Intro
This was not the type of performance you expected, or wanted, to see out of Ryukyu following a tough defeat to Niigata last week. Ryukyu were extremely sloppy in the first half and only mustered a single shot on net the entire opening period. We all knew Blaublitz Akita was going to be a tough nut to crack at the back, but Ryukyu looked uninspired in the attack all day. The dozen or more turnovers that Ryukyu committed didn’t help the situation though Takuma Abe and Tetsuya Chinen did all they could to keep Ryukyu in the game. Abe finally returned to the score sheet with an impressive solo effort in stoppage time where his shot took an in-between-bounce over the Akita keeper to break the deadlock. But the joy of taking the lead late in the game was short lived as within 30 seconds of Abe’s goal, Ryukyu conceded the equalizer.
- Highlights
- Man of the Match
- Review of the Keys to Victory
- Prediction
- Talking Points
- Round 17 in J2
- Conclusion
1. Match Day 17 Highlights
2. Man of the Match
FC Ryukyu DF Tetsuya Chinen: Whenever Ryukyu needed someone to step up and make a play, Chinen was there. He was closing down attackers, cutting off passes, getting back into position after several dozen Ryukyu turnovers and was our spark plug at the back. The only smudge on his otherwise clean record was when he came out a little too far to challenge for the ball in the air on Akita’s goal as it pulled him a little out of position and he wasn’t able to kill the drive with a clearance.
3. Review of the Keys to Victory for FC Ryukyu
1. Get to the 2-goal mark first. Likelihood 3. Fail! Ryukyu didn’t even get to the one goal mark until the 2nd minute of stoppage time in the second half.
2. Do not take them for granted. Likelihood 4. They may have just enough to allow Akita back in the game. It was a tale of two halves as Akita completely dominated Ryukyu in the first with Ryukyu taking charge in the second. But it was the mental collapse in the final sixty seconds of the game that did Ryukyu in.
3. Same as last week, set pieces will be key. Likelihood 2. Pass. Ryukyu gave Akita ample opportunities in the first half to score from set pieces but held firm in the end. However, when the offense was struggling to generate much of anything, and Ryukyu were gifted a few set pieces in dangerous areas, they couldn’t convert any of them.
4. Prediction
I said 2-1 to Ryukyu with Martin correctly tipping it to end in a 1-1 draw. I’ll take the loss here. Season Record 6-4-7.
5. Talking Points from Round 17
1. The injury crisis deepens. Taguchi’s surprise absence on the roster sent shockwaves through the Ryukyu fan base hours before kickoff. Word of his injury, 10-12 weeks with a broken bone in his hand, wasn’t released until the following Monday. This means Ryukyu are now down to their 3rd and 4th string goalies with only a special designated 16-year-old player as an emergency back-up. Inose took a knock to his ankle early in the first half but he was able to remain in the game, and Chinen was seen hobbling a little near the end of the game. Taguchi is likely gone until September, with Dany hopefully just a few short weeks away, but every minor injury now becomes a crisis situation. Much like 2019 when Ryukyu went through a midseason collapse that coincided with several injuries, we are seeing a carbon copy of that script here in 2021.
That ties into the question I brought up last week about the level of training Ryukyu conduct back here in Okinawa, and whether or not it needs to be dialed down a bit. Let’s be honest, we have a much older squad on average than most teams in J2, specifically in that most of the starters are over, or very close, to 30-years of age, so how much physical training is required for these guys to maintain peak performance each week? The news release from Ryukyu stated that Taguchi injured his hand during the Niigata match but I find it hard to believe he would’ve been able to continue in a game, one in which Ryukyu used only 4 out of the possible 5 substitutes, if he truly broke the bones at any point in the match. Especially one with so much at stake.
Ryukyu may have started off very strong this year, but if the training truly has been too brutal on the guys, then we are seeing the effects as the season progresses. Right now, Ryukyu are dealing with no less than 4 injuries, if we read the tea leaves on some players where there’s been no word of an injury, which seem to be related to unnecessary wear and tear. Granted, injuries will always occur throughout the season, but is enough being done during training to limit the impact of a 42-game season with large amounts of travel?
2. Turnovers were killer. FC Ryukyu couldn’t generate any type of attack in the first half with the high number of turnovers they committed in the central midfield. This provided Akita with numerous short counter attacks and chances to take the lead. Inose made a fine save on one such play but Ryukyu were bailed out on another when Yong Jick committed a heinous turnover in their end and it was very lucky that the Akita player severely miss hit the shot. Kiyotake can also be included in the egregious offender category for turnovers on Saturday. This was a day that the offense really needed to carry the day with the defense reeling with injuries and they simply couldn’t penetrate the Akita back line.
3. Mental lapses rearing their head once more. Aside from the aforementioned turnovers, there was the break down at the end of the game that saw Ryukyu concede a goal within 1-minute of scoring for the second consecutive week. Akita managed to make it all the way into the Ryukyu 18-yard box on 2 passes and put one past Inose to level the game with less than 60 seconds of stoppage time remaining. First, Chinen may have missed judged the flight of the ball when he came out a little too far, and then was unable to get into position to challenge the initial long ball from the Akita goal keeper. Then, Yong Jick opted to play the man, not the ball, which allowed the Akita player to knock the ball forward. Koki Kazama did all he could to delay the inevitable but Mikami was strong enough to hold off the challenge from Ryukyu. Seeing how Mikami was basically falling backwards, there was only one way he was going to put the shot on net and that was high. For his part, Inose stated in his post-game comments that he should have done better when setting the defensive line on that play but I think he should have seen how Mikami was setting up and played for the high shot, not a low liner from that tight of an angle.
4. Higuchi’s post-match comments. Higuchi received a lot of flak in the days following this game as he severely criticized Akita for “not playing football.” I don’t agree with those comments, nor condone them, as a way of shifting blame for how the team performed. First, your opponent always has a say in the game and if you are unable to make the necessary adjustments during the game, that is a failure of coaching. Second, it was evident that Akita were playing a physical type of football with Ryukyu early on and continued to do so when the referee allowed that type of play to continue unabated. The only card to be shown in the first half was awarded to the Ryukyu goal keeper coach who took umbrage with a late challenge to Inose who was nursing a bit of a knock to his ankle.
Third, give credit where credit is due to Akita. They had a game plan, executed that game plan, and earned a valuable point. In fact, Akita were probably more deserving of that point as they could’ve easily defeated Ryukyu had they not missed a few chances. Finally, you have five opportunities to make changes throughout the game and if you thought Akita was truly out there parking the bus, then you should have made changes earlier than the last 10 minutes of play so those changes could have a meaningful impact on the game.
5. It is going to be a cruel, cruel summer. Fire up Bananarama on your playlists and brace for a bumpy ride as Ryukyu face a daunting task of staying in the promotion race until the summer break. What was once a position of strength for Ryukyu, defense, has turned into their Achilles heel as of late. Ryukyu are no longer seeing out low scoring games for wins and that is unlikely to improve the next few months until players return from injury. To that point, the two categories for points accumulated over expectation and points dropped are starting to get to dangerously close to one another. Ryukyu probably sit about 10 points shy of avoiding relegation at this point, but I am not sure they will be able to maintain a place near the top of the table by the time fall rolls around.
6. The Emperors Cup looms large. Ryukyu will play their opening match of the Emperors Cup this Wednesday at Matsumoto Yamaga. I’ve never been a huge fan of this tournament, mainly because of the way it has to be organized with so few clubs owning their own stadium to go along with the drain on limited resources forcing Ryukyu to play another road game during an already long season. Higuchi stated that this is an important tournament for the club this year. I would agree that we need to get some bench players some playing time as injuries begin to mount but Ryukyu shouldn’t gamble with any of the starting eleven in the midweek. Tsumita is likely to start in net, needs some playing time if Inose is indeed dealing with an injury, with whole sale changes across the back and front. Ramon, Motegi, Nakagawa (?), Ichimaru, Yu, Shintaro, Fukui, Torikai, Makito, Yamashita, Murase, Paso, and Hitomi should all make the squad and see playing time. I would even like to see Sho Sawada (17) and Koki Yushin (16) get a call up. But you never know these days as it looked as if Ryukyu remained on the mainland for training in between these games and are unlikely to have flown in several replacements for this game.
6. Round 17 in J2
All three of the top three sides drew this week which allowed Jubilo Iwata to leapfrog FC Ryukyu into third place following their fourth win in a row. Apparently the four wins in a row is a franchise record for Jubilo Iwata. No real change after the top 4 sides this week but the gap near the bottom is beginning to widen for Omiya Ardija, on another managerial change this week, and SC Sagamihara.
7. Conclusion
Rocked by multiple injuries, with confidence waning, and the notion of promotion slowly slipping away, Ryukyu need to regroup and change whatever it is that they’ve been doing the past 7 rounds that has seen them tumble 2 spots outside of promotion. The midweek EC match is not what this team needs right now, though I can understand that it is an opportunity for some of the players to get some match minutes who have infrequently, or never, appeared for Ryukyu this season. This may turn out to be significant in the event we need to look to some of these players in the near future if the injuries continue to pile up.
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