The final home game of the 2019 J2 season for FC Ryukyu ended in a 3-0 defeat at the hands of Kyoto Sanga. Not the type of ending that the club, nor its fans, were hoping for. Nonetheless, the boys from Okinawa achieved some marvelous results during their 21 home games this season that included wins over Mito and Tokushima with dramatic draws against Kashiwa and Yamagata. The only thing that was regrettable on Sunday was that FC Ryukyu failed to score a goal and give the home crowd something to celebrate.
From the JLeague website
Match Recap
FC Ryukyu looked up for the match for must of the first half
despite some of the poor passing and cheap giveaways they execute din the first
10 minutes. In fact, FC Ryukyu had most of the possession, 64%, and three of the
best opportunities from Tokumoto, Uehara and Koya. Kyoto hit the post in the 25th
minute but other than that, it was al FC Ryukyu early on. The fact that FC
Ryukyu didn’t score from a golden opportunity when Yamada had s shot blocked, really
hurt this sides chances of achieving a favorable result on Sunday.
FC Ryukyu came out fast to start the second half and had
Uejo made a better decision with his pass in the 58th minute, FC
Ryukyu could’ve been up 1-0. Instead, Uejo’s pass was slightly behind Tokumoto
and the subsequent shot off target. From this point forward, Kyoto took over
the match.
Kyoto had several misses before Fukui committed a foul in the box resulting in a PK for Kyoto. Kyoto converted for the deciding goal and the spirits of FC Ryukyu were broken. FC Ryukyu quickly surrendered another goal off a CK when they were caught ball watching and then Son Sun was over powered in the 85th minute by Koyamatsu. Despite the 55% possession that FC Ryukyu enjoyed all night, they could never get past the Kyoto goal keeper.
Man of the Match
From J league website
Kyoto Sanga FC Koyamatsu MF: First, I truly love this player’s
pace, tenacity and strength. I dream of day when FC Ryukyu could sign a player with
all these tools, and I guess, you never know what could happen. His ability to
hold off a pacey player in Song Sun and then basically shrug him off to open up
a shooting lane was simply amazing.
Review of the Keys to Victory for FC Ryukyu
1. Pester the Kyoto Defense with Speed: NO GRADE. FC Ryukyu
did at times and had plenty of opportunities but converted none of them.
2. Be Mindful of the Kyoto Counter Attack: PASS, but only
because Kyoto failed to score. There were plenty of near misses and opportunities
for Kyoto to bang one in on the counter and FC Ryukyu only escaped with some favorable
post strikes, near misses and off sides calls.
Match Day 40 Prediction
I said 3-1 in favor of Kyoto and it was nearly achieved.
Match DAY 40 TAKEAWAYS
1. The Uejo, Ramon, Kawai combination looked really good and
if Higuchi wasn’t so dogmatic in his approach to the lineup selection with
nothing on the line, it be really exciting to see this combo the last 2 weeks.
2. There is nothing left to play for except pride, maybe player and coaching bonuses, but nothing more. It is high time we saw the younger players in the squad start in order to see what we have for the 2020 season. Higuchi needs to make some serious changes to the lineup considering results no longer matter.
3. There were very nice scenes at the end of the match at the “Tapista” with Higuchi, Mr. Mikami and Uesato all offering words of gratitude. The fact that FC Ryukyu had their 4/5th largest crowd all season was touching and I hope they average around 5-6,000 next year. To be honest, if they want J1, they need the ticket sales for revenue and salaries and we are miles away from there for now.
4. Also, very nice to see banner, and support from the club, to restore a very iconic and important symbol of Okinawa on Sunday.
Conclusion
Thus, ends the 2019 campaign at home for FC Ryukyu. Overall,
they finished with 8 wins, 5 draws and 8 losses at home. It is a mixed bag of
results in my opinion. There were dramatic come from behind games to earn wins as
well as games that simply got away from this side. Everyone enjoyed the goals
and it was a shame that Shinji Ono could never orchestrate one prior to his
season ending injury.
The home slate had all the ups and downs one would expect in
the J2 and I hope the 2020 season is as memorable as the 2019. But fret not,
the season still has 2 fixtures remaining and I’d love to see this side end on
high note. Particularly against the Kofu side that ended the home undefeated
streak so long ago.
I don’t think I could’ve come up with a more befitting title for this match based on the following: 1. Kyoto’s kits are purple, 2. it was raining the whole match and 3. it is the birth month of Prince, who wrote this song. I am not a huge fan of Prince but things lined up perfectly for this catchy title for this particular blog entry.
FC Ryukyu earned a hard-fought point on Saturday night at the Kyoto Nishikyogoku Athletic Stadium where they battled back twice from 1 goal deficits to tie the match. While the draw has ultimately dropped FC Ryukyu down to 10th in the standings, the precious point is all that really matters at the end of the day.
Each team’s lineup remained unchanged from their previous matches with one exception. Kyoto put their best attacking players up front, Ishimi, Koyamatsu and Sento, to form more of a 3-4-3 formation. The move signaled to me that the manager, Ichizo Nakata, knows his side well and since this Kyoto side always starts matches very fast, he wanted to do everything he could to grab the early lead with hopes of piling on the goals later.
First Half
In the preview article I espoused that if FC Ryukyu wished
to walk away with any points, they needed to keep Kyoto off the score sheet in
the first half. Kyoto had 100% success rate (wins and draws) when they are the
first team to score in a match and that score occurs in the first half. Within
55 seconds Kyoto already had a shot on net and their second came 1 minute and
40 seconds later. Not the start that FC Ryukyu needed by any means. FC Ryukyu
were lucky to escape the early deficit when Isihimi’s shot hit the post in the
6th minute. Things than began to get worse for Ryukyu when in the 7th
minute, Fukui had to come on place of the injured Tokumoto for what looks to be
a non-contact injury to his lower left leg. It is possible he’ll miss some time
depending on the severity of the injury and it couldn’t come at a worse time
with Ryukyu having 8 matches over the next 6 weeks.
Kyoto had a ridiculous 77% possession rate compared to
Ryukyu’s 23% around the quarter mark of the match and Kyoto were dictating the
pace of play as well as creating all the chances on net. Ryukyu simply didn’t
have an answer to stop the Kyoto onslaught or enough possession to slow the
match down. Ryukyu’s best chance came in the 20th minute when a ball
fell to Tanaka in the 18-yard box and unfortunately, he struck it with his left
foot and the shot went just wide of the net. Ryukyu then survived another scare
in the 25th minute when a long through ball found a streaking Kyoto
player but luckily, Ishii and Okazaki were able to break up the cross. At the
30-minute mark, Kyoto were still enjoying a 75% possession rate and were
leading in the shot category, 5 to 1 over Ryukyu.
Near the end of the first half, a long pass by Okazaki to
Komatsu was quickly corralled by Sanga and they immediately sprung into a
counter attack. Masutani offered a half-hearted challenge on the on-rushing
Kyoto player and when Uesato was rushing back to aid in the defense, he
actually stopped the pass from Kyoto that was screeching across the top of our
box towards the right side. Unfortunately, Uesato’s deflection landed right at
the feet of Koyamatsu, who struck a nice shot past a diving Ishii for a 1-0 Kyoto
lead. I personally thought this goal was coming for a long time with the amount
of possession and opportunities Kyoto enjoyed up to this point but I also
thought that FC Ryukyu was going to hold Kyoto goalless heading into half time.
Kyoto had another two chances to double their lead in the 41st and 44th minute as they were finding it very easy to round our defenders and send crosses/shots into the box. Just when I thought all hope was lost with Ryukyu on pace for their 5th consecutive road loss, Ryukyu caught a break. Ryukyu earned a free kick at the very end of the extra time in the first half and the initial shot by Okazaki was deflected and it found an unmarked Koji Suzuki alone at the edge of the goal. Suzuki delivered a header into the net that seemed to surprise, and disappoint, the Kyoto team. In only one instance, versus Mito, had Kyoto gone on to not win the match after scoring first in the first half and allowing the opponents to score in the first half as well. It was a massive shift in the probability projections for Ryukyu to earn a draw on the day. Basically, FC Ryukyu went from around 0.05% to 25% with that Suzuki goal. While that cannot be understated, it is more important to state what a goal means for both sides when it occurs at the very end of the first half. It was a confidence booster for Ryukyu while simultaneously letting the “wind out of the sails” for Kyoto. This was a massive goal for Ryukyu as well as Koji as it moved him into the top position in J2 with 12 goals scored this season.
Second Half
Ryukyu started the second half slowly after already
conceding 68% of the possession to Kyoto in the first half. Right away in the
46th minute, Kyoto were awarded the FK after Masutani fell to the
ground from an attempted clearance. Now, Masutani was able to make the
clearance, but the resulting fall took him into the path of the Kyoto player
who was adjusting his run for the deflection. The Kyoto player ran into
Masutani, and actually gave him a nasty knock to the head, and the ref awarded
the FK. To be honest, Masutani had no idea where the Kyoto player was, didn’t
stick out an arm or attempt to interfere the player, it was just the natural
progression of the fall/slide that took him into the Kyoto players path. Yet
the referee’s vantage point was from behind and he couldn’t see all this play
out and deemed it to be an infraction and award a free kick.
An errant pass by Uesato lead to another Kyoto opportunity
in the 52nd minute but Ishii did a tremendous job in stopping the
shot by Ishimi. Tanaka picked up a yellow card just prior to that play and was
ultimately subbed off for Kawai. Tanaka will miss the next match due to suspension
from his accumulation of yellow cards. Ryukyu’s defense was then ripped apart
in the 55th minute and luckily the clearance by Ryukyu, that hit a
Kyoto player in the box, bounced off the side netting and didn’t make its way
into the back of the net. Kawai’s presence could already be felt stating in the
57th minute as his runs seemed to surprise the Kyoto side as they
were fast, and straight at them and this was something Ryukyu were not doing up
to this point. I don’t think Kyoto were expecting this at all from Ryukyu and
they seemed more than willing to cede some acreage for Kawai to run into. At
the 64-minute mark, Ryukyu had ceded 3 more chances to Kyoto and they were only
able to muster one real chance but the game was about to be flipped on its
head.
Another errant pass led to another Kyoto counter attack that
ultimately resulted in a PK. Uesato’s challenge looked as if he got to the ball
before he brought the player down but there was one small problem, he did so by
going through the player legs from behind and that will always be called as a
foul anywhere on the pitch. Ishimi stepped up and delivered a nice strike
underneath the diving Ishii, who guessed correctly, but the shot had placement
and power and would be hard for most goalkeepers to stop.
In the 74th minute Kawai drew a foul near the
edge of the 18-yard box but the resulting Tomidokoro strike sailed just a
little high over the bar. However, it would be the pace and tenacity of Kawai
that allowed FC Ryukyu to get back in the match when he slotted home a goal in
the 80th minute.
Kawai made a great run down the left and found a streaking
Tomidokoro who executed a very nice back heel pass to the on-rushing Kawai. The
back-heel pass by Yu seemed to tee the ball up perfectly for Kawai and Kawai’s
strike went past the diving keeper of Kyoto and into the bottom right corner of
the goal.
Finally, Ryukyu sprung to life in the 80th minute
of the match. A corner kick from Ryukyu found a wide open Uesato who struck
home a one timed volley but he was ruled offside. It was a harsh call in my
mind (obviously as a Ryukyu supporter) but that’s because the replay, and more
importantly the camera angle, couldn’t really show Uesato in an offside
position. That would’ve been a huge goal but nonetheless, Ryukyu really began
to trouble the Kyoto defense.
Ryukyu tried to see out the remainder of the match with some controlled possession but the accurate passing just wasn’t there today. This is most likely due to the little amount of possession they enjoyed. The last few seconds of the match were very frantic in that Ryukyu earned a corner; Uesato nearly scored from a header, had it been low it may have gone in, and the resulting Kyoto last surge counter was luckily thwarted by the scrambling Ryukyu defenders to earn the 1-1 draw.
Man of the Match
#30 DF Yosuke Ishibitsu, Kyoto Sanga F.C.
It was hard not to award the MOM to Kawai from FC Ryukyu for
his contributions, but Ishibitsu’s efforts really stood out and the man put in
a phenomenal shift for Kyoto. The veteran made life difficult for Tomidokoro in
the first half, so much so that Yu shifted from the left side to the right side
in the second half so as to completely avoid Ishibitsu. Ishibitsu won some free
kicks and delivered them with quality when called upon. I am jealous that this
man can play at such a high level at 35 years of age and would love to see him in
the Ryukyu back line even if it’s only for one season. I think one of the best examples
for why he deserves MOM was his ability to close down Tomidokoro in the 39th
minute when Yu received a beautiful through pass that put him alone on net. The
veteran Ishibitsu had enough pace in him to recover and force Yu to change
direction which ultimately saw Yu lose possession and the Ryukyu attack fizzle
out. My tally on the day had Ishibitsu besting the Ryukyu attack and players
6-1. The man simply couldn’t be beaten in defense and he offered so much in the
attack for Kyoto. Well done sir.
Keys to Victory Review
A quick review of the key points I put forth in the match
day preview.
1. Prevent Kyoto from scoring in the first half. Ultimately
a failing mark as Kyoto did end up scoring in the first half, but Ryukyu put up
a good fight and recovered for a point.
2. Harass the Kyoto back line. Pass. Kawai’s substitution
proved the difference maker for Ryukyu and in all reality, it wasn’t until the
80th minute that Ryukyu truly threatened the back line of Kyoto.
3. Score multiple goals and do not waste them in a loss.
Passed with flying colors. This match was only the second time in 12 weeks that
FC Ryukyu scored multiple goals in a match and the timing couldn’t have been
better. This attack needs to get going as we all miss the free scoring side
that can score 4, concede 3 and still end up on top. Patience is a virtue, I
guess.
Takeaways from Match Day 18
1. The Referee. Spoiler Alert, plenty of bias to follow. The
refereeing on Saturday was suspect. There were at least 3 bookable offenses by
Kyoto that were not carded and each of them either stopped a FC Ryukyu counter
attack or ended it altogether. That makes all of them bookable offenses in my
mind. If an unwritten rule in football exists about how many warnings a player
can receive before a booking, then I failed to see it yesterday. I say that
because Tanaka was carded for his first challenge, and rightly so, but his
offense was no different from the Kyoto players, yet none of the Sanga players
were carded until deep into stoppage time. The refereeing in J2, in my humble opinion
at least, is suspect at best; and to be honest, across Asia it isn’t that great
either. Many refs fall into that “Home Cooking” philosophy whereas they just
want to be liked by the home team’s supporters and get back to their vehicle
safely after a match.
2. While the possession disparity between both sides is enough to make you wonder as a Ryukyu fan if they were actually playing a J1 side like Kawasaki, FC Ryukyu did nothing to help themselves on Saturday with so many errant passes. As stated earlier, this is probably attributed to how little of the ball FC Ryukyu saw throughout the match as Kyoto had a 65% to 35% possession advantage but this will occur from time to time and FC Ryukyu need to be more clinical in possession. The misguided passes sent Kyoto on their way multiple times and lead to both of their goals. If FC Ryukyu passing was better on Saturday then maybe they could’ve won the match, but as a whole, the Ryukyu passing was deplorable. There are more of these types of matches ahead of Ryukyu this year and while the “bend, but don’t break” mentality on defense works from time to time, it requires the team to be precise and lethal in limited possession.
Conclusion
Well FC Ryukyu earned their first positive result in a road
match since the late equalizer by Uesato back in match day 9 against Tokyo
Verdy. This means that Ryukyu broke a 4-game losing streak on the road and it
also meant that Kyoto will remain winless in games started after 1800. FC
Ryukyu return home next week to face a very strong, recently defeated, 4th
placed Ventforet Kofu side.
I hope the Okinawa faithful show up in full force for this match as it is another tough test for the Bengara boys to keep the home undefeated record intact as well some much-needed revenue before the transfer window opens up in July. Make no mistake, FC Ryukyu needs revenue – at least 8,000 fans per home match – as well as reinforcements. We don’t want to see Ryukyu become “sellers” in the transfer market next month. We want FC Ryukyu to be “buyers” because if not, this team may end up back in the J3. I know I always harp on the fact that FC Ryukyu haven’t earned, or possibly done, anything of note yet. Well, that is because it is so likely that recently promoted clubs are the ones relegated each season and I don’t want Ryukyu to be the first J3 side to achieve this dubious award. Staying power equals revenue and a chance at J1 football, that, is the mid and long-term goal for this club.
Nice view of the Koji header to equalize in the first half. PHOTO CREDIT: @john_level_O
Match Day 18: (H) Kyoto Sanga F.C. vs. FC Ryukyu (A) at the Kyoto Nishikyogoku Athletic Stadium, 6/15/2019 Kickoff at 1900.
Weather Forecast: Temperatures will be in the mid-70s for the match but it is expected to rain all day with thunderstorms starting around 1500 and expected to continue until 2200. Bring your rain jackets, poncho’s, umbrellas and towels as it is going to be nasty weather out there.
Intro
Fresh off their draw with Kanazawa, FC Ryukyu travel to the Kansai area to take on a very powerful Kyoto Sanga side who are returning home after 2 weeks on the road. Sanga come into the match having been decisively beaten by Omiya Ardija but this is a team that swept the J2 League awards for May with Koyamatsu winning the best goal, Sento earning MVP honors and their manager, Nakata, rounding out the trifecta. More on them later. FC Ryukyu’s road struggles are well known at this point and with difficult matches over the next 2 months, any points FC Ryukyu can earn on the road must be viewed as a huge boost for their hopes at staying in the J2 next season. let’s look at how the two teams stack up this season.
Interesting that Kyoto doesn’t score, or concede nearly as many goals at home as they do on the road. Kyoto’s record against teams in the top half of the table also offers a glimmer of hope for FC Ryukyu today.
Starting Lineups for both sides from previous match.
Kyoto Sanga F.C.
Prior to the loss at Omiya, Sanga had won 4 times and drawn twice in their previous 6 matches. Over the course of the last 6 weeks, Sanga has scored 14 goals and conceded 8. Those numbers represent 60% of to the total amount of goals Sanga has scored on the season as well as 50% of the amount of goals they’ve conceded. If we look at the first 11 weeks of the season for Sanga, the stats tell a very different story. Sanga failed to score in 5 of the first 11 matches with 4 of those shutouts occurring at home. Despite the goal scoring drought, Sanga were still able to earn 4 wins, 3 draws and only suffer 3 losses in those 11 matches. All in all; it means that they weathered the rough storm during the early part of the season, accumulated some nice point tallies along the way, are wracking up the points with what looks to be a very potent attack, all at a crucial time of the season. Basically; they are peaking and present a formidable challenge for FC Ryukyu.
The Kyoto Sanga F.C. Ultras await the traveling FC Ryukyu squad and fans.
Over the course of the 4 Kyoto matches I viewed for this review; Sanga displayed a penchant for starting fast. For the entire season, Kyoto has scored 13 of their 23 goals in the first half. More importantly, they have conceded 10 of their 16 goals this season in the second half of matches. Furthermore, Sanga have only played 3 matches in which they scored in the first half yet failed to score in the second half and in those matches they have gone 1W1D1L. But it should be noted that they scored first in two of those games whereas against Omiya they did not. Bottom line, FC Ryukyu needs to do all they can to stop Kyoto from scoring in the first half, if they do, then FC Ryukyu have a great shot at earning a point on the day.
Kyoto Sanga Players to Watch
Sanga’s set up plays to the teams strength, which is attacking. The talent up front for Sanga is quite good and the partnering of Ichimi and Koyamatsu looks like one of the most lethal combinations in the J2.
L to R: Koyamatsu, Ichimi, Miyayoshi, Sento & Ishibitsu
#23 FW Kazunari Ichimi. I was surprised to learn that Ichimi
is only 5’10” (181cm) as he seems to play a lot “taller” than his height would indicate.
He reminds me a lot of Olivier Giroud
from Chelsea in that he is really good at getting the positional advantage over
the defender and can get his foot to a ball and direct it into the back of the
net. Ichimi is the joint top scorer for Sanga with 5 goals and 2 assists.
#22 MF Tomoya Koyamatsu. The J2 League winner of the best goal of the month for May. This particular player is a one-man wrecking ball at times. I’ve seen him gain possession near or just behind the half way line and then make a very powerful run on net single handed and then score. He is very strong and has good pace which means he will be a huge challenge of any slower, weaker defenders. He isn’t afraid to take all of them on at once and Koyamatsu has 3 goals and 3 assists so far this season.
#14 MF Keiya Sento. Joint top scorer with 5 goals and 2 assists. Plays down the right, along with Miyayoshi and Ishibitsu to form a three headed monster in attack.
#13 FW Takumi Miyayoshi. 1 goal and 3 assists so far this season from a forward position but he can provide excellent service and set up play for Sento and Ichimi.
#30 DF (RB) Yosuke Ishibitsu. The 3rd part to the
Kyoto attacking right side. Has 1 goal and 4 assists and that means he is
sending quality crosses into the box for the attacking players to get on the
other end of and score.
FC Ryukyu
FC Ryukyu were able to earn a draw at home this past weekend against a tough Kanazwa side. Ryukyu were without star goal keeper, Danny Carvajal, but Ishii’s performance was nothing short of excellent and he ultimately allowed FCR to claw back into the match and earn a point. The Ryukyu attack is still sputtering as they’ve only scored multiple goals in one match out of the past 11. This will be a very tough test for FC Ryukyu this week as they face a team that is firing on all cylinders and can light up the score board quickly. Keep in mind, FC Ryukyu have failed to earn a point on the road in the last 4 road matches and those were against teams not nearly as strong as Kyoto.
Keys to FC Ryukyu Victory
Kyoto Sanga represent the type of team FC Ryukyu aspires to be; they can make up for weak defending with a ruthless attack. There are small margins for success for FC Ryukyu this weekend as some of the statistics indicate, but FC Ryukyu are more likely to drop all the points if they concede early against Kyoto.
1. Prevent Kyoto from scoring a 1st half goal. This is a large ask for the entire Ryukyu team but if they can do that, they have a great shot at earning a point on the day. Kyoto have failed to score in the first half in 7 games this season and in those seven matches, only twice did they score a second half goal. The results were 1W3D3L in those 7 matches for Kyoto. On the flip side, when Kyoto score first, and the goal occurs in the first half, they’ve gone on to earn 6 wins and 2 draws in 8 matches. As you can see, FCR must weather the fast start of Kyoto and prevent an early goal for any chance at positive points today.
2. Disrupt the back line of Kyoto. In the matches I watched, this seemed to be the Achilles Heel for Sanga. At times, the defenders lacked concentration, were out of position, would not mark the runs of attacking players and allow attacking players plenty of space to take shots on net in and around the box. Ryukyu will need some heroic efforts from Tanaka and Tomidokoro today if they are going to earn a good result. Ryukyu also needs to use their speed down the flanks to get around the back of the RB/LBs of Kyoto and have the remaining attacking players crash the box as this will confuse the central defenders on Sanga.
3. Score Goals. This is an obvious one but FC Ryukyu own a near even split when it comes to scoring and conceding in both halves. It has been a tale of 2 halves for FC Ryukyu this season and while it seems encouraging that they’ve been able to score 15 goals in the second half, they’ve also conceded 14. This lends credence to the first point that FC Ryukyu are more likely to earn a draw if they do not concede in the first half because they are also more likely to score late in matches. 2 goals would be great so long as they are not wasted in a losing effort. Quality shots on net from distance may prove to be the determining factor for FC Ryukyu today.
Match Prediction
This is one of the toughest road tests to date for FC Ryukyu. We haven’t faced an opponent on the road of this quality since Yamagata and therefore the likely outcome today is a Ryukyu loss. Using the “pain scale” you see at most doctor’s offices, I’ll put it to you like this. On a scale of 1-5, with 1 being the most debilitating pain/result: 1. If Ryukyu lose by 3 goals or more it will be embarrassing, 2. A 2-0 defeat is a very likely outcome and no one would really think different of this since Ryukyu are less than 100% with a reserve keeper in net, 3. 2-1 defeat is a very respectable outcome against a superior opponent, 4. A draw in any form is pure gold and that point will prove valuable, and finally, 5. A win against Kyoto must be considered as the most important J2 victory to date for FC Ryukyu.
Match Predction: Kyoto Sanga 3-1 FC Ryukyu
Conclusion
There is one strange factor to consider in all of this; in the 2 games this season that Kyoto have played that have started after 1800, they are 0-2. Kyoto surrendered 4 goals in those competitions and only scored once. If you factor in the start time of 19:00, that Ryukyu play a majority of their matches at these start times and that this match could be played in sloppy conditions – a situation that Ryukyu has played in multiple times this season and most recently against Kanazawa – these could come together an equal a positive result for Ryukyu today. We will have to wait and see. Enjoy the match where ever you are at and see you soon.
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