2019

Intro

FC Ryukyu won their 4^th road game in a row – I still cannot believe I am typing that- in dramatic fashion with a 2-1 win over hosts Ehime FC. Ryukyu is undefeated in their last 6 road games with 4 wins and 2 draws dating back to the Kanazawa match in mid-September. FC Ryukyu moved up to 14^th in the table on 49 points but the victory meant more for the fans that it does for the overall outcome of season standings. FC Ryukyu have reached 13 wins and more importantly, will not lose more than half of their total contests in their inaugural J2 season. Truly a job well done.

Match DAY 41 Recap

As expected with two evenly matches squads, the game was back forth and rife with opportunities. FC Ryukyu made several changes to their starting 11 this week. First, they swapped Uehara for Song Sun at RB and then moved Uehara to striker as it seems Yamada was either suspended or hurt (or sent home from his loan spell). FCR also moved Tomidokoro back into the squad as Uejo served his 1 match ban for yellow card accumulation.

FC Ryukyu controlled a majority of the possession during the match, somewhere in the high 50% range and were afforded several opportunities early on. None of which were converted. In fact, it was Ehime FC who got on the board first with a 14^th minute goal from Kawamura. As I mentioned in the preview, FC Ryukyu needed to watch 2 play-makers in the Ehime side, #39 Shimokawa and #7 Kondo. It was a cross by Shimokawa into a dangerous area in front the of the Ryukyu goal that opened the scoring. I initially thought that Ishii should’ve done better, but after looking at the goal several times, there wasn’t much more he could do. He slid out at the correct time but the Ehime player made contact with him thus causing a deflection to fall into the path of the onrushing Kawamura, who easily rounded the pile of bodies in front of net and scored a wide-open goal. Could the ref have called interference with Ishii? Possibly, his angle and direction of slide would’ve allowed him to corral the ball had he not been interfered with but nevertheless, FC Ryukyu were down 1-0 early. Keep in mind, Ehime were shut-out in 4 of their previous 5 matches so this was a huge boost to this sides chances for earning a favorable result.

It would be way to harsh to criticize Song Sun on this play despite the wide real estate he afforded Shimokawa to make the pass. Song Sun is not an RB. In fact, he was seen drifting deeper and deeper into the attacking third early on this match. Of course, this is the tendency for a player who’s only played in the attacking mid-field role his whole career. You could see one of the central defenders of FC Ryukyu screaming at him to get out wide and cover Shimokawa but it was already too late when Song Sun recovered as the cross was delivered. Just like many of us that are asked to perform tasks outside of our normal work duties, Song Sun did the best he could in the limited training sessions and game time he had last week in preparing for this change of position. More damming to the side is the question of, what is going on at the training ground if we can only dress 3 healthy defenders the past 4 weeks?

I mentioned in the previous paragraph about #7 Kondo being the only other player FC Ryukyu should be mindful of during the match and boy did he make his presence known. He nearly doubled the Ehime lead in the first half when his pace allowed him to get past the Ryukyu defense on a counter with a clear break away on net. Luckily his finish wasn’t that spectacular or this game could’ve turned out much differently for FC Ryukyu. FC Ryukyu would head to half time down 1-0 but by no means were they over-matched.

FC Ryukyu upped the tempo in the second half and were knocking on the door for a goal to get them back in the match. The break through occurred in the 66^th minute when a Tokumoto cross found Uehara at the edge of the 6-yard box on the left side of the Ehime goal keeper. The cross itself was sent into a dangerous area with great precision but it was slightly short and took an awkward bounce. This actually proved fortuitous for FC Ryukyu as Uehara judged the cross exceptionally well and hesitated a bit when the Ehime defender kept moving forward. This resulted in a wide-open shooting lane for which Uehara hit one of his signature headers back across the goal keeper. In what seemed to be an eternity, the ball slowly bounced past the keeper and into the side netting just inside the right post of the Ehime goal. FC Ryukyu had equalized and Ehime were now back on their heels and reeling.

FC Ryukyu really dominated the remaining 20 minutes or so and were creating several dead ball opportunities. Unfortunately, none came to fruition and in fact, it seemed we squandered a majority of these chances with poorly taken kicks. FC Ryukyu had introduced both Koizumi, and Ramon into the side in exchange for Yu and Koya but this was counter to what i had hoped for in order to see what these players offer in an extend appearance. These are electric players with quickness, pace and in the case of Ramon, power. I really like the way the attack functions when these players are in the lineup and I hope we are starting to see the future 2020 attacking midfield for FC Ryukyu take shape.

In the 89^th minute, a pass from the golden locks of Koizumi, found a wide-open Kawai just atop the 18-yard box. Kawai showed great maturity and development by allowing the ball to roll across his body, dragging Okamoto across net to cut down the angle and then released a snap shot back across goal leaving the Ehime keeper no chance. Absolutely breathtaking and exciting. Too bad my infant son was sleeping as I could only let out a minor fist pump instead of an all out scream. Ryukyu were up 2-1 with only about 4 minutes in stoppage time remaining and in complete control. Ehime had one last gasp but nothing came of it and the boys from Okinawa were victorious once again.

Man of the Match

Shuto Kawai. His speed proved too much for Ehime FC as he was all over the place wreaking havoc. His goal, which was his second road-winning goal in a row, was a thing of beauty. Kawai has now amassed 2 goals and 2 assists in his last 5 games. He is, and needs to remain, the staring LM for FC Ryukyu in 2019 and beyond.

Review of the Keys to Victory for FC Ryukyu

1. Finish in front of goal. PASS: Uehara and Kawai made up for some of the poorer efforts early on.

2. Work hard for set pieces. PASS/FAIL: FC Ryukyu had an abundance of set pieces in the latter stages of the second half but the deliveries were not good. Several players stepped up to take corners and the set pieces but nobody had any luck yesterday.

Match Day Prediction

I said 2-2 and it was close had Kondo from Ehime connected on that counter attack in the first half.

Match Day Takeaways

1. We did see some playing time for likes of Koizumi and Ramon but not nearly enough. I will maintain this stance even when we play Kofu next week as a win is merely a moral victory at this point. I wouldn’t care if we saw whole sale changes across the squad next week but I doubt that as we have few healthy defenders to begin with. Who knows, maybe we see Sanches out there next Sunday. And why not, there is nothing to lose but a meaningless remaining fixture.

2. Kawai is the real deal. If we can retain him, Koya and get the likes of Koizumi and Ramon involved for 2020 then I really like our chances for improving on a 14/15^th place finish in 2019. It will take time for that front 3 to gel but their combination of burst, pace, power and in the case of Koya, maturity, could be hugely beneficial for this club next season. Now we just have to wait on the transfer market to see what direction FC Ryukyu goes.

Around the J2 on Match Day 41

Kashiwa Reysol were officially crowned the 2019 J2 champions and will make an immediate return to J1 for the 2020 season. Congratulations to them and best of luck in 2020. I am not sure if teams in the J2 conduct the “guard of honor” when the champions walk out for their remaining fixtures in the season and know for sure it doesn’t happen in J3. Would be nice to see.

Yokohama improved their chances of automatic promotion with a 1-0 victory over Okayama whereas Omiya stumbled again drawing 1-1 with Niigata at home. Yokohama may get the auto promotion as they face Ehime at home with Omiya needing to beat Kanazawa on the road.

Yamagata, Tokushima, Kofu, Kyoto and Mito are all still in the hunt for a promotion playoff spot. Really wide open with a wild end of season weekend forthcoming. FC Ryukyu are certainly going to see a full Kofu squad go all out for the win next week. God I’d love to be spoilers for their season and you know exactly why.

Tochigi SC won 1-0 over Nagasaki but so did Kagoshima over promotion seeking side Mito in a shock result. If Tochigi win and Kagoshima lose next week, Kagoshima will be relegated. Both have favorable draws to end the season.

FC Gifu were officially relegated with their loss to Kofu and any of you who saw the video clip on twitter of the young Gifu fan crying truly understand what promotion and relegation means to a team’s fans. That is why all we ever ask as fans is that players go out there every week and put in a shift.

Conclusion

All in all it will be a very drama filled weekend to close out the J2 season. FC Ryukyu will play their final match away at Kofu, who themselves, are looking to book a ticket into the promotion playoff round. I said that I hoped FC Ryukyu could grab one more win to close out the season for their fans and they did just that this past Saturday. Now, be smart, put pride aside and get some younger players the much needed match day experiences against a stronger foe who is certainly going to go all out for the game. The 2020 season starts now.

“Stemming the Orange Tide” Match Day 38 Preview: FC Ryukyu vs Omiya Ardija 10/27/2019

Intro

Fresh off their second consecutive road win, FC Ryukyu welcome 4^th placed Omiya Ardija to town on Sunday. Omiya, after having bested Verdy, Nagasaki and Mito, were shocked at home by Tokushima Vortis this past weekend. These two sides first met back on match day 2 where FC Ryukyu defeated Omiya 4-3. My how the fortunes of both sides have changed since then. FC Ryukyu would go on to win 2 more in a row, in addition to drawing 2 in a row, before they began their downward slide in the J2 table. Omiya on the other hand, weathered a slow start to the season and eventually rose into the promotion zone and are flirting with automatic promotion to the J1. I seriously doubt that FC Ryukyu will once again catch Omiya off-guard and this is will be another tough test against a formidable opponent at home for FC Ryukyu.

Weather Forecast

Cool temperatures with overcast skies and slight chance of rain. It will be a little windy so I’d bring the sunblock to prevent any windburn to your face if your sitting up high in the stands.

Recap of Match Day 2: 03/02/2019 Omiya Ardija 3-4 FC Ryukyu

On a cool, crisp, March afternoon in Saitama, FC Ryukyu had one of their most convincing wins and signature matches all season. A beautifully taken shot from Tanaka, a Koji Suzuki brace capped with Satoki Uejo opening his scoring account for the 2019 season gave FC Ryukyu 4 goals. Dany made some spectacular saves, especially late on, and Kazaki Nakagawa was the true star with 3 assists.

The scoring began with the Tanaka opener, followed by the equalizer from Omiya after Delgado redirected a shot over Carvajal. Then FC Ryukyu busted out for 3 straight goals in the opening 16 minutes of the second half to jump out to a 4-1 lead. Omiya were awarded a very late PK and then scored on quick counter in the first minute of stoppage time to bring the game to a 4-3. Dany made a great diving save to parry a shot away from danger later on and FC Ryukyu would hold on to win. A win that nobody saw coming.

There are many bittersweet memories from this match. First, it was a testament to Nakagawa’s skill and those 3 assists saw him as the top assist provider in J2 well after he departed for Yokohama F Marinos 2 weeks later. Second, Koji was happy and scoring at will and third, Uejo’s emergence was bubbling to the surface. Finally, it would ultimately take FC Ryukyu 16 more matches before they would win again on the road this season. For Omiya, they would respond with a win the following week, wobble slightly against Yamagata the next and then go on a run of 16 unbeaten that has since propelled them into the promotion battle. Oh, what could’ve been for this Ryukyu side. A side that since this Omiya match has seen no less than 6 changes to the starting lineup. Whereas Omiya has seen less than half of that total. It was one of the best footballing experiences I’ve had all season.

Omiya Ardija

Pace, Power and Height pretty much sum up Omiya at the moment. Omiya displayed a penchant for hitting teams on the counter over their last 5 games and they can quickly break out of their own end and into the opponent’s end with just a few passes. They can send long balls over the top that allow the attacking 3 to run underneath them bringing them past the oppositions defense and free on goal. Omiya were also lethal from set pieces, corner kicks in particular, where their height and power prove to be too much for opposing defenders. They can also press teams that attempt to play it out form the back if they feel this is a weakness of the opposition. They pressed Nagasaki in this manner and it resulted in a goal after a cheap giveaway in the Nagasaki end.

Even though Mito jumped out to an early 2-0 lead over Omiya, Ardija was able to fight back and score 3 goals against a team that doesn’t conceded many goals to begin with. They had some slight trouble against Verdy before converting 2 corner kicks to win 2-0 and they really made Nagasaki look like an average side in a convincing 3-0 victory. They were nearly beaten at the end by Yokohama FC when Yokohama hit the crossbar, but walked away with an important point on the road against a promotion seeking side. The only outlier in the past 5 games was the recent loss to Tokushima Vortis.

It was a back and forth contest between the 2 sides with Vortis opening the scoring from a play that seemed to catch Omiya flat footed. Omiya responded with a counter attack goal before Vortis once scored from a busted play after Omiya failed to clear. Omiya responded with a headed goal on a set piece but Vortis got the best of them at the end with a 3^rd goal.

All in all, Omiya represent a difficult challenge for FC Ryukyu this Sunday. Omiya surely want to continue their promotion push, and they may have revenge on the mind, after FC Ryukyu walked into their home ground and put 4 past them in convincing fashion earlier this year.

FC Ryukyu

FC Ryukyu responded really well after losing 5-1 to Tokyo Verdy at home by defeating Tochigi SC on the road 2-0. Two really well taken goals by Uejo, one with his left foot and one with his right foot, has put FC Ryukyu on 43 points, which is roughly 13 points clear of the drop zone. Though FC Ryukyu started the Tochigi match sluggish, they really turned it on in the last 25 minutes and Tochigi had no response. FC Ryukyu have now won 2 in a row on the road and are undefeated in their last 4 road matches. Quite a turnaround from a few months ago when FC Ryukyu were struggling mightily on the road and losing at home.

There was some shifting of the FC Ryukyu lineup this past week with Shinji Ono and Yu Tomidokoro being dropped for Shuto Kawai and Koki Kazama. However, FC Ryukyu face a real selection crisis this week as they will be without both their Right Backs, Torikai and Nishioka, who have both succumbed to injuries. Torikai picked up his ankle injury early in the first half against Tochigi, requiring Uehara to fill in at RB, and the injury will see him miss the remainder of the 2019 season. And possibly the start of the 2020 season as he rehabs a dislocated ligament. Nishioka suffered an ankle injury in training and he is scheduled to miss at least the next 3 matches. Which begs the question, who will FC Ryukyu start this Sunday at RB?

Though Uehara filled in admirably, he is certainly not the solution over the next 3 matches. Outside of Tokumoto, Okazaki and Fukui, FC Ryukyu have only 2 defenders with any match day experience this season. One of those, Arai, only featured for a few minutes on the very first match of the season. There has been no word on whether or not Shogo Nishikawa, the only other FC Ryukyu defender to feature in a match this year, has suffered an injury or is healthy enough to start. In either event, we will need both of them to be healthy and in the lineup on Sunday. That is, unless newly acquired Daniel Sanches is finally ready to make his debut? It’s really anybody’s guess at this point as to what Higuchi will do to fill the void at RB in Ryukyu the lineup.

Player Injuries

FC Ryukyu: Will be without both starting RBs in Torikai and Nishioka.

Omiya Ardija: No one significant to the starting 11. Two defenders who were hurt earlier in the season is all that is reported.

Keys to FC Ryukyu Victory

1. Start fast and build a multiple goal lead. This worked the last time these two sides met and almost worked for Mito a few weeks ago. Granted Mito ended up losing and this a far different lineup for FC Ryukyu. Ryukyu really do not lineup well against Omiya with their speed up top, height at the back and ability to score from counters and set pieces. There will be goals tomorrow for sure, just hope we have more than Omiya do at the end.

2. Do not concede many set pieces. This is especially true of corner kicks where Omiya’s tree trunks; Delgado and Simovic, will certainly overpower their man marking.

3. Pick your poison. If we play out from the back, I expect heavy pressing by Omiya that forces Ryukyu into making mistakes and costly turnovers. If we attempt to play high up the pitch, we risk over exposing the makeshift back 4 of Ryukyu to the speed of the Omiya counter attack. No easy choice.

4. Win the battle down our defensive right side and we may win the game. I’d expect a heavy dose of crosses and attacks emanating from our right side, the Omiya left, against whoever is asked to fill in at RB on Sunday for Ryukyu. We will need some defensive help over the top from one of the Mid Fielders for the Ryukyu RB and this could mean large stretches of little possession for Ryukyu on Sunday.

5. Clean up the garbage in the box on both ends. Don’t allow needless shots on our goal from shots that are blocked or saved. On the flip side, Omiya has a hard time cleaning up the garbage in front of their own goal and conceded a couple of goals from this spot. Somehow Omiya concedes goals, loses matches and has small defensive lapses. This is the smallest of cracks in their armor but an exploitable one.

The Contrarian Approach: Start Kawai, Koizumi and Ramon and attack Omiya with speed early and often. Start Daniel Sanches and Okazaki at CB and have Fukui slide out wide to the Right.

Match Day 38 Prediction

The numbers indicate that Omiya is on a tear with 10 to 5 goals scored/conceded ratio over the course of their last 5 matches. Ryukyu haven’t scored nearly as many but they have kept a clean sheet in 3 of those matches. 2-1 Omiya would be considered a respectable score line on Sunday.

Link to Match Day Info on FC Ryukyu Website: http://fcryukyu.com/news/21400/

Plenty of useful info and the page can be translated into English. There are maps for free parking with shuttles to the match and a schedule of events for the match day.

Important Fixtures on Match Day 38

Conclusion

It looks as if the club is expecting a larger than usual traveling contingent of fans for this one and has adjusted the seating accordingly. This maybe due to the pre-match festivities where Bando will conduct one of his retirement ceremonies and the popular MONGOL800 band will perform just before kickoff. With that said, its probably best to get there early if you want a seat in the covered section. The club’s president, Mr. Subaru Mikami, tweeted that he’d like for the overall attendance numbers to hit 100,000 for the season and I think there will be a strong showing on Sunday somewhere in the vicinity of 7,000 to get us close to the mark.

But I am not there for the pre-match pomp and circumstance. I am there to watch my team one last time at home before I depart for a lengthy spell away from Okinawa. I will still be able to see the boys close out the season at Kofu but I want to enjoy all that has been at home this season. The drama, the thrills, the let downs, the come-backs and of course enjoying matches with all of my fellow FC Ryukyu fans and the players. With safety all but guaranteed for next season, I want to see the boys play loose, relaxed and carefree on Sunday. Omiya has more at stake than FC Ryukyu since we no longer need to hunt for results to ensure safety. FC Ryukyu are simply playing for pride, playing the role of spoiler against sides seeking promotion, but most importantly, playing for Okinawa and all the fans of this club.

So join me on the walk down the Bengara Boulevard and into Fortress Ryukyu one last time this season. Give em hell boys and make us proud. You always do!