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!

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.

You can see some photographs which I was able to take from just outside the stadium. The fence you can see is at the back of the small stand which is opposite the main stand.

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.

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!

J1 Results Saturday 17th March 2012


Cerezo Osaka 2 - 1 Gamba Osaka
Albirex Niigata 1 - 2 Omiya Ardija
Yokohama F. Marinos 0 - 2 Vegalta Sendai
Urawa Reds 1 - 0 Kashiwa Reysol
Kashima Antlers 0 - 1 Kawasaki Frontale
Shimizu S-Pulse 2 - 1 Sanfrecce Hiroshima
Vissel Kobe 2 - 1 Consadole Sapporo
Júbilo Iwata 2 - 1 Sagan Tosu
Tokyo 3 - 2 Nagoya Grampus

Tuesday 13 March 2012

After-Talk

So the first game has come and gone and how do I feel. Well, honestly better than I expected. I was quite afraid that FC Tokyo on a high after promotion, a cup win and a first Asian Champions League win, might come out of the blocks flying. In fact, it was Ardija that did that and almost got an early goal through Higashi. I definitely think that the Squirrels were far better in possession than in defence where they tended to close the attacking players down too slowly, if at all. Perhaps as I come from England, this opinion stems from our way of defending and I should give more credence to the Japanese way but frankly it worries me if we are going to give better teams than FC Tokyo time and space in and around our penalty area.

Concerning our attack-minded players, I was impressed when they moved the ball around with speed and accuracy and this on occasion created difficulties for the opposition's defense and chances for us to score. For me, this is going to be crucial in our attempts to score more goals and kill teams off, which we quite often (!!) failed to do last season. Rafael seemed to be struggling for pace and wanted too much time on the ball in the first half. Often the Tokyo defender was able to crowd him out too easily and a sniff of a chance to get free in space was gone. In the second half Rafael performed much better and this leads me to suspect that he is not 100% match fit. If this is the case, let's hope he gets there pretty quickly. I have no idea how his pre-season went, but one wonders! Kitano did reasonably well in goal, cannot be blamed for FC Tokyo's goal which as I have said elsewhere, was a wonder goal and I am happy with him being first choice. I thought Daigo Watanabe played well and got into some useful forward positions in the first half especially. I liked the performance of Cho Young-Cheol who has just joined from Albirex Nigata and Carlinho seemed to be full of energy in the midfield and covered well too. he also did a bit of theatrics to get the crowd going in the 2nd half which I enjoyed seeing.

Two of my favorite players in the Omiya squad are Kota Ueda and Keigo Higashi. Higashi, I have already mentioned as having a good game, but unfortunately Kota Ueda took no part in the match. I think he should get a starting place in the team, He is a good, young midfielder and I have been impressed with his performances and drive in the past and can't see why Jun Suzuki refuses to pick him.

As for FC Tokyo, I still think they are a team going places. We have to take into account their long journey midweek and also that it was their first game in J1 for one year. With a few new players added to their squad, they will gel and gradually grow in confidence as the season progresses. However in this game, they really didn't threaten Omiya much, which must be a worry to their expectant fans. Was it the famous ACL effect? Or just the first game of the season under a new manager and these things take time.

As for Omiya, I hope they take the positive from the game, keep working hard in training and improve in their next J1 outing. The Squirrels' next game is Saturday March 17th, away to Albirex Nigata. A big day for Yong-Cheol returning so soon to his old stomping ground and a big chance for us to get some points on the board. FC Tokyo will take on Nagoya Grampus at home on the same day. A much more difficult test which will test the Gasmen much more I imagine than did us Squirrels. Let's go Omiya!!

Monday 12 March 2012

Turn the Gasmen off!

The first day of the 20th J league season dawned  a dismal, grey and drizzly day which didn't seem to bode well for the football to come, and I found myself heading to Kawasaki for a lesson and without a ticket for the big game at the Nack 5, where Omiya Ardija would entertain FC Tokyo, for whom it would be their first game back in the top flight after a very successful season down in the second tier of Japanese football, J2.

As I headed back to Saitama after my lesson ( easy, fun gig!) I found out that the game was sold out and my hopes of gaining a late ticket to the game were all but sunk. However just as my wife turned to leave the Orange shop a lady who had a spare ticket, offered it to my wife for free. and in a flash ( and an SMS text!) I was in. Happy Orange as the advertising goes. So I got off the train, picked up my ticket, said goodbye (and profuse thanks) to my wife and set off cheerily towards the stadium. Once there, and having gratefully collected my free Orange supporters bag and sundry free handouts, I found a seat high up in the stand behind the goal, which I quickly bagged before heading to get a beer.

For those of you from England who have never been to a Japanese football game, one of the best parts of the experience is that you can buy a beer and enjoy supping it while watching the game from your seat. So there I was, drinking my beer, tweeting and trying to video from my iPhone the FC Tokyo fans' rendition of the Liverpool Kop classic You'll never Walk Alone, when the fan next to me had to leave to answer his mobile phone, and you guessed it, bang went my beer, all over the floor and only a quarter of it had been drunk. Well, to say I was gutted, would be an understatement, but I kept my cool, after all it was totally my fault. It had been my foot that had done the dirty deed, and so I resumed to concentrate on the game. But before the game could start, there was a minute's silence to pay respects to those that lost their lives in the terrible earthquake and tsunami which devastated great parts of North Eastern Tohoku last year on March 11th. The minute of respect was observed impeccably and personally I was glad to see that J League fans continued with silence rather than the applause which seems to have gained popularity recently at football grounds in England. I can see that there are arguments in favour of both, however I contend that the applause is used mostly to cover up the idiots who can't remain silent for a minute, and that it's feeling is less respectful. That's my opinion and I wonder what others think.

Following that, everyone was ready for the game. The stands were full, the fans were in good voice and the ref was about to whistle to kick off the season. As quick as my beer had been lost, Omiya were on the attack when Higashi pounced on a Kaga error, but his shot was saved by Gonda. From that surprising start, Omiya took the initiative, attempting to keep possession away from FC Tokyo's danger players and with some enterprising quick passes up front started to set up chances which only great work from goalkeeper Gonda, kept Ardija from taking the lead. The best of Gonda's work was a double save from Cho Yong Cheol and at that point confidence was rising that Ardija might actually start their season with a win. Chances kept coming and Rafael went very close on the right with a sliding shot which just went wide. With so many opportunities going begging, Omiya fans must have been starting to get that sinking feeling that it just wasn't going to be there day, and on past results, who could really blame them. The last fifteen minutes of the half seemed to bear this out as the Gasmen from Tokyo started to gain a footing in the game and a big chance on a breakaway for Tokyo was wasted by Yazawa who shot poorly and the ball went well wide of the Kitano's goal to the relief of the home fans.

So we went into half time with honours even at 0-0, and I quickly headed to the area under the stand to relax and join the queue for the toilet. When I got back to my seat, just a few moments after the restart, I found to my surprise that the man sitting next to me was holding out a beer for me! I was , to say the least, gobsmacked. I gratefully received the beer, said my best polite thank yous in my poor Japanese, smiled, said 'Kanpai' or cheers and we both settled into our seats to enjoy the 2nd half. He really did not need to buy me that beer, it wasn't his fault at all, and happened all because of my clumsiness, however it reminded me for the second time today of the reasons why I love Japan.

 Back to the game, and Omiya continued to play the same brand of passing and possession football, and Rafael came very close to scoring close in on Gonda's goal. Although FC Tokyo were seeing more of the ball, they still hadn't created much apart from the chance in the first half wasted by Yazawa, when in the 61st minute Lucas turned the game on it's head and scored what turned out to be the only goal of the game with what I can only describe as a wonder goal and one that honestly deserved to win a match. He controlled the ball, turned and volleyed the ball home with style, Kitano in the Omiya goal well beaten. Lucas' goal was a strike that would have beaten keepers of a far higher reputation than Kitano. For much of the next 30 minutes, Omiya seemed to have had the wind taken out of their sails, and FC Tokyo found it easier to keep the ball and plot some attacks on Kitano's goal, without really seriously threatening to get a second goal.The squirrels never quite gave up and launched some attacks on Gonda's goal which caused the keeper some consternation, and although he wasn't beaten in the second half, his performance was far from the high standards he set in the first half. Too many times he rushed out of his area and failed to clear comfortably causing understandable panic in his defenders and some ribald comments from Omiya fans in the seats around me. Omiya did get the ball in the back of the net but the referee disallowed it for handball. Towards the end of the game, as the minutes for added time ticked by, frustratingly, Omiya players wasted the ball or were too slow in delivering their passes, something which I can never understand, and then time was up and the 3 points went to the Gasmen.

Although Omiya Ardija lost, failing to turn the gasmen off, and I am still disappointed by that, the performance hinted at a brighter season than last year at the Nack 5. There is work to be done, no doubt, manager Jun Suzuki needs to work out quickly, and find the balance between using swifter, younger, creative players against those with less skill and speed, but who might help protect a lead later on in games, if Ardija can get into a winning position in games. Finally it had been a great night out, which had reminded me. even on the eve of the anniversary of the country's worst national disaster, just why I continue to live here. Let's go Omiya! Ganbare Nihon!

Friday 9 March 2012

Omiya Ardija

The photograph which I am currently using on this blog was taken last season at the Nack 5 stadium before the 2-2 draw with Vegalta Sendai. It's taken from the seating area in the home end behind the goal. It was a very exciting game despite the weather. It rained fairly heavily at the start of the game, and although the temperature was fairly warm, it did rain later on too. By the time the rain had gone so had the chance of all 3 points for the Squirrels as they collapsed to a stirring comeback from Vegalta, who were 2 nil down at one point. Nevertheless, even as an Ardija fan, I would have to say that Vegalta were playing the better football and keeping position reasonably well while 2 nil down. Safe to say, on the performances of the teams, Sendai here got what they deserved, and perhaps they even deserved a bit more. I went home, knowing I'd been lucky to see a good game, but very disappointed that Ardija had not been able to hold on to all 3 points and claim a rare home win.

Thursday 8 March 2012

New podcast on Japanese football

This week something new on Japanese football in English this way comes and it is in the shape of a brand new podcast called the J-Talk podcast. It's a podcast which will mainly concentrate on the J league season but will also cover many aspects of the game in Japan including the national team. The podcast is run by Ben Maxwell, a fan of both Liverpool FC and FC Tokyo. He has been running a blog on FC Tokyo for a while now, a site which has included a fairly regular podcast on all things Gasmen known as the Gastalk podcast. At this junction, I don't know, but I am presuming Ben will continue the FC Tokyo site and podcast as I am sure English speaking fans find it very useful to keep up to date with the goings on of their team but it is also very useful to neutrals or fans of other teams who wish to find out in greater detail about one of their rivals. I certainly hope that Ben will be able to keep both going. Back to the J-Talk podcast and the very first one featured an in-depth look at the forthcoming J league season by British journalist Sean Carroll who is based in Japan and writes on Japanese football for various media outlets. I was very pleased to find that Ben and Sean took the time, the cast lasts an hour, to cover each team as I have found that quite often the lower teams barely get a mention as everyone wants to grab the glory and talk about Nagoya, Kashima, Tokyo and Gamba. A nice mention was given to Omiya Ardija who Sean apparently feels, have done some good off-season business and might be in with a chance of a more comfortable mid-season finish as opposed to their more normal, leave it to the last moment, Houdini escape. We shall see. The podcast was handled in a very light way and the discussion was fan-friendly and I think if the podcast continues in this way, it could have an opportunity to achieve it's goals.  What exactly those goals are, you would have to ask Ben himself, however I would like to see it promote the J League among English speakers of all nationalities and locations, encourage discussion and debate on the key issues of the season and spread the enjoyment and the passion of the beautiful game in Japan. This is one football fan who is very much looking forward to episode 2 of the J-Talk podcast. Be sure to check out episode 1 on jtalkpodcast.blogspot.com.

JSoccer Magazine

Having lived in Japan for over 11 years, I can tell you easily that one of the biggest problems for a foreign football fan living in Japan is getting information on our favourite game in English. Yes, of course all of you out there will be screaming 11 years! And you can't speak Japanese. Well, firstly let me tell you that it's very difficult, secondly that I have been rather busy teaching the English language to Japanese students where the need for Japanese ability is not required or promoted. My level of spoken Japanese, although far weaker than I'd like, is fine for basic every day communication but when it comes to reading the language, that's another thing entirely. I have often been frustrated by my inability to find out about even the simplest of things like ticket prices and availability and where to buy them. As for reading about the players, teams, fans and what's going on in Japanese football generally, it's been nigh on impossible unless you read Japanese perfectly. However there is good news on the way, with the advent of social media and the internet a small group of English speaking J League fans have started spreading the word and even more vitally for people like me, information on the J League. In the last few months this has developed further and a magazine on all things Japanese football has appeared on the scene. Edited by Alan Gibson, an Englishman based I believe in the Kansai region and with a long interest in Japanese football dating back to the inception of the J League in 1993. Alan is a passionate guy about his football and this comes across in the magazine and also on the accompanying website. He deserves respect for gathering together investors to back this project and deal with Japan's company law, which I would imagine could be quite intimidating for a foreigner attempting to set up a small project. The result is a very pleasing read and the magazine is called, JSoccer Magazine. So far there have been 3 issues. I am not sure how regularly they are published but for English speaking fans of Japanese football, I think they are a must. Give JSoccer magazine a try! The cover price is very reasonable at 600 yen plus postage and I'm sure you won't regret it. Having only just discovered the magazine myself, I am feeling better informed for the start of the new season than ever before in my 11 years in Japan. Alan can be contacted at alan@jscoccer.com and you can follow him on twitter @JSoccermagazine.

Squirrel Talk

Squirrel Talk is a blog about the football team Omiya Ardija who play in the first division of the highest rank of Japanese football, the J league. The J league currently has 2 professional divisions, J1 and J2. Ardija means squirrel in Portuguese, hence the name of this blog. Ardija play in Saitama city which is just north of Tokyo. Saitama city is made up of three merged cities, Yono, Urawa and Omiya. Both Urawa and Omiya have J1 football teams. The Urawa Red Diamonds are a far larger and far more famous set up. However I have been living in Omiya for over 3 years now and follow the fortunes of the Squirrels. Omiya Ardija usually play in a home kit of orange and an away kit of white. Their home stadium is a rather neat, small modern stadium set in a park, which has a lake, a temple as well as other sports facilities. it's a small stadium, with a capacity of around 15,000 people and therefore spectators get a good view from anywhere inside the ground. Unfortunately on rainy days, the stadium doesn't have a roof to talk of, so take waterproofs if you don't like getting wet! The team have been in J1 every season since 2005 however they are regularly fighting off relegation and 12th position out of a league of 18 teams has as yet been their best position. Today we are one day before the start of the J1 2012 season, which will be it's 20th season, and Omiya Ardija are preparing to start the season with a difficult home game against FC Tokyo, a team that has a long history in Japanese football but which last season found itself down in J2. However all pundits are predicting that FC Tokyo will prosper once more this season and they may very well go in to the game in confident spirits, having just had their first win in the Asian Champions League in midweek away from home against Brisbane Roar. Omiya Ardija have spent some money in the off-season and in their own way will also come into this game with a positive outlook. My main reservation is regarding how quickly the new players can gel in to the team and form an understanding. I think Omiya fans will be buzzing with expectation concerning their new Brazilian midfielder Carlinhos who although he is aged 29, looks an interesting prospect for the coming season. Omiya Ardija versus FC Tokyo kicks off on Saturday 10th March 2012 and let's hope for a great game, some exciting football and a win for the Squirrels. Let's go Omiya.