Intro
FC Ryukyu finally ended their eight (8) game winless streak, which included five (5) consecutive losses, by defeating Iwate Grulla Morioka 1-0 on Wednesday night. It was a vital win against an opponent near the relegation zone and a slight boost to a team, and its fans, who have experienced a lot of disappointments this season. But the beat goes on and now Ryukyu must turn their attention to a very tough opponent, Vegalta Sendai, on an extremely short week.
Weather Forecast & Match Day Info
It will be hot and muggy as usual down here in Okinawa.
Click>>>> Match Day 26 Information from FC Ryukyu
Team Previews
FC Ryukyu: There were several changes to the Ryukyu lineup in the midweek that included a return to net for Dany Carvajal; the pairing of Omori and Nakagawa at CB; the return of Omoto; and moving Kelvin into more of a forward role up top. I may not have been paying enough attention throughout the season when it comes to Taguchi getting in the asses of his defenders, but Dany was clearly more vocal when there was some suspect defending. A welcome sign for sure and one that probably stems from a much more animated manager in Nacho.
The young CB duo of Omori and Nakagawa, that we haven’t seen paired together since Match Day 2, also did really well in earning Ryukyu’s first clean sheet since their last win. Though it seemed Ryukyu may have gotten lucky at times on some dangerous balls into the box, I feel it was more of the case that these young defenders were putting themselves into the right positions to clear balls during those nervy moments. Even more shocking was the Ryukyu goal that not only came from a set piece, but one in which a central defender scored on! Omori is now the points leader among our central defenders this season with one (1) goal.
Kelvin’s move up top put him in some advantageous positions to create chances but unfortunately Ryukyu was out of synch in the attack. A fact confirmed by the single shot on net the entire match (though they did make it count). Ryukyu may want to consider starting Abe, who has since returned from injury the last two weeks, and Kelvin up top as that could create some explosive chances between the pair. That may have to be the case if the injury that forced Kiyotake out of the match will keep him off the pitch for an extended period of time. But I hope that is not the case as we cannot afford to lose Kiyotake at this point in the season.
Ryukyu also sustained a second injury when Keigo Numata had to be subbed off in the 20th minute for what looks to be a lower leg injury. I don’t feel this is one of our most catastrophic injuries to overcome since Numata, who is far better in attack than defense, has provided no assists or goals this season. Kanai, Omoto, or even Fukumura (if healthy) can easily slot into the LB role moving forward. On the other side, Makito Uehara’s development is coming along but at times it can put Ryukyu into scary situations with some of his defending. Hopefully Keita Tanaka can regain his role at RB during a massively important stretch of games for Ryukyu.
We all knew it would take some time for a new manager to instill a new system and for the players to execute said system. Ryukyu are getting closer, but they are not quite there yet. Ryukyu certainly need to generate some more offense compared to the previous two matches and though some people griped about the “professional time wasting” Ryukyu may have deployed last week, we had three wins on the season and this is nothing that other sides in the league refuse to do at times. Heck, Ryukyu incurred an infraction for the perceived time wasting and were rewarded with an extra eight (8) minutes of added time, which we all know is the most dangerous/nervous time for Ryukyu and their fans.
Vegalta Sendai: There is quite the gulf in the standings, goals scored/conceded ratio, and quality between these two sides and nothing on paper indicates that Ryukyu has even the slightest chance of pulling off a miracle result at home against Sendai. Sendai has only been shutout five (7) times this season compared seven (7) for Ryukyu, with only one (1) shutout for Sendai occurring on the road and only one (1) shutout of their opponent at home for Ryukyu. If Sendai plays to the level they are capable of, I don’t see any real chance for Ryukyu in this match.
For their part Sendai has been in the promotion zone for a majority of the season starting on Match Day four. Their longest winless stretch, which just recently occurred, was only four (4) games long and is perhaps why they’ve dropped out of the automatic promotion zone for the moment. But Sendai have pretty much destroyed every team that sits in, or near, the relegation zone this year. As one would naturally expect from a a team vying for promotion. Sendai’s only shocking loss occurred at the hands of Oita Trinita when Oita sat 18th in the table. The only other losses came against Yokohama FC (twice), Zelvia, Verdy and a resurgent JEF United.
Sendai earned two (2) wins, two (2) draws, and a single (1) loss in their last five games with both wins occurring this past week. They recovered twice from deficits on the road at Vortis to rescue a draw, but couldn’t do the same against Yokohama FC in a game that ended 3-2 to YFC. Sendai were nearly undone by Montedio Yamagata before an 85th minute equalizer by Masato Nakayama, yes, the same player who used to terrorize Ryukyu during his days at Mito Hollyhock, secured the draw. Sendai then went on to earn wins on the road at Zelvia and at home to Kofu by scoring three (3) goals in each of those matches.
There are not a lot of areas to exploit in this Sendai squad despite the fact that their longest winning streak stands at three (3) games and longest undefeated streak at five (5), marks that Sendai have already hit twice this season. There isn’t even some quirky stat like; when Sendai reach the identical goals scored mark in consecutive games they either draw or lose while being shutout. But then again, I am only watching highlights of Sendai and researching their stats. If you wish to know more about Sendai, head on over to the @vegalta_blog for more English content on the club.
Keys to Victory (or any sort of points) for FC Ryukyu
The Scale: 5- An almost certainty it will occur 4-Fairly-Certain it will happen 3-Somewhat Certain it could happen 2-Very Unlikely that it happens 1- Requires a Miracle for it to happen
Quick strikes from Counter Attacks. Likelihood 2. If Ryukyu wish to net anything for this match they may have to do it via quick counter attacks stemming from a total team effort in defense. I feel as if Sendai will control a majority of the play and chances with Ryukyu needing to get into the attacking third of the pitch in as few passes as possible thanks in part to some speed up top (Abe & Kelvin) and accurate through balls (Keita Tanaka). Then Ryukyu will need to take the old Route 1 approach on net with a lot more conviction and desire than we’ve seen recently.
Round 26 in J2
Seems a lot of the teams at the top of the table are facing a lot of sides near the bottom of the table this week. That is slightly encouraging if Ryukyu can somehow manage a point, or not, in their game against Sendai so here is to (5) V-Varen Nagasaki, (6) JEF UTD Chiba, and (8) FC Machida Zelvia all earning victories this weekend. I should also add, though not lovingly, that I hope (9) Tokyo Verdy can defeat (21) Omiya Ardija in this weeks free broadcast on the J-League International YouTube Channel. Click>>>> Omiya Ardija vs Tokyo Verdy.
Conclusion
Good luck to us all!!!!
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