Intro
There just isn’t a lot to be excited about these days. Ryukyu lost their fifth home game of the season 0-1 to Thespakusatsu Gunma on Saturday evening and are now last in the standings. Ryukyu have only earned a single point in six (6) home games this year and have lost five (5) of their last six (6) games. They own the worst record, the worst goal differential, have conceded the most goals and there seems to be no end in sight to the suffering.
Match Highlights
Takeaways from Match Day 10
1. Possession stats mean almost nothing for Ryukyu. People only notice the possession, and shots taken, statistics when they are a bit lopsided and the dominant team loses. Several sites reported different shot totals for Ryukyu but out of the eleven (11) total shots, from nearly 70% possession, I truly believe that only two (2) made it on net. I have stated in the past that teams can happily afford Ryukyu all the possession they want as they do very little with it. Playing it out from the back, moving the ball between the defenders and goalie doesn’t necessarily equate to controlling a game for Ryukyu. Teams who have far less possession than Ryukyu just create better chances, and score, on fewer touches.
2. Some fans believe the team lacked passion this round. If that is true, then it would seem Kina has lost the locker room. There was no real response from Ryukyu following the early goal from Gunma outside of a Kusano header that went just wide in the 75th minute despite the aforementioned possession. The system deployed and the tactics inside of it are simply not working. Changing the formation hasn’t worked; rotating players hasn’t worked; so what else can be done? I think we all know what the answer is.
Round 10 in J2
Yokohama FC won the big match this round with a 2-1 win over Sendai to remain top of the table. Zelvia leapfrogged Verdy thanks to a draw and loss by Verdy at Renofa Yamaguchi. The biggest news was Omiya grabbing their first win of the season to edge slightly ahead of Ryukyu, yet still remain three (3) points back of 20th place.
Conclusion
On to the next game I suppose. Ryukyu are four (4) points back from the team just above the drop zone and have a murderous run of fixtures ahead of them. The gap will continue to widen as we struggle for answers in both the attack and defense.
ryukyuarmy.com 