Intro
FC Ryukyu enter Match Day 29 in the midst of their longest undefeated streak this season (4-games). Unfortunately they welcome in the best road performing team of J2 in Roasso Kumamoto. Seeing how FC Ryukyu can ill afford any more losses, or dropped points, a win is required but that will largely depend on who is healthy and available for Ryukyu following a small CV-19 outbreak within the squad during the midweek.
Weather Forecast & Match Day Info
Rain in the forecast per the usual around here. Will ruin the fireworks show at the end of the match, if there is even a match.
Click>>> Match Day 29 Information from FC Ryukyu
Team Previews
FC Ryukyu: When it rains, it pours. Guess we’ll have to file the recent outbreak of CV-19 within the Ryukyu squad in the “shit we don’t need to be dealing with right now” drawer for this season. Since they never release the names of the players who have been infected, rightfully so, it is anyone’s guess who has been slimmed by CV-19. Ryukyu were dealing with about 8-10 prior injuries – or whatever – based on recent comments from Nacho so if any of the positive cases are in addition to those numbers we are looking at about half the squad being unavailable for Saturday. Maybe the game is outright postponed if Ryukyu cannot field a full team. Maybe we see more reserve players than we’d like in such a important match?
Ryukyu have only surrendered two (2) goals in their last four (4) outings which is quite impressive considering we were averaging close to +2.00 goals conceded in matches until this recent resurgence of goal keeping and defense. Ryukyu are going to need that BDE this week as Kumamoto are nothing short of impressive on the road. On the other hand, Ryukyu have only scored three (3) goals during that stretch. Ryukyu looked good in the counter attack against Sendai when ceding a majority of the possession but they didn’t look nearly as good against Vortis last week.
There were few opportunities for Ryukyu to inch out in front of Vortis but our strikers couldn’t find the back of the net on the two golden chances that presented themselves. I am not sure Ryukyu are going to find the attacking form, and accompanying goals, we have sort of grown accustomed to over the past six (6) seasons. I guess it is hard to get there when you are down so many forwards and those that you do have see so little of the ball in the attack that it makes them a bit rusty when finishing.
One thing is for sure and that is Ryukyu is either throwing everything they can – and can afford – at the lack of goals department or just grasping at straws. That included an appearance by recent signing Sadam Sulley who made his debut after signing with the club in the same week. Ryukyu now have so much height in the squad that they really need to do a better job of generating some spot kicks to take advantage of said height else what are we doing but leaving that advantage out there to rot? We really need to be better in the air, better at servicing our front men with supple crosses, and better at putting balls into dangerous areas for these guys to exploit.
With the recent news of the CV-19 situation within the squad there is no telling who we will see out there on Saturday. We know Kiyotake and Numata will be out for another month thanks to the club releasing their injury reports (about 3 weeks late for both) this past week and of course Obi-Wan Kenobi (Yuki Kusano), quite literally are only hope for survival, is still a ways away from returning. Hold your breath and prepare for the worst Ryukyu fans when that lineup drops two hours prior to kickoff this weekend.
Roasso Kumamoto: Gulp! Kumamoto has compiled some impressive statistics this season and are not only the best road team in J2, just a single (1) loss all season, they also sit atop the form table for J2 at the moment. Kumamoto’s only road loss this year occurred back on Match Day 6 at Mito and they’ve only lost once (1) in their last thirteen (13) games. Roasso are currently riding a five (5) game unbeaten streak and look primed to match their longest undefeated streak this season, seven (7) games, with Ryukyu and Tochigi on the horizon. And possibly push it to eight (8) games undefeated with a road match at Kofu following Tochigi.
Looking at their squad stats one can see that Kumamoto have six (6) players who have scored four (4) or more goals this season. There are probably several factors contributing to Kumamoto’s success in their first season back in J2 since they are Ryukyu swapped divisions following the 2018 campaign. But one noticeable factor is their squad isn’t dealing with any major injuries to their top players. I do not know if some of these players missed time prior to this match but if you would like some better insight into the club then head over to @GarryIrwin on Twitter.
Kumamoto scored eight (8) goals while only allowing one (1) goal in their last five (5) matches. They shutout their opponents in four (4) of those games and were only behind for a total of fifty (50) minutes in the Vortis match. Kumamoto easily brushed aside Okayama (2-0 win) and Kanazawa (3-0 win) with a pair of 1-0 victories over Yamagata and Renofa. The only opponent that seemed to give Kumamoto any sort of fits was the most unlikeliest one in Renofa Yamaguchi. Kumamoto need a late PK to seal the victory in that one, and though it was quite the back and forth match with Vortis, Kumamoto hasn’t really been troubled by any of their recent opponents.
This history between these two teams is limited. They were once opponents in the regional leagues of the JFL, then the JFL but until this season they hadn’t faced one another since those JFL days. Kumamoto own the overall historic series but FC Ryukyu have a chance, at least on paper, at pulling off the series sweep this year if they can somehow find a way to win on Saturday. To be quite honest I am not sure how that can occur and I am not even sure how Ryukyu managed to defeat Kumamoto in the first game this year following a string of ten (10) games without a win.
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. ? Likelihood 0. No idea what Ryukyu will have available to them in the form of healthy players and what those players will be able to execute if this is a completely disjointed squad playing together for the first time. Find the back of the net, prevent Kumamoto from doing the same, which they are pretty good at from all areas of the pitch, then do a victory lap around the stadium at the end of the ninety with some happy fans applauding.
Round 29 in J2
Down Below: (20) Thespakusatsu Gunma hosts (15) Ventforet Kofu and (21) Omiya Ardija heads to (12) FC Mito Hollyhock on Saturday which just so happens to be one of the two free J-League International YouTube broadcasts this week. (18) Blaublitz Akita travel to (13) Zweigen Kanazawa for the only fixture scheduled for Sunday. Click>>> FC Mito Hollyhock vs Omiya Ardija
Up Top: Current League Leaders (1) Yokohama FC host struggling (19) Iwate Grulla Morioka at home with the big draw of the weekend featuring (2) Albirex Niigata on the road at (4) V-Varen Nagasaki. Nagasaki are riding high thanks to a run of ten (10) games unbeaten but have a so-so record at home compared to that of Niigata’s away record.
The second free J-League International YouTube broadcast will feature (8) Oita Trinita at home against (11) Tokyo Verdy. Click>>> Oita Trinita vs Tokyo Verdy
Conclusion
We cannot have favorable weather forecasts to attract fans on a massively important match day with so much poured into the game by the club, and we cannot even have a fully healthy club with a prefecture that is outpacing all of Japan when it comes to CV-19 infections. Screw it! Maybe we see a squad reminiscent of what we roll out in the J-Elite reserve league and they surprise the shit out of us. Go on lads!
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