Official 2016 J2 thread

Samurai Warrior · Oct 2, 2016

nipponbasse83 said: ↑

Late drama in J2, with Shimizu coming from behind to clinch a 2-1 win in injury-time away vs Cerezo. With Matsumoto winning their match, the gap up to 2nd is 4 points now for Cerezo, while Shimizu are just trailing 3 points behind there again, so should be more dramatic matches coming up soon. Fagiano are not out of it yet either,especially if they win tonight.
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Well, they trashed FC Gifu with 5-0 away win.

Majster2 · Oct 2, 2016

nipponbasse83 said: ↑

Late drama in J2, with Shimizu coming from behind to clinch a 2-1 win in injury-time away vs Cerezo.
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Radu Razvan · Oct 2, 2016

Dax said: ↑

random question: didn't Vortis sign an african striker a few months ago? What... happened?
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He played in a training match last month, but just that

http://blogola.jp/p/66878

Dax · Oct 2, 2016

seems a good use of money

Radu Razvan · Oct 2, 2016

Saku and my self were very excited about this signing, but I don't understand why he doesn't play. His CV is really good.

Saku² · Oct 2, 2016

Maybe not match fit yet. His profile is on the website so he belongs to the team.

Sakaguchi92 · Oct 4, 2016

Majster2 said: ↑

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Love this photo. Koya Kitagawa is having a great season (Not sure if this is his rookie year). I hope Shimizu overtake Cerezo and Fagiano, nothing against Fagiano though.

nipponbasse83 · Oct 5, 2016

Sakaguchi92 said: ↑

Love this photo. Koya Kitagawa is having a great season (Not sure if this is his rookie year). I hope Shimizu overtake Cerezo and Fagiano, nothing against Fagiano though.
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Well it's his own fault. Soon after Cerezo went 1-0 up he tried to be smart and put in Moniwa for Matsuda, and effectively changed the defence into a 5-backline. Shimizu suddenly got a whole lot more possession, which doubled their chances of a comeback. With so many counter-attacking chances gifted, why didnt he put on a player like Sawakami or even Tamada instead, who would be lethal in those 2 vs 2, 1 vs 1 etc situations? Instead he tried to go all Italy and defend a narrow 1-0 lead.

Japanese teams are AWFUL in defending leads in important matches , and this is another prime example of an incompetent manager whose in-play coaching skills are underwhelming. Of course it is not only the manager's fault, but when it happens on almost a weekly basis you would have imagined they would have learned it by now.

Majster2 · Oct 9, 2016

It looks like Cerezo might have a real coach next year as they made an offer for Yoon Jong Hwan's services.

Radu Razvan · Oct 10, 2016

Hmm, can be tricky. He was great for Sagan, but didn't meet the expectations at Ulsan to be fair. Hyundai are playing a ugly football under him.

GunnerTNB · Oct 13, 2016

Not that Tosu played beautiful football under him, either. They were just efficient.

Dax · Oct 30, 2016

Sounds like sacking Ramos was just the nail in the coffin that Gifu needed to finally embrace J3...

Majster2 · Oct 30, 2016

I hope for Sapporo and Matsumoto getting back to J1 next season. Other than that I don't care. Maybe Cerezo - they can't make J1 level better but it will surely funnier with their choking all the time!

nipponbasse83 · Nov 2, 2016

Majster2 said: ↑

I hope for Sapporo and Matsumoto getting back to J1 next season. Other than that I don't care. Maybe Cerezo - they can't make J1 level better but it will surely funnier with their choking all the time!
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I thought it was Urawa who were known as the perennial chokers?

But its turning out to be some exciting final rounds in J2 now. Consadole 2 straight losses means they are in danger of falling out of the top 2 if they dont turin it around. Matsumoto and Shimizu are in red-hot form, so seems Cerezo are out of the race for direct promotion now, and will have to settle for playoff once again.

If only Kakitani had been available the entire season, I think Cerezo would have been top 2. But overall Shimizu have a better squad atm with more quality players spread out, so I'm not too positive about Cerezo's chances right now. Would probably be better for them to meet Matsumoto than Shimizu in a possible play-off final, but even that might be tough.

Hope that Consadole doesn't choke atleast, and that they will take 3 new points tomorrow vs Kamatamare.

Samurai Warrior · Nov 3, 2016

FC Gifu won against Thespa Kusatsu Gunma, and the race to avoid relegation is heaten up with 3 games left to play.

Whispered11 · Nov 6, 2016

I can't believe Giravanz could go down.

Dax · Nov 6, 2016

Gifu with the last breath!

THOMA GOL · Nov 6, 2016

Whispered11 said: ↑

I can't believe Giravanz could go down.
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Especially with that new ground set to open. A paradox of ambitions.

Dax · Nov 12, 2016

Kamatamare safe, Shimizu could go up... yessss

Majster2 · Nov 12, 2016

And final minutes of Okayama-Shimizu game will be legendary if they advance to J1. To be clear - Chong's hand in the final minute of the game with S-Pulse leading 2-1.

Dax · Nov 12, 2016

yeah I've seen it, that was some great goalkeeping.
Not easy for the ref to see it though.

Radu Razvan · Nov 20, 2016

It's seems Giravanz will play in J3. Too bad, especially for their new stadium. Still some left time to play.

Radu Razvan · Nov 20, 2016

Fagiano under big pressure. They are lucky to have a better goal difference than Zelvia. Machida can't promote, but can kick out Fagiano out of the play-offs.

Radu Razvan · Nov 20, 2016

Fagiano survived and they will play in the play-offs. Shimizu and Consadole back in J1. Giravanz will play in J3, while Kanazawa will have a play-off game against Tochigi FC.

Sapporo did the job in the end despite they were a bit sloppy in the end of the season, but that massive win against Chiba helped them. Ono will extend his contract. He had a lot of problems with injuries after his arrival from Australia. Hope he will stay fit next season. Inamoto should also recover after that bad injury.

Whispered11 · Nov 20, 2016

Poor Yamaga. I hope they'll win PO.