Month: June 2020

Match Day 2 Report: (17) FC Ryukyu vs. (4) Avispa Fukuoka 6/28/2020 #FC琉球

Intro

It was a pretty wild, and at times wacky, re-opening of the J-League this weekend that pretty much had it all. There were great goals, great saves, great celebrations, come from behind victories and even an exposed backside. I think we all expected something like this to occur the first week back – maybe not the nudity- and we may see more of this when the fixtures start to pile up in August and more reserve players are featured each game.

FC Ryukyu were able to earn their first point of the 2020 season last night when they drew 1-1 with Avispa Fukuoka. Though a win would have been nice, it is encouraging to see FC Ryukyu match up well with a tough opponent.

On that note, I think I’ll take the match day reports in a different direction as anyone can watch the highlights online and instead i’ll focus on aspects of the game that may not be captured in the highlight reel. I will still keep the Man of the Match, Keys to Victory, Predictions and around the league parts of the report. And I will now throw in a “Goal of the Week” section in hopes of being able to nominate a goal of the year at the end of 2020.

  1. Game Recap
  2. Man of the Match
  3. Review of my Match Day Prediction
  4. Review of the Keys to Victory for FC Ryukyu
  5. Match Day 2 Takeaways
  6. Match Day 2 in J2
  7. Best goals from Round 2
  8. Conclusion

Game Recap

The weather was perfect to kickoff the home campaign for FC Ryukyu last night, despite the fact that none of us were allowed to attend and enjoy it. There were some notable changes to the FC Ryukyu lineup this week beginning with the replacement of Daisei Suzuki at CB by Ryoji Fukui. I am not sure what spurred the sudden change as Suzuki was on the bench to start, but later came on to replace Fukui in the second half.

Felipe Tavares was dropped completely out of the lineup with a healthy Yuya Torikai returning to his RB position. Kazuki Yamaguchi made his FC Ryukyu debut when he slotted in at the CAM role, replacing Ren Ikeda, who also dropped out of the lineup and reserves. Koya Kazama came in to start for the injured Shuto Kawai at LM with Dany Carvajal making his return to the lineup for the first time this year.

The most infuriating part of the lineup selection each week is that we never know what is going on at the club. We have no clue on the minor injuries of players, drops in form or preferred selections based on the managers assessments of the opponent and game plans for the week. I do not think anyone has asked the manager in a post-game presser about lineup selections, players form or the game plan they tried to execute. Maybe they have but since I do not speak Japanese, I cannot say that it has or hasn’t occurred at some point.

The reason I bring this up is we saw Suzuki replace Fukui at the back and in my mind, Fukui is a versatile defender that can play either position across the back 4 and is better suited as a reserve asset. I would have left Fukui on the bench as a reserve defender, started Suzuki -unless he was not 100% match fit- and then brought Shinji Ono as the 5th sub near the end of the game when we needed the go-ahead goal.

Takuma Abe opened his scoring account at FC Ryukyu with a very impressive solo effort in the first half. The fact that he went 70 yards on his own, starting in the FC Ryukyu end just above the 18-yard box; then had enough gas in the tank to create a sudden burst of speed past a Fukuoka defender to get into position to take a shot at Avispa’s 18-yard box; and then send a bullet past a diving Serantes into the top corner was simply amazing. More of that please!

FC Ryukyu conceded early in the second half when Delgado overpowered Fukui and found himself alone on goal and sent his own missile shot into the top left corner. But once again, FC Ryukyu really limited their opponents as far as possession and shots on net for the remainder of the match. Dany made some timely saves throughout the game as well, none more than the one against Delgado in the first half that would have dramatically changed the trajectory of this match.

Man of the Match

Avispa Fukuoka GK: Serantes. The man was simply awesome to watch last night. His save on the Motegi free-kick in the first half was a thing of beauty and he even got a hand to Abe’s goal which almost sent the shot wide.

Match Day Prediction

I said 2-1 to the visitors and @NavyBlueWasp correctly predicted the 1-1 outcome. Kudos to you sir and that leaves me at 0-1-1 with my predictions on the year.

Review of the Keys to Victory for FC Ryukyu

1. Match the physicality of Fukuoka. Likelihood 4. The Delgado goal indicates that we didn’t do this the whole game but once Fukui was replaced by Suzuki, I think the FC Ryukyu defense played much better.

2. Make quick passes across the pitch to stretch the back 4 of Fukuoka and open some shooting lanes for our LM & RM. Likelihood 3. Our lone goal came from a brilliant solo effort on the part of Abe but FC Ryukyu preferred attacking down the left for a majority of the match. I did not recall seeing any quick passes to change direction on the part of FC Ryukyu last night.

Match Day 2 Takeaways

  1. Early season mishaps. We pretty much expected this heading into the game so hopefully these mistakes will be reduced in time. These included some misguided passes, players expecting players to be in a certain area when they were not and even a minor drop by Dany on a shot with a Fukuoka player bearing down on him.
  2. The momentum in the game was constantly shifting back and forth between each side last night. FC Ryukyu enjoyed the first 3 goal scoring opportunities with Abe converting the 3rd chance. Then Fukuoka had several chances of their own before Delgado converted. There were few chances for both sides after Fukuoka scored and the game sort of ground to a halt.
  3. Missed opportunities for FC Ryukyu. FC Ryukyu had plenty of dead-ball kicks that they could’ve converted. I think it is somewhere around 25-30 chances between the two games this season and we have yet to convert one. Numata came close twice with one header striking the crossbar and another waived off due to a foul on Serantes. And we cannot complain about the spectacular save from Serantes on Motegi’s early free-kick as that may have gone in against lesser goal keepers. Hopefully these chances will continue and hopefully some will start crossing the goal line or else we could find ourselves at the bottom of the table very soon.
  4. I am not sure of Yu’s role going forward as he wasn’t asked to take any of the FKs after he entered the match. Motegi took almost all of the FKs while we used a combination of Uesato, Motegi and Koizumi on CKs. I hope this changes as dead-ball kicks are Yu’s strength.
  5. A fair amount of our corner kicks failed to make it over the first line of Fukuoka defenders last night. That is not great considering we have height in there in the form of Uehara and Yong Jick. We need to get the big boys more involved on set pieces.
  6. We saw all 5 substitutes being used last night. Unfortunately, Shinji Ono wasn’t one of them. A more settled back 4 will allow more attacking players to come on when needed, or more defenders when needed as well.

Match Day 2 Around J2

The Wild: Ehime came back from 3 goals down to beat Vortis 4-3 when former FC Ryukyu defender, Nishioka, scored in the 96th minute. Kofu also tied their match with Niigata with a late (94th minute) equalizer. Finally, even though Kanazawa and Matsumoto ended 0-0, they must have hit the post at least 6 times that game and I cannot recall seeing so many shots ring the woodwork in any one match.

The Whacky: Watching one of the Mito players – who was just subbed off- not even care that his team just scored their second goal as he was standing directly behind the net and did not even bother to acknowledge that a goal was scored was kind of refreshing. Also, my son and daughter while watching the FC Ryukyu game pointed out the fact that a player’s butt was being shown on TV from the Avispa locker room last night. Whoops!

The Wonderful: Kyoto Sanga beat Jubilo Iwata 2-0 in a game featuring two of the sides tipped to earn promotion in 2020. But that wasn’t the best part. It was the post goal celebrations, especially the bowling pin routine by Kyoto, that made the match.

The Best Goals of Round 2

#1. Takuma Abe of FC Ryukyu for his solo effort and shot.

#2. Luan of V-Varen Nagasaki with his 65th minute goal. Like Abe, he collected the ball in how own end, made a darting solo run forward, executed a nice little give-and-go with Ibarbo -who then sent a back-heel pass back to Luan, who calmly slotted the shot past Nagai of Kitakyushu. Might’ve been top had he not botched the post goal celebration.

#3. Taiki Hirato from FC Machida Zelvia sent a beautiful curler past the Verdy keeper from the top of the 18-yard box.

Some honorbale mentions have to be Delgado’s goal against FC Ryukyu as well as Watanabe’s (Yamagata) goal against Tochigi SC. What do you guys think?

Conclusion

It was a great re-opening weekend for football here in Japan. Maybe we haven’t fully appreciated the game in the past as we’ve been able to watch and enjoy football whenever we wanted. I think the break in action from CV-19 has allowed us to enjoy things, such as sport, a little more since we now realize that it can be taken away from us at any moment.

I was also glad to see the boys from Oki in action as it was 232 days since we last saw FC Ryukyu host a match and that is just way too long. For now, FC Ryukyu have registered their first point and first goal of 2020 and look to notch their first win when they travel to 20th place Giravanz Kitakyushu on Saturday July 4th.  

“Flying High Again” Match Day 2 Preview: (15) FC Ryukyu vs. (6) Avispa Fukuoka 6/28/20 #FC琉球

Introduction

It is good to be back right! Over 4 months of inactivity and now we are a mere 24 hours away from kicking off the 2020 season (again). The second round of J2 pits promotion candidates, Avispa Fukuoka, against our beloved FC Ryukyu. My how the winds of change have favored Avispa since the 2019 season ended compared to that of FC Ryukyu. A new manager and new signings have reinvigorated a Fukuoka side that was adrift for much of 2019 while FC Ryukyu still have plenty of questions to answer heading (back) into 2020. Also, this is the first co-authored preview of 2020 as @NavyBlueWasp has written the Avispa Fukuoka team preview for this week’s match-up.

1. Weather Forecast

The irony of there being a decent weather forecast for Sunday is that there will be no fans there to enjoy it. I think we had rain at the Tapista, or at least it was forecast to rain, in 15 of the 21 home games last year. To make matters worse, there was one match with a 0% chance of rain but it rained for about 10 minutes prior to kickoff.

2. Match Day 1 Recap: Giravanz Kitakyushu (0) vs (1) Avispa Fukuoka 2/23/2020

Giravanz came out firing and nearly scored on two early opportunities. Unfortunately for Kitakyushu, the two shots that hit the side netting and post, would be their best chances to score all day.

Fukuoka took control of this game around the 25’ mark and never looked back. To be honest, the score line could have been higher had Fukumitsu scored on a breakaway if not for a nice save by the Giravanz keeper. Nevertheless, Avispa grabbed their first win of the season.

3. Match Day 1 Recap: JEF UTD Chiba (1) vs (0) FC Ryukyu 2/23/2020

FC Ryukyu surrendered the first, and only, goal of this match within 40 seconds of the opening whistle. Then FC Ryukyu proceeded to out possess (%65 to %35) and out-shoot (19/5) JEF for the remainder of the game. Unfortunately, none of that mattered as FC Ryukyu failed to score resulting in their first loss of 2020.

4. Team Previews

We are lucky enough to have @NavyBlueWasp provide the team preview this week for Avispa Fukuoka.

Avispa Fukuoka: “I think Manager Shigetoshi Hasebe has been our biggest signing this season. What he achieved with Mito Hollyhock last season (7th place, just missed the playoffs by a few goals) was quite remarkable. He brought his favorite player with him, Hiroyuki Mae, and straight away named him captain of the team. Mae was one of the leading players at Mito last season and is adept at directing the game plan of Hasebe.”

“Up front, we signed Juanma Delgado and Daiya Tono to bolster the attack that only scored 39 goals last season. Juanma scored 13 goals for Omiya last season and uses his physical advantage over the thinly framed defenders of J2 quite well. Naturally, you could feed Delgado with crosses, but he’s also quite skilled with his feet. Daiya Tono was recently signed from Honda FC by Kawasaki Frontale and then loaned to us prior to the start of the season. I see him as a big talent, and big improvement for us up front, as he scored nine goals to go along with seven assists in the JFL as one of the key players in Honda’s great Emperor’s Cup campaign. He also added four goals in that competition. Tono has already showed off his talents in this year’s season-opener against Kitakyushu where he scored the winner with many considering him the “Man of the Match” due to his high working-rate and persistence.”

“Beside the aforementioned Mae, we also signed Takuya Shigeyoshi from Kyoto Sanga FC. He formed a nice partnership with Mae in our central MF in the first game and I expect that duo to be our starting CMF for most of the season. Shigeyoshi is the more attacking player of the two, and he too has a high work-rate. He often can be found in both boxes of the field during any given match. In the attacking midfield, we’ve signed Daisuke Kikuchi on loan from Kashiwa Reysol and Takaki Fukumitsu, on loan from Cerezo Osaka, also formerly of Mito where he played under Hasebe. I rate Kikuchi highly and the J2 could be the right stage for him to shine again. Fukumitsu made a successful debut in the first league game and provides another attacking element up front.”

“A signing, which I was highly doubtful about, was the loaning of Emil Salomonsson from Sanfrecce Hiroshima. I was worried he would be to slow on the right wing, but he proved me wrong and made an impressive debut versus Kitakyushu. What he lacks in skills, he compensates with a high working-rate and a very unselfish team first mentality. While not a signing, it is important to note that starting goalkeeper, Jon Ander Serantes, opted to stay instead of leaving for the J1 or Europe (again). As you know, Serantes had some super performances last year and I was very worried that he would depart after our horrible season. And recently he turned down an offer from La Liga-side Atletico Bilbao.”

“I think these players are major signings that could see Avispa Fukuoka fight for promotion to the J1. The corona-crisis has complicated things a bit with such a long break in the schedule and then the cramming in of the remaining fixtures. But if everything works out right, and with a bit of luck, I think we can finish inside the top 2 in 2020 for one of the two automatic promotion-spots.”

“In closing, I mentioned our win against Kitakyushu as being quite entertaining and the team really showed what they can do any given week. Sure, not everything worked 100% of the time as this was the first time that eight of the eleven players in the starting lineup were playing together. Some could say it was just Kitakyushu, but the work-rates of Tono and Salomonsson, plus the way Mae organized the attack, provides a lot of optimism moving forward for Avispa.”

Avispa Fukuoka Injuries/Suspensions: Avispa has only 1 injury to contend with and that is to CB Carlos Gutierrez who picked up a crucial ligament injury in his knee prior to the opening fixture. He is likely out for the remainder of the campaign.

FC Ryukyu: While Avispa are dealing with 8 out of 11 new starters, FC Ryukyu are right there with them with 7 out of 11 new starters of their own. FC Ryukyu has a completely new back 4 and has replaced 3 out of the 4-attacking front men.

FC Ryukyu failed to fire in their opening round but came close on several occasions. What is worrisome is that none of those chances came from our lone striker in Highuchi’s 4-2-3-1 formation. In fact, more chances were created by our newly signed RB Tavares than Abe up front. Since relegation is of no issue for 2020, maybe this won’t matter. But we cannot rely on our midfielders to do all the heavy lifting moving forward.

We will see the return of several injured players and possibly this reinvigorates this squad but that is anyone’s guess. I for one will be eagerly awaiting the return to action to better size up the squad for 2020 and see what the new signings offer. Regardless, I think the roster is too thin to sustain the upcoming campaign (injuries and suspensions) and we will need loan reinforcements to fill out starting lineups each week as well as provide a break to the incumbent starters (Maybe a blessing in disguise as we can see what we have in our younger talent this year compared to seasons past, as they will be pressed into service). If you recall last year, we went long spells without Dany, Yu, Keita, Uehara, Torikai, Nishioka, Shinji, Tokumoto, Masutani and Ochi. We never even knew what was wrong with some of them and we saw how Highuchi favored a core group of players. We may not have that luxury this year and there is nothing wrong with a little experimentation in the lineup.

I hope that we see Koya take up the starting LM role with the injury to Shuto Kawai, but it is highly likely we see all 5 substitutes feature on Sunday. Some for player maintenance and some for tactical purposes. As I stated many times since the break began, we have a razor thin roster that cannot afford multiple simultaneous injuries, suspensions or time away for COVID-19.

FC Ryukyu Injuries/Suspensions: FC Ryukyu should see the return of all the players who were injured prior to their first match:  GK Dany Carvajal, CB Ryohei Okazaki, LM Yu Tomidokoro and MF Kazuki Yamaguchi. FC Ryukyu will be without the services of 3rd choice GK Kosuke Inose, who is expected back in August from shoulder surgery, and FWD Takuya Hitomi who is out until Mid-November after suffering an injury to his knee. The most devastating injury that FC Ryukyu most contend with is that of starting LM, Shuto Kawai, who will be sidelined for 4 weeks due to an ankle ligament injury he picked up in practice last week.

Avispa Fukuoka Team Profile Page on Transfermarkt: https://www.transfermarkt.com/avispa-fukuoka/startseite/verein/9597

FC Ryukyu Team Profile Page on Transfermarkt: https://www.transfermarkt.com/fc-ryukyu/startseite/verein/23569

5. FC Ryukyu Keys to Victory for Match Day 2

The Scale: 5- An almost certainty it will occur 4-Fairly-Certain it will happen 3-Somewhat Certain it could happen 2-Very Unlikely it happens 1- Requires a Miracle to happen

1. Match the physicality of Fukuoka. Likelihood 4. I think FC Ryukyu matches up well against the physical front-line of Fukuoka. We saw Delgado bully some of our defenders last season when he was with Omiya and I think the pairing of Suzuki and Yong Jick at the back are better suited to handle those duties this year. I also think that FC Ryukyu could have the advantage on set pieces, especially corner kicks, with their height advantage over Avispa.

2. Make quick passes across the pitch to stretch the back 4 of Fukuoka and open some shooting lanes for our LM & RM. Likelihood 3. They key to beating the 4-4-2, right? Need to make those long, cross pitch, passes into the open channels where one of our players is left unmarked. I did not see FC Ryukyu do this that much last year and I worry that our attack will narrow with the absence of Kawai’s speed down the left side.

6. Match Day Prediction

@OkinawaOzzy: This certainly isn’t the same Avispa squad from last year and I fear that we may see the true power of this Fukuoka side on Sunday evening. 2-1 in favor of our guests.

@NavyBlueWasp: I hate predictions, but I’ll go with 1-1. I don’t trust your boys lol!

7. Match Day 2 Fixtures of Note around J2

JEF UTD Chiba hosting Omiya in a battle of two possible promotion teams for 2020 gets the new campaign started right. Behind them is the reinforced Fagiano Okayama vs Renofa Yamaguchi on Saturday that also looks pretty tasty.

Maybe the biggest match of the re-opening weekend, as mentioned by @sushi_football & @J2KantoBites on the J-Talk Extra Time pod this week, will be Kyoto Sanga FC vs Jubilo Iwata on Sunday. This match will officially open the new Sanga Stadium for J2 with two of the top promotion favorites for 2020 locking horns.

8. Around the J-League Blogs, Twitter Accounts and Pod Casts

J-Talk Pod: Episode 321 J.League Ultimate XIs Draft  http://jtalkpod.podbean.com/

J-Talk Extra Time Pod: Back with a (silent) Bang! https://jtalkpod.podbean.com/

@V_Varen_EN: (V-Varen Nagasaki Preview) https://nagasakiblueorange.wordpress.com/

@OrangeBlue882(Albirex Niigata)https://orangeblue.blog.ss-blog.jp/

@tsc_intl (Tochigi SC) https://tochigisc-intl.blogspot.com/

@Verdy_eng (Tokyo Verdy) https://verdyunofficialenglish.wordpress.com/

@J_League_En: The J-League will broadcast two games this weekend for those located internationally (not located in Japan) JUN 27 Tokyo Verdy v Machida Zelvia 1800 JST & JUN 28 Kyoto Sanga FC vs Jubilo Iwata 1800 JST. https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCmQp6ZaAejJKKkXc_Y_lh1A

9. Conclusion

FC Ryukyu once again host Avispa Fukuoka for their first home game of the season. Last year FC Ryukyu defeated Avispa twice, 3-1 & 1-0. But I do not think we will catch them sleeping on us like they may have in opening fixture last year, nor do I think we are facing the same opponent that provided FC Ryukyu their first road win in over 7 months late last season.

The one advantage that both sides share is that this is their first competitive match in over 100 days and they both recently came back to training. All the miscommunication leading to missed passes and misfires on net are sure to pop up this weekend. This is such a strange restart to a season that already completed an off-season, pre-season, and opening fixture so anything could happen on Sunday.

In any event, time to get it going again and with that, Ozzy Osbourne will close this preview.

Come on FC RYUKYU!!!!!!

“Do You Remember When?” Match Day 1 Report: JEF UTD Chiba vs. FC Ryukyu 2/23/20 #FC琉球

I wasn’t quite sure how to start this entry as it has been well over 120 days since the opening match for FC Ryukyu and I have seriously procrastinated on writing the Match Day 1 report. Partly because I wanted to see how things played out for the 2020 season and partly because I wanted to have something to write about on my blog in the event that everything dried up and the season was cancelled.

Well, it is time to get moving again as the season is set to resume in less than a week and the fixtures will come thick and fast for FC Ryukyu. If you would like to see what the 2020 schedule looks like, I wrote a piece on the newly revamped schedule earlier so please go check that out for all the new fixture dates and kickoff times for FC Ryukyu.

But in the meantime, sit back and enjoy the first Match Day Report of the 2020 season (120 days in the making so it better be good!)

Match Recap

Leading up to the opening match of 2020, many wondered if FC Ryukyu had addressed their defensive woes from 2019 as well as found suitable replacements for the strike duo of Koji Suzuki and Satoki Uejo. Having to strengthen at the back as well as at the front is not a great recipe for success but FC Ryukyu were the side that surrendered the most goals in J2 (81) last season and needed to replace the 29 goals vacated by Suzuki and Uejo’s departures.

Well, it took exactly 40 seconds to figure out the answer to the first question after JEF opened the scoring when Koki Yonekura split our defenders and pushed a header past Taguchi who was starting in place of the injured Dany Carvajal. That would be the only goal of the game which was a bit disappointing from a FC Ryukyu supporter perspective as it leaves us searching for the answer to the second question.

FC Ryukyu had the majority of possession this game and the best chance to score after the opening goal, yet failed to equalize. Ren Ikeda came close to leveling the match with a header that was just inches wide; Kawai created several chances with his speed and looked really good while both Tavares and Koki Kazama came close to scoring.  The most frustrating part was when Kawai was taken down in the 18-yard box, in a clear foul, yet no PK was awarded allowing the game to end 1-0 in favor of JEF.

There was one moment of brilliance for FC Ryukyu this match and it occurred when defender Yong Jick cleared a wide open shot off the line from a misdirected Taguchi touch that resulted in a wide-open shot from distance by a JEF player. Yong Jick hustled back to clear the ball off the line while going crashing into the side netting which allowed FC Ryukyu to be down just one goal and not two.

Man of the Match

FC Ryukyu RB Felipe Tavares: There was much uncertainty surrounding the player from Brazil when he signed this offseason and was then thrust into the lineup while incumbent RB Torikai, worked his way back to full match fitness. Though it should be noted that Torikai was fit enough to make the bench for the match.

From my vantage point, I watched Tavares win corners for FC Ryukyu, become an asset on corner kicks and take on opposing players in defense. Corners won isn’t an official statistic but Tavares provided plenty of opportunities for FC Ryukyu to equalize while defending admirably this match.

Match Day 1 Prediction

I thought it would’ve ended 2-1 in favor of JEF, and though I predicted the winner correctly, FC Ryukyu were shut out against JEF for the third time in as many games. I’ll score that as a draw thus bringing my season total to 0-1-0.

Review of the Keys to Victory Against JEF

I mentioned in the Match Day Preview that I would associate a level of confidence to each of the keys to victory to indicate the likelihood that it may or may not occur during the match.

The Scale: 5- An almost certainty this will Happen 4-Fairly Certain it will Happen 3-Somewhat Certain it may Happen 2-Very Unlikely that it Happens 1- Requires a Miracle of Sorts

1. Stifle the JEF attack and do not expose the FCR goal keeper. Likelihood: 2. This one was blown apart within the first 40 seconds of the match. The defense did settle down the rest of the match and prevented any more goals from getting past Junto Taguchi on his FC Ryukyu debut.

2. Exploit the JEF back line. Likelihood: 4. FC Ryukyu had several quality chances this match, but none resulted in a goal. In fact they dominated the amount of shots and possession.

3. Capitalize on whatever opportunities are afforded by the JEF defense. Likelihood: 3. The score line indicates all you need to know about this one.

Match Day 1 Takeaways

Not all doom and gloom FC Ryukyu fans. Yes, we did not score and yes there are some serious concerns if we will be as free scoring as we’ve come to enjoy here in Okinawa.  But the team never quit and they enjoyed so much possession in the JEF end of the pitch, and controlled large portions of the game over a team that some have tipped for promotion.

The new signings Tavares, Ikeda, Motegi, Numata, Yong Jick and Suzuki provide a lot of optimism going forward and as we all know; you cannot put too much stock into one match. It is likely that FC Ryukyu will need a few matches to gel since the season was interrupted and the players were just learning to play along side each other for the first time so expect some more of the early growing pains.

Maybe the biggest takeaway from this match is that it is highly unlikely we see crowds of that size, sitting in that close proximity, creating that great footballing atmosphere, any time soon. And that is pretty disappointing.

Should you care? Not sure. We all know what is in store for the 2020 season so we need not worry about relegation. We should concern ourselves with how FC Ryukyu will finish out the season with the second oldest squad in the J2 (27.9 is our average age for players), and one that isn’t rostering as many players as it has in past seasons (27 in 2020 compared to 35 in 2019). Until then, football is back, for now.

Match Day 1 around the J2

Some of the interesting matches included Renofa Yamaguchi shocking everyone’s promotion favorite, Kyoto Sanga FC, 1-0 and then Tokushima Vortis ripping apart Tokyo Verdy 3-0. Both newly promoted Kitakyushu and Gunma lost their opening fixtures with the newly demoted duo of Jubilo Iwata and Matsumoto Yamaga winning their innagural rounds.

There was only 1 draw on the day and that occurred between Machida Zelvia and Ventforet Kofu.

Conclusion

A quick glance of the table sees FC Ryukyu only above 3 teams: Verdy, Gunma and Montedio. All the teams that finished below FC Ryukyu in 2019 sit comfortably above them (after 1 game). It is hard to read too much into this considering that everyone’s last match occurred just over 4 months ago.

FC Ryukyu should be at, or near, full strength when the season resumes on June 28th but there are still plenty of questions that need answered before we can pass judgement on this squad and this season.

(and we just lost stating LM Shuto Kawai to an ankle ligament injury for at least a month)

I am glad that we’ll see Dany Carvajal back in net and have a full compliment of healthy defenders heading into the 2020 schedule gauntlet. But we still don’t know who will lead the line up front as this year’s talisman and we are down to 2 healthy strikers. We also need to see some better defensive performances from the back line and goalies this year so as to improve on the 6 total shut outs FC Ryukyu posted last season.

Well, the long drought of no football will quickly be behind us and I for one hope that the season can continue uninterrupted. It will be interesting to see if the larger clubs will be willing to loan out players as they’ve done in the past with the possibility of having to isolate players for weeks at a time who test positive for CV-19.  Who knows, we may see FC Ryukyu dip into the summer transfer market and pull some prospects up from the J3.

But for now, stay safe and enjoy the return of football this weekend.

Taking a Look at the Newly Revamped FC Ryukyu 2020 Fixture List #FC琉球

We are inching ever so closer to the restart of the J2 with kickoff scheduled for the June 27/28 weekend. With that in mind, let’s take a look at the newly revamped schedule for FC Ryukyu. Also, in case you do not know, the J-League will not allow any fans inside the J2 grounds until after the July 11th set of fixtures (think that is right) and then there will be the hard limits of 5,000, or 50% of the stadium capacity moving forward. But that is still being debated among the powers to be in the J-League.

FC Ryukyu have 41 games left to play to close out the 2020 season (aka meet the sponsorship demands), provide a brief off-season for the players, and head into the 2021 campaign with training camps set to start in January 2021. It is hard to believe they haven’t played a competitive fixture in well over 120 days by the time they kick off against Avispa Fukuoka on 28 June, but that is the case.

“The Big Picture”

  1. FC Ryukyu will play 41 matches inside of 176 days for an average of 1 game every 4.3 days.

2. Since they played the opening fixture away to JEF Chiba UTD back in February, FC Ryukyu have 21 home games and 20 road matches remaining in 2020.

3. Those 41 matches broken down per month with the home and away splits indicated (H/A) are as follows: June-1 (1H), July-6 (3H/3A), August-7 (3H/4A), September-8 (4H/4A), October-6 (3H/3A), November-8 (3H/5A) and December-5 (4H/1A).

4. FC Ryukyu will play 13 of their 21 home matches on a weekend (roughly a 7/6 split between Saturday and Sunday depending on the flexible scheduling by the league near the end of the year) with the remaining 8 falling on a Wednesday evening. 

5. FC Ryukyu will also play an even 7/6 split for their 13 weekend road games with only 7 road games occurring on a Wednesday night.

“The Long Winding Road”

6. FC Ryukyu’s Road fixtures that fall on a Wednesday night in order of farthest expected distance to be traveled: (1) Zweigen Kanazawa September 2nd , (2) Matsumoto Yamaga FC September 23rd , (3) Tochigi SC October 21st , (4) Mito Hollyhock December 16th , (5) Ventforet Kofu November 4th , (6) Jubilo Iwata November 25th  and (7) Avispa Fukuoka November 11th.

7. FC Ryukyu have 6 instances where they play back-to-back road games; 2 of which occur in the month of November. Of those 6 instances, 3 have a break of only 3 days between games; Zweigen/Machida in September, Omiya/Kofu in November as well as Fukuoka/Nagasaki that same month.

“The Comforts of Home”

8. FC Ryukyu’s Home fixtures that fall on a Wednesday night in order of farthest distance traveled by their opponents: (1)  Albirex Niigata September 30th, (2) Zweigen Kanazawa December 2nd, (3) Ventforet Kofu August 12th, (4) Tochigi SC August 19th, (5) Thespakusatsu Gunma October 14th, (6) Omiya Ardija September 9th, (7) Jubilo Iwata July 29th and (8) V-Varen Nagasaki on July 15th.  

9. FC Ryukyu have 5 instances of back-to-back home games this year with two of those occurring in succession for an outstanding 4 home matches in a row between November 28th to December 13th (roughly 2 weeks).

“Of Note”

10. Out of FC Ryukyu’s 8 Wednesday Night opponents they face at home, only 1 (Kofu) has an away match the weekend prior. Jubilo and Nagasaki each have one after their mid-week match up against FC Ryukyu. Compared to their Wednesday opponents they face at home; FC Ryukyu have 2 instances of back to back away-away matches with the first match of the series falling on a weekend.

11. FC Ryukyu will play Jubilo Iwata, Ventforet Kofu, Zweigen Kanazawa and Tochigi SC only on Wednesday’s this year.

12. FC Ryukyu play 6 out of their final 8 fixtures at home in 2020.

“Estimated Toughest Stretch of Games based on last season’s finish and expected finish in 2020”

1. 09/09/2020-10/11/2020 (8 games in 4.5 weeks): Omiya (H), Kyoto (A), Mito (H), Matsumoto (A), JEF (H), Niigata (H), Tokushima (A) and Montedio (A).

2. 10/24/2020-11/04/2020 (3 games in 10 days): Kyoto (H), Omiya (A) and Kofu (A)

“Estimated Easiest Stretch of Games based on last season’s finish and expected finish in 2020”

1. 08/16/2020-08/19/2020: Gunma (A) and Tochigi (H)

My Thoughts

We should all be glad there is no relegation this season as these fixtures will certainly test the depth of the FC Ryukyu squad. The squad currently has 2 healthy strikers on the team. That means we will likely see some of our MFs playing the role of a “false-9” to spell the 2 strikers. Hopefully there are some loan signings the team can make throughout the season as we are approaching the summer transfer window because injuries and suspensions will crush this team. But you have to wonder if the larger J1 clubs, that usually loan players, may decide to hold onto them in the event they face the same situation in addition to the real possibility of players contracting COVID-19 and being forced to stay away from the team for an extended period of time.

Easing into the season is nice but the 15 games in August and September, in this Okinawa heat, may become a factor as far as fatigue for the players. On that note, the worst part of the schedule has to be November based on the 8 fixtures, of which 3 are road trips during the mid-week. Again, good thing relegation is off the table for 2020.

There are some limited opportunities for the club to cost costs during their road schedule if they opt to stay on mainland Japan between matches. There normal cost of lodging, transportation and food for the traveling element will increase based on the extra days spent on mainland but it may result in reduced injuries and fatigue to the players who have to board a plane every other day. This would also require some coordination with local municipalities for the use of a training ground while they are away from Okinawa. Professional NFL teams who travel from either coast of the U.S., and have consecutive games in those time zones, often due this to mitigate much of what is stated above (in addition for the players to adjust their internal clocks to times zones that are 3 hours apart).

The end of November and December sets up nicely for us to enjoy a run of 4 home games in a row as well as to close out the season in 2020 at home. If, and that is a huge IF at this point, FC Ryukyu somehow found their way into a promotion spot, that schedule would prove massive for the club.

In closing, I am looking forward to the restart of the season as I expect many of you are as well. Who knows what the future holds for the league, and whether or not COVID-19 will let us complete the 2020 season? In the meantime, enjoy the football we do have and I cannot wait to see how FC Ryukyu navigate this schedule in 2020.  

Link to the new FC Ryukyu Schedule: http://fcryukyu.com/result/

The J-League Interview Series Part 6: Tokyo Verdy (@Verdy_Eng) #verdy #FC琉球

It has been a long 6 weeks since the last entry in this series dropped with the fabulous duo of Alex and Thomas from the FC Tokyo Kai Guys Twitter account. A lot has changed for many of us with the ongoing battle against COVID-19 and the struggle to maintain some semblance of normal life. In my case, it has been a mix of struggles and joy. It was really hard trying to explain to my young children why they can, or cannot, frequent some establishments and play with their friends while juggling my career. It has also been a blessing to spend so much time with them that I might not have otherwise been able to do had CV-19 not came to the forefront.

While it seems Okinawa, in addition to other places around the world, are experiencing some success at combating the spread of CV-19, we should not let our guard down or rush a return to a way of life before the virus took hold this past January. It is all our responsibility to limit the impact of the 2nd, 3rd, 4th and probably 20th wave of CV-19 by adhering to the protective measures put in place by the local authorities as well as using a bit of common sense.

Even with all of this, the protests in the U.S., and rest of the world, show us that there are far more important things than football in this world. Complex problems require complex solutions and just because things are unsettling to discuss or are difficult to solve does not mean we should’t make every effort to do so.

With that being said, this Blog is here to provide an insight into FC Ryukyu as well as provide some enjoyment for those that love the sport of football. I will always remain true to those ideas but I have a responsibility to mention things outside of football from time to time that are just too important to ignore.

On that note, we are quickly approaching the return of the J-League here in Japan with a target date of June 27th for the J2/J3 and July 4th for the J1. That means I will be transitioning out of this interview series and back into the normal match day previews, reviews and oped pieces. Please enjoy this interview and as always, stay safe.

Just a reminder since it has been so long between entries, my questions and responses will appear in bold on here. Enjoy the interview.

Today we are lucky enough to speak with the author of the unofficial Tokyo Verdy Blog, https://verdyunofficialenglish.wordpress.com/, as well as the https://jleaguefanchris.wordpress.com/ blog, Chris. Chris, welcome, it is a pleasure to finally be able to conduct this interview. I began following your Tokyo Verdy blog shortly after it started last season as I truly enjoy the perspectives from all those that blog or tweet about their J2 team in English.

What I didn’t know was that you started blogging back in 2013 with your JLeaguefanchris blog. Over 7 years of blogging is pretty impressive my friend considering the amount of time and effort (unpaid at that) it requires to conduct these labors of love.

So, tell us a little bit about yourself and how you came into supporting the J League, Tokyo Verdy and most importantly, why you began your two blogs?

First off, it’s a pleasure to do this interview. Well my name is Chris and I am a wrestling/anime and manga/video game fan along with being a big football fan. I have loved football since I was very young and then I got into anime and manga when I was in my teens, which made discovering the J-League no surprise after doing some research and getting to know the teams in the league.

When I was in college at about 16, I actually got into supporting Tokyo Verdy as I saw they were dealing with financial problems at the exact time that the old Spennymoor club (United), a team I followed, folded. I really felt sorry for both set of fans who love Verdy as much as I did United so I kind of started keeping my eye on Verdy. But it was the 2012 World Cup in Japan and South Korea where I really became heavily invested in the JLeague and when I began the JLeagueFanChris twitter account/blog.

A few years later I actually started the Verdy twitter account/blog because I found Verdy to be my kind of club with all of the problems they’ve had before and I’ve had to deal with while supporting Spennymoor United.

Q. Apologies to all for switching gears, but I have to ask Chris about the town of Spennymoor England that he lists as his location on Twitter. I have never been that far north in England and I had to poke around Wikipedia to see what the town was all about.

I see that it is a relatively small town of around 20,000 people but there is a football club, Spennymoor Town FC, that ply their trade in the 6th tier of English football known as the National League North -where they currently sit 6th and well inside the promotion playoff bracket- but with the season suspended it remains to be seen how their bid for promotion will play out.

Do you support this club or do you fancy one of the larger clubs that are in relative proximity to your current location? They do have a fantastic crest and kit though!

Well I do support Spennymoor Town and I have done since the new club came around in 2005.  I was 10 years old since I started following The Moors (the nickname for the club) when my dad brought me along to a cup final game in the Durham Challenge Cup (County Cup for the Durham FA). After Spennymoor United folded in 2005, a new club called Town rose from their ashes and started in the Northern League Division 2 and have spent a couple of seasons in that league.

The 2019-20 season sees the club in the National League North – missed out on promotion to the National League losing on penalties in the Play Off Final to Chorley last season but it was a fantastic time overall. I’ve been to see a couple of Newcastle games, one FA Cup game and a Europa League game but I follow Spennymoor Town Home and Away, it’s my main passion in life and I’ve lived here all my life.

That’s awesome. I can relate to your sentiments on following smaller clubs that are trying mightily to make their way up the lower leagues with aspirations of achieving lofty goals. It makes it all the better when they do.

I’m actually a volunteer for STFC – I sell programs and then go off to start filming the games for highlights to be made for YouTube (MoorsTV). I actually started filming clips of the goals in 2005 and uploaded them to YouTube but now it’s turned into recording the full 90 minutes.

I couldn’t hold it together for a full 90’ minutes as a FC Ryukyu fan to film their games.

Spennymoor Town’s progress has been amazing – the people behind the scenes who have built the club up have done such amazing job – the ground, the STFC youth’s pitches, the moors tavern pub and the sports bar in the ground – just got a ladies team this season as well and they have done really well.

Spennymoor, like a lot of places in the north, was a coalmining town with the village called Tudhoe also known for coal mining coal. Rothmans International (Cigarette Factory), Thorns Lighting, Electrolux, Black & Decker and Woolworths were some of the big shops/companies that were in the main high street/out of the town but only Thorns is left out of the 4 and the main high street is looking pretty bad with only a very few shops remaining. Greggs/A Local Opticians, the post office, charity shops, amusement shops and plenty of pubs and newsagents around the town as well. It has a lovely park called the Jubilee Park, a leisure center, a library, a hardware shop and plenty of supermarkets. Spennymoor has its own bus station at the bottom of the main high street which goes into Bishop Auckland/Durham/Newcastle since the 60’s

That was a very nice introduction to your hometown, thanks for that.

Q. Seeing how your JLeagueChris blog dates back to 2013, where you one of the original bloggers in English for the J league at the time? What information, blogs, podcasts or twitter accounts were around in 2013 that covered the J League in English?

I’m not sure on being one of the original ones to start blogging about the JLeague, that’s probably down to the likes of JSoccer Magazine (@JSoccermagazine), the JTalk Podcast (@JTalkPod) and a few other bloggers that were around before me like Fujieda MYFC and Stuart Smith’s FC Gifu blog. But I think was the first one to blog the scores from J1/2/JFL at the time as only limited info on the league was available in English on sties like Wikipedia and Soccerway.  I probably used them the most in the early days of JLeagueFanChris

Q. You first ever tweet from the Unofficial Tokyo Verdy English Twitter Account was the match preview vs. V-Varen Nagasaki back in August of 2017 but how long was the Unofficial Verdy English blog around before that tweet?

The blog was probably around maybe a month or so prior as I spent a majority of my time designing it, making the layout presentable and gathering as much info about the players/coaches as I could before making the match preview against V-Varen. I also needed to make sure the tags are all there and so much more – it was a lot of work but when I got started, I just started to enjoy making the matchday preview’s/reviews.

I am with you there; I think my match day previews are both my favorite to write as well the best thing I put forth. My match day recap usually contains a lot of the frustrations (or praise) depending on the week’s result. I am not as good as the boys on the J-Talk Pod series who have a much better take on the games from a technical perspective and can offer a far better post-match analysis than my usual rants and raves.

Q. Have you been to Japan before to see Tokyo Verdy live?

No, I would love to go to Japan and see Verdy live though. I wouldn’t just see Verdy though. I’d spend time exploring the Tokyo area and maybe take in a Verdy away game as well so I can see how people travel to away games in Japan compared to here in the UK.

Let me tell you, away games are a blast. First, you get to experience another part of Japan that you may not have otherwise and for anyone considering taking in any match in Japan, home or away, you need to refer to Chris’s Lost in Football Blog/Vlog (@LiFJapan) as he breaks everything down in spectacular fashion so even those of us living in Japan, who don’t speak Japanese (me!), can navigate to the stadium and enjoy the local area.

Q. How often do you tune into the Tokyo Verdy matches each week? Do you watch them on Bet360 similar to how @DanielVVN does?

I just watch the Tokyo Verdy highlights from the official JLeague YouTube channel or off Verdy’s own YouTube channel

Q. It should be noted that you are no longer going to conduct the Match Day Preview/Recaps for Tokyo Verdy moving forward. While I will miss reading your entries each week, I completely understand that sometimes life gets in the way of our hobbies. May I ask what happened? I do see that you will still provide information regarding your club on the blog though.

To be honest, I just feel like I was copying the same thing over and over again for each preview/review. I thought it would be better to stop them but I won’t stop blogging info about players/new coaches etc because I like to know about all the players who will be playing in the green shirt of Verdy and their history when it come to prior clubs they’ve played for and where they come from.

Whatever happens in the future, I hope you can return to form as it provided a great glimpse into the club each week.

Q. On that note, whenever this season resumes, or when the 2021 campaign begins, I would love to solicit your input in any match day preview/review when FC Ryukyu and Tokyo Verdy square off if you wouldn’t mind.

I wouldn’t mind it at all.

Q. Speaking of 2019, that was a truly exciting match the first time that FC Ryukyu faced Tokyo Verdy in April 2019. The return leg in Okinawa made me want to vomit though as we would lose that match, plus the remaining 3 games at home in 2019 while being outscored 11-3 in that small stretch! But, that first game over a year ago was exciting.

I saw the highlights on the JLeague YouTube page and that first game as a Verdy fan was a sickener when FC Ryukyu equalized in injury time but the away game was a big win with a hat-trick for a Verdy player. As a fan of Spennymoor it’s happened this season with a 3-0 loss away to Kings Lynn but a 5-1 win over Gloucester City at home – football can be full of highs and lows.

Well said brother. The emotional roller-coaster ride every week makes football great.

You can see all of Chris’s work on these matches at the links below.

https://verdyunofficialenglish.wordpress.com/2019/04/12/matchday-9-2019-season-preview-tokyo-verdy-v-fc-ryukyu/

https://verdyunofficialenglish.wordpress.com/2019/04/18/matchday-9-2019-season-review-tokyo-verdy-1-1-fc-ryukyu/

https://verdyunofficialenglish.wordpress.com/2019/10/11/matchday-36-2019-season-preview-fc-ryukyu-v-tokyo-verdy

https://verdyunofficialenglish.wordpress.com/2019/10/18/matchday-36-2019-season-review-fc-ryukyu-1-5-tokyo-verdy/

Q. What was your outlook for Tokyo Verdy heading into the 2020 season? What transfers, in and out, really impacted the squad this year?

It’s kind of hard to know only after one game being played before the halt due to COVID-19. I really don’t know how the new players will impact the team but Verdy usually have a fair few player coming in and going out with some of them coming in from their fantastic Youth teams. I hope Verdy finish in the top 10 this year but I’d prefer they fight for the playoffs after a few seasons of getting into the top 6 but finishing 13th place last year.

It seems so many questions still surround the restart of the season, where games will be played if broken down geographically and then of course, how promotion will work.

Q. So, what have you been doing to occupy your time during this “interim” period between Verdy matches?

Getting into football in other countries that are still playing despite what is going on in the world right now with CV-19. For example, I’ve started watching football from Belarus and South Korea since it’s been strange to have no football occurring at all in the UK but football, but there is talk of restarting behind closed doors here.

Q. Tokyo Verdy were founded in 1969 (as Yomiuri FC). I am not sure if that makes them one of the oldest, or oldest, remaining clubs still in existence today but that is a lengthy history. What are some of the more memorable, and forgettable moments, in the club’s long history?

Yes, it’s a long history for Verdy or as Yomiuri FC when it started in 1969. It was Yomiuri who made the rapid rise into the JSL (Japan Soccer League) Second Division and winning 2 titles and getting promoted to the JSL First Division and winning 5 titles. Then the JLeague started in 1993 (winning the JLeague Cup in 1992) and winning 2 league titles as Verdy Kawasaki along with winning a couple of Emperors Cup’s along the way have provided some great moments for this club.

But the forgettable moments began with having to leave the Kawasaki area after low crowds and then relegation from J1. Though they only spent 2 seasons in J2 and returned to the J1 for 1 season before being relegated again in 2009 and have remained in the J2 ever since.  It hasn’t been all bad for Verdy in J2 – even though the average crowds is lower than you would want- Verdy has had some success in J2 recently .

I took in a Tokyo Verdy vs Ehime FC match last year at the Ajinomoto and it has to be nearly impossible for Verdy to fill that stadium each week due to the overall size. Not sure if they’d prefer playing at one of the smaller pitches That would make for a better atmosphere or they simply won’t based on the history of the club and some perceived notion that they must play in the Ajinomoto as an original plank-holder of the J-league.

Q. Considering that Tokyo Verdy has been around for 51 years, who are their bitter rivals and what makes for the best derby match?

Probably Verdy’s rivals are their fellow Tokyo side at Ajinomoto Stadium, FC Tokyo, along with JEF United Chiba and FC Machida Zelvia.

Q. I see that you also do some work on the women’s national league here in Japan, the Nadeshiko League. How did you begin following women’s football and do you follow Women’s Football throughout Europe as well? I ask, as I would assume the European Leagues, and not sure which one in particular, have some of the best women’s players in the world?

I did a bit of research on Verdy and also did some research on the team in NTV Beleza who were formed in 1981 as Yomiuri SC Ladies Beleza. They are probably the most successful Women’s team in Japan having won Division 1 of the Nadeshiko League a whopping 17 times and finishing runner up 12 times.  They have also won the Empress Cup 14 times, league cup 7 times and even the Super Cup twice and done the domestic treble twice (2007 and 2018).

As England have the Women’s Super League and the Women’s Championship – women’s football has been growing a lot in England’s top Women’s leagues and all the way down to the local leagues in each region. I’m really glad the women’s game is actually getting more support.

Q. If not mentioned earlier, what other sports and teams do you support? (if you like esports as well that’s great)

FC Krumkachy (Belarus First Division).

Wasn’t expecting that, nice answer.

Q. What is a typical match day routine for you in England with the J-League and whatever other teams you follow?

Matchday for Spennymoor home games begins with me waking up and having breakfast and listening to the radio until about 12pm. I then get dressed in my typical match day attire consisting of trousers/polo shirt, jumper and a nice pair of shoes. I then get a lift down to the football ground around 1pm and have a meeting with the stewards before getting ready to receive the fans coming to the ground.

I prepare the match day programs to sell to people and then at a certain time I go off to start recording the players and officials coming out of the tunnel.  After the match, I’ll head to the tunnel to a get an interview with the management and/or a player(s) and then give the SD Card to my media man so he can do the highlights for YouTube

For away games it begins by going to the pub before catching the bus that takes us to the game where ever it maybe. I’ll pick up my media pass/ticket for the media area where I will film the game and then leaving the footage with the media team before heading back home and returning to the pub where I started the day.

Match days are quite busy for you it seems. Love the pub routine on the book ends of the away trip.

Q. What has been Tokyo Verdy’s best kit throughout it’s history? (Have a pic?)

There are a couple of famous Yomiuri FC kits that look so nice but it’s kind of tough to really choose but I got my own shirt, it was the 2015 Tokyo Verdy home shirt.

Pic?

Q. It seems at times that Verdy can get a lot of Shtick when it comes to results and promotion. Why is that? Is this a side that many like to hate or a just unfortunate at times which has developed its own reputation?

I guess it was because Verdy were such big name in back in the 90’s and now they are struggling to secure promotion or large crowds in the J2. But a lot of teams in any country start off small and then grow big and some teams struggle with low crowd sizes or other things like financial problems.

I am experiencing all of that right now -as far as from a financial and crowd size perspective – for FC Ryukyu.

It’s a real shame for those who follow Verdy through with all these ups and downs for the club but they support the team through thick and the thin. And they love going to Verdy games to fly the green flags and supporting the players through it all.

Q. I missed a massive opportunity when I was in England to partake in some pies from the birthplace of these delectable items. For a guy whose only ever eaten a pie in Thailand from an Expat restaurant, or the frozen type out of the Japanese Max Value, please describe the best kind of pie and the best way to eat one of these things?

As a vegetarian of 30 years, it’s tough for me to even have any sort of pie when it comes to the meat sort.  As a dish I usually have is vegetables and Yorkshire puddings – it’s really the best as my parents make some lovely Yorkshire puddings.

Q. Since we are on the subject of food, what are some of the best places to eat where you live and what are their specialties?

Frankie and Benny’s or TGI Friday’s is usually where me and the family go. But there are some great Italian/American restaurants here, but if we stop off when the driver needs a break then it’s McDonalds, WHSmith’s or Burger King or something else like that.

Q. Who is your favorite player in the 2020 Tokyo Verdy squad and who is your all-time favorite to dawn the green?

Takahiro Shibasaki – Goalkeeper – Number 1 – as a bit of a goalkeeper when I was younger, I always go for the goalkeepers, so Shibasaki is my pick and he’s currently probably one of the longest serving players at Verdy. But Verdy has some really good players in the squad this year.

All-time favorite players have to be Naoto Kamifukumoto – another goalkeeper, just the name stands out and he really didn’t miss many games in the 2018 and the 2019 seasons (played 42 times each season). Another player was Alan Pinheiro – probably one of my favorite forwards at Verdy and scored a fair amount of goals before he left for fellow Tokyo team in JEF United Chiba.

Q. In your opinion, how well does the club release information to the fans across their official accounts and web pages and what would you like them to change/address in the future?

Verdy actually do a good job releasing information regarding the season tickets or players signing/being released/signing a new contract etc. Tokyo Verdy’s website also has English/Spanish/Brazilian/Thai languages in addition to Japanese, so it’s makes for a fantastic experience for many readers looking to find any info regarding the history of the cub or match day info.

The 5 language options are very impressive.

Q. Also, have you had any contact with the club, in any form for any reason once you’ve started your blog or as a supporter?

Not really, I got a follow back which I’m very happy about and I’ve had a retweet from the official account regarding the 4-3 win over FC Gifu a few seasons ago and that’s about it.

That’s solid.

Q. Have you met any famous footballers (J-League or other) during your time as a fan of the sport?

Peter Reid (opened one of the main stands at Spennymoor United), Peter Beardsley (been at a few Spennymoor Town games last season) and I’m sure there have been a few players for teams like Middlesbrough/Newcastle/Sunderland who have had pre-season games here that I may have bumped into.  

Q. Tell us the name of the podcasts/twitter Football accounts, outside of the J-League, you follow and why we need to as well?

For podcasts it’s usually the World Football Phone In, The Peter Crouch Podcast, Fighting Talk and BBC F1 Podcasts – a lot of BBC podcasts usually and for video games is Dreamcast Junkyard Podcast and for non-league football – it’s the Non-League Football Show.

Q. How has life changed for you and friends and family during these difficult and unprecedented times with COVID-19?

For me personally, life hasn’t changed all that much. Like everyone else being stuck inside their house, I’ve had to deal with life without football.

For the family, it’s affected my dad from going to work but he can still work from home, but my mom cannot go out and help her mother and friends with anything like shopping or cleaning the house like she normally would.

Missing my friends at the football club but there are some people at the football club that have continued to take care of the football pitch and any other things that need doing when football does return.

The floor Is yours Chris. Please talk/discuss/point out anything you wish.

A genuine thank you to you for letting me do this interview – please make sure you and your family and friends stay safe as well. Let’s hope we can get through this really strange time and go back to seeing football but most of all, taking care of people/family and friends.

Well said.

Well, Chris, it was an absolute pleasure. Please stay safe and I hope the long layoff between Tokyo Verdy matches can rekindle the fire you had for producing the Tokyo Verdy Match Day Previews and Reviews. You can follow Chris at his two Twitter accounts of @Verdy_Eng and @JLeagueFanChris along with his Tokyo Verdy Blog, https://verdyunofficialenglish.wordpress.com. Until next time; stay safe, stay at home and let’s all kick this COVID-19 thing together!