In general I do sympathize with Kansai teams, but still I found it hard to seriously "follow" Sanga and Vissel, as I believe that most of us in this forum would run those clubs better than their actual management. So, this year I believe I will follow mostly Cerezo and Gamba, especially now that I have got to know some of the players.
It's only two divisions! Cerezo and Consadole are my favorite teams, but I sympathize with Urawa Reds and Gamba Osaka as well. Dream scenario for this season would be Cerezo J1 champion+ACL Champion+ FIFA CWC Champion with Urawa and Gamba for 2nd and 3rd (in the league), and Consadole winning J2 and Emperor's Cup. The Nabisco could be up for grabs.
Smth like this: [LINEUP-4-3-3]Inui, Pimpão, Kiyotake, Kim BK, Martinez, Kurata, Uemoto, Moniwa, Maruhashi, Fujimoto, Kim JH[/LINEUP-4-3-3]
No Uemoto ? (Shu Kurata, great pickup. I'm not sure about Martinez being efficient in the same role Amaral used to have ... Bummer that he had to leave)
Somehow I spelled him as Ueda shame on me. Defense is actually my biggest worry for the coming season. We only have Martinez in the midfield and a bunch of very young defenders – Kim SG, Ryosuke Tada, Takahiro Ogihara... Hell knows how they fit in, hope that Culpi knows.
I was checking the website and I just noticed some players grew up during this winter ... Komatsu was 187cm, he's now 191cm, Ryo Nagai is 180cm ... If it helps Komatsu being more dominant, I'm fine with it .
I think Culpi will stick to his usual 4-2-3-1 formation and then it will look more like this: -----------------Kim------------------- Takahashi, Uemoto,Moniwa,Maruhashi ------Martinez,Chugo/Fujimoto------- ---Kiyotake-----Inui------Kim--------- ---------------Pimpao-------------------
My interview with Bando, Japanese version http://www.goal.com/jp/news/1579/スペシャル/2011/03/02/2375439/インタビューc大阪播戸が語る2011年acljリーグ http://headlines.yahoo.co.jp/hl?a=20110302-00000018-goal-socc The English version should come out tomorrow, will post link.
Here is the interview with Bando in English... http://www.goal.com/en/news/1999/in...exclusive-interview-j-league-star-ryuji-bando I would really appreciate your comments on goal.com, as if there is enough positive feedback, they will likely to go on with more interviews... It was a HARD job to convince a J.League club to have one of their players interviewed for a website and in English. Hopefully, it is just the beginning... So, please...
Nice work, Goru! Yeah, asking Bando not to celebrate a goal would be like asking Pippo not to celebrate a goal... not gonna happen. Here's my feedback: interview a lot of crappy older players to drum iup interest for them in Europe, then when they go over there and disappoint, we can hang on to more of our good young players.
Haha... Bando actually HAS a good offer from abroad, but perhaps next season. Cerezo paid him fairly well this year! I hope your comment on goal.com would be nicer. Japanese soccer really needs some more exposure overseas, and by the way I am still doing this on voluntary basis... And BTW I see you're already in the mood for Juve-Milan, which we will easily win, since at this point counts for nothing!
You may still watch it at kazanby videos. Or here's the highlights: [ame="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ejIDY8OtIZc"]YouTube - ACL 2011 3?2?(?) ?????? vs ????????? ????????[/ame]
Scoop: Sanga-Cerezo on Kyoto on 3/26. Watch it, because my plan to move Bando to Sanga starts on that day!
Ive heard a lot of rumours about various other charity events, but its hard to find a good compilation. That may be partly because a lot of the plans are still undetermined (eg. Albirex announced a "kohaku-sen" for next weekend but now Ventforet is saying they may travel to Big Swan to turn it into a full friendly). However it would be nice to have a full compilation I think it would be worth while to create a separate thread so people can post news, rumours and other information about such events, then I can compile them all on the RSN and make updates as new news comes in. PS: Sorry Ive been out of contact for so long but Ive been buried by a tsunami of translation requests from clients I havent heard from in years. It seems like half the foreigners in the country have run away home, and the translation industry is suddenly left without any staff. Ill try to post some news on my site in the next few days, but if I disappear again for a few days its either because Im too busy, or because the power is out . . . . .
[ame="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=AjH1-_K7uqQ"]YouTube - C??×??F??????‏[/ame] Defensive play like this makes me cry.
Cerezo attendances in 2010 Code: [SIZE=2][FONT=Courier New][SIZE=2][B]Visitor [/B][/SIZE][SIZE=2][B]Venue [/B][/SIZE][SIZE=2][B]Attendance[/B][/SIZE][/FONT][/SIZE] [SIZE=2][COLOR=black][FONT=Courier New][SIZE=2]Gamba [/SIZE][SIZE=2]Nagai [/SIZE][SIZE=2]37,860 ← local derby[/SIZE][/FONT][/COLOR][/SIZE] [SIZE=2][COLOR=navy][FONT=Courier New][SIZE=2]Reds [/SIZE][SIZE=2]Nagai [/SIZE][SIZE=2]16,261[/SIZE][/FONT][/COLOR][/SIZE] [SIZE=2][COLOR=navy][FONT=Courier New][SIZE=2]Sanga [/SIZE][SIZE=2]Nagai [/SIZE][SIZE=2]8,926[/SIZE][/FONT][/COLOR][/SIZE] [SIZE=2][COLOR=navy][FONT=Courier New][SIZE=2]Bellmare [/SIZE][SIZE=2]Nagai [/SIZE][SIZE=2]9,838[/SIZE][/FONT][/COLOR][/SIZE] [SIZE=2][COLOR=navy][FONT=Courier New][SIZE=2]Grampus [/SIZE][SIZE=2]Nagai [/SIZE][SIZE=2]13,867[/SIZE][/FONT][/COLOR][/SIZE] [SIZE=2][COLOR=navy][FONT=Courier New][SIZE=2]Antlers [/SIZE][SIZE=2]Nagai [/SIZE][SIZE=2]21,761[/SIZE][/FONT][/COLOR][/SIZE] [SIZE=2][COLOR=navy][FONT=Courier New][SIZE=2]Vissel [/SIZE][SIZE=2]Nagai [/SIZE][SIZE=2]17,001[/SIZE][/FONT][/COLOR][/SIZE] [SIZE=2][COLOR=navy][FONT=Courier New][SIZE=2]Montedio [/SIZE][SIZE=2]Nagai [/SIZE][SIZE=2]19,880[/SIZE][/FONT][/COLOR][/SIZE] [SIZE=2][COLOR=magenta][FONT=Courier New][SIZE=2]Frontale [/SIZE][SIZE=2]Kincho [/SIZE][SIZE=2]14,031[/SIZE][/FONT][/COLOR][/SIZE] [SIZE=2][COLOR=magenta][FONT=Courier New][SIZE=2]F.C.Tokyo [/SIZE][SIZE=2]Kincho [/SIZE][SIZE=2]9,086[/SIZE][/FONT][/COLOR][/SIZE] [SIZE=2][COLOR=magenta][FONT=Courier New][SIZE=2]Ardija [/SIZE][SIZE=2]Kincho [/SIZE][SIZE=2]9,799[/SIZE][/FONT][/COLOR][/SIZE] [SIZE=2][COLOR=navy][FONT=Courier New][SIZE=2]Sanfrecce [/SIZE][SIZE=2]Nagai [/SIZE][SIZE=2]20,286[/SIZE][/FONT][/COLOR][/SIZE] [SIZE=2][COLOR=magenta][FONT=Courier New][SIZE=2]Albirex [/SIZE][SIZE=2]Kincho [/SIZE][SIZE=2]8,041[/SIZE][/FONT][/COLOR][/SIZE] [SIZE=2][COLOR=magenta][FONT=Courier New][SIZE=2]Vegalta [/SIZE][SIZE=2]Kincho [/SIZE][SIZE=2]9,441[/SIZE][/FONT][/COLOR][/SIZE] [SIZE=2][COLOR=magenta][FONT=Courier New][SIZE=2]S-Pulse [/SIZE][SIZE=2]Kincho [/SIZE][SIZE=2]10,877[/SIZE][/FONT][/COLOR][/SIZE] [SIZE=2][COLOR=magenta][FONT=Courier New][SIZE=2]F. Marinos [/SIZE][SIZE=2]Kincho [/SIZE][SIZE=2]13,473[/SIZE][/FONT][/COLOR][/SIZE] [SIZE=2][COLOR=magenta][FONT=Courier New][SIZE=2]Júbilo [/SIZE][SIZE=2]Kincho [/SIZE][SIZE=2]15,011[/SIZE][/FONT][/COLOR][/SIZE] [SIZE=2][COLOR=navy][FONT=Courier New][SIZE=2]Nagai average [/SIZE][SIZE=2]18,409[/SIZE][/FONT][/COLOR][/SIZE] [SIZE=2][I][COLOR=navy][FONT=Courier New][SIZE=2] except Gamba [/SIZE][SIZE=2]15,978[/SIZE][/FONT][/COLOR][/I][/SIZE] [SIZE=2][COLOR=magenta][FONT=Courier New][SIZE=2]Kincho average [/SIZE][SIZE=2]11,220[/SIZE][/FONT][/COLOR][/SIZE] [B][FONT=Courier New]2010 season average 15,026[/FONT][/B] [FONT=Courier New]2009 average [COLOR=navy](Nagai, J2)[/COLOR] 9,912[/FONT] [FONT=Courier New]2011 average [COLOR=magenta](Kincho, J1)[/COLOR] 8,413[/FONT] It is perfectly clear that a move to Kincho resulted in about 5K drop in attendances -- almost 30%.
I think thou it might be considered how to operate Kincho surely costs much less. Honestly, a stadium like Kincho or Hitachi with 10,000 genki supporters is just what most J.Clubs need. I love Kincho.