Intro
I am not overly disappointed with the recent Ryukyu loss as I think most Ryukyu fans expected this result. Ryukyu played well enough in the opening 45 minutes to keep them in the game before a pair of costly defensive turnovers led to two Sendai goals. I do not need historical data to tell me that teams who have started as poorly as Ryukyu have this year usually end up relegated. The 5/6 point gap between Ryukyu and safety might as well be 1,000,000 points with the way things are going. Two straight losses following a draw with possibly another two consecutive losses on the horizon this week.
Match Highlights
Match Day 11 Takeaways
1. Ryukyu played far better in the first half. Goes without saying when you conceded two goals in the second half and register just a single shot – off target of course – at goal. Ryukyu were under serious amounts of pressure within the opening few minutes of this match and it looked as if they would conceded a goal very early. I know we are not built to withstand that type of constant pressure so it was slightly encouraging to see them survive that barrage. But our chances were few and far between making the second half a painful watch.
2. Ryukyu went with a 3-4-2-1 again. Makito Uehara got his first start of the season and he did alright considering the situation. No doubt he is still a raw player that probably should have gone out on loan this season to get some valuable playing time, but he flashed a few times to give us a glimpse of what he could be as a player. I’ve said all along that he has a very nice first step, burst, and long distance speed which we witnessed in the first half. I truly don’t believe he should be playing a fullback role as he seems better suited as CDM and lacks the type of touch we see from Tanaka, and sometimes Numata. He took some pretty rough angles when defending, made a costly turnover inside the box that led to a goal, but has the exact temperament and drive you want in a player during a brutal campaign that doesn’t have much else going right. Hopefully we see more of him or at the very least, see him depart on loan in the summer as he needs some time develop.
3. Ryukyu were a bit of a turnover machine on Saturday. Turnovers are inevitable, two were deadly, but there were plenty of careless turnovers by Ryukyu in the midfield that made for some seriously tense moments. No player, other than Tanaka maybe, was safe from turning the ball over and Ryukyu were rightfully punished for their mistakes. I am not sure if Ryukyu will ever break the habit of playing it out from the back, and to be honest, we probably lack the quality players in the back line to successfully execute this style of passing.
Round 11 in J2
Two of the more exciting games this week were Mito Hollyhock versus Renofa Yamaguchi in which there were a couple of lead changes by each side before Mito scored the winner in stoppage time. Then there was the Nagasaki vs Niigata match in which all three (goals) in that game came within a span of eight (8) minutes.
Conclusion
The losses continue to pile up for Ryukyu and now they must face Zweigen Kanazawa and Albirex Niigata on a short week. I doubt very much that we will see the first home victory of the season for Ryukyu this week and heck, we may not see one until deep into July. Despair, disbelief, and discontent among some of the Ryukyu supporters these days. But, that doesn’t stop them from supporting Ryukyu everywhere. With that, I’ll start dedicating the conclusion portion of the match day report to the loyal fans of Ryukyu.
ryukyuarmy.com 