J2 Matchday 13
This will be, similar to Tokyo Bairn's Mito report, quite brief, as I had the same problem he did last Saturday: a horrible stream on justin.tv. Anyway, we took our three game winning (and six unbeaten) streak to Okayama last night, in the first of the six rescheduled games we, and the rest of the league, have to make up over the next four months.
There were some surprises in selection, as Mr. Okuma didn't change anything, he decided to stick with Hitoshi Shiota in goal over the fit and ready Shuichi Gonda, and its On the Gas 1-1 El Golazo after Naohiro Ishikawa was again named on the bench for the fifth game in succession.
The home team were missing their top scorer, Tiago, through suspension, but his replacement, Hiroki Kishida, had a great chance to give his team the lead in the 11th minute, but was denied when through on goal by a strong, instinctive save by Shiota. The only other clear opening they had in the first half came in the 27th minute when Yuhei Tokunaga's man got across him at a corner and glanced his free header (not the easiest of chances as he had to stoop to make contact) from eight yards across goal and wide with Shiota rooted to the spot.
In and around those incidents we had the better of things, again allowed to play with more freedom than we are afforded at Aji Sta. There was almost a comedy goal from Yasuyuki Konno, as he launched a ball from the centre circle inside his own half for Roberto Cesar to latch onto, The Salad stretched out his leg at the edge of the box but couldn't quite reel it in, BUT their keeper had come out and clearly thought Cesar WAS going to control it, as he completely misplayed it and had to scramble back to paw it away for a corner from about a yard out.
Apart from that comedic interlude there were chances for Sotan Tanabe, Yohei Kajiyama, Tokunaga and Tatsuya Yazawa, who again saw plenty of the ball but can be wasteful and often careless in his passing. But it was Yazawa, though, who provided the assist for the opening goal, which arrived in the 40th minute.
Thursday, June 30, 2011
Tuesday, June 28, 2011
Okayama v FC Tokyo: Wednesday 7.30pm
J2 Matchday 13 Preview
#The J.League is officially calling this midweek slate of games "Matchday 2" as it was originally scheduled for the second weekend of the season, starting Saturday, March 12. Here at On the Gas, as you've hopefully noticed, we reset after the resumption, and thus, this is Matchday 13.#
Take two on our first-ever game against Okayama, but for the players, and many fans, it will be their second visit this season after they had already made their way down on the day the eathquake and tsunami struck north east Japan. I did a preview of the original fixture back in March, posted on the day of the disaster actually, that you may want to read again, if only to revisit the lovely souvenirs Okayama had on sale for our visit, and of course, my terrible Microsoft Paint formation graphics...
US
So its On the Gas 1-0 El Golazo after last weekend, as I correctly predicted that Naohiro Ishikawa would start another game on the bench (El G. had Nao in the XI). He's got through his four substitute appearances in fine fettle, topped off by his goal against Mito, and the coaching staff deserve great credit for the way they've managed his return.
#The J.League is officially calling this midweek slate of games "Matchday 2" as it was originally scheduled for the second weekend of the season, starting Saturday, March 12. Here at On the Gas, as you've hopefully noticed, we reset after the resumption, and thus, this is Matchday 13.#
Take two on our first-ever game against Okayama, but for the players, and many fans, it will be their second visit this season after they had already made their way down on the day the eathquake and tsunami struck north east Japan. I did a preview of the original fixture back in March, posted on the day of the disaster actually, that you may want to read again, if only to revisit the lovely souvenirs Okayama had on sale for our visit, and of course, my terrible Microsoft Paint formation graphics...
US
So its On the Gas 1-0 El Golazo after last weekend, as I correctly predicted that Naohiro Ishikawa would start another game on the bench (El G. had Nao in the XI). He's got through his four substitute appearances in fine fettle, topped off by his goal against Mito, and the coaching staff deserve great credit for the way they've managed his return.
This seems like the perfect time to unleash him from kickoff, so Ishikawa in for Naotake Hanyu is my only outfield change from the Mito game, with Nao starting on the right wing and Sotan Tanabe shifting inside.
That's purely what I'd like to see, as I've said before I feel Sotan could do a job for us in the hole. Hanyu seems to be getting decent reviews for his recent performances, but for all the good work he does off the ball, he's not directly creating enough for my liking.
If Hanyu keeps his spot, then either Sotan or Tatsuya Yazawa will have to make way for Nao's return.
The other change comes in goal, where Shuichi Gonda, fresh off his two fine displays for the Japan Under 22s, will replace Hitoshi Shiota. Again, it's harsh on Shiota, but he knows the score.
Monday, June 27, 2011
He's Back!
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| We're very excited to see you again, too! |
The kit has changed, and so will the number, but all FC Tokyo supporters are abuzz with the news that former Aji Sta hero Lucas will once again don a red and blue shirt. After persistent injuries caused the club to terminate the loan contract of Pedro Junior, we needed to find a swift replacement with Sota Hirayama and Daiki Takamatsu still a couple of months away from returning, and Lucas has answered the bat call, and is at training as I type this!
(Right...deep breaths...) I first heard the news yesterday morning courtesy of @MarioUrawa on twitter (he's a Urawa fan, but we'll forgive him this once, eh?) who tweeted a photo of an article from Nikkan Sports that said the big man was on his way back to the capital. It was still just a rumour obviously, and with the official puppet newspaper of the club, Tokyo Chunichi Sports, saying nothing, we were left to wonder if it was true.
My initial reaction was that the move made a lot of sense, as in the absence of Sota and his deputy Daiki we had lacked a real target man. Roberto Cesar, while a good player in his own right, wasn't signed to play as a lone frontman and certainly seems more comfortable operating a bit deeper, attacking from the flanks (quite similar to Cabore in that regard). Lucas, never the fastest and at 32 certainly not getting any faster (!) would appear to be the ideal type to lead the line alongside The Salad.
While we wondered how Nikkan had scooped ToChu (Had the club told the latter not to publish the story yesterday? I wondered...) the news was confirmed via a tweet from a man on the inside at Gamba Osaka, @JSoccerMagazine (Alan Gibson):
"Lucas is already in Tokyo and has signed his contract for #fct #FCTokyo
confirmed by friends at Gamba who have spoken!"
Lucas had spent three years at Gamba, of course, after leaving us at the end of 2007, before returning to his homeland earlier this year and officially retiring on May 11th while registered with one of his former clubs, Atletico Paranaense.
That confirmation from Alan sent the #FCTokyo twitter tag into a frenzy, and this morning ToChu finally came good with a story, including the juicy info that Gamba had also made Lucas an offer to return, as they've just lost Adriano to Qatar. But luckily for us, our second all-time J.League top scorer - with 48 league goals between 2004 & 2007 - has chosen to come home.
When Lucas will be ready to play is questionable, but seeing as though he's at training today you'd have to say there's at least a slight chance he'll be ready to make the bench on Saturday evening at home to Tottori, although perhaps the game at Oita the weekend after is more likely.
I'll have more to say on the tactical implications of his return in later posts, but for now, please join me in saying....
Welcome home Lucas!
Update 4.40pm Here is at training, with thanks to @tokyoloves on twitter. WAHEY!
That confirmation from Alan sent the #FCTokyo twitter tag into a frenzy, and this morning ToChu finally came good with a story, including the juicy info that Gamba had also made Lucas an offer to return, as they've just lost Adriano to Qatar. But luckily for us, our second all-time J.League top scorer - with 48 league goals between 2004 & 2007 - has chosen to come home.
When Lucas will be ready to play is questionable, but seeing as though he's at training today you'd have to say there's at least a slight chance he'll be ready to make the bench on Saturday evening at home to Tottori, although perhaps the game at Oita the weekend after is more likely.
I'll have more to say on the tactical implications of his return in later posts, but for now, please join me in saying....
Welcome home Lucas!
Update 4.40pm Here is at training, with thanks to @tokyoloves on twitter. WAHEY!
Mito 2-3 FC Tokyo
J2 Matchday 12
Well this is a brief one as neither of us really got to watch this, what with family commitments and the vagaries of Justin TV. I really thought I might be able to survive without seeing all the away games this year but it is proving very frustrating, I might have to go back to skapa after all.
Anyway from what little I saw this was a good, professional performance from the side, the kind of thing I expected we would get from the team this year seems to finally be materialising. The Gasmen lined up with the same side as the one which saw off Tokushima Vortis in the previous effort, Shiota keeping his place as Gonda had just arrived back from his Olympic qualifying exploits a few hours before kick off. Tatsuya was also back on the bench after his injury layoff.
A rather poor an uneventful first half gave way to an incident crammed second period, as far as I could work out from my constant F5 pressing. Morishige whipped in a lovely free kick and Hokuto was fouled as he charged into the box, giving the improving Casualyama the chance to slot away the spot kick. Mito got back into it though when the ref somehow managed to interpret a great ball winning tackle in the box from Hideto as a foul. I really don't know how that decision could have been made no matter what the angle the whistler had, and he might have been trying to "even things up", although the earlier foul on Hokuto seemed pretty clear cut. Anyway Shiota did well to block the resultant penalty before the taker followed it up and knocked it in. Shortly after the man in black proved he really was enduring a prolonged brain farting session as he had to be reminded he had already booked the Mito defender Okada, who was eventually given an early bath. Supersub Ishikawa (let's hope not for much longer!) then seemed to seal it with a driving finish after one of his trademark diagonal runs into the box had been cleverly spotted by the great laid back one. We were not to be bestowed the relaxing last few minutes we have been waiting for all season though, Murata cracking in a great long range effort past a firmly rooted Shiota in the 89th.
All in all a satisfactory performance away from home on a dodgy pitch with an even dodgier referee. Great to see Kajiyama and Ishikawa getting back into form, and with us climbing into 3rd, now miraculously only 2 points off Tochigi and Jeffrey, what a weekend it was for those associated with the Gas. But more was to follow, yes more, Lionel, is that you?
TB
Well this is a brief one as neither of us really got to watch this, what with family commitments and the vagaries of Justin TV. I really thought I might be able to survive without seeing all the away games this year but it is proving very frustrating, I might have to go back to skapa after all.
Anyway from what little I saw this was a good, professional performance from the side, the kind of thing I expected we would get from the team this year seems to finally be materialising. The Gasmen lined up with the same side as the one which saw off Tokushima Vortis in the previous effort, Shiota keeping his place as Gonda had just arrived back from his Olympic qualifying exploits a few hours before kick off. Tatsuya was also back on the bench after his injury layoff.
A rather poor an uneventful first half gave way to an incident crammed second period, as far as I could work out from my constant F5 pressing. Morishige whipped in a lovely free kick and Hokuto was fouled as he charged into the box, giving the improving Casualyama the chance to slot away the spot kick. Mito got back into it though when the ref somehow managed to interpret a great ball winning tackle in the box from Hideto as a foul. I really don't know how that decision could have been made no matter what the angle the whistler had, and he might have been trying to "even things up", although the earlier foul on Hokuto seemed pretty clear cut. Anyway Shiota did well to block the resultant penalty before the taker followed it up and knocked it in. Shortly after the man in black proved he really was enduring a prolonged brain farting session as he had to be reminded he had already booked the Mito defender Okada, who was eventually given an early bath. Supersub Ishikawa (let's hope not for much longer!) then seemed to seal it with a driving finish after one of his trademark diagonal runs into the box had been cleverly spotted by the great laid back one. We were not to be bestowed the relaxing last few minutes we have been waiting for all season though, Murata cracking in a great long range effort past a firmly rooted Shiota in the 89th.
All in all a satisfactory performance away from home on a dodgy pitch with an even dodgier referee. Great to see Kajiyama and Ishikawa getting back into form, and with us climbing into 3rd, now miraculously only 2 points off Tochigi and Jeffrey, what a weekend it was for those associated with the Gas. But more was to follow, yes more, Lionel, is that you?
TB
Friday, June 24, 2011
Mito v FC Tokyo: Saturday 4pm
J2 Matchday 12 Preview
Consecutive wins? Check. Within touching distance of the promotion places? Check. Things are looking up for the 4th-placed Gasmen, and we take our five game unbeaten run up to Ibaraki tomorrow evening to face Mito, who sit in 11th. Despite the gap of seven places in the table this won't be a walk in the park though, as the hosts trail us by just three points, and have a two game winning streak of their own going.
US
Consecutive wins? Check. Within touching distance of the promotion places? Check. Things are looking up for the 4th-placed Gasmen, and we take our five game unbeaten run up to Ibaraki tomorrow evening to face Mito, who sit in 11th. Despite the gap of seven places in the table this won't be a walk in the park though, as the hosts trail us by just three points, and have a two game winning streak of their own going.
This game starts a little stretch where we play three of our next four away, and over the next two months we'll actually play seven of our next 11 on the road, as the postponed games we have to make up begin to come around, the first of those being next Wednesday night at Okayama. It goes without saying then that this is an important part of the season for us, and if we can tread water and stay in touch with the top three (or make our way in, of course), then we'll be set up for our run in the two months after that, when we play seven of eleven at home. But I'm getting way ahead of myself, so lets pull it back and talk about tomorrow...
US
Following our best home performance of the season last Sunday, Mr. Okuma should have an easy time at the selection table....
That is, if there are no disciplinary procedures against Tatsuya Yazawa, who on Thursday morning became the third Tokyo player to be involved in a traffic accident this season.
Now Yazawa's bingle was no more serious than earlier ones involving Shuichi Gonda and Yasuyuki Konno, and the female 'victim' ended up with nothing more than bruised buttocks, but you have to wonder if the club will say enoughs enough and hand down a punishment, perhaps even a suspension.
Provided Yazawa is cleared to play, the only two possible queries in selection might be whether Naohiro Ishikawa (almost at full fitness) and Gonda (who will arrive back in the country today after this morning's Under 22 Olympic qualifier in Kuwait) are considered fit enough and available, respectively, to start.
That is, if there are no disciplinary procedures against Tatsuya Yazawa, who on Thursday morning became the third Tokyo player to be involved in a traffic accident this season.
Now Yazawa's bingle was no more serious than earlier ones involving Shuichi Gonda and Yasuyuki Konno, and the female 'victim' ended up with nothing more than bruised buttocks, but you have to wonder if the club will say enoughs enough and hand down a punishment, perhaps even a suspension.
Provided Yazawa is cleared to play, the only two possible queries in selection might be whether Naohiro Ishikawa (almost at full fitness) and Gonda (who will arrive back in the country today after this morning's Under 22 Olympic qualifier in Kuwait) are considered fit enough and available, respectively, to start.
Monday, June 20, 2011
FC Tokyo 1-0 Tokushima
J2 Matchday 11
Well, well, well! How does that feel? If its a little unfamiliar, thats because you haven't felt it for almost 20 months! I'm talking, of course, of the feeling you have after your team has just won consecutive league games (and played well doing it). Finally that monkey, actually it had gotten so big it was more of a gorilla, is off our backs and I can stop banging on about it! But, while I've got you, do you know how long its been since we won three in a row in the league....? No, enoughs enough!
Right, best get on with things. We lined up as expected, with Hitoshi Shiota replacing Shuichi Gonda in goal the only change from the Kumamoto game. Tokushima stuck with their 4-4-2, meaning strikers Douglas and Tomohiro Tsuda both started, as did my new best mate Yuya Hashiuchi at right back.
Hideto Takahashi fired off our first shot, a 35 yard range finder in the third minute, but for the next few minutes things settled into a familiar pattern at Aji Sta, with us dominating possession and looking for a way through them, while being cautious of their counter-attacking ability.
A couple of observations from the early stages: our players appeared to have been instructed to try and switch the play whenever possible, as Masato Morishige and Yohei Kajiyama, in particular, were spraying balls out to the flanks quite effectively; and Yasuyuki Konno was clearly up for the challenge of marking Tsuda as he was all over our backline, right on top of things whenever they attempted to counter.
Chances started coming more regularly from the 11th minute, when Casual had a shot saved at the far post after some typical fancy footwork on the left hand side of the box, then Roberto Cesar tried his luck from a similar spot five minutes later but the keeper pushed it out for a corner at his near post. Headed chances came for Morishige and Sotan Tanabe around the half hour mark, Morishige's was just wide after Konno had smartly taken a quick free kick, but Tanabe's effort was miles off target.
Well, well, well! How does that feel? If its a little unfamiliar, thats because you haven't felt it for almost 20 months! I'm talking, of course, of the feeling you have after your team has just won consecutive league games (and played well doing it). Finally that monkey, actually it had gotten so big it was more of a gorilla, is off our backs and I can stop banging on about it! But, while I've got you, do you know how long its been since we won three in a row in the league....? No, enoughs enough!
Right, best get on with things. We lined up as expected, with Hitoshi Shiota replacing Shuichi Gonda in goal the only change from the Kumamoto game. Tokushima stuck with their 4-4-2, meaning strikers Douglas and Tomohiro Tsuda both started, as did my new best mate Yuya Hashiuchi at right back.
Hideto Takahashi fired off our first shot, a 35 yard range finder in the third minute, but for the next few minutes things settled into a familiar pattern at Aji Sta, with us dominating possession and looking for a way through them, while being cautious of their counter-attacking ability.
A couple of observations from the early stages: our players appeared to have been instructed to try and switch the play whenever possible, as Masato Morishige and Yohei Kajiyama, in particular, were spraying balls out to the flanks quite effectively; and Yasuyuki Konno was clearly up for the challenge of marking Tsuda as he was all over our backline, right on top of things whenever they attempted to counter.
Chances started coming more regularly from the 11th minute, when Casual had a shot saved at the far post after some typical fancy footwork on the left hand side of the box, then Roberto Cesar tried his luck from a similar spot five minutes later but the keeper pushed it out for a corner at his near post. Headed chances came for Morishige and Sotan Tanabe around the half hour mark, Morishige's was just wide after Konno had smartly taken a quick free kick, but Tanabe's effort was miles off target.
Saturday, June 18, 2011
FC Tokyo v Tokushima: Sunday 6pm
J2 Matchday 11 Preview
Roberto Cesar's brilliant Karate Kid volley sealed FC Tokyo's second away win of the season in horrible conditions last Sunday in Kumamoto, and The Gasmen will look to build on that victory and finally get our season going when Tokushima visit Ajinomoto Stadium tomorrow evening.
The Salad's second league goal since his arrival from Avai saw us move up just one position in the table (to 8th), but more importantly we gained two points in the race for promotion. We now sit just two points behind Tosu, who are third, as well as three other teams on 18 points - including Tokushima.
This will be the third weekend in succession we'll face a team higher than us in the table, but while our home form remains inconsistent (two wins, three draws, plus a draw in the 'away' derby), this is as good a time as any to notch consecutive league wins for the first time since October 25th, 2009 - this will be our 13th attempt since we beat Shimizu 2-1 that day at Nihondaira (sorry for being such a stats geek).
US
This week Mr. Okuma is forced into one change, with Hitoshi Shiota set to start in goal in place of Shuichi Gonda, who's with the Japan Under 22 side for their Olympic qualifiers against Kuwait. Apart from that there's little chance of the manager changing a winning side, as evidenced by the same 10 outfield players from the Kumamoto game starting Thursday's training game against Sony Sendai, but stuff it, I'm going for the XI that I WANT to see. Now of course I'm taking our injuries and the departure from the club of Pedro Junior into account here, but if I was Mr. Big Bear, I'd give Tatsuya Yazawa and Naotake Hanyu the boot, and bring in Naohiro Ishikawa and Yohei Otake.
According to the manager, Yazawa started ahead of Otake last Sunday because of "the rain and ... the team's need for hard work more than anything else at the moment" but the former Chiba man hasn't really convinced apart from a decent performance against his old team in Matchday 2.
Strangely, he was chosen as Man of the Match against Kumamoto by El Golazo, but failed to poll a single vote (out of 170 cast) in the Tokyo Chunichi Sports "Man of the Tokyo" fans vote, so I'm siding with my fellow supporters, and switching them back. The fact that there is no rain forecast for Sunday also helps....
Hanyu has worked hard as he always does, but despite playing behind The Salad, "in the hole" as they say, he's failed to launch a single shot in the past three games. I realise that just looking at shots on goal stats is not the only way to judge a player's value or importance to the team as a whole, and in Roswell's case a lot of what he does goes unnoticed (intelligent runs off the ball to stretch the defence out of shape etc.), but the simple fact of the matter is that when you play in such an advanced position you have to be integral to the attack, and he just hasn't been a factor at all in that regard in games he's started there.
Friday, June 17, 2011
Sayonara Pedro Junior
I half spit up my breakfast when the I saw the news via twitter this morning, as it came completely out of the blue. The sports newspapers, including of course Tokyo Chunichi Sports (link is in Japanese), reported that the club had decided to cancel the loan contract of winger/striker Pedro Junior. And as I type this, the club has posted confirmation of his departure, with a comment from the man himself expressing his regret at not being able to contribute more to the team due to his various injuries.
Before I saw the club's report, my initial reaction to the news was that it might've been a disciplinary issue. The man has a reputation after all. I went as far as asking Japanese football expert, and voice of Gamba Osaka for ACL games, Alan Gibson, of JSoccer.com and the soon to be released JSoccer Magazine (contact him via twitter at @JSoccerMagazine for details on how to purchase) about Pedro's departure from the Kansai club in the early stages of last season. Alan replied very promptly, telling me about PJ's hissy fit after being substituted at home against Niigata last March 20, but if we take the club and player's statements as sincere and his departure is injury-related, lets look bigger picture with three important questions:
1. How does Pedro Junior's departure affect the squad?
He'd only made two substitute appearances for us and hadn't featured for six weeks since his impressive cameo in the away derby, so right now it appears we aren't affected much at all, but we're losing a game-changer and a pretty potent attacking force (15 goals in just 45 J1 appearances, don't forget) who could've had a massive impact on our promotion run in the mid-to-late stages of the season.
It also places even more importance on Naohiro Ishikawa's knees, as if Nao were to suffer another setback, we'd be lacking a proven impact player on the flanks.
2. Will we be able to sign another foreign player?
You'd like to think the club weighed up the severity of Pedro's injury, decided he wouldn't be able to help much at all this season, and cut the cord, with another name or names in mind to replace him. But...this is the management of FC Tokyo we're talking about here... We never replaced Paulo Wanchope in 2007... We never replaced Cabore in 2009 (though it was September when he left)... We stuck with Ricardinho, our only non-Asian foreign player last season...
The club did the right thing by signing three Brazilians for this season, we've just been terribly unlucky that two of them have succumbed to injury. Maybe I'll give Jade North a ring and see if he can get Harry Kewell on the phone and talk him into coming over.
3. Why are the club so
As I mentioned earlier, it was six weeks ago that Pedro made his last appearance for us. Those of us who don't go to Kodaira everyday were surprised to see him miss out on the squad for the next game, at home against Toyama. Where was he? Turns out he was injured. Did we find out from the club? No. Did we hear jot about his injury from the club, from the day of the derby until yesterday? No, we did not. Thats why supporters were so surprised when the news of his departure broke today.
Just one of the many things that frustrates me about the way the club is run, is their selective release of news related to the status of the playing squad. On the same topic, North was missing from the squad due to injury for the Kumamoto game after his impressive debut against Ehime two weekends ago. He also wasn't involved in yesterday's training match against Sony Sendai. Have we heard anything about his injury? If you're following the pattern here, you've already guessed the answer (It's no, by the way).
They put enough crap about where to see Dorompa, "Event" information (hey, its Nantoka Day!) and access to Aji Sta (even though we've all been there 200 times) in the "Headline News" section of the club website, you'd think they might be able to take five minutes to tell us about a player being injured!
OK, that got very ranty by the end there. Apologies. My Tokushima Preview will be up later tonight or by lunchtime tomorrow.
Sayonara Pedro Junior, we hardly knew ye.
Tuesday, June 14, 2011
Lock Up Your Daughters.....
Yes, the man, the myth, the one and only Yuya Hashiuchi, Tokushima's #26, he of the permanently stoned expression, will grace us with his presence on the pitch at Aji Sta, before ducking over to the fields of Chofu Airport where he'll try to catch grass snakes for his dinner with his bare hands.
I've been looking forward to this game ever since I got my copy of the ２０１１ Ｊ１&J２選手名鑑, when after scouring the photos of every player on every team, I decided that our man Yuya, while being the J.League player most likely to sleep in a cave, is also the one I'd most like to go out on the piss with.
Luckily for us, after being left out of the Tokushima squad for the first six games, and warming the bench as an unused sub in the next three, he finally cracked the XI for their home game against Okayama last Sunday, and if there is a footballing god (not just Robbie Fowler) he'll keep his spot and we can all have a chuckle at his ridiculous hair.
Monday, June 13, 2011
Kumamoto 0 FC Tokyo 1
J2 Matchday 10
Made all the more urgent by the end of the European seasons, I headed out to the Hub in Kichijoji for my football fix to watch this one. I have always liked watching FCT games in there; helped by the flow of alcohol the atmosphere is usually pretty good. Weather conditions down in Kumamoto were quite bad, apparently trains had stopped running in the area due to the heavy rain. The pitch was pretty soggy and led to gasps and shrieks from those watching as defenders from both sides fluffed clearances and attempted foolhardy passes which slowed on the surface. However it did not affect the game too badly and we have certainly seen worse in this country (e.g. the farcical Okayama v Tokushima game on the same day) where it seems to be acceptable to play football in a lake. WHY?
FC Tokyo lined up with the same members that took the field last week in Setagaya, save for Yazawa, in for the harshly dropped Otake. Particularly harsh when you ponder how much Yazawa has contributed so far this season.
The game started pretty brightly for the visitors. Roasso were playing quite a high line at the back and Cesar and Morishige (!?) were both able to break the offside trap early once and get behind the Kumamoto defence. It was definitely “Tokyo pace” as they say early on and the Gasmen got the goal their dominance merited when The Salad showed composure to neatly volley home a botched clearance from about eight yards out. This seemed to give the number nine a shot of confidence and he soon after nearly finished off a great run into the box, his diagonal shot going just wide.
From about halfway in to the opening period though, the home team seemed to settle down a bit or Tokyo seemed to slow down a bit, probably a bit of both. Anyway from then on it was pretty turgid stuff, reminiscent of large parts of last week’s game. This was punctured though by an incident in which Kumamoto should have drawn level, Tokunaga’s awful headed clearance going straight to the forward Nagasawa who had all the time in the world to pick his spot past Gonda. Comically though, all he could do was miscue his effort back to the original culprit, off whom it rebounded harmlessly into the arms of the Olympic goalie.
FCT couldn’t muster much in the second half; just a blocked shot by Yazawa and a great burst into the box by substitute Ishikawa, who seemed to have recovered some of his old pace. He was unable to find a teammate with his cutback from the by-line however, with the keeper nowhere. As for Roasso, they gave as good as they got in the second half, and that man Nagasawa was to provide us with another comedy moment when he could only miss his kick spectacularly with the goal again at his mercy, this time as a result of a weak punch by Gonda. It was nail biting stuff towards the end, and the overriding emotion at the end was one of relief more than anything.
Once again we were unable to find a cutting edge for much of the game, although it was good to see us get behind the opposition defence on a few occasions for a change. Pass marks for Cesar, Ishikawa when he came on and I thought Takahashi had a decent game. Hanyu and Kajiyama disappointed again though, neither of them able to impose themselves on proceedings. As they are deployed in such key positions at the moment if they don’t perform it is hard for the team as a whole to click. So it was a victory and there are things to be positive about, but that has to be tempered with the fact that if Kumamoto hadn’t employed a comedy striker things might have been much different. Still, seven points from three games is acceptable and let’s hope this is not another false dawn. MON' THE GAS!
TB
Made all the more urgent by the end of the European seasons, I headed out to the Hub in Kichijoji for my football fix to watch this one. I have always liked watching FCT games in there; helped by the flow of alcohol the atmosphere is usually pretty good. Weather conditions down in Kumamoto were quite bad, apparently trains had stopped running in the area due to the heavy rain. The pitch was pretty soggy and led to gasps and shrieks from those watching as defenders from both sides fluffed clearances and attempted foolhardy passes which slowed on the surface. However it did not affect the game too badly and we have certainly seen worse in this country (e.g. the farcical Okayama v Tokushima game on the same day) where it seems to be acceptable to play football in a lake. WHY?
FC Tokyo lined up with the same members that took the field last week in Setagaya, save for Yazawa, in for the harshly dropped Otake. Particularly harsh when you ponder how much Yazawa has contributed so far this season.
The game started pretty brightly for the visitors. Roasso were playing quite a high line at the back and Cesar and Morishige (!?) were both able to break the offside trap early once and get behind the Kumamoto defence. It was definitely “Tokyo pace” as they say early on and the Gasmen got the goal their dominance merited when The Salad showed composure to neatly volley home a botched clearance from about eight yards out. This seemed to give the number nine a shot of confidence and he soon after nearly finished off a great run into the box, his diagonal shot going just wide.
From about halfway in to the opening period though, the home team seemed to settle down a bit or Tokyo seemed to slow down a bit, probably a bit of both. Anyway from then on it was pretty turgid stuff, reminiscent of large parts of last week’s game. This was punctured though by an incident in which Kumamoto should have drawn level, Tokunaga’s awful headed clearance going straight to the forward Nagasawa who had all the time in the world to pick his spot past Gonda. Comically though, all he could do was miscue his effort back to the original culprit, off whom it rebounded harmlessly into the arms of the Olympic goalie.
FCT couldn’t muster much in the second half; just a blocked shot by Yazawa and a great burst into the box by substitute Ishikawa, who seemed to have recovered some of his old pace. He was unable to find a teammate with his cutback from the by-line however, with the keeper nowhere. As for Roasso, they gave as good as they got in the second half, and that man Nagasawa was to provide us with another comedy moment when he could only miss his kick spectacularly with the goal again at his mercy, this time as a result of a weak punch by Gonda. It was nail biting stuff towards the end, and the overriding emotion at the end was one of relief more than anything.
Once again we were unable to find a cutting edge for much of the game, although it was good to see us get behind the opposition defence on a few occasions for a change. Pass marks for Cesar, Ishikawa when he came on and I thought Takahashi had a decent game. Hanyu and Kajiyama disappointed again though, neither of them able to impose themselves on proceedings. As they are deployed in such key positions at the moment if they don’t perform it is hard for the team as a whole to click. So it was a victory and there are things to be positive about, but that has to be tempered with the fact that if Kumamoto hadn’t employed a comedy striker things might have been much different. Still, seven points from three games is acceptable and let’s hope this is not another false dawn. MON' THE GAS!
TB
Friday, June 10, 2011
Kumamoto v FC Tokyo: Sunday 7pm
J2 Matchday 10 Preview
We've basically reached the quarter-of-the-way-through point of the 2011 J2 season, and to say things haven't gone as FC Tokyo fans had expected up to now would be the understatement of the (admittedly young) millenium. Whenever we thought we were taking a step forward, and that we were starting to justify our 'Prohibitive favourites for promotion' tag, such as after the wins over Tosu, Toyama & Kyoto, we've always seemed to take a step or two back: the first two of those wins were followed by losses, to Chiba and Kusatsu, and the Kyoto win was followed by last Sunday's draw with Ehime FC at Komazawa.
Sooner or later, if we can't manage to string a few wins together, we'll have to start panicking, BUT, while the league position (9th) looks bad, its ONLY Matchday 10, we're ONLY four points off the promotion places, and there have been recent signs, though admittedly not many in the Ehime game, off us finding our attacking rhythm.
With all that said, we (the generic 'we' - I'm not going) embark on our longest away trip of the season on Sunday, making our first ever visit to Kumamoto. The Kyushu side are three points and three places above us in the table, and along with Shonan, have proven the hardest team to beat so far this season (one loss each).
US
There isn't a lot of mystery as to the XI we'll start with here, as Yasuyuki Konno will return at centre half in place of Jade North, Hokuto Nakamura has seemingly cemented his position at left back, and Naohiro Ishikawa won't be ready to start despite getting 26 minutes into his legs last Sunday.
We've basically reached the quarter-of-the-way-through point of the 2011 J2 season, and to say things haven't gone as FC Tokyo fans had expected up to now would be the understatement of the (admittedly young) millenium. Whenever we thought we were taking a step forward, and that we were starting to justify our 'Prohibitive favourites for promotion' tag, such as after the wins over Tosu, Toyama & Kyoto, we've always seemed to take a step or two back: the first two of those wins were followed by losses, to Chiba and Kusatsu, and the Kyoto win was followed by last Sunday's draw with Ehime FC at Komazawa.
Sooner or later, if we can't manage to string a few wins together, we'll have to start panicking, BUT, while the league position (9th) looks bad, its ONLY Matchday 10, we're ONLY four points off the promotion places, and there have been recent signs, though admittedly not many in the Ehime game, off us finding our attacking rhythm.
With all that said, we (the generic 'we' - I'm not going) embark on our longest away trip of the season on Sunday, making our first ever visit to Kumamoto. The Kyushu side are three points and three places above us in the table, and along with Shonan, have proven the hardest team to beat so far this season (one loss each).
US
There isn't a lot of mystery as to the XI we'll start with here, as Yasuyuki Konno will return at centre half in place of Jade North, Hokuto Nakamura has seemingly cemented his position at left back, and Naohiro Ishikawa won't be ready to start despite getting 26 minutes into his legs last Sunday.The way we play has got to improve over the Ehime game, and to that end a lot rests on the shoulders of Kajiyama, Hanyu and Roberto Cesar.
Casual had possibly his worst game of the season so far at Komazawa (though thats saying something as he's had a few 'mares up to now), coughing up the ball on several occasions, being caught in possession on several others, and failing completely to build on the excellent performance he had at Kyoto, while Roswell, playing in the 'hole,' looked like he'd fallen into one as he was anonymous for 90 minutes, and The Salad was forced deep to look for the ball and never looked like threatening.
Monday, June 6, 2011
Gas Talk Episode 6
Another frustrating afternoon for FC Tokyo fans, but after a month away we had to get together for another episode of Gas Talk, and here you are, its Episode 6!
I was joined by Dan from Aishiteru Tokyo and our special guest Steve Barme, otherwise known as AgentOrange2009 on twitter.
After dissecting the happenings in FC Tokyo 1-1 Ehime FC (in the middle of which I was 'interrupted'(!) by a call from Jade North), from about half an hour in we branch off to talk about goings on in J2 and J1, how Kim is getting on at Omiya and other things from around Japanese football. Towards the end, Steve plugs Cobaltore Onagawa, and you can find out more about that worthy cause by visiting http://onagawasupporters.com/
You can listen on the player below, download the mp3 from the host yourself by clicking on the Gas Talk logo to the right, or through iTunes, where you can subscribe by searching "Gas Talk" - thanks to Takeshi for getting it up on there so quickly.
Enjoy.
I was joined by Dan from Aishiteru Tokyo and our special guest Steve Barme, otherwise known as AgentOrange2009 on twitter.
After dissecting the happenings in FC Tokyo 1-1 Ehime FC (in the middle of which I was 'interrupted'(!) by a call from Jade North), from about half an hour in we branch off to talk about goings on in J2 and J1, how Kim is getting on at Omiya and other things from around Japanese football. Towards the end, Steve plugs Cobaltore Onagawa, and you can find out more about that worthy cause by visiting http://onagawasupporters.com/
You can listen on the player below, download the mp3 from the host yourself by clicking on the Gas Talk logo to the right, or through iTunes, where you can subscribe by searching "Gas Talk" - thanks to Takeshi for getting it up on there so quickly.
Enjoy.
FC Tokyo 1-1 Ehime FC
J2 Matchday 9
There's almost half an hour of post-game chat coming today in a bumper Episode 6 of Gas Talk, but here's an abridged Match Report to tide you over...
Again looking for consecutive wins for the first time since October 2009, FC Tokyo hosted Ehime FC in the leafy confines of Komazawa Olympic Park yesterday. Buoyed by our best performance of the season in the 4-1 trouncing of Kyoto, the manager made just one (enforced) change to the XI, bringing in Australian international Jade North for his first start for the club in place of captain Yasuyuki Konno, who is away with the Japan National Team.
There was good news elsewhere in the squad too, as fan favourite Naohiro Ishikawa was fit enough for a spot on the bench after steadily building up his fitness over recent weeks.
Dorompa got things off to a good start by clearly beating the four Ehime mascots on points. That frog took a pounding and the crowd lapped it up (no word yet on if Dorompa pulled the chick mascot). And then to the game...
After a fairly even opening few minutes, Tokyo began building pressure, creating chances for Hideto Takahashi and Yohei Otake as we began to dominate the game, and then we went ahead on 17 minutes as Sotan Tanabe continued his purple patch with a brilliantly taken volley. Takahashi won the ball back about 25 yards out, and after Otake and Yohei Kajiyama exchanged short passes on the edge of the box, Casual played it back for Takahashi, who dinked a cross to the far post, where Tanabe had gotten free and lashed the ball back across the keeper with his left foot to put The Gasmen 1-0 up.
There's almost half an hour of post-game chat coming today in a bumper Episode 6 of Gas Talk, but here's an abridged Match Report to tide you over...
Again looking for consecutive wins for the first time since October 2009, FC Tokyo hosted Ehime FC in the leafy confines of Komazawa Olympic Park yesterday. Buoyed by our best performance of the season in the 4-1 trouncing of Kyoto, the manager made just one (enforced) change to the XI, bringing in Australian international Jade North for his first start for the club in place of captain Yasuyuki Konno, who is away with the Japan National Team.
There was good news elsewhere in the squad too, as fan favourite Naohiro Ishikawa was fit enough for a spot on the bench after steadily building up his fitness over recent weeks.
Dorompa got things off to a good start by clearly beating the four Ehime mascots on points. That frog took a pounding and the crowd lapped it up (no word yet on if Dorompa pulled the chick mascot). And then to the game...
After a fairly even opening few minutes, Tokyo began building pressure, creating chances for Hideto Takahashi and Yohei Otake as we began to dominate the game, and then we went ahead on 17 minutes as Sotan Tanabe continued his purple patch with a brilliantly taken volley. Takahashi won the ball back about 25 yards out, and after Otake and Yohei Kajiyama exchanged short passes on the edge of the box, Casual played it back for Takahashi, who dinked a cross to the far post, where Tanabe had gotten free and lashed the ball back across the keeper with his left foot to put The Gasmen 1-0 up.
Friday, June 3, 2011
FC Tokyo v Ehime FC: Preview
J2 Matchday 9
Fresh off a dominating performance in the 4-1 away win over Kyoto, The Gasmen are back in action on Sunday when we make our annual sojourn to Komazawa Olympic Park to host Ehime FC.
VS. 
He's well and truly outnumbered here, but its nice to see that Dorompa is not intimidated, and has fired off the first blow by flipping them the V's. He'd better watch out for himself though, as this chick mascot, while looking quite cute (the little bit of dribble coming out of her mouth is a lovely touch), could well turn out to be a conniving seductress, hoping to turn his head so the boys can get some cheap shots in.
Slightly more odd is this shady character, supposedly their most "ardent" supporter, who, while really needing to work on his posture, could be a threat to emerge from the shadows (possibly with a weapon) to ambush our man... Where's "Mr. Pitch" when you need him?!
THEM
Fresh off a dominating performance in the 4-1 away win over Kyoto, The Gasmen are back in action on Sunday when we make our annual sojourn to Komazawa Olympic Park to host Ehime FC.
While the game itself is moderately important, the main event will undoubtedly be:
The Ultimate Mascot Battle: Dorompa v The Fightin' Mikans! VS. He's well and truly outnumbered here, but its nice to see that Dorompa is not intimidated, and has fired off the first blow by flipping them the V's. He'd better watch out for himself though, as this chick mascot, while looking quite cute (the little bit of dribble coming out of her mouth is a lovely touch), could well turn out to be a conniving seductress, hoping to turn his head so the boys can get some cheap shots in. Slightly more odd is this shady character, supposedly their most "ardent" supporter, who, while really needing to work on his posture, could be a threat to emerge from the shadows (possibly with a weapon) to ambush our man... Where's "Mr. Pitch" when you need him?!So Dorompa faces quite a difficult afternoon, but with the support of the crowd he may just be able to juice the mikans and emerge on top (and if he's lucky, maybe also pick up a new girlfriend in the process).
Anyway, to the game then, our first ever meeting in league play (obviously, as they joined J2 in 2006 and have never come close to promotion), and a battle between teams sitting in 9th and 7th.
US
Mr. Okuma usually likes to stick with a winning team, but he won't have that option here with our captain and centre half Yasuyuki Konno away on national team duty for friendlies against Peru (played on Wednesday, when he was clearly Man of the Match) and the Czech Republic (next Tuesday, anyone else going?).
His replacement looks certain to be Jade North, and it will be great to see him out there from the start. He's put his head down and grafted away since his arrival, and quickly worked his way ahead of Tomokazu Nagira to be first in line for when an opportunity like this came about.
Apart from that enforced change there really aren't a whole lot of talking points when it comes to our XI, however I'd make one other change from our trip to Kansai, recalling Takumi Abe at the expense of Hokuto Nakamura.
The goals we've conceded in the last two games have come in large part from Hokuto being sucked out of position, he was absolutely nowhere when the cross was delivered for Shonan's goal two weekends ago, and then got caught ball-watching and was unable to react to the rebound after Gonda's save last Saturday. That's just my opinion, Okuma will probably stick with Hokuto, and while in a perfect world I'd like to see Kazumasa Uesato starting, the boss will most likely keep Hideto Takahashi in the holding role.
Tanabe and Otake are nailed-on to keep their spots after fantastic performances against Kyoto, and Otake has happy memories of this ground of course, having scored the winner in the Nabisco Cup game against Niigata there last season. Takahashi does as well for that matter, he made his first ever start for us in the same game. Naohiro Ishikawa is edging closer to a return, and might make the bench here, so I'm guessing our substitutes will be: Shiota, Nagira, Mukuhara, Uesato, Hokuto, Ishikawa & Yazawa.
His replacement looks certain to be Jade North, and it will be great to see him out there from the start. He's put his head down and grafted away since his arrival, and quickly worked his way ahead of Tomokazu Nagira to be first in line for when an opportunity like this came about.Apart from that enforced change there really aren't a whole lot of talking points when it comes to our XI, however I'd make one other change from our trip to Kansai, recalling Takumi Abe at the expense of Hokuto Nakamura.
The goals we've conceded in the last two games have come in large part from Hokuto being sucked out of position, he was absolutely nowhere when the cross was delivered for Shonan's goal two weekends ago, and then got caught ball-watching and was unable to react to the rebound after Gonda's save last Saturday. That's just my opinion, Okuma will probably stick with Hokuto, and while in a perfect world I'd like to see Kazumasa Uesato starting, the boss will most likely keep Hideto Takahashi in the holding role.
Tanabe and Otake are nailed-on to keep their spots after fantastic performances against Kyoto, and Otake has happy memories of this ground of course, having scored the winner in the Nabisco Cup game against Niigata there last season. Takahashi does as well for that matter, he made his first ever start for us in the same game. Naohiro Ishikawa is edging closer to a return, and might make the bench here, so I'm guessing our substitutes will be: Shiota, Nagira, Mukuhara, Uesato, Hokuto, Ishikawa & Yazawa.
THEM
In their five completed years in J2, last season (11th) was the best finish they've managed. Their record in 2010 had a perfect symmetry to it that perhaps only I'm interested in, but if you've read down this far I'm sure you'll bear with me: P:36 W:12 D: 12 L: 12; Goals For: 34 Goals Against: 34. I love shit like that. Just for the record, they were 9th after Matchday 8 last year, although due to the odd number of teams they'd already had their first bye and had only played seven games.
This season, after starting off hot and winning their first two, they then went winless in four, before rediscovering their form. They're 7th and have won their last two: an impressive 2-1 away win at Tochigi SC, and then a 2-0 home win over FC Gifu last Friday night. Those of you paying attention there will notice they've twice already this season managed something that we haven't done since October 2009: win consecutive league games.
This season, after starting off hot and winning their first two, they then went winless in four, before rediscovering their form. They're 7th and have won their last two: an impressive 2-1 away win at Tochigi SC, and then a 2-0 home win over FC Gifu last Friday night. Those of you paying attention there will notice they've twice already this season managed something that we haven't done since October 2009: win consecutive league games.
On paper they appear to be a solid 4-4-2 team, home or away, but we may see one of the named strikers play out wide and give them more of a 4-5-1 look. The one big mystery with them will be how many players they'll have on their bench though! An oddity, but two weeks ago at Tochigi they had only five subs, and even last week, at home, they only had six on the bench! Their XI that defeated Gifu was: Kawakita; Sekine, Ikeda, Takasugi, Maeno; Watanabe, Oyama, Ishii, Sugiura; Ogasawara & Saito. Sugiura (on loan from Kawasucki) and Ishii scored the goals, while pocket rocket Saito (on loan from J1 Yokohama) is their top scorer with three goals. Their Brazilian striker Josimar has come off the bench in three of the last four, but I have a sneaking suspicion we might see him from the start on Sunday.
THE VERDICT
I've said this previously after the wins over Tosu and Toyama, but we really have a chance to get our season going with a win here. A victory and other results going our way could see us move up as high as fifth in the table, and most importantly if we take the three points, you won't have to put up with me banging on about us not winning consecutive games for so long!
The quality Tanabe and Otake showed last weekend was hugely encouraging, and means opposition teams will have to pay more attention to them, which should benefit Hanyu and The Salad in the more central attacking positions. I don't know if we can expect four goals again, but our attacking play has improved markedly over the past two games, and the side should be brimming with confidence, while also aware of the threat Ehime can pose.
No better way to mark Jade North's first start than with a...Home Win.
THE VERDICT
I've said this previously after the wins over Tosu and Toyama, but we really have a chance to get our season going with a win here. A victory and other results going our way could see us move up as high as fifth in the table, and most importantly if we take the three points, you won't have to put up with me banging on about us not winning consecutive games for so long!
The quality Tanabe and Otake showed last weekend was hugely encouraging, and means opposition teams will have to pay more attention to them, which should benefit Hanyu and The Salad in the more central attacking positions. I don't know if we can expect four goals again, but our attacking play has improved markedly over the past two games, and the side should be brimming with confidence, while also aware of the threat Ehime can pose.
No better way to mark Jade North's first start than with a...Home Win.
On the Gas on the Tokyo Damacy Show!
With thanks to my twitter friend Clément Delestrade (@ClementH2), here is the clip of Tokyo Bairn and myself 'interviewed' before the Derby from the Tokyo Damacy Show.
We're on from the 1:58 mark...
I was just a little bit off with my 5-0 prediction, but I blame it on the beer...
We're on from the 1:58 mark...
I was just a little bit off with my 5-0 prediction, but I blame it on the beer...
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