Intro
FC Ryukyu earned a draw last night against the top team in J2. The game itself was a very messy affair as it was raining for most of the match with the heaviest part occurring during the second half. Not how we wanted to show off Okinawa and FC Ryukyu to the international viewers on YouTube, but you cannot control mother nature.
- Match Review
- Review of the Keys to Victory for FC Ryukyu
- Man of the Match
- Match Predictions
- Match Day 5 Takeaways
- Around the J2 on Match Day 5
- Top Goals from Round 5
- Conclusion
1. Match Review
FC Ryukyu had plenty of chances to put this one away yesterday but ultimately failed to do so. Overall, the performance from both the offense and defense was much better and I have to assume that comes from the introduction of several changes in the lineup. On the bad side, there were also numerous errant passes, that had they connected, this review would have been much different. While we will get that from time to time, and the weather certainly didn’t help, hopefully that can be tightened up in the coming weeks so as to produce some better results.
Suzuki and Ikeda, returned to the lineup for the first time since match day 1 and so did Taguchi in net. Suzuki looked good out there yesterday and despite the fact that he missed on the cross that Nagasaki scored on, I don’t want to over-analyze it or see him lose any of the intensity he displayed last night.
Tanaka’s role as the starting RB came as a bit of surprise but he did quite well. I know I was all over Higuchi at the end of the match as it felt that another opportunity had slipped away, but his changes revitalized the lineup and the young players are really starting to shine.
Don’t forget to check out Daniel’s review of the match over at the Nagasaki Blue & Orange Blog!
https://nagasakiblueorange.wordpress.com/2020/07/16/match-report-fc-ryukyu-1-1-v-varen-nagasaki/
2. Review of the Keys to Victory for FC Ryukyu
1. Do not press Nagasaki, rather, use the counter attack to generate goals: Likelihood 3. Nope, we went right at them. But it didn’t matter as we looked good in the attack and the lone Nagasaki goal was from a set piece.
2. Do not hold a high defensive line: Likelihood 2. Nope, in fact, it was an awkwardly shaped back line as Tanaka thrust forward more than he dropped back to cover the CBs. There were a few times when an a pass was cut off for Tanaka and Nagasaki had a huge amount of space to run into. I guess, you live by the sword, you die by the sword.
3. Man of the Match
RB (?) Keita Tanaka FC Ryukyu: Tanaka was a force to be reckoned with last night as he was creating chance after chance and contributed on Ikeda’s goal with an assist. He sent a few dangerous crosses through the Nagasaki 6-yard box that unfortunately went unanswered which would’ve changed the outcome of this match. I look forward to seeing Tanaka, who I deemed at the start of the season in February, as FC Ryukyu’s comeback player of the year this season.
4. Match Day Predictions
I said 3-0 in favor of Nagasaki and Daniel said 2-0. It ended 1-1 thus dropping me to 0-2-3 on the year.
5. Match Day 5 Takeaways
It is hard to be either upset or optimistic at this point. FC Ryukyu are the only team in J2 that has not won a game this season and they have yet to score multiple goals in a game, or maintain a clean sheet.
1. Keita Tanaka looked good at RB and it definitely showed on the score sheet. Why not drop the two full backs and replace them as wingers and play with a back 3? We would then need to drop a CMF but that could provide some serious thrust forward. FC Ryukyu had 15 shots last night, of which 13 found the target, so the idea of having 2 additional attackers vice 4 defenders seems better suited for these times.
2. All told, Higuchi made six changes to the lineup on Wednesday with the aforementioned Tanaka at RB; Suzuki back in at CB along side Yong Jick; swapped the starting MF positions of Koya and Motegi; rested Abe for Uehara, and swapped Dany Carvajal for Junto Taguchi in net. Personally, I don’t think that Dany was the problem these past few weeks. You saw how few shots Taguchi faced (5) with a better offense in front of him, not to mention a solid defender in Suzuki. We will see how Higuchi rotates the two keepers this year but Suzuki and Tanaka must be in the lineup moving forward.
3. Ren Ikeda notched his first goal for FC Ryukyu last night and that was a welcome sight. I was glad to see both him and Suzuki in the lineup as I think they, along with Koizumi and Motegi, could form a very nice youthful core at FC Ryukyu.
4. Uehara did not get many opportunities this game and the ones that he did, you could tell he needs more, or less, game time. It is evident we need a third striker soon as Abe cannot be expected to play in every game, even as a sub.
6. Around J2 on Match Day 5
I guess you could say this round had a large amount of upsets in that some of the lower teams in the table achieved some surprising results. Gunma’s win over Yamagata on the road; Tochigi upsetting top seed Omiya; Fukuoka defeating Jubilo and you can even throw in the FC Ryukyu and Kitakyushu draws. I wonder if all these mid-week games will really shake up the table, especially in August and November when there are so many fixtures, with so little rest in between.
7. Top Goals from Round 5 in J2
There were some thunderous headers this round but here are the three I picked out as the best goals from this round.
#1 Daichi Tagami’s FK against Zelvia (5:40)
#2 Miyasaka’s Knuckleball against Yamagata (0:00)
#3 Haruya Ide’s Curler against Kofu (4:20)
8. Conclusion
It’s coming. That is all I can say at this point after five FC Ryukyu matches. More goals will start to drop, the defense may start to shore up with Suzuki, and the young guns on this team may start producing the results that many of us have hoped for. The past five games, 4 most recently, would test any of the teams in the J2 with the strength of those opponents. For now, FC Ryukyu get a little respite as they travel North to take on Renofa Yamaguchi on Saturday followed by Ehime FC the following weekend. Let’s hope that the impact from these past four matches will only strengthen FC Ryukyu as they navigate the upcoming fixtures.
One final note. I got to enjoy the match with my father who lives in the U.S. thanks in part to the J-League broadcasting the game on their international YouTube channel. I really enjoyed that as it has been some time since we’ve done that and I was glad that he was able to watch the team that I support. But I was also a little disappointed that the club’s Twitter account didn’t bother to retweet, or advertise, the international broadcast. It was basically a free marketing product that may have gone unnoticed if not for the team’s loyal following. I mean, even the Nagasaki account retweeted the J-League advert.
ryukyuarmy.com 
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