Oh what could’ve been! Many fans, both Ryukyu and Niigata, may have earmarked this game at Match Day 21 as a potential title decider, but alas, it is not the case. Both of these sides screamed out of the starting block, both will ponder where it all went wrong. But here we are nonetheless on Match Day 41 with nothing on the line short of another win in what is, for both teams, a lost season.
Weather & Match Day Info
Previous Match Day Highlights
Round 40 Summary
Team Previews
FC Ryukyu
Albirex Niigata
Keys to Victory
Round 41 in J2
Conclusion
1.Weather Forecast & Match Day Info
I am going to try and re-introduce the notion of tailgating to the Okinawan faithful so screw the weather. FC Ryukyu will also try a CV-19 Vaccinated only supporter section. Probably no cheering but at least no masks. But hell. It will be windy. Match Day info from FC Ryukyu
2. Previous Match Highlights
Tokyo Verdy 1-1 FC Ryukyu
Thespakusatsu Gunma 0-0 Albirex Niigata
3. Round 40 Summary
FC Ryukyu achieved something remarkable this past Sunday. Taguchi saved two PKs in a single match and though I cannot locate the J-League stats, that feat has only been accomplished 7 times in the entire history of the English Premier League. The unremarkable part was we couldn’t muster a single shot on net the entire second half while Higuchi was besieged ala Verdun circa 1916. The sheer amount of shots on net is enough to give any man shell shock yet he stood his post until the 89:45 mark. Well done for him, sad for those that couldn’t support that tremendous feat.
4. Team Previews
FC Ryukyu: Today is a tough day for this blog. Hiro Ikema, @cafedecampnou, has decided to hang up his boots as the head of the FC Ryukyu supporter group after nearly 21 years at the helm. Something he told me on Thursday but did not make official until Friday. I want to spend a little bit of time talking about what he has meant to me and the club.
The man hails from Miyako-jima, came to Okinawa for high school, and picked up the mantle as the head of the Ryukyu sappo in 2003 when FC Ryukyu first came into existence. His first ever encounter with the club happened when he approached the club in 2003, when they thought he was a sponsor, when he was simply seeking info on the club. He has been a staple, more like an ambassador, for this club since that time appearing in numerous printed articles, interviews, providing meals to players, teaching supporters how to cheer, and one of my good friends. It was “Hiro,” as I know him, that brought me into this fold when the only thing red I had to wear at games was an Arsenal kit. He greeted me at every home game despite our language barriers, adopted me into the Ryukyu family as one of their own, and was the driving force behind this blog. When I voiced my frustrations about the lack of English language coverage for this team on the way home from Omiya in 2019, he simply said, “start an English blog.” Genius! I know many of you because of him, all of which I am thankful for.
I have been lucky, more like fortunate, to know this man and share with him many memories. My memories include the J3 title lifting game; the Tanaka missed PK in 2016 when I shouted WTF; joining him and supporters on the pitch that same year to take a photo with the team after an Emperor’s Cup match win; breaking bread at my house; but most importantly, when I was new to the club he asked me and my family to partake in a group photo at the end of 2014, my first season supporting FC Ryukyu. A photo I seek to obtain to this day.
The man’s legacy can never be matched down here because it can only be carried on and celebrated.
Albirex Niigata: Whatever hit Ryukyu has also hit Niigata. Going 1-3-1 in their last 5 and with one of their best players linked to a move to J1, what ya got on Sunday Niigata? It so unfortunate that, yet maybe not unexpected, Niigata feel from the top. Like Ryukyu, Niigata are prone to fast starts and mid-season collapses. Yet, this is not an entry to talk about failures, it’s more to applaud what each other has done.
I always thought Ryukyu and Niigata were playing with house money at the start of the campaign. Could they keep the pace? No, and that sucks.
5. Keys to Victory for FC Ryukyu
At this point my expectations are managed. Are yours?
6. Round 41 in J2
Likely trophy lifting time for Iwata while the relegation battle hits its crescendo. (18) SC Sagamihara hosts (22) Matsumoto Yamaga in a death match to determine each others fate. Lose, and go home, if Sagamihara win, enjoy J2 in 2022. (21) Ehime FC have one last shot at redemption on the road at (11) Mito Hollyhock or else they’ll be enjoying the rainy nights in Gifu next year. Same could be said about (20) Giravanz Kitakyushu when they host (15) Tochigi SC. Which leaves us (19) Zweigen Kanazawa with it all left to do at home to (7) Montedio Yamagata. The promotion/relegation battle could be done and dusted come Sunday evening but there maybe a free broad cast on the J.League Int’l channel I just can’t locate it though. Click>>> J.League YouTube Channel.
7. Conclusion
The last time we will see this team for at least 8 weeks while they go on break and head into 2022. And they will do so with Kina taking over the permanent managerial duties. Let’s just get loose in the stands while celebrating some goals FFS. Miss that feeling so much (less time in the bathroom I suppose, or more?).
Well we’re back, sort of. It has been quite some time since I’ve released anything on this blog and much has changed during my sabbatical. Ryukyu dropped way out of the promotion race following a run of poor results beginning just before the Olympic break and continuing through to October which led to the firing of Manager Yasuhiro Higuchi after 7 games in a row without a win (1 draw and 6 losses). Shintaro Shimizu was released by the club following several violations of the team’s rules and policies and then of course the injuries to several key members of the squad really sucked the life blood out of the team. While there hasn’t been much to be excited about down here in Okinawa these days, nothing recharges the batteries like a match with one of your heated rivals, or at least that’s how I view Tokyo Verdy.
Weather Forecast
Previous Match Highlights
Team Previews
Tokyo Verdy
FC Ryukyu
Rivalry Week
Keys to Victory
Prediction
Round 40 in J2
Conclusion
1. Weather Forecast
I really do not care what the weather is like for this match as it is the first away game I will be able to attended in over two years. But for those of you that may be in attendance, the forecast looks decent.
2. Previous Match Highlights
FC Ryukyu 2-2 JEF United Chiba
Zweigen Kanazawa 0-4 Tokyo Verdy
3. Team Previews
Tokyo Verdy: Verdy have been hanging around the mid-table of J2 for much of the season. They have a near equal home road splits as far as points, but have found success on the road more favorable these days as Verdy has lost 5 out of their last 6 home games. And haven’t won at home since September 11th. Verdy also had to suffer through a stretch of 8 consecutive road games, with 4 losses and 4 draws, to accommodate the Tokyo Olympics. That is possibly the reason why they are enjoying so many road wins as of late as they had so many attempts at road wins during the summer.
Verdy went 2-1-2 over their last five games with wins over Montedio Yamagata and Zweigen Kanazawa; losses to JEF Chiba and V-Varen Nagasaki; and the lone draw to Ventforet Kofu. JEF absolutely destroyed Verdy at home to the tune of 5-1. Though Verdy managed to level the game in the opening half, they went into halftime down 3-1. By the time Verdy finally came to life in the second half, it was already 5-1 for JEF. Strangely, Verdy rebounded from that trouncing to put in a spirited effort at home to Kofu where both sides played to a 0-0 draw. Each team had a chance in the waning minutes of stoppage time to win, yet neither could find the back of the goal.
Verdy’s strong form carried over into the next round when they defeated Montedio Yamagata 2-1 on the road. Verdy capitalized on an an early PK, from a Yamagata handball in the box, and followed that goal with a second goal in front of halftime. However, Yamagata scored a PK of their own, from a Verdy handball, but were never able to find the equalizer. That was Yamagata’s first loss in four games and has sent them into a bit of a tailspin as of late. But all that hard work by Verdy was for not as they were beaten by Nagasaki the following week.
Verdy managed to hang in for most of this game despite having one of their players sent off in the first half. It took Nagasaki until the 75th minute to open the scoring but once they did, the flood gates opened up. Nagasaki put another two past Verdy in stoppage time through two breakout plays where the Nagasaki attackers ran the better part of half the pitch untouched. Verdy’s most recent game was a dismantling of Kanazawa, on the road, where they scored two goals in each half.
Like Ryukyu, Verdy had a much better start to the season compared to the second half. They own nearly identical records in both parts of the season with both sides only accruing four wins since match day 22. Like Ryukyu, Verdy had a stretch of games (7 for FC Ryukyu & 8 for Tokyo Verdy) without a win shortly after the restart from the mid season break. I guess you could say that these are two evenly matched teams squaring off on match day 40.
FC Ryukyu: It has been one heck of a rollercoaster ride this season supporting FC Ryukyu. There were the high points of being near the top of the table and playing outstanding defensive football; the low points with all the injuries and of course another mid season collapse. The firing of a manager and player during the season – something I’ve never seen Ryukyu do before – as well as having to refrain from attending games four months due to the COVID situation in Okinawa, but ultimately returning to the grounds a few weeks ago really typifies the ride we’ve been on as supporters. Though there isn’t much left to play for, besides pride and possibly a job next season, Ryukyu will undoubtedly end 2021 as their most successful season in J2.
Ryukyu hit the halfway point of 2021 in 2nd place on 13 wins, 4 draws, 4 losses while outscoring their opponents 36 to 19. They managed to shutout their opponents 9 times while only being shutout 5 times. In the second half of the season Ryukyu have dropped to 8th place while mustering 4 wins, 5 draws and suffering 9 losses. They’ve scored 17 goals in the past 18 games yet have conceded 25. Ryukyu have been shutout 9 times since the break and have registering a single shutout of their opponents. Pretty much an unprecedented fall from grace for this team, but one that occurred quite regularly under Higuchi.
Unlike last season when Ryukyu had two players in double digit goals, Ryukyu’s top goal scorer has been Kiyotake (8). But just like last season, Abe has gone missing near the end of the campaign and there has been no word as to why. Abe has surpassed his 2020 total of 2 assists with 6 this season and though he isn’t scoring as much as he was last year, his contributions were felt across the flailing Ryukyu attack with his workman like rate throughout the summer.
Another player that has had a rough go of it lately is Koya Kazama. Koya had 3 goals and 7 assists by the midway point of the year but has managed only 1 goal since. It was always going to fall on Abe and Koya to shoulder the load of the attack when Ryukyu lost Ikeda and Tanaka to injury, but they’ve only accounted for 3 goals and 3 assists in this half of the season. What was also a position of strength for Ryukyu, goal keeping and defending, became their Achilles heel during the abovementioned collapse.
First, Okazaki could never get healthy after his injury in May which left it all to Chinen in central defense. Second there were injuries to Taguchi, and Dany, forcing Inose – Ryukyu’s 3rd choice goalie – to play behind a weakened back line. Third, Ryukyu lost Keita Tanaka, pretty much the engine driving the Ryukyu attack for the season. Fourth, Numata suffered an injury forcing FWD Uehara to play LB and finally (most heartbreaking), there was the season ending injury to Chinen. Though Numata, Okazaki and Taguchi have since returned from injury, it just isn’t the same set of players that propelled Ryukyu to their blazing start of 2021.
So yeah, it was a lethal combination of the lack of goals, and shots to be quite honest, coupled with a makeshift back line that sealed our fate in 2021. Though it is unlikely that we will ever know if it was the hard training and heat that contributed to the collapse, we’ve seen similar results from Ryukyu during the past summers in J2. The change to Kina as manager was probably a necessary healing process for the club but they have yet to regain the confidence we saw from them to open the year.
4. Rivalry Week
We all know that FC Ryukyu do not, at least for the moment, have the traditional cross town rival that so many other clubs in the J-League enjoy for your typical ‘derby day.’ However, over the past three seasons Ryukyu have some interesting history with Tokyo Verdy as these sides produce some heated moments when they clash.
Though it is not a lengthy history between these two, the match on Sunday will only be the 6th time that Ryukyu have played Tokyo Verdy, it still has seen its fair share of fouls, sending offs, and dust ups. Ryukyu own the all time series advantage with 3 wins, 1 draw and 1 loss. The first ever meeting between these clubs occurred in 2019 where Dany Carvajal had his nose broken attempting to stop Ryohei Hayashi on a break away, resulting in a yellow card for Dany and PK for Verdy. Dany, bloodied and with gauze hanging out both nostrils, saved the PK, which allowed Uesato to smash home his first ever goal for Ryukyu on a volley deep into stoppage time ending the match one all.
Dany bloody and broken, but stopped that PK
The return leg in Okinawa that year saw Verdy put 5 past Ryukyu behind Junki Koike’s hat trick. Verdy marked that momentous occasion in an otherwise uneventful season by releasing T-shirts commemorating Koike’s achievement. Ridiculous, but, we don’t have a leg to stand on as Ryukyu also did the same when Kiyotake netted a hat trick this season. Can we just get some better schwag at the good store instead of novelty t-shirts? Anyways, at the end of 2019, this wasn’t really a rivalry as Verdy had gotten the better of Ryukyu and embarrassed them in front of their home crowd.
High point in another lost season for this once proud club
2020 is when things began to really heat up. Ryukyu earned their first ever win over Verdy on MD10 when Shohei Takahashi took umbrage with an aerial challenge from Uehara. Shinya landed – as what normally happens when two players get tangled in the air – on Takahashi. Shohei decided it was a good time to bust out the mule kick to Uehara’s mid section, the problem was that foul occurred in the Verdy penalty area, and was seen by the linesman. After several minutes (10 to be exact) of some disgusting scenes by the Verdy players, Abe stepped up and netted the winner on the PK.
Takahashi putting the boot to Uehara in the box
Ryukyu returned the favor from the 5-1 loss in 2019 by defeating Verdy by four goals on MD 37 of 2020 while also shutting them out for the second time in a row. 2021’s series started off with a bang when, to everyone’s surprise, Yuhei Sato from Verdy decided to impale Yu Tomidokoro’s testicles with the heel of his boot. Yu went after a loose ball from a challenge by the now laying on his back Sato, but Sato wasn’t going to allow a Ryukyu player the advantage of collecting the ball and heading into attack. Instead he opted for a less than professional foul. Too bad that challenge occurred in front of the referee, fourth official, Higuchi and pretty much everyone watching at home. That resulted in a red card that reduced Verdy to 10 men and allowed Ryukyu to score two goals towards a 2-0 victory. The second Ryukyu goal, a PK, came from another infraction inside the penalty area by Verdy.
Yuhei Sato channeling his inner Vlad the Impaler
In just five games, there has been 3 penalty kicks, 1 sending off, 1 bloody nose, fouls on both sides for unsportsmanlike behavior and a t-shirt. But here is one final fun fact. Since Koike’s third goal, and fifth for Verdy on match day 36 in 2019, Verdy have yet to score a goal against Ryukyu. Perhaps this is just my way of manufacturing something out of nothing in order to replicate the so called derby day, or it is just a way to put a little something extra on a rather meaningless game between two midtable teams. I’ll let you be the judge.
5.Keys to Victory
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. More shots equal more chances. Likelihood 1. The clear and obvious key to victory this week but also the least likely to happen. Ryukyu are not generating the attempts on net that can lead to scoring outbursts. Verdy are so vulnerable to spilled balls, rebounds and second chances as evidenced by the video footage for their past five matches. We often see Ryukyu players in possession in the opposing end only to witness them pass the ball back and restart the attack from our central defenders thus allowing our opponents time to regroup in defense. Good things will happen when you put quality shots on Verdy’s net so let’s hope that Ryukyu can do that on Sunday.
2. Avoid the “Ryukyu Double.” Likelihood 2. Last week Kiyotake and Kanai were responsible for both Ryukyu goals. However, they were also involved in both the opposition’s goals. Kiyotake was caught ball watching instead of man marking which led to the JEF equalizer, while Kanai completely whiffed in an effort to clear the ball from danger inside the Ryukyu box leading to the second goal for JEF. So that was actually more like a Ryukyu Double-Double. This feat has occurred on more than one occasion this season and if we intend to depart Tokyo with a win, then Ryukyu need to stay sharp throughout the entire 90 minutes.
3. Get on the scoreboard first. Likelihood 3. Verdy looked good when they took the early lead in their past two wins, and lifeless when they conceded the first goal. It is vital that Ryukyu start fast, and score (unlike what they did against Renofa), as that could lead to even more opportunities and goals for a side struggling in the atatck. Ryukyu have not won by more than two goals in any game since match day 20, which was also the last time they’ve scored more than two goals in a game. However, 11 of Verdy’s 16 losses have been by more than two goals this season. Perhaps this provides a little glimmer of light at the end of an abysmal goal scoring tunnel for Ryukyu.
6.Prediction
I am done doing these as I am usually wrong. I just want a Ryukyu win.
7. Round 40 in J2
Jubilo Iwata has already booked their ticket back to the J1 and with only 9 points up for grabs, Kyoto Sanga can book theirs if they maintain their 7 point lead over V-Varen Nagasaki. Seeing how the promotion race, without any playoffs, is nearly complete, all eyes will be on the race to escape relegation to J3.
Matsumoto Yamaga, a team in the J1 just two seasons ago, is likely headed to J3 next year. They are bottom of the table, only five points behind 18th Kanazawa, but haven’t won in 7 games. Yamaga will host Renofa Yamaguchi who have pulled themselves out of the relegation zone but are themselves only six points above the drop. 21st Ehime FC will host 20th SC Sagamihara in what should be an exciting match to watch for any neutral. A draw helps neither side so someone will need to win and move up at the expense of the other. Kitakyushu travels to Chiba with hopes that the hosts will be looking to close out the campaign without suffering any needless injuries.
Zweigen heads to Tochigi in another battle to stave off relegation as Kanazawa sits just above the drop with Tochigi only four points clear from safety. Omiya will look to secure safety with a win over their neighbors to the east in Mito while Gunma face a real test at home to Niigata.
There are two free international broadcasts this week on the J.League International YouTube channel. Both matches are on Saturday November 20th and feature Jubilo Iwata hosting V-Varen Nagasaki followed by Kyoto Sanga traveling to Fagiano Okayama. Perhaps Jubilo could lift the trophy on Saturday but it seems more likely that will occur at a later date. Click>>>>J League Int’l YouTube Link
8.Conclusion
It feels good to be back and I apologize for the lengthy absence. Right, you’ve read it all so you know the only thing left to do is for Ryukyu to go out there and get the win. Enjoy your weekend and stay safe.
FC Ryukyu opened this year’s series against Mito with a 2-0 win at the K’s Denki stadium back on Match Day 7. Two goals in quick succession from Shintaro Shimizu and Koki Kiyotake allowed Ryukyu to break the deadlock in a tightly contested affair in which both sides had numerous chances to take the lead. FC Ryukyu have had the better of Mito Hollyhock to date as they’ve won the last three matches; scored multiple goals in all of those games; and shutout Mito twice. Ryukyu also own the series with 4 wins to Mito’s 1. But Mito’s lone win over Ryukyu came at a time when Ryukyu were dealing with several injuries, most notably at GK, in which Inose, at 19 years of age, made his J2 debut in net against Mito in 2019. Ryukyu ended up losing that game 3-1. What I am trying to say is that this game, unlike the previous three where Ryukyu had their full complement of starters, is shaping up much the same way as that 2019 loss.
Weather Forecast & Match Day Info
Previous Round Highlights
Team Previews
FC Ryukyu
FC Mito Hollyhock
Keys to Victory for FC Ryukyu
Prediction
Round 25 in J2
Conclusion
1. Weather Forecast and Match Day Information
A calm evening to enjoy football from the comfort of your home while Okinawa is under a state of emergency.
FC Ryukyu: Three wins in their last five, 10 points from a possible 15, yet only one clean sheet during that time. Actually, Ryukyu have only mustered two clean sheets in their last twelve matches so it seems we’re heading back to our roots. Sure, much of this is contributed to the bevy of injuries, but with Dany Carvajal now healthy, will Higuchi turn to the man who was once the Ryukyu #1?
Inose has proven himself a worthy fill in for both Taguchi and Dany during their injury spells, but I feel we need to get Dany involved these next few games heading into the crucial month of September. Inose has started eight games amassing four wins, two draws and two losses. He has conceded 8 goals during that span and recorded two shutouts in the process. Decent enough numbers when you look at the won/loss record I suppose, and it’s not realistic to think that any keeper can keep a clean sheet every match. This is a team game of course. But luckily for Ryukyu, Inose’s starts coincided with a rather easy schedule: Kitakyushu twice, Omiya, Sagamihara, Akita, Kanagawa, Matsumoto and Okayama. Somehow those win/loss numbers do not look so great as they once did. With Taguchi set to return to Ryukyu in the coming weeks (training at least), I think it would pay some dividends to get a healthy Dany into the lineup, get him some playing time, especially before Ryukyu, and Inose, face their toughest opponent in Montedio Yamagata next week.
One thing that isn’t in doubt is the impact the new signings have already made at Ryukyu. Kanai was asked to play out of position last game, and though it wasn’t the best of outings for a player coming off of limited usage at Kofu, it is something to build on. Strange that Ryukyu have plenty of options at RB these days, with a glaring hole at LB, and Higuchi opted to start Kanai and Uehara, but on different sides of the pitch from which they are familiar with, and have played in the past. Play to your strengths, and don’t get cute, at least that’s what I am thinking in this case.
Someone who epitomizes that sentiment is Hidetoshi Takeda. In his first game, first half really, for FC Ryukyu, Takeda was a handful for the Giravanz defense. He came close to leveling the match on a header following a shot from Koya Kazama, and followed that up with an absolute stunning free kick goal. It is amazing how lucky so many teams can be to have a talent like this on the books and yet find them excess to the cause. No matter, as I hope to see more of Takeda doing what he can do out there on the pitch, with the possibility of seeing him start at LM in the near future.
FC Mito Hollyhock: Mito have one more away victory than at home this season where they’ve scored, and conceded, roughly 60% of their total goals to date. They also seem to either win, or lose, on the road as they have a single draw away from the K’s Denki stadium. In their last six games Mito have shutout their opponents three times while also suffering three shutouts of their own. Perhaps they are a bit streaky.
Whereas Ryukyu have scored ten goals their last five games, Mito has managed only three. They drew 0-0 at both Albirex Niigata and at home to Renofa Yamaguchi. Against Niigata, at least up until the 70′ minute, Mito wasn’t really affording many opportunities to one of the top sides in J2 this season. Then the flurry of activity between the two sides saw each trading multiple chances back and forth with the closest being a Koji Suzuki shot that hit the side netting. It was much of the same at home to Renofa but the Mito GK should’ve been booked for a foul resulting in a PK, but it wasn’t awarded and then it was Mito’s turn for a bit of bad luck when their last shot just missed at the end.
Mito looked much better the following week at Zelvia where they controlled the opening 20′ of the match and took the lead from Shota Fujio’s first goal of the season. Then Zelvia took over, scored two goals, from a long through ball that caught the defense flat footed and another from a redirected clearance, before Mito finally came to life in the 90′ minute. It was to late though as the game ended in a loss for Mito but they were able to carry a bit of that momentum at the end of the Zelvia match into the game at Matsumoto Yamaga. Fujio doubled his yearly total with his second goal in consecutive games, this one also coming within the first 20′ of a match. Though Mito dominated Yamaga the entire game, they weren’t able to carry that strong performance though to the next round at home to Verdy.
It was Mito’s turn this time to surrender a goal within the first 20′ of a match but they were able to recover and score the equalizer near the end after some woeful defending by Verdy. To date, Mito have not defeated a team that currently sits inside the top six of the table. They’ve played six games that have resulted in one draw and five losses, managing two goals scored, while conceding eight. They’ve also been shutout in five of those games. Ryukyu will once more need to contain Masato Nakayama, but they’ll also need to keep a keen eye on Fujio who is starting to catch fire.
4.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. Attack the flanks of Mito. Likelihood 4. Mito do not defend particularly well down either side of their defense, especially down their right, as they, or more specifically Koichi Murata, has looked pretty bad. That means that either Kiyotake, Shintaro, Takeda, and possibly even Motegi, could really have a field day on their defense.
2. Defend the right with all you got. Likelihood 2. No doubt that Yong Jick, and whoever is playing RB for Ryukyu tomorrow, will have their hands full with the Mito attackers as they are extremely strong down the left side of their attack. I for one hop Higuchi chooses to not start Kanai out of position at RB, and instead opt for a more experienced RB in Torikai or Uehara. I fear that when Fujio enters the match, he will be able to exploit Yong Jick with his speed and power, and cut right through our defense alone on goal.
5. Prediction
As with the current state of FC Ryukyu – trying to mesh new players into the lineup – this game could go either way. Sure, Mito hasn’t exactly lit up the scoreboard lately, but Ryukyu sometimes go long stretches without asserting themselves in a game. If Ryukyu can start fast, and score, I think this game takes on a whole new trajectory with a Mito side that seem far more aggressive on the road compared to home. I’ll say it ends 2-1 to Ryukyu. Season Record 7-6-11.
6. Round 25 in J2
Leaders (1) Kyoto Sanga travel to (16) Matsumoto Yamaga FC who are coming off a big 4-1 victory over (13) Blaublitz Akita. (2) Jubilo Iwata return home after their 2-2 draw with Kofu to face (9) Tokyo Verdy. (4) Albirex Niigata, like Iwata, will look to rebound from their Round 24 draw when they head out on the road to face (10) JEF United Chiba. (5) Montedio Yamagata, unbeaten in 11 with 10 wins during that span, are on the J.League International YouTube channel this week (Click>>> J.League Int’l YouTube Channel) when they travel to face (7) V-Varen Nagasaki who, are possibly well rested from their round 24 match with Zweigen Kanazawa being postponed. (6) Ventforet Kofu will also look to continue their unbeaten run of six games at bottom side (22) SC Sagamihara.
Another week, another set of important games for those sides facing relegation as (19) Ehime FC host (21) Giravanz Kitakyushu; (20) Omiya Ardija host (13) Blaublitz Akita; and (17) Tochigi SC host (18) Thespakusatsu Gunma.
7. Conclusion
Ryukyu have their second chance in consecutive weeks to sweep an opponent in 2021. But we’ve had this chance twice so far this year and only managed to come away with one series sweep. Though Ryukyu haven’t hit double digit points since April, nor exceeded eight points in a month since May, a win tomorrow will set them on a path to achieve their highest monthly point total in quite some time.
FC Ryukyu moved into third place in the table with a come from behind 2-1 victory over Giravanz Kitakyushu last night. Ryukyu started this game really slow and made many of us wonder how, with three weeks to prepare for this game, could they look so bad? The game seemed destined for disappointment when two Ryukyu shots from Koya Kazama and Shintaro Shimizu, hit the post early in the second half. But newly signed Hidetoshi Takeda put his stamp on the game when he leveled the match for Ryukyu on a spectacular free kick, followed by a rising header from Shintaro Shimizu to put Ryukyu in the lead for good.
FC Ryukyu GK Kosuke Inose: Inose may have been caught leaning the wrong direction on the lone goal he conceded, but he was in really good form last night. That included a diving one hand save to keep FC Ryukyu in the match, while also not surrendering a second goal from the other 15 shots Kitakyushu managed to put on net.
3.Review of the Keys to Victory
1. Work harder than Kitakyushu. Likelihood 4. It certainly didn’t start out like that as Giravanz was in complete control of the first half after only 5-minutes. They held Ryukyu to just 2 shots (1 on target) and things were looking grim for Ryukyu fans. But Ryukyu turned things around in the second half and looked the better side the remainder of the match.
4. Prediction
Went with a 3-1 score line for Ryukyu, that they nearly achieved, but it is wins for everyone this week! Season Record 7-6-11.
5. Talking Points from Round 24
1. The debutants. Higuchi switched back to the 4-2-3-1 formation that Ryukyu used for a majority of the season until injuries decimated the squad. Nakagawa was back in his natural CAM role with newly signed fullback, Takashi Kanai, making his debut at right back. I am not sure what prompted Higuchi to move Kanai from his natural, or main, position of left back to right back, while still starting Uehara in defense on the opposite side. That’s two players playing in different positions for the first time this season and probably why Kitakyushu had their way with the Ryukyu back line. FC Ryukyu have three right backs, Torikai, Makito, and Tavares, to go along with Shinya who played right back the previous two matches, who should be healthy and could have easily allowed Kanai an easier transition into the lineup. I really don’t agree with this move by Higuchi though Kanai did his best and a had a few nice crosses into the box last night.
However, the man who made the most impact during his debut was Hidetoshi Takeda who opened his scoring account with Ryukyu after only 20-minutes on the pitch. Takeda sent a beautiful curler past the Giravanz keeper to provide a much-needed injection of confidence into the side last night. It should be exciting to watch this player over the course of the remaining 18-games.
2. Turned it on right when they needed it the most. Ryukyu were completely outplayed and under serious amounts of pressure from Giravanz during the first half. Kitakyushu tallied 16 shots, 9 on target, to that of Ryukyu’s 2/1. Inose was about the only player doing much of anything that first half and was a big reason why Ryukyu were able to see out the win. Takeda’s introduction came at the expense of Nakagawa, but it wouldn’t be right to say that Kazaki had a bad game as nobody was doing anything for this side in the first half. The sudden uptick in play by Ryukyu coincided with the two changes Higuchi made with the aforementioned Takeda and Shintaro Shimizu returning to the lineup after serving his one game suspension for violating the team’s rules during COVID-19.
3. Abe is becoming more valuable as a set up man than a goal poacher. Abe registered his second assist in as many games, bringing his total to five in his last five games, with a tremendous cross that seemed to hang in the air for days to allow Shintaro to rise and get on the end of it for Ryukyu’s second goal. The man hasn’t complained at all since not scoring in what is going on two and a half months now and never shows any real frustration at the lack of service, he is accustomed to receiving. Perhaps we could see him drop back to just behind the striker in more of a central attacking role to free him up a bit.
4. FC Ryukyu need to get Mizuki Ichimaru more involved. Koki Kazama and Yu Tomidokoro started the match yesterday but none of their performances really stood out. I think Ichimaru deserves a start and we should rotate Yu and Koki until Uesato’s return from injury.
5. A vital 3-points following a rough stretch of results for Ryukyu. Ryukyu needed this win, one which I hope will allow them to course correct and get back to some winning football. Many of the top sides have dropped points the past three rounds and the real shame is to think where Ryukyu would be in the standings with even one of those games against Omiya or Sagamihara ending in a win instead of a loss and a draw.
6.Round 24 in J2
Kyoto Sanga was able to escape their game against FC Machida Zelvia with a 2-1 win, but both Jubilo Iwata and Albirex Niigata surrendered extra time goals and ended up with draws. Niigata’s was particularly brutal as they took the lead in the 94′ minute only to concede sixty second later. Kitakyushu’s loss to Ryukyu drops them from 19th to 21st as the other bottom five sides all drew on Monday night. The Zweigen Kanazawa versus V-Varen Nagasaki match was called off due to inclement weather and I don’t have a date for when it will be rescheduled.
Job done and now the boys return home, to another empty stadium, to take on 11th place FC Mito Hollyhock. Every victory Ryukyu can earn until a majority of their front line starters return is so important. Of the remaining three games this month, the biggest test will come in the form of Montedio Yamagata away, but Ryukyu have been clawing for results for awhile now which makes the home game in just four days a big one.
And we’re back! FC Ryukyu resume their 2021 campaign after a three week break for the Tokyo 2020 Olympics. Ryukyu will travel to 19th placed Giravanz Kitakyushu looking to to get back to their winning ways that have escaped them the past few weeks while the side deals with a multitude of injuries to key personnel. For their part, Giravanz will look to continue the trend of teams in the relegation zone nicking points against FC Ryukyu like SC Sagamihara and Omiya Ardija have done in consecutive weeks leading up to the break. There are 19 games remaining in the 2021 season and FC Ryukyu’s hopes for promotion are hanging on by the thinnest of threads which makes every game, especially those against lower ranked sides, crucial.
Weather Forecast and Match Day Info
Previous Round Highlights
Team Previews
Giravanz Kitakyushu
FC Ryukyu
Keys to Victory
Prediction
Round 24 in J2
Conclusion
1.WeatherForecast & Match Day Information
No change from the way things before when we entered the break, AKA, no visiting FC Ryukyu fans allowed.
Giravanz Kitakyushu: I don’t have may notes for this side, but I also tread lightly when making disparaging remarks on our opponents as we end up dropping points when I do. Zero wins in their last five; 3/4 of their wins came within a stretch of 5 games between rounds 12 and 16; and only 1 win at home.
I literally have five lines of notes from watching Giravanz’s last 5 games. They surrender early and often with the only goals scored during this stretch occurring last round at Nagasaki The most exciting play during these games was watching a Kitakyushu player headbutt the goal post when attempting to defend a set piece/corner kick. I literally switched off after that as a casual fan watching what looked to be 11 men doing whatever they want without any direction. I hope that by addressing the talking down of a club it will reverse the curse of terrible results for Ryukyu when I have done it in the past. Perhaps Kitakyushu loaded up in the transfer window, but I don’t know. Consult the experts over at the J-Talk Extra Time please.
FC Ryukyu: What’s done is done, I am referring to the one point earned from a possible six against the two lowest ranked teams in the table as FC Ryukyu have to push forward into a must win game game against Giravanz Kitakyushu. FC Ryukyu have to be one of, if not the most, hardest hit sides when it comes to injuries this season as they’ve been without six of their original starting members for quite some time. But they did dip their toes into the summer transfer window for reinforcements and I believe their is a strong possibility of seeing two of them make their debut for Ryukyu on Monday night, along with a possible return of Dany Carvajal in net.
Despite being tied for second in the league when it comes to goals scored, the Ryukyu attack has been lurching forward in fits and spurts. Ryukyu were shut out four times in their first seventeen games but have suffered two shutouts inside their last five games. What’s worse is that they’ve become accustomed to surrendering quick equalizers shortly after taking the lead in games but that has to because they’ve lost 4 out of the 5 starting members of the back line and goalie. Hopefully the newly signed Takashi Kanai from Ventforet Kofu can provide a boost to the much maligned Ryukyu defense and start providing the crosses our attackers need, that, to be brutally honest, we haven’t seen from Numata all season.
Prior to the break Kazaki Nakagawa was starting to round into form and I hope Higuchi continues to employ the man in the attacking or central mid field role moving forward. Nakagawa has found it hard to break into the starting eleven since rejoining this side in the offseason, but he could be the catalyst this side needs to make a strong push for promotion. Last game he was making plays all over the pitch and once he regains his touch on shots and passes, look out. It will be a good problem for FC Ryukyu when Ren Ikeda returns from his fractured spine, if he can return to the form he was in pre-injury, but Ryukyu (Higuchi in particular) needs to find a way to incorporate on-loan Hidetoshi Takeda into the team.
That will be no easy task as Takeda’s natural position, Right Mid-Field, is currently occupied by Koya Kazama, so who drops out to shoehorn in this electric player? Will he be used primarily to spell Koya near the end of games to keep both players fresh and lethal in the attack? Or will Higuchi try something bold and use him in RB position, much like he did with Tanaka starting in 2020, to overload the attack and go all out for promotion this season? There is no time for hesitation or playing it safe these days.
4.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. Work harder than Kitakyushu. Likelihood 4. What else you want me to say? We’ve beat them 3-0 just 5 games ago and there is nothing there to be concerned about. Other than our now persistent switching off after scoring, but even then, Kitakyushu looks a mess.
5.Prediction
Giravanz have been shutout seven times at home this season, four in a row leading up to tomorrow’s match; they have only won once at the Mikuni World Stadium in 2021, and have conceded multiple goals in half of their home games. I think the introduction of some new players into the Ryukyu lineup, coupled with Nakagawa’s resurgence, could see FC Ryukyu take this one 3-1 tomorrow. Season Record 6-6-11.
6. Round 24 in J2
League leaders (1) Kyoto Sanga FC take on (7) FC Machida Zelvia this round with (2) Jubilo Iwata traveling to (5) Ventforet Kofu, which is also the Free broadcast on the J-League International YouTube channel this week. (3) Albirex Niigata restart their season at home to (22) Omiya Ardija and elsewhere there are some bottom of the table clashes with massive relegation implications with (22) SC Sagamihara hosting (17) Tochigi SC and (18) Thespakusatsu Gunma welcoming in (20) Ehime FC for a six point swing contest.
FC Ryukyu need a quick injection of confidence and there is no better way to do that than earning a win on the road. They’ve had three weeks to prepare for this game, as did Giravanz, so there really should be no excuses for the offense not scoring goals, the defense meshing to prevent the lapses that have sunk us the past few weeks and someone stepping into the captain’s role while Uesato is recovering from injury. Got to have it tomorrow lads, got to have it!
One point from a possible six against the bottom two sides of J2 in consecutive weeks. Let that resonate as FC Ryukyu completely tripped over their own laces the past two rounds by failing to defeat either of these sides. Once more it was the switching off shortly after taking a lead in a game that led to an Omiya equalizer within 30 seconds of Akamine’s goal, and yet another disappointing result for this club. It is hard to view this as anything more than a failure by Ryukyu to secure 6-points these past two rounds and one that is likely to prevent them from securing promotion in 2021.
FC Ryukyu MF Kazaki Nakagawa: The man might not have made the score sheet but his impact was felt all over the pitch that Sunday night. He rang the crossbar in what could’ve been the opening goal for Ryukyu and then followed that up with some fine passing and defensive efforts. Getting Nakagawa going in the second half of the season is crucial for this side.
3.Review of the Keys to Victory for FC Ryukyu
1. Respond to Omiya’s fast start: Likelihood 3. Yes, in fact it was FC Ryukyu that started off strong inside the opening 12 minutes before Omiya took over for the remainder of the half.
2. Help Abe out: Likelihood 2. Unfortunately no.
4. Prediction
Said this one would end in disappointment for Ryukyu, and though they didn’t lose, I can’t view it as anything else. Take a draw as Omiya at least reached the 2-goal tally. Season Record 6-6-11.
5. Talking Points from Round 23
1. Each side had chances to win this game. Both hit the post, both called the opponents’ goalies into action on a couple of occasions, and both spoiled some good opportunities.
2. Injuries once again. FC Ryukyu lost Kaz Uesato to an MCL sprain when he landed awkwardly in the first half and could not continue. Add him to the ever growing list of Ryukyu players that will miss extended time over the next few months. FC Ryukyu’s injury list heading into the break is in the link below though it doesn’t include Tanaka, Ikeda, Dany or Taguchi. Click>>> FC Ryukyu Injuries
Iwata’s 14 game unbeaten streak finally came to end with both Kyoto and Niigata playing to a 1-1 draw meaning Kyoto go top based on goal difference. Elsewhere, Kofu, Yamagata, Zelvia and Nagasaki all won to move that much closer to the leaders.
The race at the bottom took some twists and turns with some surprising results for Gunma, Ehime and Omiya which now makes it a six horse race for the drop as SC Sagamihara slowly wither away.
FC Ryukyu have a tall ask in front of them the next few months if they wish to stay in the promotion hunt. Riddled by injuries to several key players, and facing the daunting month of September, I am not sure they can replicate the fast start to the season that saw them earn 12/10 points in the months of March and April that propelled them to the top. Next up is a trip to Kitakyushu for Ryukyu on Monday August 9th.
Both FC Ryukyu and Omiya Ardija need this win on Sunday. Ryukyu, currently fourth, are circling the drain and risk falling out of the promotion race with another loss, or dropped points, to a bottom four side. Omiya, who are starting to get something going on the heels of some recent strong performances by Kurokawa and Ibba, could climb out of the relegation zone for the first time in months with a win over Ryukyu and some results in the league going in their favor. These two sides played to a 0-0 draw the last time they met, but that was the old Omiya with Ken Iwase in charge and Ryukyu fully fit. Ryukyu has reached, or exceeded, the three goal plateau every time they have traveled to Saitama and that would be a welcome sight after last week’s results and before heading into the summer break.
Weather Forecast & Match Day Info
Previous Match Highlights
Team Previews
Omiya Ardija
FC Ryukyu
Keys to Victory
Prediction
Round 23 in J2
Conclusion
1.Weather Forecast and Match Day Information from Omiya Ardija
With the priority prevention measures in Saitama, as well as the state of emergency in Okinawa, this game will be capped out at 5,000 fans with no visiting fans allowed to attend. Click>>> Match Day 23 Info
2.Previous Match Highlights
V-Varen Nagasaki 1-1 Omiya Ardija
FC Ryukyu 0-1 SC Sagamihara
3. Team Previews
Omiya Ardija: Pretty much left for dead, Omiya Ardija have turned things around the past few weeks. They’ve earned 6 points from their last 5 games, a point total that took them 13 weeks earlier in the season to match, and won their first game in over three months. Omiya are also on their third manager this season after parting ways with Ken Iwase in May, and then caretaker manager Norio Sasaki making way for Masahiro Shimoda. Last week I mistakenly thought that SC Sagamihara were ripe for the picking when truly it was Ryukyu who were the ones ready to be plucked for points and things are shaping up to the same way this week.
After suffering three consecutive defeats, Omiya took the early lead over Tochigi SC in the fifth minute but conceded the equalizer inside the first half. Against Matsumoto Yamaga they had a chance at breaking the 0-0 deadlock but Ibba’s shot right on the doorstep ended up hitting the post. That first win in over three months for Omiya came at Renofa Yamaguchi when Kurokawa scored his first goal this season. Omiya nearly doubled their lead at the end but were denied by their own player, whose momentum took him into the net, and was subsequently hit on the backside by a Nermin Haskic shot to deny the goal.
At home to Montedio Yamagata the following week Omiya once more took the early lead from an Ibba goal, only to see them lose a lead for the second time inside their last five fixtures. On the road last week at V-Varen Nagasaki, Omiya clawed their way back into the game and scored an 87′ minute equalizer from Atsushi Kurokawa who has now scored two goals inside of his last three games. Both Kurokawa and Ibba look to be the most dangerous players for Omiya that Ryukyu need to concern themselves with on Sunday as each is in fine form. And both players have a limited history of scoring against Ryukyu as Ibba has notched two goals and Kurokawa one in these fixtures.
Omiya’s track record against the top four clubs this season is not good, as one might expect from a team currently sitting in 21st position. However, the lone point they have earned against these sides came back on match day six when they traveled to FC Ryukyu and held the hosts to a 0-0 draw. That game also happened to occur after Omiya had a strong performance against V-Varen Nagasaki the previous week and perhaps the recent run of form, coupled with the early success against what is now a much weaker FC Ryukyu side, might just be enough to buoy this team to their first home win in four months.
FC Ryukyu: We know Omiya’s track record against the top four sides in J2 isn’t that great, well, FC Ryukyu’s record against the bottom four isn’t something to boast about either. In the five games this season against the bottom four clubs, FC Ryukyu have managed 8 points out of a possible 15 with 2 wins, 2 draws and the lone loss occurring last week at home to SC Sagamihara. Oh, where would Ryukyu be with even some of those dropped points?
Though Ryukyu are not quite out of it yet, and with the top sides squaring off against one another this week, Ryukyu must get the job done in Saitama. During the past week FC Ryukyu played another reserve match against Kagoshima United FC which saw some of our injured players return to action. Most notably, Dany Carvajal in goal, and Ryohei Okazaki in defense. Each player played one half of that game and hopefully that is enough, for Okazaki at least, to enter the starting eleven this round.
Ryukyu has the uncanny ability to both play up, and down, to their competition this season. A trend that cannot continue in the short term as they need all three points this week. Most of Ryukyu’s dropped points this season have occurred during games when the opposition affords Ryukyu the majority of possession, frustrates Ryukyu in attack, and then hits us on the counterattack. Both coaches and players lament this fact after each of these games and if that is Omiya’s game plan this week, then we need to adjust quicker to Omiya’s tactics instead of sticking with what we though would work at the start of the match and hope for a lucky breakthrough.
For me, that means Abe taking this team on his back like he has done so many times in the past and pulling the team across the finish line. Possibly without both our starting fullbacks, as Numata wasn’t on the matchday roster last week, we also need Koya and/or Kiyotake, Shimizu and Nakagawa to be heavily involved with penetrating runs in and around the box and not simply laying the ball off back to Uesato and our center backs.
4.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. Respond to Omiya’s fast start: Likelihood 3. Omiya seemed to really go after their opponents in the opening 15’ minutes of games as evidenced by the Ibba goals inside 10 minutes against Tochigi SC and Montedio Yamagata. If Omiya do take the lead, expect what we’ve seen in the past with teams packing the defensive box so we better figure it the heck out on offense.
2. Help Abe out: Likelihood 2. Abe scored three goals in the first five games of 2021, which FC Ryukyu were undefeated, but has only managed 1 goal over his last 15 games, with none in his last five. Though, he has chipped in three assists the last three weeks, but this man needs to be scoring goals more than setting them up. He is too good of a striker to be sitting on such a low goal total. But he also needs support from the cast surrounding him. Abe can create space by drawing defenders in and it is time some of the other players do the same for Abe.
5.Prediction
Omiya sort of have the same thing going for them this week that SC Sagamihara had last week, and earned a quarter of their total points all season when they played Nagasaki and Ryukyu in back-to-back weeks. I think this one ends in disappoint for FC Ryukyu to the tune of 2-1 to Omiya. Season Record 6-5-11.
6.Round 23 in J2
There are some big games at the top of the table this week as (1) Jubilo Iwata host (6) Montedio Yamagata and then (2) Kyoto Sanga host (3) Albirex Niigata. Really makes those dropped points by Ryukyu last week hurt even more now. The free broadcast this week will feature Omiya Ardija and FC Ryukyu. Tune in and enjoy (maybe). Click>>> J.League International YouTube Channel.
7. Conclusion
This is the last time we will see FC Ryukyu in action until August. I honestly have no idea which FC Ryukyu team will show up on Sunday and we can only hope it is the one that secures all three points and not the one that drops us out of the promotion race before the break. Come on lads!
Ouch! This one stings as FC Ryukyu dropped crucial points at home, with Takuya Takagi getting some revenge on Higuchi for the past few seasons, when they fell 0-1 to visiting SC Sagamihara. Ryukyu ran headlong into a brick wall defense for only their second home defeat this season in which they were out shot and slightly outplayed by the visitors. For their part, SC Sagamihara executed their game plan flawlessly as they frustrated the Ryukyu attack all night and looked far more dangerous on several short counterattacks off of Ryukyu turnovers. The loss drops Ryukyu to fourth place but more importantly, it severely dents their bid on promotion.
SC Sagamihara Defenders Yasumasa Kawasaki, Tatsuya Shirai, and Yudai Fujiwara: They completely shut down the Ryukyu attack. Granted, they had help from their teammates, but shutting out the third highest scoring team in the league while on the road is impressive for a team that was a mess in defense for the past few rounds.
3.Review of the Keys to Victory for FC Ryukyu
1. Do not sleep on Sagamihara. Likelihood 4. Maybe they didn’t, maybe they did, but they definitely slipped on this banana peel.
2. Take full advantage of the chaos that is the Sagamihara defense. Likelihood 4. Quite the opposite actually. Somehow SC Sagamihara were very well organized in defense.
3. Win the battle against the two strikers of Sagamihara, win the match. Likelihood 4. It was only the set piece that did Ryukyu in on Sunday night.
4.Prediction
Not even close with my 3-1 prediction. Season Record 6-5-11.
5.Talking Points from Round 22
1. Reo Yamashita’s debut. Not sure if starting LB Keigo Numata was given the night off or if it was just an opportunity to give the young man some minutes at this level, but Yamashita’s debut didn’t go as planned. He committed a costly turnover in the second half and missed badly on an attempted cross from inside the box in the first half. All things which are forgivable during your first start but it didn’t help that Ryukyu are operating with a makeshift back line with all the injuries. There has been no word on the status of Numata as of this entry.
2. Limited chances. Ryukyu had roughly four good chances to crack the Sagamihara goal but the closest, and last best, chance they had was a 70’ minute shot by Yong Jick that hit the crossbar. Ryukyu never really threatened the Sagamihara goal nor tested their keeper. Unlike SC Sagamihara who were gifted some short counterattacks in the first half that called Inose into action on more than one occasion. Sagamihara’s second half goal stemmed from a set piece in a dangerous area where the Sagamihara attacker had a wide-open shooting lane to catch Inose out. In Inose’s defense, he may have been screened by all the players in front of him and unable to see the shot being set up. Or he thought the Sagamihara player might attempt to cross it into the box. Either way, it was a nicely worked goal.
3. The roadmap to defeating Ryukyu. It seems Ryukyu’s game plan for any given match is to let the opposition run at them so as to create a back-and-forth match for which our attack can freely operate. If the opposition simply parks the bus and aspires to hit us on the counterattack, teams will have great success. Higuchi, as well as a couple of players, commented after the game how it was hard to break down SC Sagamihara when they were putting five defenders inside the box and four others just behind the ball. We’ve seen this before from several teams that faced Ryukyu this season and the results are always the same. I am not sure how you overcome this situation other than adding speed and height to the attack by switching to a back three during the game and trying to win set pieces in dangerous areas with bold runs that could draw fouls or at least earn a corner kick.
4. This Summer gonna hurt. In 2019, when Ryukyu were trying to stave off relegation, not earn promotion, they went through a brutal stretch over the summer months where they won twice, drew twice and lost eleven games, five of which were in a row. So far things are slightly better this time around as Ryukyu have three wins, two draws and a single loss in the summer months to date. But Ryukyu has only managed two more points (15) over the last three months combined compared to the month of April (13). I was hoping we could squeak by with some results until a majority of our players return from injury but I am not sure their reintroduction will come soon enough. It feels as if promotion is slowly slipping away.
5. Some good news. Ryukyu played their third game of the J-Elite League on Monday afternoon where they drew 2-2 with Kagoshima United. However, the bigger news was seeing both Okazaki and Dany Carvajal return to action. Not sure if either will make the roster next week, but it would be good to get both of them back into the lineup before the break.
Jubilo Iwata was able to pull out a draw on the road to Renofa Yamaguchi with Kyoto Sanga FC winning comfortably on the road at Giravanz Kitakyushu and Albirex Niigata demolishing Tochigi SC at home. Ventforet Kofu, Montedio Yamagata and FC Machida Zelvia all won their fixtures to get that much closer to the leading pack.
Putting this one in the rearview mirror is all you can do I suppose. FC Ryukyu now need to travel to Omiya Ardija and grab three points before the break or risk falling completely out of the promotion picture. Sure, they could surprise us all after the break with big results in the months of August and September – which would definitely make us forget about this recent run of from – but will it be enough?
FC Ryukyu have a golden opportunity to extend their winning streak to three games this weekend when they face the bottom side SC Sagamihara at home. Ryukyu are in the midst of their most favorable schedule for their remaining fixtures and need to continue to hold serve with the league leaders by defeating a team that is struggling mightily this year. It will not be like the first time these two teams met this season when Ryukyu hit five past Sagamihara as Ryukyu are still dealing with a bevy of injuries to both the attack and back line.
Weather Forecast & Match Day Info
Previous Match Highlights
Team Previews
FC Ryukyu
SC Sagamihara
Keys to Victory
Prediction
Round 22 in J2
Conclusion
1.Weather Forecast and Match Day Information from FC Ryukyu
Could be a very muggy evening for football. Hope the boys are hydrated. The state of emergency in Okinawa has been extended to August 22nd which means no fans in the stands for at least the next two home games.
FC Ryukyu: Ryukyu have won three out of their last four games in which they’ve managed to score more than two goals in all three of those victories. The lone blemish on that record was the 0-3 defeat they suffered to Fagiano Okayama. During a time when Ryukyu really need the offense to lead this team, they have responded to the call. It also helps that the fixture list has been favorable to Ryukyu the past few rounds as well as the next three games including this one.
FC Ryukyu own one of the best home records in J2 having suffered a single defeat to Montedio Yamagata on match day fifteen. They also own an impressive goals scored to conceded ratio in the eleven games, though they’ve conceded 80% of their total goals allowed in their last five home games. Still, with so many injuries to so many key players, what more can you ask for than earning wins either by hook or by crook.
Last week we saw the introduction of Makito Uehara at RB filling in for the injured Keita Tanaka who will be out for the next six weeks. Ryukyu didn’t concede a goal when Makito was in the lineup so it will be interesting to see if Higuchi gives the youngster another run out, in what could be a confidence boosting match, or he opts to start Yuya Torikai instead. I think it is 50/50 between how Makito’s strength, or Torikai’s experience, will match up with either Yuri or Hiramatsu from SC Sagamihara.
Though Abe hasn’t hit the back of the net in five games, he is flourishing in Ryukyu’s 4-4-2 formation with three assists in his last two games. Abe is far off his pace last season when he scored 10 times before the halfway point, but I think he can turn things around in time for the big month of September. For his part, Koya Kazama has been red hot as of late scoring three goals and adding one assist in his last four games. With Tanaka out, he will be the main set up man down the right side of the Ryukyu attack. Last week saw the first point by Kazaki Nakagawa in a Ryukyu uniform since 2019. Though the point alone doesn’t justify switching back to a 4-2-3-1 with Nakagawa in the CAM role, I hope it was enough to get him more involved in matches moving forward. Getting him going, along with Abe, could lead to some of those high scoring games we’ve seen at Ryukyu when he was paired with Koji Suzuki in 2019, and when Yoshio Koizumi was paired with Takuma Abe in 2020.
SC Sagamihara:It has been a rough first year in the J2 for SC Sagamihara. Things started out promising for this side, earning 10 of their 13 points this season in their opening 10 fixtures, along with achieving some unexpected results (the 2-2 draw with Niigata), but Sagamihara has not won since round 10 and has managed to score only four goals since that time. Sagamihara did make one managerial change this year already but former Omiya Ardija manager, Takuya Takagi, has yet to improve the standing of this club who has lost three times and drawn twice in his first five games in charge. Though he was at the helm for their Emperors Cup win over Giravanz Kitakyushu.
Sagamihara lost three times in a row and then drew twice in their last five matches. They surrendered an early first half goal to V-Varen Nagasaki before looking the better side the remainder of the game with a majority of the chances on net. Their two goal loss to Mito Hollyhock highlighted how disorganized Sagamihara can be at the back with this side being pulled apart for the opening goal with the second being a long ball over the top where the Mito attacker had a 50-yard breakaway.
Two second half goals was all that Tokyo Verdy needed to see out their win over SC Sagamihara with the first stemming form a corner kick where Akihiko Takeshige forgot where he was in relation to the goal when his save carried him into the net, followed by more chaotic defending that led to another goal. Sagamihara managed to level their match with Blaublitz Akita in the 68′ minute when Reoto Kodama, fresh from his transfer from Sagan Tosu (who managed to hurt himself in the moments following the goal), which was the only goal Sagamihara has scored in the last five games. But it was Kota’s Hoshi missed opportunity to put the team ahead, much like he has done on several occasions this season, that consigned this team to a draw, but first point in six matches.
The bottom of the table clash between SC Sagamihara and Giravanz Kitakyushu ended in a scoreless draw with both sides trading chances throughout the match, though it was Giravanz who looked as if they might score from the frenetic defending on set pieces by Sagamihara at the end. Perhaps the recent run of form – consecutive draws and taking Urawa to the break in the Emperors Cup match in the midweek – has allowed a little bit of confidence to sneak back into this team. But for the most part, SC Sagamihara seem destined for the drop and ripe for the picking.
4.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. Do not sleep on Sagamihara. Likelihood 4. Probably the biggest key to victory this week as it would be very easy for Ryukyu to look past Sagamihara, who, to their credit, own one of the poorest away records and goal scoring ratios in the league. But, with points at a premium these days, and with only two games to go before an extended break, Ryukyu need to win this game in the first half, sub in some guys who need some match minutes, and possibly continue the streak of scoring 5 goals against SC Sagamihara. Just like they’ve done the previous three matches against this opponent.
2. Take full advantage of the chaos that is the Sagamihara defense. Likelihood 4. It isn’t pretty back there with players constantly caught out of position, multiple changes at goal keeper, and a general lack of organization from Sagamihara the past few weeks. The Ryukyu attacking players should have ample space and opportunity to operate on Sunday and it hurts that Keita Tanaka won’t be there to carve them up with his crosses.
3. Win the battle against the two strikers of Sagamihara, win the match. Likelihood 4. Though Juri was sent to the bench last week, he is a big powerful striker that will give fits to our back line. I think Chinen is up to the task, but there is no telling how our fullbacks and other center back will respond to this player. Ryukyu also need to be mindful of Kodama, and Hiramatsu – their leading scorer (3) – if he makes the squad.
5.Prediction
SC Sagamihara hasn’t conceded more than two goals in a game since their first match with FC Ryukyu back in early May. They also haven’t scored more than one goal in a game since early April while being shutout twelve times in twenty-one games. Ryukyu on the other hand has been on a bit of a goal scoring tear the past few rounds. Though I really want to hit the smash button for a large Ryukyu win, based on my past tendencies and track record, I think it is best I keep it somewhat conservative. I think this one ends 3-1 in favor of Ryukyu considering these aren’t the same two teams who already faced each other this season. Season Record 6-5-10.
6.Round 22 in J2
All the games this round kickoff on Sunday evening. The top fours sides all have matches against teams at, or near, the bottom of the table, as do the teams chasing the leaders with the lone exception being (8) FC Machida Zelvia hosting (12) FC Mito Hollyhock. The free broadcast this week will feature (2) Kyoto Sanga FC traveling to (18) Giravanz Kitakyushu. Click>>>J.League Int’l YouTube Channel.
7. Conclusion
With the very real possibility of none of the other three tops sides dropping points this round, nor the group of teams just behind Albirex Niigata, FC Ryukyu need to continue their fine form at home by taking it to SC Sagamihara. For SC Sagamihara, this could be the first nail in their coffin as they face FC Machida Zelvia, Ventforet Kofu, Albirex Niigata and Jubilo Iwata in their next five matches following Ryukyu.
FC Ryukyu sit just outside the promotion zone in third place at the halfway point of 2021. Considering they’ve nearly matched their single season win total (14) in only 21 games, it is pretty amazing to see how far Ryukyu have come in only their third season in J2 under Yasuhiro Higuchi. For the most part, Ryukyu have been getting it done on the backs of some seasoned veterans with really strong performances by a select group of young players. Unfortunately for this side, they’ve also been required to deal with multiple injures to key starters that puts the notion of outright promotion in jeopardy.
I was not able to to do a midseason report last year with the condensed fixture schedule so I really wanted to get back to writing something other than the normal match day previews and reports. We will look at the state of the team heading into the halfway point as well as the biggest storylines of the season, the J2 league as a whole and the way forward for the club. I hope you enjoy it.
Squad Overview
FC Ryukyu rank third in the league with 13 different players having scored for this side in 2021. Most of the goals have come from our midfield players which FC Ryukyu ranks 1st in the league with 22 goals. However, they rank 14th in goals scored from forwards. Ryukyu has scored a total of 14 first half goals, good enough for 6th in the league, but their 22 second half goals is only behind Albirex Niigata’s 25. Ryukyu have surrendered 8 first half goals on the season which puts them in 6th place for that stat category, though the 12 goals they’ve conceded in the second half of games ranks 11th in the league.
Biggest Victory: 5-1 defeat of SC Sagamihara (Round 11)
Biggest Loss: 0-3 loss to FC Machida Zelvia (Round 9) & 0-3 loss to Fagiano Okayama (Round 19)
Most Important Win: 1-0 defeat of Jubilo Iwata (Round 1)
Most Deflating Loss: 1-2 loss to Albirex Niigata (Round 16)
The Games that got Away: 0-0 draw with Omiya Ardija (Round 6) & 1-1 draw with Ehime FC (Round 13)
Mid Season MVP
The short list included Junto Taguchi, Tetsuya Chinen and Keita Tanaka. Junto’s emergence began last year but he has been a revelation this season when he recorded 7 shutouts in the 16 games he played going 10-3-3 during that time. Unfortunately Taguchi suffered an injury that has kept him out the past 5 weeks and his play began to dip after the departure of Ryohei Okazaki at CB. Tetsuya Chinen has featured in every single game for Ryukyu this season and has been our best defender. He has yet to score from a set piece this season, but his defensive performances are some of the best in all of J2.
FC Ryukyu Midseason MVP Keita Tanaka Photo Credit: jleague.com
Prior to his recent injury, Keita Tanaka was on a torrid points pace having already contributed 9 assists and 2 goals before the halfway point. His pinpoint accuracy on crosses from the right side add another element to the already lethal FC Ryukyu attack. We desperately need him healthy before the month of September.
Young Player to Watch
Despite the strong performances from the veterans of this team, Ryukyu do have a nice pool of youthful talent. Junto Taguchi, Shunsuke Motegi, Mizuki Ichimaru are just 24 years old, with Tetsuya Chinen, Ren Ikeda at 23 years of age, and then there is Makito Uehara, only 22, and current Ryukyu goal keeper Kosuke Inose at just 20 years of age. If Ryukyu can lock these players up for the next few seasons they will have a very strong nucleus to build around in the coming seasons.
Much like the mid season MVP, both Junto Taguchi and Tetsuya Chinen made the short list here. Tetsuya is one of the most exciting young players we’ve had in our ranks in recent years as this side has never been know for producing defensive talent. He played sparingly in 2020 after joining from Kindai University but has taken his game to a whole other level this season. He can play contained while maintaining an aggressive streak; can win aerial duels; and is always making plays for this side when they need it the most. But the young player that everyone needs to watch, albeit upon his return from injury, is Ren Ikeda.
Ren Ikeda FC Ryukyu Young Player to Watch Photo Credit: jleague.com
Like Chinen in 2020, Ren joined FC Ryukyu from Takushoku University and featured in 38 games that year scoring 4 goals and adding 3 assists. He was asked to fill in at many different attacking positions that year and that is probably why he went 32 games without a goal. When Ryukyu came into this season, I for one thought it would be Kazaki Nakagawa leading Ryukyu through the central attacking midfield role, but it was Ren Ikeda who won the job outright and looked very good early on. In the 18 games that Ren has played this season he has scored 6 goals, 3 of which are considered match winners, and added 1 assist. His injury is a tricky one to return from and his rehabilitation may actually take longer than the initial timeline put forth by the club. The hope is that he can return to his preinjury form sometime in the month of September for a potential big push for promotion.
Early Story Lines from the 2021 Season
1. 80 points. In early February Manager Yasuhiro Higuchi put forth the challenge that this team needs to achieve 80-points this season to be considered for promotion. The number 80 represents a drastic uptick in points for a club that only ever achieved 49 points at this level in their past two seasons. If we considered how the team played the past two seasons when they surrendered 80, and then 61 goals, and only hit the 14-win plateau once, at the very least it meant we needed to double our highest ever win total at this level coincided with a drastic downturn in goals conceded. Ryukyu entered 2021 with limited marquee offseason signings – to go along with the departure of Yoshio Kazumi to Urawa – but they were able to keep a majority of the 2020 squad intact. A fact that is of great importance following the CV-19 ravaged season of 2020 when other clubs experienced a much more violent turnover.
So far, things have gone better than expected as Ryukyu have turned into one of the better defensive sides in J2, though they have been undone lately due to injury, and they have nearly matched their win total from 2020 in the opening half of the season. They’ve also got some good performances out of Koki Kiyotake, who is enjoying his best statistical season in the past three years, as well as from Shintaro Shimizu. The only hard part for Ryukyu is that the target is so small this year with only two sides achieving promotion. Stuart of the @JTalKET so rightly said that “some teams have picked a bad year to have a bad season.” I would echo that sentiment and add that some teams will find themselves a bit unlucky to have a very good, but not great, season without the promotion playoffs. 80 points seems a bit low to achieve promotion in 2021 where the number of points needed could be closer to 90.
2. The battle for the Ryukyu #GK spot. Heading into the season everyone wanted to see who would win the competition between Dany Carvajal and Junto Taguchi for the starting GK spot at Ryukyu. Junto Taguchi won the battle and put in some phenomenal performances that has propelled Ryukyu to their current spot in the table, but like Dany Carvajal, he suffered an injury that has forced him to miss some time during a crucial part of Ryukyu’s season. This has forced Ryukyu to start 20-year-old Kosuku Inose at GK the past few rounds and while he has performed admirably at times, Ryukyu desperately need the veteran presence of either Taguchi or Dany back there after the Olympic break.
The good news is that we should see Dany emerge from his stress fracture in the next few weeks with Junto shortly behind. Ryukyu need both of these players pushing each other in training as without competition, some times complacency can set in.
3. Injuries have thrown promotion into doubt. The table below illustrates the damage that Ryukyu has suffered so far, and been forced to overcome in their quest for promotion. None of these injuries have been of the mild variety outside of Abe’s brief absence for a few weeks and some reports on players and staffers testing positive for CV-19. Both Abe and Makito Uehara dealt with injuries this season but both have returned to the lineup.
The fact that Ryukyu are down two of their top four scorers; two of their starting goalies; and one central defender, has put this team at or near the breaking point. In any season there will be injuries, but I feel some emerged from the rigors of training in between games whereas the oldest team in J2 probably needs more work on technical issues rather than physical preparation.
4. The Reserve League. FC Ryukyu entered the new J-League reserve league, known as the J-Elite league, which has given some of our reserve players valuable playing time. Ryukyu are currently 2-0 in the league with wins over Nagasaki and Fukuoka, but more importantly, it is keeping some of the reserve players that feature for Ryukyu from time-to-time match ready. It also provides an avenue for young players like, Koki Yushin, to gain some valuable match experience against senior level competition. Yushin played really well in his first game as a 16-year-old and the future looks bright for this player who is currently attending the U-16 Japan National team training camp.
5. FC Ryukyu sign their first ever player from Thailand. Sittichok Paso was signed on loan from Chonburi FC of the Thai league and was able to go through the J-League protocols to join FC Ryukyu in May. The U-23 Thai national team player has made on appearance at the senior level for the club but did score in the most recent J-Elite league match at Fukuoka. Ryukyu have switched formations to 4-4-2 as of late and this set up could allow Paso more playing time moving forward. Ryukyu also signed two players from Vietnam but for whatever reason, they’ve been unable to enter Japan, clear the 14-day protocols at the designated J-League facility, and ultimately join the club.
To no one’s surprise, Kyoto Sanga FC finds themselves near the top of the table. Tipped by many to win the league outright in 2021, I do not see that juggernaut slowing down one bit. Jubilo Iwata sputtered off the line with 2 wins in their opening 5 matches before embarking on an impressive streak that has seen them only lose once since Match Day 6. Albirex Niigata led the league the longest this season before a bit of dip in form recently.
The second pack in the table consists of Ventforet Kofu, V-Varen Nagasaki, Montedio Yamagata, and FC Machida Zelvia. These teams have been a bit streaky at times this season but nonetheless are still in the hunt for promotion. I think Nagasaki was also one of the favorites of some to earn promotion after their strong finish in 2020, but things have not gone according to plan this year. Perhaps we see a team (Montedio Yamagata) emerge from this pack with a strong second half and secure one of the promotion spots.
The third and final pack is that of the teams facing relegation. SC Sagamihara was tipped by many to go straight back down to J3 and they’ve done nothing but reinforce that notion. Shockingly, or not, Omiya Ardija find themselves embroiled in this relegation battle but after going through several managerial changes this season, they may have just enough time to pull themselves out of it. Thespakusatsu Gunma have also changed managers after winning only once in their past twelve games. Another team that many expected to struggle is Giravanz Kitakyushu after a massive squad overhaul following the 2020 season. Ehime FC has been at or near the bottom for most of the season but are only separated by 4-points from 15th places Renofa Yamaguchi. Just like a team that could emerge from the pack for promotion, any number of the bottom seven sides could find themselves in J3 in 2022.
The Long Road Ahead
FC Ryukyu are probably in their most favorable set of fixtures for the remainder of the season. They open the second half of the season with 3 of the 4 bottom sides currently in J2, followed by games against two teams in the bottom half of the table with a very tough match against up and coming Montedio Yamagata mixed in. Of the top four teams, it is only Ryukyu who do not own a double-digit undefeated streak for this season.
Obviously these long stretches have propelled the top sides to their current spots, but some have already been broken and it seems unlikely that Iwata’s current form can continue unabated. Ryukyu have a chance, at least on paper, of matching their longest stretch of undefeated games (8) with the remaining fixtures this month and in August. Which all leads towards the make or break month of September for FC Ryukyu.
3-games against the top competition all of which are on the road. Hopefully by this time all of the currently injured Ryukyu starters are back to full fitness as too many dropped points in this month will likely end all thoughts of promotion. But if they do emerge from September unscathed, then they only have 3 tough fixtures to navigate over the remaining months.
Conclusion
There are certainly areas that this side needs to improve over the course of the second half of the season. Primarily their goals scored to conceded ratio away from Okinawa as they have some hugely important road games in the coming months. The club had a few brushes with CV-19 this season and are currently playing behind closed doors. While CV-19 may be a persistent threat until the players and staff are vaccinated, Ryukyu will return from the Olympic break to see no fans in the stands as the State of Emergency here in Okinawa has been extended until August 22nd, which, is unfortunate but necessary. Speaking of the break, it really couldn’t come at a better time for this club with all the injures and travel they’ve logged to date.
I think FC Ryukyu has done enough to hang around near the top and give themselves a punchers chance at promotion. They need to continue to pile up the wins during their remaining 10 home games while achieving some unexpected, in a good way, results on the road.
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