About Kacar: Nikkan reports that Cerezo has brought him in for a trial with an eye toward using him as both DM and CB. http://www.nikkansports.com/soccer/news/f-sc-tp1-20140213-1256925.html Bild reports that HSV has given their blessing for a loan exit and that the transaction needs to be completed by Feb 18 in time for ACL player registration. http://www.bild.de/sport/fussball/gojko-kacar/blitz-wechsel-nach-japan-34655840.bild.html
More to the point, is Kacar an actual difference-maker? He's played like 34 minutes of first-team football in almost 24 months...
Is it because of injuries? but nonetheless, he was more or less a regular in the Bundesliga 1 between 2007 and 2012, so he can't be that bad can he?=) And HSV paid 5,5 million Euro for him when they bought him, so it would definitely be an interesting player to see in J.League too. And quite frankly, I don't really care about whether Ogihara or Yamaguchi will lose their spot as a result. If they are good enough they will play, simply put. Ogihara used to play as a CB as well earlier in his career, so he is no stranger to that certain position, and if Kacar as well can play both in defence and in the middle, he's even more interesting. We dont have that much backup in central defence anyway. About Yamaguchi, he more or less never played in a DM or CM position in the latter half of last season, so Kacar isnt exactly a direct threat to him either. I'm more concerned about players like Aria and Nichols, because the fight for the places on the team this season will be very tough. But that's a good thing, cause we got ACL to think about as well, and it's gonna be a long season with a tight schedule since it's a WC-year.
An ankle injury at the end of 2011/12 season got him sidelined for half a year, and with other players taking his spot in the meantime the club kept trying to offload him when he returned. Plus, he is on a 1.8 mio a year contract, which is rather much money for a club in turmoil. So not getting minutes at HSV doesn't actually tell too much about his current state. On the other hand, he is a 27 yo former Serbian international, who might have something to prove to save his career.
Kacar's joining on loan until end of the season. HSV's news release doesn't say which country's season so I guess they mean June 30, 2014.
Forlan scored a 35m half-volley in a training match against Fagiano. He also instructed Kakitani & Co. to shoot more often and noted the difference in the meaning of dame between Japanese and Spanish.
Should be made a topic with friendlies of J League and J2-League clubs. Was other friendly games in this period?
I think Cerezo bought Forlan to help the other guys learn from him on how to be a world class player.
Forlán called up by Uruguay for March 5 friendly vs. Austria. http://www.auf.org.uy/Portal/NEWS/3310/
Yanmar has acquired the naming rights of Nagai Stadium for 5 years. Nagai Stadium: Yanmar Stadium Nagai Nagai Second Stadium: Yanmar Field Nagai http://www.cerezo.co.jp/news_detail.asp?c_idx=10012391&contents_code=100104 Tag Heuer is now an official sponsor of Cerezo. A commemorative model dubbed the Tag Heuer Aquaracer Calibre 5 Cerezo Limited Edition will be on sale for 270,000 yen.
Forlán delivers dietary advice http://performance.fourfourtwo.com/health/nutrition/diego-forlan-my-24-hour-food-diary
http://www.dittoslo.no/indre-by/sport-indre-by/valerenga-tapte-for-raske-japanere-1.8284165 Here you can see the full game between Shonan Bellmare and Vålerenga which was played about a week ago.
Kacar signing is finally official. Short term rental until July 31. http://www.cerezo.co.jp/news_detail.asp?c_idx=10012452&contents_code=100100100
Oh, BTW Kacar is being registered as a defender. He hopes to "utilize his experience and organize the team with directions from the back." Sounds like he'll be playing CB...