Intro
The J-League season kicked off in earnest this past weekend where FC Ryukyu hosted Jubilo Iwata in the opening fixture of 2021. Despite all the weather forecasts predicting a rather nice day to enjoy football, it was anything but with all the rain here in Okinawa. However, the wet weather didn’t dampen the spirits of the home crowd, or the team, as FC Ryukyu notched their first points, and first home win of the season by defeating Iwata 1-0 in front of 3,800 fans thanks to a Ren Ikeda first minute goal set up by none other than Keita Tanaka.
- Match Recap
- Man of the Match
- Review of the Keys to Victory for FC Ryukyu
- Takeaways from Round 1
- Match Prediction
- Match Day 1 in J2
- Conclusion
1. Match Recap
2. Man of the Match
Junto Taguchi GK FC Ryukyu: The man was the sea wall that broke the unrelenting waves of the Iwata attack. 24 shots, 11 on target, and a little help from the framework. Junto continued the fine form he was in at the end of last season and despite my reservations, I think it is safe to say, he is the Ryukyu #1 GK moving forward.
3. Review of the Keys to Victory for FC Ryukyu
1. Keep the foot on the Gas Pedal: Likelihood 3. Kind of hard to do this when they had less than 40% possession on the day. FC Ryukyu played on the back foot nearly all game.
2. Score from Set Pieces: Likelihood 2. Seeing how we created so few chances, from such little possession, there was only one clear cut chance to score from a CK, that Chinen sent wide.
4. Takeaways from Round 1
1. FC Ryukyu looked well organized at the back. This despite all the talk of attacking football by the manager. The combination of Okazaki and Chinen worked to perfection and Taguchi has probably earned DAZN first team honors this week with his performance. We will have to wait and see if this trend continues as I think when the game opens up to Ryukyu, so too will our defense to our opponents. The fact that Ryukyu were under constant pressure meant they had to compact their defense and play out from the back, but even then, the Ryukyu attackers didn’t help the cause with turnovers on their end that turned into quick counter attacks by Iwata.
2. Some of the questions surrounding the team were answered yesterday. First, Taguchi is the preferred #1 over Dany Carvajal at the moment. Second, and much to my dismay, Ikeda was given the nod over Nakagawa at CAM. We saw this early last year before Koizumi came on to usurp Ikeda, but Higuchi’s faith in Ikeda turned out to be correct as he was the lone goal scorer on the day. Third, Yong Jick was left out of the lineup and Chinen looked very good in his place. Finally, Higuchi dressed 3 reserve forwards in Uehara, Shintaro and Akamine. Considering the depth we have at MF, this was a bit of a shock. Maybe he expected to need the services of so many attacking players if Ryukyu were to chase the game, but that never happened.
3. We finally saw a Central Defender rise to meet a header on a CK. Chinen came close to pushing the score line to 2-0 on a set piece but it was sent wide. However, it was encouraging to see a central defender get involved on a limited number of set pieces, and I haven’t seen a header with that much aggression behind it in quite some time down here.
4. There were some missed chances that could’ve made all the difference yesterday. Ryukyu narrowly dodged some bullets when Iwata hit the woodwork, and Shintaro had a golden opportunity to seal the game late on for Ryukyu only to come up short. He took possession of the ball just inside the halfway line of Ryukyu, turned on the jets, and somehow made it all the way into the Iwata 18-yard box untouched and alone on goal. Unfortunately, the finish wasn’t nearly as spectacular as the setup, as the shot was stopped by the Iwata keeper. I guess we got a small glimpse into the streaky nature of this player.
5. Prediction
I thought this game would’ve ended 2-2, instead, it was 1-0 to FC Ryukyu. Season record 0-0-1.
6. Match Day 1 in J2
V-Varen Nagasaki asserted themselves early against Kanazawa, and then hung on late to win. Akita lost in their J2 debut match, as did Sagamihara, with the grudge match between Zelvia and Yamagata ending 1-1. Perhaps the warning signs are already there for Kitakyushu and Ehime as they were soundly beaten in their opening fixtures.
7. Conclusion
It is always nice getting that first win, that first home win, and it is even better when it is on opening day. Iwata was a far better side in the attack yesterday, and thanks to a bit of luck, were kept off the score sheet. Iwata were one of the teams I mentioned in an earlier blog that FC Ryukyu had failed to beat, and would need to beat, if they wished to achieve the lofty target of 80 points. Time will tell and I will keep a log of all the points over, and under, expectation that Ryukyu net in 2021.
The win on Sunday has really put FC Ryukyu in a nice spot to take 9 points from their first 3 matches of 2021. A fast start, similar to the one we saw from Ryukyu in 2019, could provide the same type of cushion from those teams facing relegation come the end of the season. If memory serves me, FC Ryukyu are now undefeated in games that are broadcast on the J-League International YouTube channel dating back to 2019 with a 3-1-0 record. Well, job done and now it is on to Renofa Yamaguchi this Saturday.
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