during a short recess in the J League season whilst the national team is playing World Cup qualifiers. There are still 21 games in the league to go which will give the new coach a fair chance of helping Ardija to retain it's J1 status, which sadly must now be the main aim. A run in the Emperor's Cup would be a welcome distraction and boost to the fans too, as our Nabisco Cup chances disappeared long ago.
Finally Suzuki was rumoured to be one of the best paid coaches in J1 so I have no idea what that will mean for the finances of the club in terms of both attracting a new coach and presumably paying Suzuki off.
As the reign of Jun Suzuki comes to an end, let us say goodbye and farewell and leave him to have the final say, "I couldn't respond to expectations and it really is a great shame that I am leaving the team."
Jubilo away
A crowd of just under eleven thousand fans, the vast majority of them Jubilo Iwata supporters, turned up to the Yamaha stadium to watch what eventually would become the last match for Jun Suzuki in charge of Omiya Ardija. The final nail in the coffin for Suzuki would be a hapless defensive performance as Jubilo swept to a rather easy 4-nil home victory.
The inevitable started as early as the tenth minute as Yamada opened the scoring for Iwata. The attacking trio of Yamada, Maeda and Matsuura were too much for Ardija's defence, and they were fighting it out amongst themselves to get the ball in the net. Maeda managed it twice and it was a surprise they didn't manage anymore.
Suzuki brought back Hasegawa to the starting line up. Hasegawa had been a late second half substitute in the previous week's home defeat to Kawasaki Frontale. Ardija therefore began the match with the 1m 90cm Rafael and the 1m 87cm Yu Hasegawa up front, but if you watched the game you would never have believe it were true.
Time and again Ardija failed to exploit their height advantage. Corners were taken poorly and crosses from open play were rare indeed and almost entirely driven in low. It baffles me why we pick such forwards and then fail to provide them with the service they require. Added to that, Hasegawa and Rafael drift so much during the game, that firstly you might wonder that they are forwards, and secondly, if at anytime one of them managed to get their head on the ball, the other striker was nowhere near to take advantage of the all too rare situation.
There's nothing much more to be said about this game. It went away from us almost immediately as it started and we never really looked like getting into it as a serious contender for the points that were on offer. Jubilo dominated and deserved their 3 points. They are a team on form, their forwards play well together and they look difficult to beat. Certainly on their recent form, they don't have much to fear from the teams in the bottom places in the league. Their last three comprehensive victories have come against Ardija, Nigata and Antlers. Can they mount a serious charge on the title? Presumably it will be determined by their results against the better performing teams in the upper half of the league table. They are now well placed to do so and will look for Hiroshima and Sendai to slip up while they try to maintain their current fine scoring form to take them to the J1 summit.
For Jun Suzuki's men, they trudged off the pitch on Saturday with their tails very much between their legs, and their heads firmly down. As the break for a series of Japan national team games started, fans were left to wonder if Jun Suzuki and his men could turn around their recent poor run of results. Many would look at Ardija's next 3 league games and be very worried that things would only get worse. Next up sees the Squirrels welcome defending champs, Kashiwa Reysol to Omiya, followed by a long away trip to play 2nd placed Sanfrecce Hiroshima and then back to the Nack5 only to have to pit our wits against 4th placed Shimizu S Pulse. Our defence will be sorely tested during those three games. Jun Suzuki, as we were to learn in the days following this defeat, would not be given the chance to sort the situation out.
The inevitable started as early as the tenth minute as Yamada opened the scoring for Iwata. The attacking trio of Yamada, Maeda and Matsuura were too much for Ardija's defence, and they were fighting it out amongst themselves to get the ball in the net. Maeda managed it twice and it was a surprise they didn't manage anymore.Suzuki brought back Hasegawa to the starting line up. Hasegawa had been a late second half substitute in the previous week's home defeat to Kawasaki Frontale. Ardija therefore began the match with the 1m 90cm Rafael and the 1m 87cm Yu Hasegawa up front, but if you watched the game you would never have believe it were true.
Time and again Ardija failed to exploit their height advantage. Corners were taken poorly and crosses from open play were rare indeed and almost entirely driven in low. It baffles me why we pick such forwards and then fail to provide them with the service they require. Added to that, Hasegawa and Rafael drift so much during the game, that firstly you might wonder that they are forwards, and secondly, if at anytime one of them managed to get their head on the ball, the other striker was nowhere near to take advantage of the all too rare situation.There's nothing much more to be said about this game. It went away from us almost immediately as it started and we never really looked like getting into it as a serious contender for the points that were on offer. Jubilo dominated and deserved their 3 points. They are a team on form, their forwards play well together and they look difficult to beat. Certainly on their recent form, they don't have much to fear from the teams in the bottom places in the league. Their last three comprehensive victories have come against Ardija, Nigata and Antlers. Can they mount a serious charge on the title? Presumably it will be determined by their results against the better performing teams in the upper half of the league table. They are now well placed to do so and will look for Hiroshima and Sendai to slip up while they try to maintain their current fine scoring form to take them to the J1 summit.
For Jun Suzuki's men, they trudged off the pitch on Saturday with their tails very much between their legs, and their heads firmly down. As the break for a series of Japan national team games started, fans were left to wonder if Jun Suzuki and his men could turn around their recent poor run of results. Many would look at Ardija's next 3 league games and be very worried that things would only get worse. Next up sees the Squirrels welcome defending champs, Kashiwa Reysol to Omiya, followed by a long away trip to play 2nd placed Sanfrecce Hiroshima and then back to the Nack5 only to have to pit our wits against 4th placed Shimizu S Pulse. Our defence will be sorely tested during those three games. Jun Suzuki, as we were to learn in the days following this defeat, would not be given the chance to sort the situation out.
Kawasaki home
On May 19th 2012 9,304 fans turned up at the Nack5 to watch the Squirrels take on Kawasaki Frontale. I haven't seen anything of this game, so consequently there's not much to say except - we lost! 2 second half goals from Frontale finished us off. Kawasaki's goals took a while coming, but when they did, like the proverbial buses, 2 turned up in 5 minutes. Oshima got the first goal on the 67th minute and Kusukami bagged the second on the 72nd minute. A disappointing result for Ardija fans that left us looking down the table at results elsewhere and hoping that Nigata, Sapporo and Gamba would continue to their poor run of form and save the Squirrels' skins. It is of course quite sad that we have to rely on others' failures to keep ourselves alive in the J1 division. Fans of course are hoping for signs of progress but they seem pretty thin on the ground under the leadership of Jun Suzuki. Next up for Jun Suzuki and his battle-weary troops would be a difficult trip to Shizuoka to face Jubilo Iwata, who on the same day we lost to Frontale, hammered second from bottom Albirex Nigata 6-1 away. Worrying times for Squirrels fans.
Tosu away 1-1
Ardija travelled to Saga prefecture on the island of Kyushu to play against the surprise package of this year's J1 division, Sagan Tosu. Tosu were promoted to J1 at the end of last season for the first ever time in their history and I guess many touts had them down for a quick return to the lower level but the men of Tosu have proved themselves made of sterner stuff, and indeed their home stadium has become a relative fortress and they are as yet unbeaten at home, and on this day, although Ardija would briefly threaten that record, in the end it would go on to remain in tact thanks to a late calamity own goal from Squirrels striker Hasegawa.
Hasegawa found himself in the wrong place at the wrong time, and quite unsure of what do do with the ball and sadly ended up putting it in our own net. Hasegawa is a striker who coach Suzuki usually prefers to bring on as a late substitute, when all other options to score have failed. In this match he chose to start with him, and one would have thought that Hasegawa himself might have been substituted to protect the 1-0 lead, or at least told to stay well away from our penalty box. OK I'm saying that with a large dose of hindsight, but he is the kind of player who should stick to his basic skills, and perform them much,much higher up the pitch. Frustratingly, our coach seems to be unable to get the team to play to Hasegawa's strengths - his height and his build should cause opposing defenders difficulties. However Ardija fail to supply him with decent aerial support, and this seems a waste to me.
From what I saw of the game, Tosu played very well, and in fact were using crosses, long balls forward and long throws to cause problems in our defence. Such tactics we should have been also using against them with Hasegawa on the field. Rafael had started on the bench and when he came on, he immediately got wide and started to get the crosses going in to Hasegawa.
In the 81st minute he went on to supply the crucial pass to Aoki after some neat footwork for a tall guy and Aoki calmly slotted the ball in for a 1-0 lead. The only problem for me is why is Rafael doing this? He is 1m 90cm and should be in the centre also causing the opposition defence problems, not out on the wing. So as the game headed into injury time and with Ardija looking at an unlikely away win, Fujita went for the long throw and Kitano, Omiya's keeper came for it but never got near it, and Hasegawa who was tracking back with the attacker, clumsily tapped the ball in for Tosu's equalizer. To be fair to Hasegawa, it was a great effort that he was back there helping out, but unfortunately the Squirrels don't need that sort of help.
So just as suddenly as our goal had come and we looked like getting a positive result to move up the table, it was taken away in a flash.
Tosu are a very effective side. They do play to their strengths. It might not always be pretty, but it gets results. They have a never say die attitude, and I was impressed by their directness as the game entered injury time. I have watched many Japanese teams who are losing the game 1-0 as injury time begins and they waste time making pretty passes near the centre circle, when in my opinion time is running out for them and they should take a far more positive and speedier form of attack to try to rescue the point. Tosu can also play some nice football too. They understand the phrase "needs must."
From what I saw of the game, Tosu played very well, and in fact were using crosses, long balls forward and long throws to cause problems in our defence. Such tactics we should have been also using against them with Hasegawa on the field. Rafael had started on the bench and when he came on, he immediately got wide and started to get the crosses going in to Hasegawa.In the 81st minute he went on to supply the crucial pass to Aoki after some neat footwork for a tall guy and Aoki calmly slotted the ball in for a 1-0 lead. The only problem for me is why is Rafael doing this? He is 1m 90cm and should be in the centre also causing the opposition defence problems, not out on the wing. So as the game headed into injury time and with Ardija looking at an unlikely away win, Fujita went for the long throw and Kitano, Omiya's keeper came for it but never got near it, and Hasegawa who was tracking back with the attacker, clumsily tapped the ball in for Tosu's equalizer. To be fair to Hasegawa, it was a great effort that he was back there helping out, but unfortunately the Squirrels don't need that sort of help.
So just as suddenly as our goal had come and we looked like getting a positive result to move up the table, it was taken away in a flash.
Tosu are a very effective side. They do play to their strengths. It might not always be pretty, but it gets results. They have a never say die attitude, and I was impressed by their directness as the game entered injury time. I have watched many Japanese teams who are losing the game 1-0 as injury time begins and they waste time making pretty passes near the centre circle, when in my opinion time is running out for them and they should take a far more positive and speedier form of attack to try to rescue the point. Tosu can also play some nice football too. They understand the phrase "needs must."
Friday 11 May 2012
Next up : Tosu
The next game for Omiya Ardija is an away fixture at Sagan Tosu on Saturday 12th May 2012 which will hopefully kickoff on time at 2pm. Perhaps at the beginning of the season we might have expected that our games against Tosu would be a chance for a rare 6 pointer, and that the Kyushu outfit would be finding their very first season in the J1 league difficult.
That has so far been very far from the truth and in fact the team from Tosu in Saga-ken in North West Kyushu find themselves sitting fairly prettily in 5th position with 4 wins and 2 draws out of their fist ten games. Such a start to their J1 presence is one they can be rightly proud of, and they have made people sit up and take notice of them. This has been good to see, as far too often teams who come up from J2 go straight back down again and often without so much as a whimper. FC Tokyo will of course be another exception, but then no one ever expected them to be in J2. Just as we have seen this season in the Premier League with Norwich and Swansea, promotion to, and survival in the highest level, does not have to mean a defensive or negative style of football in a desperate bid to stay in the higher flight, and Tosu have indeed impressed with the style of their performances. I'm sure if they continue their early good form, they will win plaudits far and wide this season.
So therefore this is not going to be an easy game for Jun Suzuki's men, although the players will be heartened by their close win over Gamba Osaka last Sunday, which was a third home win in a row. After their last road trip to Kobe, which went downhill very early on in the game, the Squirrels will be looking to put in a far stronger away performance and collect at least a point from Sagan Tosu. I would hope to see Hasegawa play up front with either Cho pushed up alongside him looking for knockdowns in the penalty box, or if fit, Rafael. I feel certain Rafael could score more goals if only he had some kind of partner to work with. Last season Suzuki often kept Naoki Ishihara on the bench when he could have provided such support for Rafael and now it seems Hasegawa is being given the same treatment. Hasegawa is of course very different to Ishihara, but still could offer support to Rafael through his physical presence and height. I'd rather have Ishihara available, but unfortunately he is away making Sanfrecce Hiroshima fans very happy and indeed scored twice in their last game, a victory away at defending champs, Kashiwa. Ardija fans must be asking why did we sell him.
My prediction therefore is a draw. However I am far from confident. I'm looking for our lads to put in a real shift to make the fans who travel and the rest of us back in Saitama City proud of their efforts. Let's go Omiya Let's Go!
That has so far been very far from the truth and in fact the team from Tosu in Saga-ken in North West Kyushu find themselves sitting fairly prettily in 5th position with 4 wins and 2 draws out of their fist ten games. Such a start to their J1 presence is one they can be rightly proud of, and they have made people sit up and take notice of them. This has been good to see, as far too often teams who come up from J2 go straight back down again and often without so much as a whimper. FC Tokyo will of course be another exception, but then no one ever expected them to be in J2. Just as we have seen this season in the Premier League with Norwich and Swansea, promotion to, and survival in the highest level, does not have to mean a defensive or negative style of football in a desperate bid to stay in the higher flight, and Tosu have indeed impressed with the style of their performances. I'm sure if they continue their early good form, they will win plaudits far and wide this season.
So therefore this is not going to be an easy game for Jun Suzuki's men, although the players will be heartened by their close win over Gamba Osaka last Sunday, which was a third home win in a row. After their last road trip to Kobe, which went downhill very early on in the game, the Squirrels will be looking to put in a far stronger away performance and collect at least a point from Sagan Tosu. I would hope to see Hasegawa play up front with either Cho pushed up alongside him looking for knockdowns in the penalty box, or if fit, Rafael. I feel certain Rafael could score more goals if only he had some kind of partner to work with. Last season Suzuki often kept Naoki Ishihara on the bench when he could have provided such support for Rafael and now it seems Hasegawa is being given the same treatment. Hasegawa is of course very different to Ishihara, but still could offer support to Rafael through his physical presence and height. I'd rather have Ishihara available, but unfortunately he is away making Sanfrecce Hiroshima fans very happy and indeed scored twice in their last game, a victory away at defending champs, Kashiwa. Ardija fans must be asking why did we sell him.
My prediction therefore is a draw. However I am far from confident. I'm looking for our lads to put in a real shift to make the fans who travel and the rest of us back in Saitama City proud of their efforts. Let's go Omiya Let's Go!
Thursday 10 May 2012
Kobe away and Gamba at home
The first half of Golden week came and went, The sun shined and Omiya got a home win over bottom team Sapporo. We Squirrels looked forward to the team's trip down to Kobe, who had just sacked their manager, Masahiro Wada and installed an interim coach in his place, Adachi.
However Ardija failed to capitalize and performed and lost dismally. The first goal came early, very early and was a complete disaster, a poor attempt at a defensive header and then a sloppy back pass from Kim let in Ogawa to score easily, and I guess things just deteriorated after that. Kobe wrapped up a relatively easy win in the second half with a nice strike from Lee on the 60th minute and an easy tap-in from Mogi on 68 minutes after Kitano could only parry a Kobe shot. This result meant Ardija slipped down the league table to 13th, and left fans worried by the performance and most likely thinking that the two recent home wins were hiding the truth of the team's level, or perhaps the inability of coach Suzuki to change his tactics depending on the team we are playing. On the latest J Talk podcast, Alan Gibson strongly predicted that Kobe would finish this season in the top three, so if that's the case, maybe by the end of the season this won't look such a bad result!
The Kobe game was on the Thursday of the Golden Week holiday, and the Squirrels didn't have too long to wait for another holiday fixture, and on Sunday Gamba Osaka arrived in town to play at the Nack5. Although it was Golden Week, don't listen to the name too closely, as just prior to the planned match day kick off of 4pm a massive storm broke over the stadium and the kick off was delayed for an hour. Usually Gamba turn up at the Nack 5 looking down at Ardija from a lofty J1 league table position, but on this Sunday surprisingly enough, It was us looking down on them. Gamba have been having a rough old time of it this season, and are already out of the Asians Champions League, and have changed their manager. For the second time this week we would face a Kansai side going through changes and difficulties, although Kobe's are clearly not as deep as Gamba's and the coach change seems to be more about personality clashes with the players and not meeting the high standards of the owners. Standards which would probably do Omiya's owners just fine. Despite having said that Gamba had been poor this season, the Osaka side fairly bossed the first half, both in terms of possession and chances. The Omiya team that Suzuki has been picking recently, definitely has some skill about it, but is based on having just one forward player, who quickly becomes isolated and only thrives in a counter-attack situation when the other team's defence is stretched. This might work away from home, though clearly not against Kobe, but it's just not good enough for me at home. Secondly, this plan needs a striker on form, who "scores when he wants" and unfortunately Ardija do not have such a player. Yet somehow Gamba could not convert their chances and with Rafael off, and Hasegawa on we did. Cho got the all important winner in the 73rd minute when a Carlinhos shot from distance rebounded off a defender to Cho and he finished well. Three more valuable points for the Squirrels, and three home wins in succession. Definitely something for the fans to be happy about and makes a pleasant change from last season when home wins were very scarce! Konno said for Gamba, that it was one of their better performances of the season so far, even though they still lost.
Who would have thought that after 10 games we would be 11th on 14 points. Well, probably a lot of people, but who would have thought that we would be on the same points as Nagoya Grampus, and above Cerezo, Yokohama, Kashima, Kashiwa, and Gamba. I would have bet decent money that most of those teams would be above us in the league. As it stands, it's a happy position for Ardija, if a close one. Nagoya have a game in hand, and Cerezo and Yokohama are only a point behind, the latter beginning to pick up form. It goes to prove that the J League this season is not an easy league to predict, which is hopefully keeping it interesting for the fans, especially those of us who follow the so called smaller teams and whom are enjoying seeing some of the big boys struggle. Funnily enough, on the latest edition of the J Talk podcast, host, Ben and guest, Alan Gibson both predict Omiya will easily stay in the J1. Mmm, I can't be so confident as they are, but certainly I hope their words prove correct by the end of the season.
However Ardija failed to capitalize and performed and lost dismally. The first goal came early, very early and was a complete disaster, a poor attempt at a defensive header and then a sloppy back pass from Kim let in Ogawa to score easily, and I guess things just deteriorated after that. Kobe wrapped up a relatively easy win in the second half with a nice strike from Lee on the 60th minute and an easy tap-in from Mogi on 68 minutes after Kitano could only parry a Kobe shot. This result meant Ardija slipped down the league table to 13th, and left fans worried by the performance and most likely thinking that the two recent home wins were hiding the truth of the team's level, or perhaps the inability of coach Suzuki to change his tactics depending on the team we are playing. On the latest J Talk podcast, Alan Gibson strongly predicted that Kobe would finish this season in the top three, so if that's the case, maybe by the end of the season this won't look such a bad result!
The Kobe game was on the Thursday of the Golden Week holiday, and the Squirrels didn't have too long to wait for another holiday fixture, and on Sunday Gamba Osaka arrived in town to play at the Nack5. Although it was Golden Week, don't listen to the name too closely, as just prior to the planned match day kick off of 4pm a massive storm broke over the stadium and the kick off was delayed for an hour. Usually Gamba turn up at the Nack 5 looking down at Ardija from a lofty J1 league table position, but on this Sunday surprisingly enough, It was us looking down on them. Gamba have been having a rough old time of it this season, and are already out of the Asians Champions League, and have changed their manager. For the second time this week we would face a Kansai side going through changes and difficulties, although Kobe's are clearly not as deep as Gamba's and the coach change seems to be more about personality clashes with the players and not meeting the high standards of the owners. Standards which would probably do Omiya's owners just fine. Despite having said that Gamba had been poor this season, the Osaka side fairly bossed the first half, both in terms of possession and chances. The Omiya team that Suzuki has been picking recently, definitely has some skill about it, but is based on having just one forward player, who quickly becomes isolated and only thrives in a counter-attack situation when the other team's defence is stretched. This might work away from home, though clearly not against Kobe, but it's just not good enough for me at home. Secondly, this plan needs a striker on form, who "scores when he wants" and unfortunately Ardija do not have such a player. Yet somehow Gamba could not convert their chances and with Rafael off, and Hasegawa on we did. Cho got the all important winner in the 73rd minute when a Carlinhos shot from distance rebounded off a defender to Cho and he finished well. Three more valuable points for the Squirrels, and three home wins in succession. Definitely something for the fans to be happy about and makes a pleasant change from last season when home wins were very scarce! Konno said for Gamba, that it was one of their better performances of the season so far, even though they still lost.
Who would have thought that after 10 games we would be 11th on 14 points. Well, probably a lot of people, but who would have thought that we would be on the same points as Nagoya Grampus, and above Cerezo, Yokohama, Kashima, Kashiwa, and Gamba. I would have bet decent money that most of those teams would be above us in the league. As it stands, it's a happy position for Ardija, if a close one. Nagoya have a game in hand, and Cerezo and Yokohama are only a point behind, the latter beginning to pick up form. It goes to prove that the J League this season is not an easy league to predict, which is hopefully keeping it interesting for the fans, especially those of us who follow the so called smaller teams and whom are enjoying seeing some of the big boys struggle. Funnily enough, on the latest edition of the J Talk podcast, host, Ben and guest, Alan Gibson both predict Omiya will easily stay in the J1. Mmm, I can't be so confident as they are, but certainly I hope their words prove correct by the end of the season.
Wednesday 2 May 2012
2 in a row!
Saturday afternoon came around warm and sunny and we headed to the Nack5 for once in glorious expectation. Ardija were coming off a great home win against the Urawa Reds and next up we would face the league's bottom team, the winless Consadole Sapporo. However the story is never that simple and Consadole have been labelled luckless on the J Talk podcast, so I am sure most Ardija fans would have found reason to temper their unlikely optimism. We managed to find two seats in the upper tier behind the goal at the home end, which is not always easy I have to tell you. I am not sure how early the Ardija faithful turn up to bag their seats, but we got their 45 minutes early and most of the stand was full. Overall it was a disappointing crowd of just over 8,000 fans that had turned up, but as kickoff approached both the home and away fans made some noise and the Nack5 was ready for some action.
The action came quite early as Ardija pressed down our left with Shimohira taking up some good positions, and the midfield passing the ball well and having most of the possession with Carlinhos looking lively in the middle of the pitch. Indeed it was Shimohira who delivered a lovely cross from the left for Carlinhos, using his body strength well to get in front of the Sapporo defender and powerfully head the ball into the net. Carlinhos celebrated with joy and ran full pelt across the pitch and over to the dugout to celebrate with Jun Suzuki. A sign that the players still back our coach despite many fans starting to want a change in the Ardija hot seat?A great start and Ardija continued to have a lot of the ball, Shimohira continued to make inroads down the left, Cho pressed up front and Higashi was alas looking on good form, but the second goal remained elusive and as the game neared the half time break Sapporo started to come into the game more and in fact managed to get an equalizer in first half injury time through Takagi. Our defenders seemed scared to make a tackle inside our penalty box, time seemed to stand still as it felt like our defenders just started watching the game like us fans! So we went in at half time at 1-1 and despite a fairly solid and decent performance from the Squirrels, my feeling was that the momentum had swung to Sapporo.
That feeling was born out in a second half display from Sapporo that got them almost everything apart from a goal, and the claims on J Talk podcast that Sapporo are an unlucky team, do appear to be right. The unluckiest player on this occasion was the Australian Jade North who had a superb volley and a header both cleared off the line by some desperate last ditch defending from Ardija. Jade North is a defender, but showed some real skill when in our penalty box, and later showed his defensive skills, by making some important tackles in the Sapporo box. Ardija were mostly restricted to playing on the break and fortunately for us they managed to get that crucial second goal through Takuya Aoki with a fine finish on 71 minutes. Aoki's goal turned out to be the winner, although Rafael had a great chance to make it 3-1 when through on the goalie, but he was unable to put the ball in the back of the net. Somehow Ardija held on, the ref blew his whistle and we had 3 points and a second home win in a row, whilst those plucky gallant men from Sapporo had nothing yet again.
Two home wins in a row, Omiya sit tenth in the league, a point ahead of Kashima and Kawasaki, and 2 points ahead of our next opponents Kobe, who we will play away at on Thursday 3rd May. Is this a chance for Omiya to get a third win in a row and climb a little more up the table? Let's hope so. Let's go Omiya Let's go!
The action came quite early as Ardija pressed down our left with Shimohira taking up some good positions, and the midfield passing the ball well and having most of the possession with Carlinhos looking lively in the middle of the pitch. Indeed it was Shimohira who delivered a lovely cross from the left for Carlinhos, using his body strength well to get in front of the Sapporo defender and powerfully head the ball into the net. Carlinhos celebrated with joy and ran full pelt across the pitch and over to the dugout to celebrate with Jun Suzuki. A sign that the players still back our coach despite many fans starting to want a change in the Ardija hot seat?A great start and Ardija continued to have a lot of the ball, Shimohira continued to make inroads down the left, Cho pressed up front and Higashi was alas looking on good form, but the second goal remained elusive and as the game neared the half time break Sapporo started to come into the game more and in fact managed to get an equalizer in first half injury time through Takagi. Our defenders seemed scared to make a tackle inside our penalty box, time seemed to stand still as it felt like our defenders just started watching the game like us fans! So we went in at half time at 1-1 and despite a fairly solid and decent performance from the Squirrels, my feeling was that the momentum had swung to Sapporo.That feeling was born out in a second half display from Sapporo that got them almost everything apart from a goal, and the claims on J Talk podcast that Sapporo are an unlucky team, do appear to be right. The unluckiest player on this occasion was the Australian Jade North who had a superb volley and a header both cleared off the line by some desperate last ditch defending from Ardija. Jade North is a defender, but showed some real skill when in our penalty box, and later showed his defensive skills, by making some important tackles in the Sapporo box. Ardija were mostly restricted to playing on the break and fortunately for us they managed to get that crucial second goal through Takuya Aoki with a fine finish on 71 minutes. Aoki's goal turned out to be the winner, although Rafael had a great chance to make it 3-1 when through on the goalie, but he was unable to put the ball in the back of the net. Somehow Ardija held on, the ref blew his whistle and we had 3 points and a second home win in a row, whilst those plucky gallant men from Sapporo had nothing yet again.
Thursday 26 April 2012
Consadole are coming to town!
Next up for the Squirrels is a home game against bottom of the League Consadole Sapporo. In fact we will be playing Consadole at home twice in quick succession, as we also take them on at the Nack5 on May 16th in our next game in the Yamazaki Nabisco Cup.
Saturday's game is far more important to me, as J1 survival remains our key target and the first seven games have done nothing to suggest that it is going to be an easy ride. Therefore when the team propping up the table comes to town, even the most despairing of Ardija fans must be thinking of bagging all three points. Our record so far is played 7, won 2, drawn 1 and lost 4. Those four losses make particularly bad reading this early on, however we do go into this game right off a confidence boosting 2-0 win over our local rivals Urawa Reds, so this is a big opportunity to back that up with a win over Sapporo. Football is a simple game, and simply put, goals win games. The key lesson of our two wins this season is the fact that it is only in those 2 wins that we have scored more than one goal. I'm guessing that injuries aside, Suzuki will stick with the same starting eleven that took the field last Saturday so we will hope to see Cho pushing on to support Rafael up front.
In the game against Urawa we basically played on the counterattack, and did it very successfully of course.Having said that, I'm hoping to see a more dominant performance against a team which has lost every league game so far and has only managed one draw and that point came on the very first day of the season against Jubilo Iwata a long time ago now. Just to throw in a bit of caution though, in their last outing at home to Kawasaki Frontale, Sapporo did race into a 2 goal lead. Sadly for them they failed to hold on to that lead, or even a share of the points and went down 3-2. One wonders how demoralizing such a loss might have been and will they fancy the long trip away from home.
My prediction then is for a home win. I'm going to plump for a 3-1 win to the Squirrels.
Let's go Omiya Let's Go!
Go! Go! Omiya Ardija
Omiya Ardija might be one of the smaller and less fashionable clubs in the J League, and they are certainly one of the least successful! But that does not stop them from having an internet presence in both Japanese and English.
The leader in the English language stakes is the brilliant Go! Go! Omiya Ardija.
Now I don't know too many details about who is behind this website, but if you have any interest in Omiya Ardija and it's place in Japanese football, then I urge you to read it. The writing is humourous and irreverent, and is definitely one of it's strong points. You can't be a Squirrels fan without a sense of humour.
The writers (there seems to be more than one but not sure quite how many - a post at the top of the site mysteriously hints at a legion of dedicated members of the Squirrel Nation.) have a detailed knowledge of the goings on at Nack 5, at least to do with the team and squad. I'm sure they also know a lot more about behind the scenes at Ardija than the average fan too. If the sheer joy of watching Ardija's first team games is not enough for them, they also go and watch the practice games. More evidence of the dedicated members of the Squirrel Nation at work. I'm not sure how long it has been going, but I could find posts going back to 2008 available on there site if you are looking for a bit of recent Ardija history.
As a fan of Omiya Ardija, it is a site that I love to check regularly and get a all sorts of useful information and much more besides. Why not check it out? I certainly hope the members of the Squirrel nation keep on producing fine work on the site, which, you never know, might even inspire the lads to do the business on the pitch.
omiyaallezallezblogspot.com
twitter - @GoGoOmiyaArdija
The leader in the English language stakes is the brilliant Go! Go! Omiya Ardija.
Now I don't know too many details about who is behind this website, but if you have any interest in Omiya Ardija and it's place in Japanese football, then I urge you to read it. The writing is humourous and irreverent, and is definitely one of it's strong points. You can't be a Squirrels fan without a sense of humour.
The writers (there seems to be more than one but not sure quite how many - a post at the top of the site mysteriously hints at a legion of dedicated members of the Squirrel Nation.) have a detailed knowledge of the goings on at Nack 5, at least to do with the team and squad. I'm sure they also know a lot more about behind the scenes at Ardija than the average fan too. If the sheer joy of watching Ardija's first team games is not enough for them, they also go and watch the practice games. More evidence of the dedicated members of the Squirrel Nation at work. I'm not sure how long it has been going, but I could find posts going back to 2008 available on there site if you are looking for a bit of recent Ardija history.
As a fan of Omiya Ardija, it is a site that I love to check regularly and get a all sorts of useful information and much more besides. Why not check it out? I certainly hope the members of the Squirrel nation keep on producing fine work on the site, which, you never know, might even inspire the lads to do the business on the pitch.
omiyaallezallezblogspot.com
twitter - @GoGoOmiyaArdija
J League info in English
When I first came to Japan, I knew very little about Japanese football and could find out even less information about it. The games I went to in my early days living in Japan were usually thanks to a kind Japanese friend who shared my passion for football and would sort out all the arrangements for me.
If you don't speak Japanese fluently and can't read the language either, it can often be very difficult to keep in touch with what's happening in the J League and to find decent match day information. Especially for tourists coming to Japan and hoping to take in a game on foreign soil. Furthermore, I got very little information about what was happening in the J League, about the players, managers and the teams and all the usual highly charged and enjoyable debate about football you find in England every day of the week. This is starting to change.
With the advent of the internet and social media there are now far more ways to keep in touch with Japanese football, to debate the issues and to find help to get tickets and go along and support your local J League team.
Your first stop on the internet should be JSoccer.com - a website about all things on Japanese football. It is also a very good magazine which has been published 3 times so far and a new issue should be coming soon in early May and will be available at all the usual outlets, and also for overseas readers. You can get interesting articles, match previews and reports and much more besides.
Podcasts in football have become very popular over the last few years with football fans all around the world. James Richardson's football podcast on the Guardian has been particularly praised and has garnered a loyal and large following. I know of two podcasts in English which cover the J league and both are well worth a listen, and appear regularly on Mondays during the season.
The J-Talk podcast is presented by Ben Maxwell, an Australian sports-mad guy who loves his football. He is a fan of Liverpool FC and more relevantly an FC Tokyo fan. In fact he has a blog on FC Tokyo, so if you are interested in FC Tokyo or finding more out about the Capital's J1 team, you should check it out. The show has only started recently and I have listened to all the episodes so far. It's a great addition to the Japan football scene. The format so far is Ben with one invited guest and they discuss the previous week's football in the J league, the Asian Champions League and any Japan national team news, followed by a look at the next week's fixtures. Players, coaches and team performances are assessed and criticized and I feel as a listener are dealt with fairly and honestly without too much undue bias. It gives me an update on how Omiya's rivals are playing, and information on players to look out for. It's fun and engaging and so far the guests have been value for money. Ben has talked to a mixture of journalists based in Japan, or guys who are huge fans of certain teams and are often involved in running blogs or websites on those teams. From the journalists you tend to get an overview of the whole league from a rather neutral standpoint, whilst from the fans you get a look at that same league but from a far more passionate perspective. Both work.
The second podcast I know of, which concentrates on the J League is presented by a journalist called Ben Mabley and is called The Football Japan Minutecast. Interestingly enough, it usually lasts longer than a minute. Most of the shows I've listened to, seem to be about 5 or 6 minutes but one I heard was a much longer discussion. The regular Minutecast appears on Mondays and is a round up of that weekend's fixtures with any key talking points also highlighted. The listener gets all the relevant info in a timely manner, so it's perfect for people who are busy on Mondays and who just want to get the salient points of what happened in the J League over the weekend, and then perhaps they will delve into the details at a later date. Or at least that's how it works for me, and in that sense I find it useful. Ben also publishes the text of his podcast. To be honest, I'm not sure of the purpose behind the Minutecast, but as I said I get some value out of it. The longer discussion I mentioned earlier, came after the Osaka derby between Cerezo and Gamba and was a roundtable between Ben and two other journalists discussing the match and everything surrounding it. I found that show very informative and entertaining, and I hope that at some stage more episodes like that are produced. Ben also has a website which I have glanced at too and seems to be all about football in Japan. He is based in Osaka and is a Gamba Osaka fan, but writes very well on all Japanese football, and I'm sure if you are looking to find more out about Japanese football, then you might do very well to give his website a look too.
Here are some details about the websites I mentioned above.
JSoccer.com
twitter - @jsoccermagazine
jtalkpodcast.blogspot.com
twitter - @jtalkpod
mabley.footballjapan.co.uk
twitter - @benmabley
on-the-gas.blogspot.com
twitter @On The Gas1999 (FC Tokyo)
Anyway, if you don't know much about Japanese football and want to know more. Or if you are already a fan but just want to get more involved, then give these guys a try as a starter. There are more guys out there writing about Japanese football in English and I will review them at a later date.
If you don't speak Japanese fluently and can't read the language either, it can often be very difficult to keep in touch with what's happening in the J League and to find decent match day information. Especially for tourists coming to Japan and hoping to take in a game on foreign soil. Furthermore, I got very little information about what was happening in the J League, about the players, managers and the teams and all the usual highly charged and enjoyable debate about football you find in England every day of the week. This is starting to change.
With the advent of the internet and social media there are now far more ways to keep in touch with Japanese football, to debate the issues and to find help to get tickets and go along and support your local J League team.
Your first stop on the internet should be JSoccer.com - a website about all things on Japanese football. It is also a very good magazine which has been published 3 times so far and a new issue should be coming soon in early May and will be available at all the usual outlets, and also for overseas readers. You can get interesting articles, match previews and reports and much more besides.
Podcasts in football have become very popular over the last few years with football fans all around the world. James Richardson's football podcast on the Guardian has been particularly praised and has garnered a loyal and large following. I know of two podcasts in English which cover the J league and both are well worth a listen, and appear regularly on Mondays during the season.
The J-Talk podcast is presented by Ben Maxwell, an Australian sports-mad guy who loves his football. He is a fan of Liverpool FC and more relevantly an FC Tokyo fan. In fact he has a blog on FC Tokyo, so if you are interested in FC Tokyo or finding more out about the Capital's J1 team, you should check it out. The show has only started recently and I have listened to all the episodes so far. It's a great addition to the Japan football scene. The format so far is Ben with one invited guest and they discuss the previous week's football in the J league, the Asian Champions League and any Japan national team news, followed by a look at the next week's fixtures. Players, coaches and team performances are assessed and criticized and I feel as a listener are dealt with fairly and honestly without too much undue bias. It gives me an update on how Omiya's rivals are playing, and information on players to look out for. It's fun and engaging and so far the guests have been value for money. Ben has talked to a mixture of journalists based in Japan, or guys who are huge fans of certain teams and are often involved in running blogs or websites on those teams. From the journalists you tend to get an overview of the whole league from a rather neutral standpoint, whilst from the fans you get a look at that same league but from a far more passionate perspective. Both work.
The second podcast I know of, which concentrates on the J League is presented by a journalist called Ben Mabley and is called The Football Japan Minutecast. Interestingly enough, it usually lasts longer than a minute. Most of the shows I've listened to, seem to be about 5 or 6 minutes but one I heard was a much longer discussion. The regular Minutecast appears on Mondays and is a round up of that weekend's fixtures with any key talking points also highlighted. The listener gets all the relevant info in a timely manner, so it's perfect for people who are busy on Mondays and who just want to get the salient points of what happened in the J League over the weekend, and then perhaps they will delve into the details at a later date. Or at least that's how it works for me, and in that sense I find it useful. Ben also publishes the text of his podcast. To be honest, I'm not sure of the purpose behind the Minutecast, but as I said I get some value out of it. The longer discussion I mentioned earlier, came after the Osaka derby between Cerezo and Gamba and was a roundtable between Ben and two other journalists discussing the match and everything surrounding it. I found that show very informative and entertaining, and I hope that at some stage more episodes like that are produced. Ben also has a website which I have glanced at too and seems to be all about football in Japan. He is based in Osaka and is a Gamba Osaka fan, but writes very well on all Japanese football, and I'm sure if you are looking to find more out about Japanese football, then you might do very well to give his website a look too.
Here are some details about the websites I mentioned above.
JSoccer.com
twitter - @jsoccermagazine
jtalkpodcast.blogspot.com
twitter - @jtalkpod
mabley.footballjapan.co.uk
twitter - @benmabley
on-the-gas.blogspot.com
twitter @On The Gas1999 (FC Tokyo)
Anyway, if you don't know much about Japanese football and want to know more. Or if you are already a fan but just want to get more involved, then give these guys a try as a starter. There are more guys out there writing about Japanese football in English and I will review them at a later date.
Tuesday 24 April 2012
The Saitama Derby
Last Saturday was the first Saitama derby of the 2012 season and it took place at the home of the Squirrels. Ardija have been struggling to find any form recently but what a way to cheer up the players, staff and fans with a win against your biggest rivals, the Urawa Reds.
Prior to the game, the Reds were sitting pretty in the league, in second place, whilst the home team were in a lowly 13th place. Most tipsters were looking to an away win, and I wouldn't have disagreed with them. Those same tipsters would have been burying their heads in shame after the first half-hour , whilst I was half in joy and half in shock as the Squirrels raced into a surprise 2-0 lead through goals by Cho and Rafael.
Despite some pressure from the Reds, Omiya managed to waste a few chances to get a third, but held on for a double whammy - a derby win and three very important points.
Our first goal from Cho came in the eighth minute and the players worked the ball forward well on our left with some neat interplay passing and Cho got free of the Reds defence, turned inside the covering defender and slotted the ball home. The second goal came just before the half hour when Cho crossed the ball from the left wing perfectly for Rafael to finish with a smart header. Rafael seems to enjoy scoring against Urawa which is something the Omiya fans are very happy to see continue.
Key pointers were having Higashi fit and back in the midfield, Cho being able to push forward from midfield and link up with Rafael, and finally getting the 2nd goal gave us a bit of a cushion upon which we could defend with more confidence than has been evident of late.
A great win for Ardija, that saw us move up once place in the league to 12th place on 8 points, 5 points and 6 places behind the Reds.
The worry for Ardija fans is that this was a one-off performance inspired by the visit of our crosstown rivals, and that we will soon dip again. The good news is that the next visitors to the Nack5 on Saturday April 28th are bottom placed Consadole Sapporo. Is this a chance for the Squirrels to post back to back home wins? Let's go Omiya Let's go!
Prior to the game, the Reds were sitting pretty in the league, in second place, whilst the home team were in a lowly 13th place. Most tipsters were looking to an away win, and I wouldn't have disagreed with them. Those same tipsters would have been burying their heads in shame after the first half-hour , whilst I was half in joy and half in shock as the Squirrels raced into a surprise 2-0 lead through goals by Cho and Rafael.
Despite some pressure from the Reds, Omiya managed to waste a few chances to get a third, but held on for a double whammy - a derby win and three very important points.
Our first goal from Cho came in the eighth minute and the players worked the ball forward well on our left with some neat interplay passing and Cho got free of the Reds defence, turned inside the covering defender and slotted the ball home. The second goal came just before the half hour when Cho crossed the ball from the left wing perfectly for Rafael to finish with a smart header. Rafael seems to enjoy scoring against Urawa which is something the Omiya fans are very happy to see continue.
Key pointers were having Higashi fit and back in the midfield, Cho being able to push forward from midfield and link up with Rafael, and finally getting the 2nd goal gave us a bit of a cushion upon which we could defend with more confidence than has been evident of late.
A great win for Ardija, that saw us move up once place in the league to 12th place on 8 points, 5 points and 6 places behind the Reds.
The worry for Ardija fans is that this was a one-off performance inspired by the visit of our crosstown rivals, and that we will soon dip again. The good news is that the next visitors to the Nack5 on Saturday April 28th are bottom placed Consadole Sapporo. Is this a chance for the Squirrels to post back to back home wins? Let's go Omiya Let's go!
Thursday 19 April 2012
F Marinos 1-1 Ardija
The Squirrels took part in a very dull and scrappy affair between two misfiring teams last Saturday in wet conditions, which did nothing to improve the quality of fare, in front of a low crowd at the Yokohama Mitsuzawa stadium.
Very misleading was the early shot from Shunsuke Nakamura which hit the bar. If fans thought that would be the start of a great game, then they were sadly very wrong. An ageing F Marinos team failed to keep up with any of their young players, whilst an Ardija side on the slide could not seem to pass to each other for toffee, or tuppence or anything you choose, a roll of sushi perhaps. We certainly didn't seem to put their 38 year old defender under any real pressure. Laughably he seemed to make mistakes of his own accord.
Whatever, it was poor. 0-0 at half time, no one was too hopeful for the second half and nothing much changed, although the crowd were given two goals to "savour". The first went to the home team and came via one of their young and upcoming players Ono, and it drew lots of praise on twitter and various Japan football forums, and whilst I would agree it was a great strike, I would have to point out the acres of space our defenders lavished on him. This has certainly been a feature of many of the goals we have conceded this season. I find it depressing that when we have a team that so obviously cannot score many goals, we also have a defence that loves to give opposing forwards so much room to move in. Double whammy time.
With the wet conditions and the current form of both teams suggesting this game would not be a high skilled game, any manager with a tall, target man on the bench would surely stick him on, send him up front and send long balls up to him in search of goals and points. It might not be pretty but needs must. And finally Omiya's much maligned coach, Suzuki finally gave in and sent Yu Hasegawa on, and soon after Rafael connected with a high ball and nodded it down to Hasegawa who managed to control the ball well for a big, tall chap and knocked the ball in to the net from close range to bring the Squirrels level at one goal apiece. Typically the game drifted to a close and honestly it was a fair result for two very poor teams.
From an Ardija viewpoint the most positive thing was that we had 12 corners by the end (I think but close), certainly way more than the opposition. Sadly it doesn't point to any domination of play or real skill, and to be fair, most of the corners were wasted. Perhaps Suzuki should have sent the big lad on earlier.
Next up is the Saitama derby at Nack 5, and although the Reds lost midweek 4-1 at home, it was only in the Yamazaki Nabisco Cup, so I'm not reading too much into that. I hope our crowd creates a derby atmosphere and our players respond. However I'm not hopeful and have to say that the Reds must go into the game as favourites. In football, though anything can happen, so Squirrel fans let's hope it's a home win and we put one over our local rival. Let's go Omiya!
Very misleading was the early shot from Shunsuke Nakamura which hit the bar. If fans thought that would be the start of a great game, then they were sadly very wrong. An ageing F Marinos team failed to keep up with any of their young players, whilst an Ardija side on the slide could not seem to pass to each other for toffee, or tuppence or anything you choose, a roll of sushi perhaps. We certainly didn't seem to put their 38 year old defender under any real pressure. Laughably he seemed to make mistakes of his own accord.
Whatever, it was poor. 0-0 at half time, no one was too hopeful for the second half and nothing much changed, although the crowd were given two goals to "savour". The first went to the home team and came via one of their young and upcoming players Ono, and it drew lots of praise on twitter and various Japan football forums, and whilst I would agree it was a great strike, I would have to point out the acres of space our defenders lavished on him. This has certainly been a feature of many of the goals we have conceded this season. I find it depressing that when we have a team that so obviously cannot score many goals, we also have a defence that loves to give opposing forwards so much room to move in. Double whammy time.
With the wet conditions and the current form of both teams suggesting this game would not be a high skilled game, any manager with a tall, target man on the bench would surely stick him on, send him up front and send long balls up to him in search of goals and points. It might not be pretty but needs must. And finally Omiya's much maligned coach, Suzuki finally gave in and sent Yu Hasegawa on, and soon after Rafael connected with a high ball and nodded it down to Hasegawa who managed to control the ball well for a big, tall chap and knocked the ball in to the net from close range to bring the Squirrels level at one goal apiece. Typically the game drifted to a close and honestly it was a fair result for two very poor teams.
From an Ardija viewpoint the most positive thing was that we had 12 corners by the end (I think but close), certainly way more than the opposition. Sadly it doesn't point to any domination of play or real skill, and to be fair, most of the corners were wasted. Perhaps Suzuki should have sent the big lad on earlier.
Next up is the Saitama derby at Nack 5, and although the Reds lost midweek 4-1 at home, it was only in the Yamazaki Nabisco Cup, so I'm not reading too much into that. I hope our crowd creates a derby atmosphere and our players respond. However I'm not hopeful and have to say that the Reds must go into the game as favourites. In football, though anything can happen, so Squirrel fans let's hope it's a home win and we put one over our local rival. Let's go Omiya!
Thursday 12 April 2012
Saturday 14th April 2012 J1 fixtures
Reysol v Sendai 13:00
Tokyo v Antlers 13:00
F Marinos v Ardija 14:00
Reds v Kobe 15:00
S Pulse v Jubilo 16:00
Grampus v Consadole 16:00
Tosu v Sanfrecce 18:30
Gamba v Frontale 19:00
Cerezo v Nigata 19:00
Tokyo v Antlers 13:00
F Marinos v Ardija 14:00
Reds v Kobe 15:00
S Pulse v Jubilo 16:00
Grampus v Consadole 16:00
Tosu v Sanfrecce 18:30
Gamba v Frontale 19:00
Cerezo v Nigata 19:00
Ardija 0-3 Cerezo
Well I haven't heard yet that Jun Suzuki has lost his job, or even worse had the Chairman's vote of confidence. However the man must be surely watching his back round the corridors of power at the Nack5.
All the pre-season optimism and early season form has rapidly dissipated and we are left with a team that is lacking any confidence and if Cerezo had been a better team they would have walked away with not only 3 points but a far bigger victory. Ardija offered very little in this game if anything at all in front of their own despairing fans, and in the next few games Suzuki's first job is to stop the rot.
What better place to start than the Nissan Stadium and the struggling F Marinos. In fact we are a point ahead of them. Thus far the FM's have drawn 3 games and lost 2 so a draw looks a likely result then. Despite the fact that the Nissan Stadium held the World Cup Final in 2002 it is a joyless affair for me, a huge soulless bowl of a ground with the dreaded running track, and at a capacity of about 80,000 fans is almost never full for J League games and certainly won't be when we turn up (I don't know if it's being played in the smaller Mitsuzawa stadium). Yet, I think that this gives us a chance to make use of a lack of atmosphere and with Yokohama's manager currently not winning any popularity competitions among the F Marino fans, and pile more pressure on that team by getting something out of the game, even a win. Of course, F Marino fans will likely be thinking much the same at the prospect of our visit coming on the back of conceding 7 goals in our last two games.
As I wrote in my previous post, our desperate position stems from a real lack of goals, and a shaky defence which can't hold out for 90 minutes. Can Suzuki turn it around with the players he has to choose from? Let's start on Saturday 14th April away to Yokohama F Marinos at 2pm. Let's go Omiya!
All the pre-season optimism and early season form has rapidly dissipated and we are left with a team that is lacking any confidence and if Cerezo had been a better team they would have walked away with not only 3 points but a far bigger victory. Ardija offered very little in this game if anything at all in front of their own despairing fans, and in the next few games Suzuki's first job is to stop the rot.
What better place to start than the Nissan Stadium and the struggling F Marinos. In fact we are a point ahead of them. Thus far the FM's have drawn 3 games and lost 2 so a draw looks a likely result then. Despite the fact that the Nissan Stadium held the World Cup Final in 2002 it is a joyless affair for me, a huge soulless bowl of a ground with the dreaded running track, and at a capacity of about 80,000 fans is almost never full for J League games and certainly won't be when we turn up (I don't know if it's being played in the smaller Mitsuzawa stadium). Yet, I think that this gives us a chance to make use of a lack of atmosphere and with Yokohama's manager currently not winning any popularity competitions among the F Marino fans, and pile more pressure on that team by getting something out of the game, even a win. Of course, F Marino fans will likely be thinking much the same at the prospect of our visit coming on the back of conceding 7 goals in our last two games.
As I wrote in my previous post, our desperate position stems from a real lack of goals, and a shaky defence which can't hold out for 90 minutes. Can Suzuki turn it around with the players he has to choose from? Let's start on Saturday 14th April away to Yokohama F Marinos at 2pm. Let's go Omiya!
Friday 6 April 2012
Goals and the Squirrels
Let's face it, this great game of ours is nothing without goals and early on in the season I'm starting to think that scoring might be a bit of a problem for Ardija.
In all of our games so far, we have only scored more than one goal in a game on one occasion and that was in the only game of the season we have won so far, away to the bottom of the league side Albirex Nigata. In the league game against Tokyo we played well enough to win but failed to take any of a number of chances, then home to Yokohama we took the lead but ended up with a draw in the Nabisco, home to Nagoya we grabbed an equalizer hanging on for a draw and away to Sendai we got a nice early lead which we failed to build on and crumbled in the 2nd half.
So where are the goals going to come from? Rafael looks out of form, Cho will provide goals but is he going to get 20 goals a season. I don't really know but I have my doubts. I'm not expecting to see hat-tricks at the Nack5, but I'd love to be proven wrong. Finding goalscoring stats out is difficult as I don't read Japanese but I'll try and find some for our forwards and see how they look. I don't imagine they'll make good reading.
The lack of goals of course has a knock-on effect on our defence, putting them under real pressure to hold the opposition out for 90 minutes because they know we are unlikely to get 2 goals at the other end. Omiya have got used to fighting against relegation and winning that battle for several seasons. You might say that they are very experienced in these matters, to the extent that I was fairly confident towards the end of last season that we would stay up. The team just seems to know what to do when the going gets tough late on in the season. Are we the Wigan of the J League? The question always remains for how long can we just continue to survive.
A 20 goal a season strike would surely help ease the battle for J1 survival.
In all of our games so far, we have only scored more than one goal in a game on one occasion and that was in the only game of the season we have won so far, away to the bottom of the league side Albirex Nigata. In the league game against Tokyo we played well enough to win but failed to take any of a number of chances, then home to Yokohama we took the lead but ended up with a draw in the Nabisco, home to Nagoya we grabbed an equalizer hanging on for a draw and away to Sendai we got a nice early lead which we failed to build on and crumbled in the 2nd half.
So where are the goals going to come from? Rafael looks out of form, Cho will provide goals but is he going to get 20 goals a season. I don't really know but I have my doubts. I'm not expecting to see hat-tricks at the Nack5, but I'd love to be proven wrong. Finding goalscoring stats out is difficult as I don't read Japanese but I'll try and find some for our forwards and see how they look. I don't imagine they'll make good reading.
The lack of goals of course has a knock-on effect on our defence, putting them under real pressure to hold the opposition out for 90 minutes because they know we are unlikely to get 2 goals at the other end. Omiya have got used to fighting against relegation and winning that battle for several seasons. You might say that they are very experienced in these matters, to the extent that I was fairly confident towards the end of last season that we would stay up. The team just seems to know what to do when the going gets tough late on in the season. Are we the Wigan of the J League? The question always remains for how long can we just continue to survive.
A 20 goal a season strike would surely help ease the battle for J1 survival.
Nabisco Cup - Antlers away
In our 2nd group game in the Nabisco Yamazaki cup we went away to Kashima Antlers. This season the Antlers have been having a torrid time in the J League and if I'm right have failed to score a goal so far. However they have had better luck in the League Cup and they chalked up another victory with a 1-0 win over the Squirrels. The goal was scored by Koroki on 31 minutes when Kitano came out to clear the ball away from an oncoming Antlers forward, but only managed to (unwittingly) pass the ball to Koroki who finished with ease. The game was lost but it remains very early days in the Nabisco Yamazaki Cup group stage, there are plenty of games left for Ardija to get more points. To be homiest though, I would trade success in this 3rd competition for valuable wins in the J League, especially some wins at the Nack 5 in front of our own supporters.
Omiya Ardija 1-1 Nagoya Grampus Eight
Omiya Ardija went into this home game on the back of a thrashing by league leaders Vegalta Sendai. For our next opponents we would have liked an easier proposition than last year's runner up and many people's favorites for this season's title, Nagoya Grampus but that was the wonderful prospect the computer had thrown up. The result therefore must be seen as a good result for the Squirrels even if it meant that our search for a home win goes on (and on???) The first half ended 0-0 and all the goals would come in a 7 minute burst in the second half. Nagoya opened the scoring on 48 minutes through Danilson. Nagoya were able to build an attack on the left side of Omiya's box, they quickly moved the ball about and as we were unable to put in a decent tackle, the ball was laid back to Danilson and he struck the ball home from outside the penalty box. Seemingly Kitano was well beaten but could he have done better fans will ask. And it was yet another goal conceded at home from outside the penalty box. Admittedly Yokohama's in the Nabisco Cup had an element of luck but it could be seen as a worrying trend if teams start to think they can score from distance where against other teams they might not expect to. Our goal came on the 55th minute. Cho made a forward run and took a shot at goal which was missing the target but Kanakubo had got ahead of his marker on the right side of the Nagoya six yard box and finished neatly. Omiya Ardija survived some late Grampus pressure and a valuable point was secured. Again, the value of Cho and Carlinhos to the team was shown and the re-introduction of Jun Kanakubointo the starting lineup clearly worked well here. Next up in the league is a home game against Cerezo Osaka. Let's hope as the Cherry Blossom comes into full bloom in Omiya Park, we can send those Cherry blossoms from Cerezo back to Kansai pointless and wishing they'd stayed at home for Hanami.
Friday 30 March 2012
Saturday 31st March
Omiya Ardija v Nagoya Grampus 13:00
FC Tokyo v Sanfrecce Hiroshima 14:00
Urawa Reds v Kawasaki Frontale 15:00
Jubilo Iwata v Kashiwa Reysol 15:00
Cerezo Osaka v Vegalta Sendai 15:00
Albirex Nigata v Gamba Osaka 16:00
Shimizu S Pulse v Consadole Sapporo 18:30
Yokohama Marinos v Kashima Antlers 19:00
Sagan Tosu v Vissel Kobe 19:00
Vegalta Sendai 4-1 Omiya Ardija
A poor result and performance sent the Squirrels back to Saitama with their tails between their legs. The day started badly with the news that Carlinho would be missing from the lineup. Despite a relatively bright start and an early lead through Cho Yong Cheol, Ardija faded quickly and were dominated by Sendai's pressing attack and in the end were thoroughly beaten. More bad news involved the injury to Omiya's young, talented midfielder and Japan Olympic representative, Keigo Higashi. I'm not sure how serious his injury is yet, but if as it seems he will miss games then that is a huge setback to Ardija's hopes. Omiya's goal came from a corner which was re-directed to an unmarked Cho in the Sendai box who was happy to firmly plant it away to give us the lead, which we somehow managed to keep until halftime. After the first half hour of the game Sendai basically took over and regularly threatened Kitano's goal, chances came and went, including hitting the bar and a goal disallowed for offside but it was surely a worried Ardija team that went into the break. Sendai came out for the second half and picked up from where they left off and by the end of the game were easy 4-1 winners through 2 goals by Ota, a goal by Sugai and an unfortunate own goal by Kikuchi.
What have we learned from this performance and the others by the Orange men this season so far? An inability to score goals is an only too obvious weakness. We played well against Tokyo but failed to take any of the chances we created and took nothing from the game. At home to F Marinos in the Nabisco Cup we took the lead, but could not deliver any more goals to back up the early goal and had to settle for a draw, an away win against a struggling Albirex Nigata when 1-0 down at half time is so far the only time we have scored more than once and we left it late, and finally this game against Sendai where we never looked like scoring more than the once. To be honest the goal was gifted to us by poor defending from Sendai. Cho should not really have found that kind of space in their penalty area. Ardija urgently need to find more goals to give the defence confidence that we can hold teams out over the 90 minutes of a match. The passing game we play seems to be easily handled by sides with more physically imposing midfielders, and teams seem to be able to then find the space they need to cause our defence problems.
The positives so far. For me the only answer can be Carlinho and Cho Yong Cheol. They have come in to the side and looked good, strong performers in their respective positions, and when they have played, they have contributed well to the team performance.
It looks to be another long season for Jun Suzuki's men in J1. The optimism of a few weeks ago, when some of us dared to dream of a record breaking 11th place finish would now appear to be the hopes of the crazy.
Next up at the Nack5 - It's Nagoya Grampus Eight. Time to turn things around then......Let's go Omiya!
Next up at the Nack5 - It's Nagoya Grampus Eight. Time to turn things around then......Let's go Omiya!
Thursday 22 March 2012
Nack 5 stadium
Omiya Ardija play their home games at the NACK5 stadium. It was originally built in 1960 and was used in the 1964 Summer Olympics. It was closed in 2006-2007 when it was renovated to bring it up to the standards of the J League and it re-opened on November 11th 2007 when Ardija played Oita Trinita, Omiya losing that game 2-1.
While the stadium was being renovated Ardija played their home games at either Urawa Komaba stadium or Saitama stadium, the home of their Saitama city bitter rivals, the Urawa Red Diamonds.
The Nack 5 stadium is based in the lovely location of Omiya Park. The walk to the stadium is noted as one of the nicer approaches to a stadium in Japan. Spectators get to walk along the way to Hikkawa Shrine, through the big red Tori gates before heading to the edge of the park where Nack 5 stadium is located, opposite the Baseball stadium and not far from the Keirin stadium. For those of you unfamiliar with Japan, keirin is a Japanese form of bicycle racing, races which old Japanese men love to bet their money on, whilst baseball is traditionally far more popular in Japan than football. However it is certainly true that football has been eating into that popularity recently.
Back to the stadium, the NACK5 is a small stadium with a capacity of 15,500 people. The two ends behind the goals have two tiers, an upper tier of seating emblazoned in the orange color of the home team and a lower tier of terracing, where the supporters who love to jump and shout all game tend to stand. The main stand is a relatively simple stand of seats with a small roof, which in fact is the only roof in the whole ground but offers little protection in bad weather. Opposite the main stand is a small one tier stand of seats running the length of the pitch.
Although it's a small stadium and one where you are definitely going to get wet in the rain, it is a very nice and comfortable ground with pretty good views almost anywhere you go. I have never been to a game and complained about the view. It also seems to be friendly to both home and away supporters.
Wednesday 21 March 2012
Nabisco Yamazaki Cup
The Nabisco Yamazaki Cup began yesterday on a National Holiday in Japan for the Spring Equinox. This cup competition is the equivalent of the League Cup (currently sponsored by Carling) in England. The first stage has 14 teams divided into 2 groups and works in a league format. Japan's representatives in the Asian Champions League receive a bye in this stage and will go straight into the quarter finals.
Omiya Ardija entertained Yokohama F Marinos at Omiya's home stadium of Nack 5 for a 4pm kick off. Omiya took an early lead in the 15th minute through new Brazilian defensive midfielder Carlinho. A long pass to Rafael who quickly crossed the ball which eventually came to Carlinho who confidently stroked the ball home. His double somersault celebration was a sight to be enjoyed by the Squirrels fans. His performances so far have been very encouraging and the fact that he has now shown an ability to score is even more promising for the rest of the season. A Yokohama F Marinos side including ex Celtic midfielder Shunsuke Nakamura fought back in the second half and eventually found a way through Kitano's goal. The equalizer was scored by Manabu Saito in the 84th minute.
It was mostly an even match with both teams playing some nice football. Yet again, Omiya were guilty of missing chances which if taken would have put the game out of reach of the Marinos. By far the best example of this was in the second half when a lovely ball from midfield split the Yokohama central defenders and Cho was through on goal with only the keeper to beat but he chipped the ball not only over the oncoming keeper but alas also over the bar. The equalizer from Saito had both elements of luck and skill, and also highlighted the freedom Ardija defenders will sometimes give to opposing attackers around the penalty area. The ball came to Saito and he found himself with the time and space to craft a wonderful right footed shot on goal which curled on to Kitano's left hand post, rebounded onto the unfortunate Ardija keeper and into the net. Ardija therefore had to settle for a point in their first game in the Nabisco Yamazaki cup, when their overall performance could have won them more if they had been sharper in front of the Marinos goal.
Omiya Ardija entertained Yokohama F Marinos at Omiya's home stadium of Nack 5 for a 4pm kick off. Omiya took an early lead in the 15th minute through new Brazilian defensive midfielder Carlinho. A long pass to Rafael who quickly crossed the ball which eventually came to Carlinho who confidently stroked the ball home. His double somersault celebration was a sight to be enjoyed by the Squirrels fans. His performances so far have been very encouraging and the fact that he has now shown an ability to score is even more promising for the rest of the season. A Yokohama F Marinos side including ex Celtic midfielder Shunsuke Nakamura fought back in the second half and eventually found a way through Kitano's goal. The equalizer was scored by Manabu Saito in the 84th minute.
It was mostly an even match with both teams playing some nice football. Yet again, Omiya were guilty of missing chances which if taken would have put the game out of reach of the Marinos. By far the best example of this was in the second half when a lovely ball from midfield split the Yokohama central defenders and Cho was through on goal with only the keeper to beat but he chipped the ball not only over the oncoming keeper but alas also over the bar. The equalizer from Saito had both elements of luck and skill, and also highlighted the freedom Ardija defenders will sometimes give to opposing attackers around the penalty area. The ball came to Saito and he found himself with the time and space to craft a wonderful right footed shot on goal which curled on to Kitano's left hand post, rebounded onto the unfortunate Ardija keeper and into the net. Ardija therefore had to settle for a point in their first game in the Nabisco Yamazaki cup, when their overall performance could have won them more if they had been sharper in front of the Marinos goal.
Monday 19 March 2012
Orange Battle - Away to Albirex Nigata
On the Friday afternoon before the away game against Albirex Nigata I was sitting enjoying a coffee and trying to improve my poor Japanese by studying Kanji in the Starbucks in Lumine in Omiya, when I saw a group of the lads arriving to get some refreshments for the journey to Nigata. Rafael and Carlinho were among them and everyone looked positive.
I wasn't lucky enough to go to the game. In fact I have to admit that I have never seen Omiya play away yet. Well, it is good to leave plenty of things needing to be done in the future. Something to look forward to.
Both Albirex Nigata and Omiya Ardija's home shirts are Orange so Ardija played in their white away shirts and hence the title of this post. If anyone went to Albirex, I'd love to hear about your day. Certainly I am sure that if you went to Nigata's stadium to follow the Orange of the Squirrels from Omiya, then you would have had a long but great day out as Omiya ended up taking this battle of two orange teams 2-1.
Nigata started the brightest with a goal after 20 minutes from Bruno Lopes, but Ardija fought back in the second half to equalize through Kikuchi on 68 minutes and that man Rafael on 83 minutes.
Rafael has his critics and even I wondered if he was fully fit for the first game of the season, but you can never right him off. He has the strength and the ability to score against all the J League defenses on his day. So Omiya came away from Nigata with a valuable 3 points which put along side their good performance in the first game, even if it ended in a home loss, this is something to build on in the next coming weeks. Well done to the Squirrels! Let's go Omiya!
I wasn't lucky enough to go to the game. In fact I have to admit that I have never seen Omiya play away yet. Well, it is good to leave plenty of things needing to be done in the future. Something to look forward to.
Both Albirex Nigata and Omiya Ardija's home shirts are Orange so Ardija played in their white away shirts and hence the title of this post. If anyone went to Albirex, I'd love to hear about your day. Certainly I am sure that if you went to Nigata's stadium to follow the Orange of the Squirrels from Omiya, then you would have had a long but great day out as Omiya ended up taking this battle of two orange teams 2-1.
Nigata started the brightest with a goal after 20 minutes from Bruno Lopes, but Ardija fought back in the second half to equalize through Kikuchi on 68 minutes and that man Rafael on 83 minutes.
Rafael has his critics and even I wondered if he was fully fit for the first game of the season, but you can never right him off. He has the strength and the ability to score against all the J League defenses on his day. So Omiya came away from Nigata with a valuable 3 points which put along side their good performance in the first game, even if it ended in a home loss, this is something to build on in the next coming weeks. Well done to the Squirrels! Let's go Omiya!
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