J-League last season's top scorer Leandro went off injured against Shimizu. Word is that he can miss at least 3 months or more. That's bad luck for Vissel. They still have a foreign slot available and maybe they will sign another foreigner, but this slot is for Podolski in the summer. I hope Leandro will recover as soon as possible.
I was thinking that somebody will say something. I think the guy has filmed the screen of the device.
Urawa needs to improve on its defence too. Cannot see them going far in the ACL with it even tho they won against WSW 4-0.
No, alot of highlights are missing I think. Right before the 1-0 goal Saito and Babunski combined very well for another big chance for example. Ugajin also created alot of chances on his side that's not included, and between the 1-0 and 1-1 goal there is a 30-40 min gap with absolutely no highlights at all. It was a relatively quiet period compared to the rest of the game, but still. Also, in the final 5-10 minutes at 2-2 there are big chances both ways, but the highlights only show the goal. And yes, the Vegalta-video was horrible.
Sanfrecce signed Utaka Peter from Shimizu and then loaned him to FC Tokyo, who have a lot of firepower this season. I wonder what formation the capital side will use. I guess both Utaka and Okubo should start. 4-4-2? Higashi out from that AM position?
Just...why? This going to be one of the most inexplicable mysteries of human history. Meanwhile...Sanfrecce's going to play with just Kudo,Minagawa and the Generic Brazilian on the roster.
Saito is indeed in great form. Today he managed to get an assist, Togashi scored after GK's rebound of his shot and of course he put his stamp on the build up for the third goal. That's the biggest surprise at the start of the season.
Frontale 1-1 Sagan Intriguing study in contrasts. Tosu's ability to press for 90 minutes and create a nuisance from Toyoda heading down long balls and Kamata's dribbling, versus Kawasaki struggling to approximate Kazama-ball after a high-turnover offseason. With the injuries, departure of Okubo and influx of newcomers it looks likely that Kawasaki will go through a transition period to reestablish a style. I do think Oniki shows promise as a coach - his focus on defensive structure in preseason training was smart, and his substitutions make more sense than those of his predecessor. He also shows signs of positive people management, utilizing Rhayner and Nara after their unfortunate red cards in the ACL fiasco.
http://www.sanspo.com/soccer/news/20170306/jle17030620320015-n1.html 'Future Plans Comitee' (sorry, I don't know how to translate this - a body which consists of executives from both J League and JFA) discussed on the 6th March ideas about switching to autumn-spring season. They came up with three proposed dates: 1) 2019 2) 2022 3) leave it as it is for the near future. The decission should be made by the end of this year.
Well, in Australia they didn't have to worry about snow in the winter. Which is considered the main drawback in system change in case of J League.
Probably to be more like the main leagues in Europe. Personally I don't see any problem playing football in the winter, and snow isnt that big of a problem ( it only really affects Montedio, Albirex, Vegalta and a few other teams). Consadole got a state-of-the-art indoor stadium that would work just as well during winter than summer. However, for the fans its a big difference watching a game in -5 or +5 degrees compared to 20-30 degrees in the summer, so with a winter schedule the attendance would probably drop. With that being said, there is not much that beats going to a game in one of the warmer months, with ice-cold beer alongside it. I was at Arsenal- Hull in London last month, and almost froze my ass off in comparison ( and I'm used to cold weather). So overall, I hope it stays like it is now.
Kashiwa Reysol not performing well thus far. I still hope that they can make it to the ACL next season as they are the most consistent performer there of the J league clubs these few years.
very happy to see Shuichi Gonda back on track... nice aquisition for Tosu. and very very happy to see Ken Tokura plying his trade also in J1
Okubo snapped (again) after the game. He threw his shirt on the ground and kicked it... FC Tokyo looked poor in this game. There are many good players but no chemistry at all when they go forward. Not that Gamba looked impressive - they scored when they had occasion and Higashiguchi had a great game in front of Vahid. And they had Ademilson...