Intro
FC Ryukyu only managed to draw 1-1 last Sunday night at home versus Omiya Ardija. While this means Ryukyu have now matched their longest undefeated streak of the season, three (3) games, it was not the result they needed. It is becoming painfully clear that if Ryukyu cannot defend a one goal lead while shutting out their opponent, they won’t win any games. Last night marked the twenty third (23) time this season where Ryukyu failed to reach the two (2) goal mark in a game.
Match Highlights
Review of the Keys to Victory 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
1. Keep it Simple. Likelihood 3. Each side did enough to make it look like they were pushing for the win while doing everything they could to not lose.
2. Harass the Omiya GK. Likelihood 2. Sort of, but not really. Think Ryukyu had just a few shots on net with their best chances being the narrow misses that didn’t force the Omiya GK to do anything.
Match Day 27 Takeaways
1. The match was very much back and forth in the opening twenty minutes with each team creating some good chances. Ryukyu would control most of the run of play to open the halves with Omiya looking much stronger to close them out. There wasn’t any breaks that really favored either side as Ryukyu had some narrow misses that could’ve put them ahead, only to concede a goal from a set piece after it hit the crossbar and fell right at the feet of an Omiya attacker. Sure, Omiya put themselves in a position to score but it came from a foul that was awarded after both sets of Ryukyu and Omiya players were tugging on each others kits. There really wasn’t a lot of offense (aka quality shots on frame) as you can clearly see by the finally shot totals, depending on what site you look at.
2. Makito Uehara had an up and down game where he would look really good at times and then revert into some questionable play. We know we will have to deal with this while he rounds into the player he could be and to be honest the whole FC Ryukyu team seemed to unravel around the 75′ mark of the match.
3. There was a comment by the manager Nacho that seemed to indicate FC Ryukyu are dealing with ten (10) injuries to key personnel. I saw Numata on crutches leaving the grounds before the match and it seems that ankle injury will keep him out a while longer. Kusano is only about halfway through his rehabilitation; Kiyotake most likely has some facial fracture he’s dealing with; Kelvin definitely pulled/strained a muscle; but no idea what has happened to Noda, Shinya Uehara, Uesato, Fukumura, and Tomidokoro. Maybe some of them are not injured and their absence from the lineup is tactical, but even then, we are possibly talking about one third of the Ryukyu outfield players being out injured. Why does it always feel that Ryukyu have been involved in an injury crisis each season they’ve been in the J2?
4. Only two subs made an appearance last night. Hitomi in the attack and then Yong-Jick to solidify the defense and see out the draw. Ryukyu dressed five (5) central defenders with three (3) forwards but I am not sure there was anything on the bench that could’ve provided a spark in the finally stages of the match when Ryukyu needed to go for it. It was disheartening, but understandable, to see the move towards at least securing the draw in what was a must win game.
4. Nacho’s comments following the match indicate he is not happy without the amount of set pieces and turnovers Ryukyu are conceding. Not sure how much of that he can improve this season but we have to start somewhere. The easiest would be cleaning up the turnovers and finding some sort of combination up top that will just take some chances on net.
Round 27 in J2
All three of the top sides easily saw out wins by goal margins of three (3) or more goals. Oita Trinita helped some of the teams at the bottom with their win over Gunma but that wasn’t the case with Okayama as they played to a 0-0 draw with Tochigi.
Conclusion
No time to wallow in despair. Time to focus on Tokushima Vortis. Anything positive from that match will go along way to getting out of this funk. But that will require multiple goals.
ryukyuarmy.com 