As if it's not a manager's job to foresee such a shift, and to take countermeasures. C'mon, this aging excuse is in the air for almost two years but nevertheless Oliveira still clings to his old guard. Last year Antlers struggled from senescence, no rejuvenating actions were committed and now they are falling apart. Quelle surprise.
I think u are being a bit harsh on Oliveira. Generation-changes are very difficult times for any club, and there is not few who have literally fallen apart as a result of that. Manchester United is a good example of someone who managed to deal with a generation-change: Chelsea, Rosenborg, Yokohama F Marinos and Everton examples of the other way around. Keep in mind that most of those players are not too old to still be stars. U are not necessarily done as a footballer at the age of 32-33, and Oliveira would have been a maniac if he were to replace the aforementioned players just like that. And in Oliveira's defence, he have actually brought in new players, but the problem for him has been that some of them have left the club just as soon as they came, as more lucrative offers came on the table. Lee and Gilton for example. And Inoha left as well, which was a big blow ( that could just as well had been Oliveira's fault though, not sure). That is 3/4's of the defence, and dont forget he also brought in Nishi, who is a very talented player.Alex was not the smartest signing though. Its in midfield the problems seems to lie the most though. Gabriel never turned out to be the player they wanted him to be, but Oliveira couldn't have known that ( Gabriel was a replacement for the much older Danilo btw). And although Kashima are still lending out players to other clubs to see if they can mature there, the ones that have returned never really managed to settle again at the club when they returned ( like Funayama, Tashiro(he's pretty old already) and to some extent Masuda, although he is seeing more and more playing-time now). First "everyone" expected or atleast hoped Osako could be a new Japanese topscorer kind of striker, and Oliveira have given him a lot of playing time. Osako is still young, so he can mature even more, but so far he havent managed to take it to that level. "Everyone" also had high expectations to Carlao, when they replaced MArquinhos with him, but he's been injured most of this season if im not mistaken. Oliveira or anyone else surely couldnt have foreseen that? All of this are things that Oliveira have done to make the generation-change more smooth, so its not like he's just have been sitting around doing nothing. Things have gone against Kashima though ( like the players leaving for other clubs, injuries etc), and of course Oliveira is partly to blame for that, but if Kashima fired him I think they would do a big mistake, almost as big as if Arsenal sacked Wenger. However, I think Nishino and Gamba are doing a better job than what Kashima are. Young players seems to be getting more playing time there than what is the case at Kashima, and they seem to have better economic muscles to scout or sign better foreigners as well. But again, firing Oliveira would be a mistake imho.
What???? Where have you been for the past three months? Have you even looked at the lineup this year? Most of the comments, up to this one, have been pretty much on the mark but how can you say Oliveira "clings" to the "old guard"? Ogasawara hasnt started a game since June, and hasnt played a full 90 minutes since MAY. Araiba hasnt even seen the pitch in 4 games. Same for Motoyama. Endo starts every week. Nishi starts every week. Masuda has started every game in July. Which "old guard" are you talking about???? The only player who could qualify as "old guard" who is playing regularly is Nakata, and thats only because Inoha moved to Europe and the team hasnt had time to replace him yet.
Well, I am not following Antlers lineup changes closely, so my views may be outdated. And in today's squad there are only Nakata and Araiba who may qualify as "old," so I take my words back.
Did anyone catch the full interview with Oliveira after the defeat by Nagoya? I flicked over and he seemed to be losing it, rambling something about sashimi before walking off. Looked like man not handling the strain very well.
I wanted and wished so badly that we would have somehow managed to beat Nagoya and perhaps save this season, but now I see it clearly around 10th place will be a huge success
When the match ended, he was saying the worst words possible to the referee (in portuguese, of course )
Glad they proved you wrong, Tashiro + Osako + Koroki is a very competent bunch of strikers. Watch the goal Tashiro scored today, pure class. Their struggles are natural, they can't fire all the aging players and the new ones have to adjust. They need two defenders though.
LOLOLOL 1 game and they have redeemed themselves? Have you forgotten about all the games before? Or even the years before? What an overreaction to one game. Call me once they they are in the top half of the table. Using your logic, Hirayama should be on the NT because he scored a hattrick in one game.
I didn't need this game to teach me anything but it shows just how class can a guy like Tashiro be. Do you think it's weaker than Tanaka - Kitajima - Kudo ? Or Oguro - Ono - Watanabe ? I don't and these teams are leading the league. Kashima's problems lie elsewhere.
Yes Tanaka- 8 goals Kitajima- 6 goals Kudo- 2 goals total- 16 goals Oguro- 4 goals Watanabe- 7 goals Ono- 3 goals total- 14 goals Tashiro- 4 goals Koroki- 3 goals Osako- 2 goals total- 9 goals See the difference?
Dude, Yu Kobayashi scored like 1574 goals this season. Nagai 0. So Kobayashi > Nagai ? Do you think that the Osako - Koroki - Tashiro trio is weaker than the ones I quoted ? That's still top 5 caliber, which is waaaay better than the Antlers current spot.
ATM yes, Kobayashi is coming off the bench and he still has 8 more goals than Nagai who is also coming off the bench. So you would take a player who has never scored in the J-League over a player who is one of the top scorers in the J-League in the next friendly? If so, then there is no point with arguing with someone who is too delusional to accept facts. I think that you need to abandon your personal biases and beliefs. Just look at the facts, Antler's forwards suck which is one of the reasons why they are doing so poorly in the league. It's so funny how you think that those players are responsible for Kashima's success in the past seasons although you never seem to mention Marquinhos who was their top scorer when they were successful. Is it any coincidence that once he left, they started having problems scoring? Why they let Carlao go on loan is a complete mystery to me.
I'm not delusional. You said they suck, that's not true. You would say they do not score enough, I'd agree. Scoring is not just about you but also the players around, the dynamic of the team, luck. My point is, Osako, Koroki and Tashiro are all quality players. That's all. And why would I mention Marquinhos. Of course he was good. But his departure doesn't turn the Antlers into a low level team. If you watched the game, you would know that the defense and the midfield were often weak when it mattered. And Carlao probably didn't like the life in Japan
lol Osako - 59 games 9 goals 1 goal/ 6.5 games Koroki- 146 games 37 goals 1 goal/ 4 games Tashiro- 132 games 33 goals 1 goal/ 4 games Kisho Yano- 152 games 30 goals 1 goal/5 games I guess Koroki and Tashiro are quality because they are better than Yano, but Osako.........
ww 42 games/9 goals, please. And it's a small sample. Osako is only 21 and mostly played as a backup so far. And goals are not the only category that matters for me though I agree it's the most important when we talk about strikers. But those guys have won titles, Havenaar hasn't. There's a difference between playing in Kofu and playing for Kashima, the pressure is much higher there. Look at Tashiro, as soon as he started playing for Montedio, he scored. And I really didn't want to talk about Havenaar, you make me sound like a hater.
Do you want me to include Havenaar's goals in J2? 132 games/ 51 goals 1 goal/2.5 games Don't give me the bullshit that J2 is a much lower level than J1 because you know that this isn't true. Kashima did not win because of them they won with them. Kashima won because their defense and midfield were solid not because they have a potent striking force. It's that ********ing simple.
hey you wrote something wrong, I fixed it, don't get mad at me. You weren't including the J2 goals. And J2 is a different animal, tons of guys who were great there never succeeded in J1. LOL yeah because they weren't a huge help, riiiiight. If you can't see behind their goalscoring records, that's sad. Koroki is highly regarded by a lot of experts because he creates a lot of chances for the other guys.
LOL What did I say up there ^ | | | | And anyways Havenaar ain't one of those guys so what is your point? Kazu scored a shit-ton in J1, but he barely scores in J2 so what kind of argument is this?
Lol man Kazu entered J2 when he was like 38 .................. And then again what's up about Havenaar ? I don't like him as a player, doesn't mean he's universally sh!t. Just an opinion.
Exactly, you can't write off Mike's achievements in J2 just like you can't write off Kazu's ineffectiveness either. They are in unique situations and saying that his goals in J2 don't matter is dumb. Another stat for you (Top 3 goalscorers) Marinos: 29 goals ; 14 goals from strikers 48% Kashiwa: 32 goals; 16 goals from strikers 50% Nagoya: 27 goals; 17 goals from strikers 63% Frontale: 33 goals; 16 goals from strikers 48% Gamba: 36 goals; 17 goals from strikers 47% Shimizu: 22 goals; 15 goals from strikers 68% Jublio: 28 goals; 17 goals from strikers 60% Antlers: 22 goals; 9 goals from strikers 41% I can't be arsed to do this for all the teams, but I skimmed some of the numbers of the other teams and Kashima is one of the lowest in terms of strikers contributing goals (bottom 5). Even teams like Kofu and Urawa get better performances from their strikers.