Official 2018 J1 Thread

Discussion in 'Japanese Club Football' started by Radu Razvan, Jan 3, 2018.

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Who will win the title?

Poll closed Feb 27, 2018.
  1. Kawasaki

    0 vote(s)
    0.0%
  2. Kashima

    2 vote(s)
    20.0%
  3. Urawa

    2 vote(s)
    20.0%
  4. Cerezo

    5 vote(s)
    50.0%
  5. Reysol

    1 vote(s)
    10.0%
  6. Other (name it)

    0 vote(s)
    0.0%
  1. nipponbasse83

    nipponbasse83 Member+

    Jun 17, 2007
    Ichikawa, Chiba, Japan
    Club:
    Consadole Sapporo
    Nat'l Team:
    Norway
    Jo were ridiculed both prior to and during the entire first half of the season, but it's safe to say he has proven a lot of "experts" wrong. There is a couple of English speaking "experts" who's been at Jo ever since it was rumoured he was heading to J.League, and I wonder what they are saying now....

    Obviously you are not going to score a lot goals when you have to rely on Aria Jasuru Hasegawa to set you up with chances but as soon as he was out of the starting lineup both Jo and Nagoya improved... (of course there's tons of other reasons too).
     
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  2. nipponbasse83

    nipponbasse83 Member+

    Jun 17, 2007
    Ichikawa, Chiba, Japan
    Club:
    Consadole Sapporo
    Nat'l Team:
    Norway
    Some interesting matches yesterday.

    Podolski makes a fool out of himself, getting into the assistant refereree's face twice (and even pushing him once!) without receiving so much as a booking. A few minutes later referee Ikeuchi decides to send him off for a dangerous tackle ( a bit soft, but overall Podolski deserved to be sent off). In the midfield battle Chanathip completely outshone Iniesta, and Iniesta subbed himself out around the 60th minute or so.

    Reysol made what is probably the biggest defensive blunder of the year against Marinos, while the Nagoya-train keeps impressing. Their 7th win in a row, and Jo have now scored 12 goals on the last 6 matches ( including 6-7 assists or so). ACL next, evethough they still got a lot of catch-up to do?
     
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  3. Whispered11

    Whispered11 Member+

    U.C. Sampdoria
    Japan
    Oct 4, 2011
    Munich, Germany
    Club:
    UC Sampdoria
    Nat'l Team:
    Japan
    Meanwhile, I hope Consadole will achieve an ACL-spot.
     
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  4. Samurai Warrior

    Samurai Warrior Member+

    Dec 2, 2008
    Nat'l Team:
    Japan

    Same here.
     
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  5. GunnerTNB

    GunnerTNB Member+

    Apr 4, 2011
    São Paulo
    Club:
    Botafogo Rio Janeiro
    Too bad for Nagoya that the league is not contested in two stages anymore...
     
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  6. Samurai Warrior

    Samurai Warrior Member+

    Dec 2, 2008
    Nat'l Team:
    Japan
    Musashi Suzuki is having the season of his life so far.

    He has scored 9 goals this season after his hat-trick against Nagoya. Previously he scored 9 goals in in his 6 years career in J1 and J2 combined (7 in J1 and 2 in J2).
     
  7. Whispered11

    Whispered11 Member+

    U.C. Sampdoria
    Japan
    Oct 4, 2011
    Munich, Germany
    Club:
    UC Sampdoria
    Nat'l Team:
    Japan
    Last week I called Sanfrecce safe for the title-race and V-Varen impossible in 2019 J1.

    So... crazy J. League fooled me again. Wonderful.
     
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  8. Samurai Japan

    Samurai Japan New Member

    Japan
    Jul 17, 2018
    Talks of possibly expanding the foreign quota from 3 (foreign players outside the AFC) to 5, to strengthen the J. League.
    I’m all for it, I think it might make the league more exciting and help strengthen the overall quality of the league and the national team. Although I guess the teams competing in the ACL would have some problems (something like what China has)

    Link is in Japanese
    https://www.sponichi.co.jp/soccer/news/2018/09/19/kiji/20180919s00002179048000c.html
     
  9. Samurai Warrior

    Samurai Warrior Member+

    Dec 2, 2008
    Nat'l Team:
    Japan
    No.
     
  10. Samurai Japan

    Samurai Japan New Member

    Japan
    Jul 17, 2018
    It’s already happening either way with Kobe.
     
  11. nipponbasse83

    nipponbasse83 Member+

    Jun 17, 2007
    Ichikawa, Chiba, Japan
    Club:
    Consadole Sapporo
    Nat'l Team:
    Norway
    Strengthen? More than half of the foreign players in the league is fringe players at best. And a lot of others that sees regular playing time are not exactly brilliant either, like Crislan, Fabio, Ademilson or Wellington.

    And yet still, this year we probably got the strongest foreign lineup in the league since 1997...

    To every Iniesta, Chanathip or Torres there is 4 sub-par foreigners. Why do all of you seem to forget that?

    Have you forgotten all the dreaful foreign players the league had to struggle with over the last couple of years? Let's take Consadole as an example.

    Before Chanathip and Jay, here's basically all the foreign (non-Asian) players they have had the last couple of seasons:
    FW Diogo (31 matches - 6 goals. possibly the WORST striker ever to play in Japan)
    FW Thiago Quirino (30 goals in about 150 matches across J1, J2, and J3)
    FW Tele - 10 matches over 2(!) full seasons
    FW Felipe Almeida, AM Andrezinho, AM Ramon, MF Nildo, Marcos Renan, MF Tiago and MF Bruno Ferraz ( only a handful of matches each over a full season and consequently a big flop, and most of them are playing non-league or lower-league football somewhere by now)

    We also got DF Paulao and DF Macedo which was a regular starter in J2 for 2-3 seasons, but neither of them can be said to have been brilliant in any way.

    FW Reis and AM Julinho are to my recollection the only 2 foreign players that have had any notable success at Consadole during these last 8 (!) years.

    I had big hopes for Cristian Nazarith, who banged in goals for Gifu before going to Consadole, but he only lasted half a season for unknown reasons.

    ---------

    I like seeing Torres and Iniesta play, but let's not forget that they are both very old and are basically only picking up a final paycheck in Japan before retiring. And do we really want the league to be a copy of what it was during the 90's? Or what MLS or Qatar is doing now?

    If the league can attract good foreign players still hungry or still in their prime, I'm all for increasing the quota. But there's no indication that that will happen. The best Brazilians will still choose Europe over Japan, and the Europeans that will come will either be washed up veterans or fringe players from a C-nation if history is something to go by.

    So that leaves us with rest of Asia. Which is definitely an untapped pool, and we're bound to see more quality players coming through soon from countries like Thailand, Indonesia and Vietnam. I'd rather focus on getting those if i were J.League.

    But by all means, it might be a good business model to splurge out on a couple of marquee players too. Iniesta, Torres and Podolski are the sole reason why so many matches are being sold this season.
     
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  12. nipponbasse83

    nipponbasse83 Member+

    Jun 17, 2007
    Ichikawa, Chiba, Japan
    Club:
    Consadole Sapporo
    Nat'l Team:
    Norway
    So Kobe's collapse just seems to get worse and worse. 6 straight defeats, and with 2-19 as a goal difference. Iniesta haven't played the last 2 matches, which were lost 0-4 and 0-5 while Podolski have been his usual, crappy self showing off the world's worst body language.

    One thing is their defence which clearly is not up to the standard of top J1 teams, but what have they been thinking up front? They got rid of top quality FWs like Leandro (although injury-prone and old so he might not be his usual self anymore) and Watanabe, and are left with the likes of mediocre players like Wellington, Otsuki, Junya Tanaka and Nagasawa + a couple of youngsters. Wellington is clearly not up to the task, and I'm guessing both Iniesta and Podolski wants him gone as soon as the season finish.

    And some bad news coming out of Sagan as well, with Cyangames having lost a ton of money lately which means they will most likely not be able to keep Torres next season. Maybe he'll end up at a different J1-team? He could for example be a crowd-filler at Cerezo, Gamba, FC Tokyo or Marinos.
     
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  13. Whispered11

    Whispered11 Member+

    U.C. Sampdoria
    Japan
    Oct 4, 2011
    Munich, Germany
    Club:
    UC Sampdoria
    Nat'l Team:
    Japan
    I think it all depends about how the season will end. If Sagan are able to save themselves for relegation, the scenario will change. Plus they have also renovated the stadium, so I think - if relegated - they'll be a huge favourite to come back immediately to J1.

    Even if Torres leaves, Kanazaki and Ibarbo with Shimaya behind them is a wonderful attack for J2.
     
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  14. Samurai Warrior

    Samurai Warrior Member+

    Dec 2, 2008
    Nat'l Team:
    Japan
    Kashima are up 1-0 against Cerezo Osaka, despite fielding just 2 regulars (Shoji and Kwon). They fielded the likes of Oda, Kubota, Tanaka, Yamaguchi, Kanamori and Machida (who is playing as a right-back) against a full-strength Cerezo.

    I think this might be the end of Cerezo's to secure an ACL spot for next season.

    Kashima are up to 3rd place (provisionally).
     
  15. Samurai Warrior

    Samurai Warrior Member+

    Dec 2, 2008
    Nat'l Team:
    Japan
    @Saku²



    Your boy Hotaru Yamaguchi:

    1- Bad control of the ball.
    2- Passed the ball to the opponent's player instead of his teammate (Sugimoto?).
    3- As a result, missed a chance for a perfect counter-attack for Cerezo.
    4- Give Nagoya the chance to counter.
    5- Getting mocked easily by Maeda (or whoever he was).
    6- Stopped chasing Nagoya's players into Cerezo's penalty box.

    ... and boom, it is a goal for Nagoya!

    Even if Soma did not happen to score, Maeda, who Yamaguchi stopped chasing, will have a chance to score.

    This goal reminds me of the third goal Japan's conceded against Belgium, standing-up idiotically in the field like a scarecrow, and having a super-slow reaction instead of chasing the opposing players vigorously to halt their attack.

    Idiot, Lazy, and Unresponsible. This is Hotaru Yamaguchi in a nutshell.

    Let's hope we will not suffer seeing him again called-up to Japan's NT.
     
  16. Gordon1995

    Gordon1995 Member+

    Oct 3, 2013
    Teruki Hara imo is not that bad in the DM role imo. He performed decently well against SK in the Asian Games a few months ago. He can be a suitable alternative for Yamaguchi in the JNT.
    Yuta Nakayama imo suits the DM role more than CB, he can also be tried in the role as well.
     
  17. Samurai Warrior

    Samurai Warrior Member+

    Dec 2, 2008
    Nat'l Team:
    Japan
    No my friend, Hotaru Yamaguchi is irreplaceable.
     
  18. nipponbasse83

    nipponbasse83 Member+

    Jun 17, 2007
    Ichikawa, Chiba, Japan
    Club:
    Consadole Sapporo
    Nat'l Team:
    Norway
    As a Cerezo-fan, I totally agree. In this particular clip he doesnt follow the first guy who come dashing into the box, and seems unaware that both Soma and Maeda are behind him. Defending like this doesn't even happen at my local futsal league..

    He's sh*t. Cause this happens pretty much every single game, and I can't count how many times Souza have had to make up for his mistakes this season. And Souza is far from perfect either and got some big weaknesses, but he's definitely more reliable than Yamaguchi.

    And that Hotaru is actually the captain just adds insults to it all....

    Cerezo this season have been a major disappointment, and although Yoon seemed to be heading in the right direction with this team last year with 2 cup-wins there is absolutely no game-plan to their game these days. It is as someone else said - Yoon is a great motivator and team-builder but he lacks the essential coaching or tactical skills to take these players/this team to the next level.

    Pretty much the entire backbone of the team is made up of established players who have played at a high(er) level before in one form or another. And a lot of them seems to have lost their hunger to improve/win, which is brilliantly showcased by Yamaguchi's working ethic in this clip... Sugimoto and Kakitani are two other players that comes to mind, although Kakitani have seemingly struggled with depression lately so there might be other factors involved there.

    The only "talent" that seems to have blossomed or gotten regular playing-time under Yoon is Fukumitsu, and that's also something he should be critiscized for. He clearly doesn't trust in younger players.
     
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  19. yanagibashi

    yanagibashi Member

    Eintracht Braunschweig
    Japan
    Jan 3, 2018
    it’s a disgrace that yoon competely ignored the younger players or try alternative tactics even though the starting XI looked lost and disinterested.

    what did he expect playing the same old guys like yamaguchi who clearly was not giving 100% or out of form.

    takehiro yonezawa and motohiko nakajima are two standout guys in the cerezo u23.
     
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  20. Samurai Japan

    Samurai Japan New Member

    Japan
    Jul 17, 2018
  21. yanagibashi

    yanagibashi Member

    Eintracht Braunschweig
    Japan
    Jan 3, 2018
  22. Whispered11

    Whispered11 Member+

    U.C. Sampdoria
    Japan
    Oct 4, 2011
    Munich, Germany
    Club:
    UC Sampdoria
    Nat'l Team:
    Japan
  23. nipponbasse83

    nipponbasse83 Member+

    Jun 17, 2007
    Ichikawa, Chiba, Japan
    Club:
    Consadole Sapporo
    Nat'l Team:
    Norway
    Absolutely nothing... :(
     
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  24. nipponbasse83

    nipponbasse83 Member+

    Jun 17, 2007
    Ichikawa, Chiba, Japan
    Club:
    Consadole Sapporo
    Nat'l Team:
    Norway
    Reysol relegated despite hammering Cerezo...

    and in Shimizu-Kobe GK Rokutan scores with a heading goal in injury-time to make it 3-3 in a match that will remembered more for the 2 idiot gaijins Wellington and Podolski's antics (once again)....
     
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  25. yanagibashi

    yanagibashi Member

    Eintracht Braunschweig
    Japan
    Jan 3, 2018
    shimizu-kobe one of the games of the season.

    massive shame for reysol. big decision for guys like nakamura, nakayama and koike. they need to get out asap. nakayama’s goal was fantastic.
     

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