Are you supporting a team for two players only ? Mind you, I'm not critical at all, it's a real question. Because I feel the things differently as far as I am concerned, but I know that a lot of people can't understand how it is possible that my two favourite players in the world are Saki Kumagai and Louisa Nécib, and I'm still not a Lyon's supporter
It comes to be this season again. Iga FC Kunoichi has announced the retirement of several players: Ono Suzuka. #3 DF. Miyakawa Hazuki. #17 MF. Nakade Hikari. #11 FW. Sakaguchi Sakie. #15 FW. I know I should respect their choice but I feel disappointed that some players retire even though they are still at the peak of their performance.
By "retire" you mean they will stop playing football ? How old are they ? And do you know the reasons ?
The three players I like the most in INAC: Ohno, Ji, and Kawasumi, They, as a team. is formidable. They have characters, they can read each other's mind in the pitch.They have skills and fun to watch. They are drawing my interest out of a busy schedule to watch them. Now, ohno gone, and Ji and Kawasumi will soon be gone, I am very disappointed and I really don't think INAC has a chance even get to top 5, never mind champion. Of course, there are other INAC players I like too to a certain extent, such as Yoko, Sawa, Kaihori, Bev, Nagajimi, Takase. But to me, at this point in time, Ji and Kawasumi are the two best players in INAC and are not easily replaceable.
Yes, they quit playing football. Ono Suzuka. 31yo. Miyakawa Hazuki.28yo. Nakade Hikari.25yo. Sakaguchi Sakie. 22yo. No, I have no information. They left a farewell/thanks comment to fans on Iga official site but there was no mention about the reasons.
Nakade?! 2013 was such a good year for her... Such a shame if she really stops playing football. She looked very emotional in the semi final, even during the match. I was wondering why...
indeed. Now I get why she shed tears after she scored at her last game. Nakade has explained the reason at a press conference(YT). She says she always played for someone but now, she wants to walk her life for herself. She also answered the question about an attachment to the national team. She says she was thinking about retirement before she selected for the NT, and she feels thank to given the experience of play at NT but eventually, she couldn't keep motivation.
Kitahara was very impressive in both semi and final. Whereas INAC's two center backs were very poor. There are many center backs in the other Nadeshiko clubs who could easily play for INAC instead of Kai and Isokane. Miyake is already far better than these two in my opinion.
And now, Vegalta Sendai Ladies has announced the retirement of several players: Amano Misaki. #1 GK. Shimokozuru Aya. #3 DF. Nakamura Mami. #6 DF. Ito Minako. #10 FW.
It's a genuine shame to see her go, but like you said, at least she leaves on a personal high note. Best of luck to her in her future endeavors. Thanks for keeping us updated. Okay now seriously, what the hell is happening?
The face of the Nadeshiko League looks like it will be very different next year. I am equal parts sad and excited!
http://inac-kobe.com/news/777 Ito Miki, Hirata Miki, Noguchi Ayaka, Miyake Shiori and Masuya Rika join INAC, so it would seem.
Some go, some join. So INAC get only a new highschool graduates two years in a row. Ito Miki. MF/Tokiwagi High school. Hirata Miki. DF/Tokiwagi High school. Noguchi Ayaka. MF/Jumonji High school. Miyake Shiori. DF/JFA Academy. Masuya Rika. FW/JFA Academy. I'm expecting Ito Miki, her play reminds me Ueno Saki.
Although Barcelona has some interesting players, like Alexia Putellas, and INAC obviously has some ties with Barça, after the Catalunya tour with friendly match two years ago, I guess Seattle would be much better suited for Kawasumi's career: I mean, it's not like Nahomi is a young unexperienced player needing to gather some international experience; to me, she's already a star of the game and she deserves playing in a star-studded team including Solo, Rapinoe, Leroux, Little, and Bev herself... On the other hand, Ohno back to INAC, after failing in OL, is a quite rational and predictable move; it didn't make sense for her getting back to INAC in the middle of Nadeshiko season, with a team that had been already tactically adjusted in a different way in the FW department, so she did well to accept Sayama's offer and help them get back in 1st division... But now that most INAC's players are going away, Ohno, although 30 yo, can do something to fill the gaps with her great talent; maybe she physically didn't make the cut in OL, but she can still be great for sure in Nadeshiko League. Well, #8nadeshikofan, Ji's move and especially Kawasumi's one at the moment are just rumours... Althogh we learnt to trust unepomme's "unreliable" news, we've seen before, in men's and women's football, rumours that didn't become reality... So wait at least for the official news, before withdrawing from your INAC's support. And then, Ohno's comeback, if it was also true, couldn't give you a reason to still follow INAC with sympathy? Anyway, I agree that, on paper, it looks like INAC could be much weaker next season... But market campaign just started: who knows which players INAC can retain and which ones they can sign, before the end of the winter break? Talking about that, those youngsters can't really replace big names yet, but their signing should mean that INAC is anyway working for the future, to keep their dominance in the next years through making some of the best young players grow up in its team... Could 2014 be a sort of transition year for INAC, where they make young players try their chance, like Beleza (and someway Urawa, although with quite bad results) did? Miyake already played for INAC this season and as hirohiro said, it already looks like their better CB (although I don't agree that experienced Kai look so bad: yes, she can make blunders like vs McCarty in the final, but she also often saved goals as the last girl on the goal-line in this season and I guess she's usually quite reliable; I agree that Isokane mostly didn't look up to her task instead); Rika Masuya seemed quite good at U-17 WWC last year, and, at the time, she was scoring a lot in JFA; we're going to see if she can be up to the big stage (but aren't there other young ones ahead of her in line? Michigami, Kyokawa...); the two Miki from Tokiwagi won Challenge League this year and are for sure known quantities (and known quality! ): Moukoko, by saying that Miki Ito reminds you of Ueno you mean that she's a full back too (and so she could maybe replace Kinga, if she's really going to Arsenal)? Or you mean that she reminds you of her for looks, enthousiasm, etc.? About Miki Hirata, I am not sure if many of you remember that, about one year ago, in January 2013, she was one of the few players who were able to beat Robokeeper in the famous TV-show! The only one I don't know very well is Jumonji's Ayaka Noguchi (although I heard her name for sure).
I quite agree about Kamionobe (I also mentioned her in my post to Turbinechen, for best players of 2013): I said before that I guess she's a player that still didn't get from her career what her immense class, talent and character would deserve... Probably playing in a middle-of-the-rankings team like Albirex didn't help her, but she can make this team great quite alone: she's to Albi what Miyama is to Belle. It's a shame that Nadeshiko Japan always had an overabundance of talent in the MF department, and so Kamionobe never really found any space but the one of a glorified sub. Even now that Sawa is getting older and Sakaguchi and Asuna Tanaka had a quite so-so season, Miyama and Utsugi seem to be way ahead of her in the roster... But I agree that I'd like to see her tried more often by Sasaki (and I stress that, to do that, JFA should have planned an higher number of friendlies : I mean, we can't play at an USWNT rhythm, but we're World Champions and we should play some more anyway...)
Thank you for the explanations, I understand. I agree about the idea that Ji and Kawasumi are the best two in the team, I will just add Sawa. Question : wouldn't it be for any financial reasons that INAC lets its best players leaving and, apparently, not replacing them, out of - maybe - young and inexperimented players ? Without going so far as talking of financial crisis in a way as Duisburg, in Germany, for instance, had to sell, what is the reality behind what is currently happening in INAC ?
Thank you for the answer. Usually, when things happen like this with still young players (I mean anywhere in teh world), the reasons can be : - injuries - wedding - studies - professional job - sick of Football world
I think she could be the best choice to replace Ji So-yun at INAC... And there, she would be better in the light (well, if INAC stays amongst the Top 3, but with her and one or two other good players, why not Mina Tanaka ?, it could work)...
Hey, wait a moment!!! Christmas shouldn't be that day of the year when you wake up and (as lons as you've been good) you find nice gifts under the Xmas tree??? So was I really so bad this year? Sigh, I am very sad for all of these players leaving, but, as you can figure, mostly for Minako Ito and Hikari Nakade, also because they were still quite young at at the peak of their respective careers... Minako Ito was our darling (I mean especially for Vega's fans), it's heartbreaking to see her leave, especially because her injury didn't gave her the chance to really shine like she would have deserved in this first big season for her in Nadeshiko League... I hope her retirement didn't came because of the seriousness of her injury and out of frustation from never recovering properly... Now, she'll be back to making cakes (it was her job in everyday's life, if I remember well): we'll still love her, but we'd have preferred to see her bake goals for some time instead of cakes... Also Nakade's retirement stabbed my heart to death: I had grew really affectioned to her during this season, not only as a player, but especially as a person; she always looked so genuine in her reactions, so sincerely emotional in joy and in sorrow, and you couldn't help but loving her and loving her very special face, with the mole on her cheek and that right upper lip always a little raised, that gave her that oblique ironic smile and that somehow bittersweet expression... I'll miss you, Hikari... For the other ones, I respect Ono's experience, but retiring at 31 after a good career doesn't seem so wrong. I didn't know much about Miyakawa and Sakaguchi and I don't think they got much playing time this season (I'll incidentally note that it's a shame discovering that Sakie Sakaguchi was so pretty just the day that she retires!). Shimokozuru had a long glorious career, including NT, she had the joy to play again after TEPCO Mareeze's disbanding, she guided her team to win Challenge League as a captain and had a last good season in 1st division. Respect! Seemed like the right age and moment to leave, as much as for Mami Nakamura, who always gave a good contribution, especially in 2012 in Challenege League, where she had scored a lot. Misaki Amano could have played still a pair of seasons, in my opinion, because, despite some blunders, she still looked like a very high profile GK, but she had a good career anyway. I am afraid Vegalta will have to find some good ones to replace the departing players: they'll surely need an high-level GK and a real striker: after Ito's (and Kakazu's) injury, they never really found a good scorer and this fact quite damaged their season and their chances to fight for 3rd place, as they did in the first leg of the league: Hitomi Ono scored some goals, Sawako Yasumoto others, but they never had a player that could effectively, reliably convert their playing effort into goals (someone like Sugasawa or Matsuoka for other teams). This reminds me about the fact that yesterdey, in the evening, I indeed calculated the seasonal scores, and I am going to soon post my result here for all of you to comment. I hope there won't be too many other batches of retirements from Nadeshiko League (although I am aware there will have to be other ones... ), because my heart couldn't bear that...
This message is mostly for unepomme (or Moukoko, hirohiro, Virany, or anyone of our members who has a good Japanese language proficiency). Correct me if I am wrong, but I guess the majority of our members expressed the wish that, at least for now, our thread remains under the "Japan" forum... In about a week from now, we'll have to open the new 2014 edition (Last year And G did it by surprise, anticipating anyone else! ). As I said before, whoever will open the thread this year, I'd like him/her to add to the usual "Official 2014 Nadeshiko Japan Thread [R]" tag one line in Japanese that could help Japanese people who are randomly Google-searching for Nadeshiko Japan news to find us and locate us. Could unepomme (or someone else) help by posting here a sentence like "Nadeshiko Japan thread in English" written in Japanese characters, so the person who'll open the thread can add it to the title, after an hyphen or something of the kind?
As I promised to all of you, I send you the seasonal scorers' rankings. They are not "very" different from Nadeshiko League's top-scorers in the players' placement, but anyway there are some differences (Ji So-Yun goes ahead of Mina Tanaka especially because of her performance in Empress' Cup, Aya Miayama is way higher than in Nadeshiko League having scored 9 in Nadeshiko League Cup, and so on...) I am sorry for the bad viewing here on the thread... The fact is that I had gathered all the data in an Excel file and it looks like it isn't so easy to post it here with the proper formatting. I only copied the most interesting part of the rankings, with the first 20 positions (up to 7 seasonal goals), but in my file I have the complete rankings. I am so sure that an_turtar is going to make the same work that I did, only infinitely better (and also including Challenge League's scorers, that I didn't have) on his Full Bloom Guidebook site soon. Anyway, if anyone is interested in my Excel file (also including complete results, scorers and final rankings of all of this season's competitions for 1st division clubs), feel free to ask me and I can privately send you a message with the file as an attachment. Seasonal scorers pos.--name-------------------team-------------------goals-League-League Cup-Mobcast-Empress' 1 ----Beverly Goebel-Yanez (INAC Kobe Leonessa)----24----15-----------6--------------2-----------1 2 ----Nahomi Kawasumi (INAC Kobe Leonessa)-------20----12-----------5--------------1-----------2 3 ----Ji So-Yun (INAC Kobe Leonessa)------------------19-----9-----------3--------------1-----------6 4 ----Mina Tanaka (NTV Beleza)-------------------------17----10----------7--------------0-----------0 5 ----Aya Miyama (Okayama Yunogo Belle)------------16-----6-----------9--------------0-----------1 ------Megumi Takase (INAC Kobe Leonessa)------------16-----6-----------4--------------1-----------5 7 ----Nanase Kiryu (NTV Beleza)-------------------------14-----8-----------5--------------0-----------1 8 ----Saori Arimachi (Okayama Yunogo Belle)----------13-----8-----------3--------------0-----------2 9 ----Mizuho Sakaguchi (NTV Beleza)--------------------11-----6-----------4--------------0-----------1 ------Yuika Sugasawa (JEF United Ichihara Chiba)-----11-----4-----------5--------------0-----------2 ------Miki Matsuoka (Okayama Yunogo Belle)-----------11-----5-----------4-------------0-----------2 12 ---Marumi Yamazaki (Albirex Niigata Ladies)--------10-----6-----------3-------------0------------1 ------Michi Goto (Urawa Reds Ladies)--------------------10-----5-----------5-------------0------------0 14 --Risa Fukasawa (JEF United Ichihara Chiba)---------9-----5-----------4-------------0------------0 -----Manami Nakano (Okayama Yunogo Belle)-----------9-----3-----------5-------------0------------1 16 --Megumi Kamionobe (Albirex Niigata Ladies)---------8-----6-----------0-------------0------------2 -----Yoko Tanaka (INAC Kobe Leonessa)------------------8-----6-----------1--------------0------------1 -----Marin Hamamoto (FC Kibi University Charme)------8-----5-----------0-------------0------------3 -----Yuka Momiki (NTV Beleza)----------------------------8-----5-----------2-------------0-------------1 20 --Chiaki Minamiyama (INAC Kobe Leonessa)---------7-----5------------2-------------0------------0 ------Hikari Nakade (Iga FC Kunoichi)---------------------7-----5------------1-------------0------------1 ------Sawako Yasumoto (Vegalta Sendai Ladies)----------7------1-----------3--------------0-----------3 ------Tiffany McCarty (Albirex Niigata Ladies)-------------7-----4----------0--------------0------------3 ------Saki Tsutsumi (Iga FC Kunoichi)----------------------7-----4-----------2--------------0-----------1 ------Sayaka Oishi (Albirex Niigata Ladies)-----------------7-----4-----------2--------------0-----------1
Thanks, Blissett, for this recollection of scorers. The best for Excel (or similar formatted things) is to take a screen-capture, then post the image here. If you want me to do it for you, you can send me your Excel file, I'll do it in less than 5 minites (that will be my Christmas present to you ).
For those who could be interested and since we talked a lot about recent Brazilia Tournament here, I posted on WSU my (looooooooooooooooong) impressions about it (4 posts). It's on Izzy's page, dedicated to her own impresssions. It's HERE.