Anyone know what happened to Spiranovic? He wasn't even on the bench in most of the games I saw this year...
He's not fitting Petrović's tactics with three backs (same as Hamada). With lack of time on the pitch he'll probably leave the team. Destinations? I heard about Qatar and Crystal Palace.
Now it seems like it's a done deal. Thank's for playing for Reds, Spira. http://alarabi.qa/singlenews.php?newstype=5&id=1733
It might be interesting to some of you that Urawa's former player Emerson is one of the most popular players in Brazil right now. This research shows the favorite players of the Brazilian supporters: http://globoesporte.globo.com/platb...-jogadores-preferidos-do-torcedor-brasileiro/
You know what... I actually think coach Petrović ruined Haraguchi a bit this season. Placing him in a striker role and what not
Popo wasnt the worst player, but a club like Urawa should be able to attract bigger names than him. Not to mention the worst striker I have EVER seen Ranko Despotovic. Hopefully they make it into ACL so they can attract some better foreigners this time. Keep Marcio, but get rid of the others.
Agreed about Ranko. He's the last remnant of 2011 season that I'd love to erase from memory (as any other Reds supporter I think ). But you remember when Popo came to Saitama from Kobe there were speculations about the real motives of the move backed up by the fact that he isn't the type of FW much favored by Petrovic's system, he wasn't also a 'big name' and his age supported that. I hope that they won't get ACL spot this season and end 4th or 5th in the table after expiriencing the slump the team is in recently. I wonder how it will turn out with the new FW... If Moriwaki's rumours would be true then the only position in the club that will need strenghtening is the lone striker. Toyoda (after rumours concerning his salary in Tosu) or Davi would be perfect. I don't know about the foreign options but Washington's times are gone with Brazilian clubs getting stronger and stronger financially with many clubs having as big or bigger budgets than Reds... They will be real title contenders next year if they will 'manage' to avoid ACL!
Hmm, not sure if i remember the stuff about Popo. What were said to be the real motives? Yeah, I get your point, if they get to ACL that could halter their league campaign next season, but then again, Urawa is the team that has come closest to winning both ACL and the league in the same year. Of course, they don't have the same squad now as back then, but they still got one of the bigger squads in the league, with double-cover in a lot of positions. So I guess they are a team that would handle ACL better than a lot of the other teams, and is probably one of the teams that would give 100% in ACL as well ( unlike Nagoya and Kashima).
Speculations were he was brought in because he was childhood friends or something of the sort with Marcio Richardes (they're from the same part of town)- he was bought in order to get Marcio to shine again. I guess that's what Blue-san meant.
http://www.urawa-reds.co.jp/topteamtopics/槙野智章-完全移籍加入のお知らせ/ Makino to Urawa on a permanent deal is now official.
The full transfer of Makino is huge for the club; great sign for the next season. He was perhaps one of the key reasons they reached the heights they have this year. They just need to get some better depth in defence for the style they want to play. Tsuboi was average after the first third of the season at best, Nobu won't have much time left in his body to perform (and neither should be a regular starter anyway) and I don't think that Hamada is really cut out for that style. Obviously, the next stop following that is up front. Genki was the main "one top" player for the season, but that's not his kind of role. He's more suited to the role that Umesaki was playing this season; on the wing, playing as a wide forward and cutting in to allow for overlaps. Might even be worthwhile playing him on the opposite side, where Ugajin/Hirakawa played on the right, relatively deep and coming forward whenever in possession. He did fairly well in that role under Zeljko. But the depth we're lacking at the top, now that we no longer have Edmilson, Popo, Tatsuya and soon (hopefully) Ranko. Basically, they'll need someone to compliment Marcio and allow him more space to move into the box at will. Scoring quite a few goals will be a very helpful bonus.
http://www.sponichi.co.jp/soccer/news/2012/12/28/kiji/K20121228004863440.html Arsenal might play the "Saitama City Cup" vs Urawa Reds and Nagoya Grampus in July next year.
I'm going to Japan in March, 12-31 to be more precise, and was wondering if it's easy for a foreigner to go to a Reds game. Can I buy a ticket at the stadium on the day itself, in English, and how much would it cost me?