Tag: Torikai

MD22 Preview: (3) FC Ryukyu vs (22) SC Sagamihara #FC琉球

Intro

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.

  1. Weather Forecast & Match Day Info
  2. Previous Match Highlights
  3. Team Previews
    • FC Ryukyu
    • SC Sagamihara
  4. Keys to Victory
  5. Prediction
  6. Round 22 in J2
  7. 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.

Match Day 22 Info from FC Ryukyu

2. Previous Match Highlights

Zweigen Kanazawa 1-2 FC Ryukyu
SC Sagamihara 0-0 Giravanz Kitakyushu

3. Team Previews

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.

MD21 Preview: (14) Zweigen Kanazawa vs (4) FC Ryukyu #FC琉球

Intro

FC Ryukyu enter Match Day 21 coming off their second biggest win of the season where they defeated Matsumoto Yamaga FC 4-0 at home. It is a different set of circumstances for Zweigen Kanazawa who enter this round on the heels of their second largest defeat when they lost 1-4 on the road to Montedio Yamagata. But Zweigen Kanazawa own a very good record overall against Ryukyu as they have yet to lose to the visitors since 2014 when they were both in the J3.

  1. Weather Forecast & Match Day Info
  2. Previous Round Highlights
  3. Team Previews
    • Zweigen Kanazawa
    • FC Ryukyu
  4. Keys to Victory
  5. Prediction
  6. Round 21 in J2
  7. Conclusion

1. Weather Forecast and Match Day Information from Zweigen Kanazawa

No changes for the way things have been since late May with Okinawa under a state of emergency.

Click>>> Match Day 21 Info from Zweigen Kanazawa

2. Previous Match Highlights

Montedio Yamagata 4-1 Zweigen Kanazawa
FC Ryukyu 4-0 Matsumoto Yamaga F.C.

3. Team Previews

Zweigen Kanazawa: I must admit, I wasn’t able to prepare for the opposing team’s preview as I normally would have this week so I sought some help from the most knowledgeable Zweigen Kanazawa fan I know. And with that I give you James Taylor from @kanazawadreamin who is doing double duty as he also made his J-Talk Extra Time debut this week with Stuart.

Although we lost heavily at Yamagata last week, I wouldn’t expect Zweigen manager Masaaki Yanagishita to make many changes to the starting lineup. Maybe one or two, but wholesale changes are not really his style. Our tactics will be the same as usual 4-4-2, defending tightly and pressuring FC Ryukyu when they have the ball, then trying to hit them on a quick counterattack. We are a very hardworking team. Up until last week our defense had been pretty tight in the league, only once conceding more than 2 goals in a game, and only once losing by more than a goal.

The defense is prone to conceding early goals though as we lead the league with 7 goals against in the opening 15 minutes of matches. We also have a habit of losing concentration at crucial times, for example the long throw for Tochigi’s equalizer or the equalizer that Gunma scored. Expect most of our attacks to be funneled down the left, through Rodolfo, who has been playing well since his return after a long term injury. On the other side, Riku Matsuda is growing into the full back role, and Shintaro Shimada has 4 goals and 5 assists from the right wing. Our shots-to-goals conversion rate is quite good, I think, but we have a tendency to run out of ideas quickly if the opposition is content to let us have the ball. This is a factor in our poor record in games where we concede first (1 win, 1 draw, 9 losses).

FC Ryukyu: It was good to see the offense come alive last week as it will be required yet again heading into this match. Ryukyu are likely to be without starting RB Keita Tanaka this round due to an injury he picked up last week. Still no word on whether Tanaka is healthy, or hurt, but I would guess we see Yuya Torikai, Makito Uehara, or Felipe Tavares make the starting eleven and reserves.

Ryukyu have yet to beat Zweigen Kanazawa during their time in J2, and in fact, you have to go all the way back to 2014 to find a time when FC Ryukyu defeated Kanazawa. Zweigen swept the series last year with both sides seeing out draws in 2019. Though Kanazawa has dropped off as of late, they represent a mental hurdle that Ryukyu must overcome which puts this match in the must win territory for the points over/under expectation table.

Last week it was Kiyotake, Abe and Koya leading the way for Ryukyu as each had at least 2-points on the night. Shimizu wasn’t involved as much in this game as he has been in previous matches, but his pairing up top with Abe in Ryukyu’s new 4-4-2 formation does provide a lot of space for both attackers to move in and around the box. And Shintaro has some get up in his game as he can really rise to meet headers over taller players. It seems unlikely that Ryukyu will revert back to a 4-2-3-1 until Ikeda is healthy, though Kazaki Nakagawa did make his first appearance for the club in a couple of months when he featured in the midweek Elite League match at Avispa. He could easily fill that vacated CAM role but that is solely dependent on Higuchi’s decision to include him in the lineup. Something he has opted not to do at all this year.

Ryukyu currently have four players recovering from injury and here is an updated timeline as to their progress. GK Dany Carvajal has been sidelined with a stress fracture since early march and is roughly two weeks away from the return timetable the club posted. He has been seen at training but there is no indication he is ready to return to the lineup. GK Junto Taguchi is at the halfway point (5 weeks) of his timetable to return from a broken bone in his hand and has been seen doing individual drills at practice. Ren Ikeda is only three weeks into his recovery for a fractured hip and though the timeline suggests a 10-12 week recovery, I think Ren has a long road ahead of him to get back on the pitch. The player with the chance to return the soonest is Ryohei Okazaki who is now at week six of his 6-8 week timetable recovering from a pulled muscle in his leg. It would be great to get our starting CB pairing back in time to close out the first half and change of the season.

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. Start the festivities early. Likelihood 3. After reading what James said about Kanazawa conceding early, and their overall record when they concede first, seems there’s no clearer path to victory for FC Ryukyu. Question becomes, can they do it?
  2. Defend the Right side. Likelihood 2. There is a very real possibility that Ryukyu will start Yuya Torikai and Yong Jick on the right side of our defense this week, which will play right into the strengths of the Zweigen attack. Not much we can do at this point other than hope our right side holds under the pressure.

5. Prediction

Zweigen has scored two goals against Ryukyu in the last three games these teams have played whereas Ryukyu has managed that feat only once. Could things go differently this week with Zweigen having conceded 6 goals in their past 2 games? If you recall the last time Ryukyu entered an away game off of a big win, they were decimated 0-3. I think that will change this week, but I also think this could be a barn burner ending in 2-2 a draw. Season Record 6-5-9.

6. Round 21 in J2

No easy draws for the top two sides this week as leaders (1) Kyoto Sanga FC host (8) V-Varen Nagasaki with the matchup of the week featuring (2) Jubilo Iwata facing (3) Albirex Niigata at home. Possibly no shifting at the bottom of the table at the mid season turn as all the sides face an uphill battle this week. There are two free broadcasts this round with (10) FC Mito Hollyhock at home to (15) Renofa Yamaguchi on Saturday and then (19) Ehime FC vs (13) Blaublitz Akita on Sunday. Click>>> J-League International YouTube Channel.

7. Conclusion

Despite their differences in the standings this will be no cake walk for Ryukyu as they’ve had limited success against Kanazawa to date. Ryukyu are doing all they can to make it to the break on maximum points despite the numerous injuries to the starting eleven, but they cannot use that as an excuse. The remaining schedule is favorable for Ryukyu but they cannot afford to play down to the level of their competition dropping valuable points along the way. Instead, they need to smash and grab as many goals in the next three games starting with Kanazawa on Saturday.

Thanks once more to James for bailing me out during this busy week and please give him a follow on his Twitter account as well as a listen on the J-Talk Extra Time podcast.

MD20 Report: FC Ryukyu vs Matsumoto Yamaga FC #FC琉球

Intro

FC Ryukyu shook off their 0-3 loss to Fagiano Okayama the previous round by hammering Matsumoto Yamaga FC 4-0 this past Saturday. Kiyotake became the fifth (as far as I can find) player in FC Ryukyu history to score a hat trick in a game and nearly came close to equaling Yuta Togashi’s single game record for goals scored (4) when another one of his shots rang the crossbar. The only real shame was that none of the FC Ryukyu fans could enjoy one of this team’s biggest wins this season as they are still not allowed to attend games in person while Okinawa is under a state of emergency.

Photo Credit: @iritettsu40
  1. Highlights
  2. Man of the Match
  3. Review of the Keys to Victory
  4. Prediction
  5. Talking Points
  6. Round 20 in J2
  7. Conclusion

1. Match Highlights

2. Man of the Match

Photo Credit: FC Ryukyu

FC Ryukyu Mid Fielder Koki Kiyotake: Scoring a hat trick and getting Ryukyu a vital three points in the process.

3. Review of the Keys to Victory for FC Ryukyu

1. Just score more goals than Matsumoto. Likelihood 3. Nailed it! At one point in the game FC Ryukyu had three players sitting on two points each. Kiyotake with 2 goals; Koya with a goal and an assist; and Abe with two assists.

4. Prediction

Was hoping for a 1-0 win and they exceeded that expectation. Season Record 6-5-9.

5. Talking Points from Round 20

1. Possible Injury to Tanaka. Seeing how things went so well for Ryukyu, the only thing to discuss is the potential injury suffered by starting RB Keita Tanaka in the second half. Tanaka was subbed off for Uehara in the 56′ minute where he was seen describing an injury to his left leg while sitting on the opposite sideline. Tanaka was eventually carted off due to the injury and there is no telling what occurred, the severity, or the length of time he may miss. We’ve seen plenty of players both walk off under their own power, only to spend weeks recovering from injury, as well those that have been carted off and return the following week. Tanaka’s absence will be felt throughout the entire side as he is such a key member of the team. The likely replacements are Yuya Torikai, Makito Uehara, Felipe Tavares – individuals who all participated in the midweek Elite League Match at Avispa Fukuoka – and possibly Shinya Uehara. Though Shinya did play RB in 2019 when we dealt with injuries to the RB position, that would leave FC Ryukyu extremely thin at forward considering they are playing a 4-4-2 these days with both Shintaro and Abe up top.

6. Round 20 in J2

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Kyoto and Iwata both won to extend their lead over Niigata and Ryukyu to 3/4 points. Niigata’s 0-0 draw means Ryukyu are now within 1-point of Niigata. Zelvia and Kofu’s huge wins mean they both maintain their 4-point gap between themselves and FC Ryukyu. Omiya Ardija’s first win in over three months means they are at least within striking distance of pulling out of the relegation zone.

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7. Conclusion

FC Ryukyu are on one heck of a rollercoaster ride these days having won 3-0, lost 0-3, and then the recent 4-0 victory. Ryukyu have three more matches before they break for the Summer Olympics in which they will need to earn all 9-points. Only four points back from the leaders, and one off Niigata, Ryukyu are still in the hunt for promotion. But with Kyoto and Iwata showing no signs of slowing down these days, Ryukyu need to max out the points in these next three fixtures to keep pace with the top teams in J2.

Match Day 15 Report: (3) FC Ryukyu vs (8) Montedio Yamagata #FC琉球

Photo Credit: @myamazato

Intro

Ryukyu fell victim to two set pieces and suffered their first home loss of the season 2-0 to Montedio Yamagata in what could be the last home game where fans can attend for a month while Okinawa is in a state of emergency. The loss drops Ryukyu down to third but it is the visible cracks in the defense that is more concerning than the dropped points. Ryukyu are now level on points with former league leaders Albirex Niigata and head into one of the biggest games of the season in a bit of downward spiral.

  1. Match Highlights
  2. Man of the Match
  3. Review of the Keys to Victory
  4. Prediction
  5. Talking Points
  6. Round 15 in J2
  7. Conclusion

1. Match Highlights

2. Man of the Match

Photo Credit: Montedio Yamagata

Montedio Yamagata RB Riku Handa: That was a really nice goal he scored which ended up as the winner for Montedio Yamagata on Saturday.

3. Review of the Keys to Victory for FC Ryukyu

1. Slow down Yamagata’s fast start. Likelihood 4. No! Yamagata scored early again and Ryukyu had no answer.

2. Stifle Ibuki Fujita. Likelihood 3. Yes, but he nearly scored late in the second half but sent the shot high over the bar from inside the 18-yard box.

3. Limit Yamagata’s set pieces in dangerous areas. Likelihood 3. Yes, as Yamagata had 4 FKs and 4 CKs, but Ryukyu’s Achilles heel this year has been defending set pieces as both Yamagata goals came from set pieces.

4. Prediction

Totally whiffed on this one when I predicted a 2-0 win for Ryukyu. Season Record 6-3-6.

5. Talking Points from Round 15

1. Defending of set pieces, scoring from set pieces. Ryukyu conceded their third goal inside of two games from a set piece this round. Yamagata’s opening goal saw a preponderance of the Ryukyu defenders get sucked into defending what they thought was going to be a cross into their defensive line only to see the pass find an undefended area wide open in the Ryukyu box. I am not sure who was at fault there as both Kiyotake and Numata were left staring at one another after the goal. Kiyotake crashed in trying to defend the cross and Numata was on an island all to himself. The second Yamagata goal was just a matter of who wanted it more as Hiroki Noda rose over top of both Chinen and Shimizu to bury the header, and Ryukyu.

Ryukyu had 14 corner kicks on Saturday night and converted none of them. Granted, scoring from a corner kick may already be a low probability, but you had 14 cracks at it and couldn’t even net an ugly goal in the process. Most of the Ryukyu corners couldn’t clear the first line of the Yamagata defense, but two of the Yamagata corners (50%) had no problem finding the back of the net.

Ryukyu have conceded four goals from set pieces, which is the most of any type of goal that can be conceded, and need to tighten this up heading into the next match. That may be a tall ask considering we could be without the services of Okazaki. Practice this week should focus on defending and converting set pieces as Niigata have scored 9 goals from set pieces, the most of any of their totals, as well as conceded four goals from set pieces, also the most of any of the goals they’ve conceded.

2. Possible injury to CB Ryohei Okazaki. Okazaki was subbed off just before the start of the second half for Lee Yong Jick and I highly doubt that was a tactical decision as he has played every single minute this year. Okazaki has come on strong this year and though there are times where he may stumble leading to a goal by the opposition, his play has been much better than years past. There has been no word from the club as of this writing if there was a significant injury to Okazaki that will require him to miss time but heading into the most important match of the season without one of our best defenders is certainly not ideal. Though Chinen may have had a rough day at the office, as well have from time to time when he got beaten on a nice step over but Taguchi made a fine save on the ensuing shot and was unable to clear the ball on Yamagata’s second goal, though we’ll really need his tenacity and skill with any prolonged absence to Okazaki.

3. Yamagata looked really dangerous on the counter attacks while Ryukyu struggled with the final pass on attacks. One of those counters led directly to the corner kick that they converted for their second goal while Ryukyu once again couldn’t find that last pass inside the 18-yard box. Ryukyu controlled a majority of the game and looked dangerous when heading towards goal, but passes were off the mark and headers following crosses sailed wide or were not strong enough to ask questions of the Yamagata keeper.

4. Speaking of absences, Abe was once again left off the roster. I thought that Abe may have just been granted a rest day the week prior against Tochigi as Ryukyu released photos this past week of Abe at practice, but he didn’t even make the reserves for this game. On a night when Ryukyu had 18 total shots, 8 of which were on target, only 3 really threatened the Yamagata goal as the offense was just flat and in need of a finisher like Abe.  

5. The curious selection of the Ryukyu reserves continues. Akamine made way for Torikai and Ichimaru went as an unused substitute. I have a hard time believing that Torikai is better than Nakagawa, Ichimaru or Ramon for that matter, and now we are likely looking at a CB pairing of Chinen and Yong Jick which means that Fukui is likely to dress as the emergency central defender next week. I’d really like to know what is going on with Nakagawa these days with injuries piling up to go along with a dip in performances. With little to no information released from the club when it comes to injuries, there are many questions about players fitness levels heading into Niigata.

6. Ryukyu missed a great opportunity to accumulate points in their past three games. All three of Ryukyu’s opponents in rounds 13-15 were in the lower half of the table heading into those games yet Ryukyu managed just 4 points from a possible 9. I am not saying that Ryukyu could have earned all nine points, but even two more points would have put them level with Kyoto and two ahead of Niigata. Not surprising that the win one, draw one, lose one pattern coincides with Ryukyu’s worst defensive performance of the season where they conceded nearly the same number of goals in these past three games that they did in their first twelve games of 2021.

6. Round 15 in J2

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Kyoto Sanga FC defeated Albirex Niigata 1-0 and have now jumped two spots into the lead. Niigata suffered only their second loss this season, but second in a row, and are level on points with Ryukyu who also lost this round. Jubilo Iwata and Ventforet Kofu both won thus cutting the lead between them and Niigata/Ryukyu to 4/5 points respectively. V-Varen Nagasaki and Montedio Yamagata were the big movers this week as their wins moved them up 6/7 slots and inside the top half of the table.

Round 15 is not yet completed as the (22) SC Sagamihara vs (21) Ehime FC takes on even greater importance as the winner could pull themselves out of the relegation zone for one week at least.

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7. Conclusion

I guess we will have to wait a little longer to grab that first win ever over Montedio Yamagata. The only thing to do know is put this game in the rearview mirror, correct the mistakes that led Ryukyu down this path, and prepare for the single biggest game of the season to date. Both Ryukyu and Niigata head into this match coming off a loss, but Niigata are too good of a side to lose three games in a row and will look to take out their aggression on what could be a weakened Ryukyu side.

Match Day 13 Report: (18) Ehime FC vs (2) FC Ryukyu #FC琉球

Photo Credit: @fcr_info

Intro

Well that hurt! Short on rest and visiting fans, FC Ryukyu made it out alive on MD 13 with a 1-1 draw at Ehime FC. The overarching theme for the night was tired legs. Higuchi opted for the same set of players that played 48 hours prior when he really should’ve rotated the squad a bit. This was a golden opportunity to gain some ground on leaders Albirex Niigata as well as keep Kyoto Sanga at bay but it be like this sometimes. On one hand, FC Ryukyu were lucky to have Niigata draw but on the other, Kyoto closed the gap between them and Ryukyu to just one point after their 1-0 win against Montedio Yamagata. It was also the first time this season that Ryukyu failed to win following either a loss or a draw.

  1. Match Day Highlights
  2. Man of the Match
  3. Review of the Keys to Victory
  4. Prediction
  5. Talking Points
  6. Round 13 in J2
  7. Conclusion

1. Match Day Highlights

2. Man of the Match

Ehime FC DF Taishi Nishioka. Why not? I thought for sure that Ryukyu were going to have their way with him but it was Taishi’s clearance on a ball headed right at Koya that prevented Ryukyu from scoring.

3. Review of the Keys to Victory for FC Ryukyu

1. Exploit Taishi Nishioka at CB. Likelihood 5. It looked as if Ryukyu were going to have their way with Ehime early on but could only muster the single goal in the first half. Have to say no on this one.

2. Pile on the pressure. Likelihood 4. Early on yes, but it wasn’t sustained for the entire match so no. In fact, Ryukyu were out shot by Ehime.

4. Prediction

Tipped this one 2-0 in favor of Ryukyu. We’ll put that straight into the loss column. Season Record 6-2-5.

5. Talking Points from Round 13

1. Squad rotation, or better yet, the lack thereof. Higuchi admitted in his post-game comments that he should’ve rotated more players with such a quick turnaround between games. That doesn’t make it any better considering he was joking about how the players were attempting convince him to let them play in the days leading up to the match. You have to know your team, and the organization should’ve known what they could and could not get out of some of the veteran players on short rest.

For the most part, Ryukyu looked good as they were consistently penetrating the Ehime back line but were just off on the last pass to set guys loose. Maybe the plan was to grab a multiple goal lead and rotate players out starting at half time but that wasn’t the case. When Ryukyu did finally make a change, removing both Ikeda and Uesato, the attack stalled out. Furthermore, Higuchi dressed Yuya Torikai over the likes of Motegi and Nakagawa which is just baffling. Both of their fresh legs would have provided a huge boost to a side that was out shot and out possessed by Ehime. Speaking of legs, I hope the sight of Abe having a heavily shrink-wrapped right quad with an ice pack on his hamstring was more maintenance than injury related as he was the one player in the preview that I thought needed the rest the most.

2. There were plenty of misses right on the door step by both sides. For Ryukyu, the ones of note were the Chinen shot from inside the 6-yard box that was skied over the bar in the 41st minute that would’ve provided some massive breathing room for Ryukyu. Then there was the Shintaro header in the 72nd minute that went past the post. Ehime also had a couple of cracks at scoring when Kawamura whiffed on a shot that fell nicely to an onside Ehime player that put the header just over the goal. Truth be told, Ehime should’ve won the game in the 90th minute when Kondo was all alone at the back post and somehow missed the entire goal from about 2 yards out.

3. The goals. First, the Ryukyu goal. Koya was having a nice game this day and his cross may have initially been intended for Abe, but Abe once again doing everything but scoring in this match, executed a perfect dummy that let the ball roll to wide open Kiyotake who had all day to pick his spot.

The Ehime goal. Some might say the player came from an offside position, but from the angle below I don’t think that was the case. The attacker rightly repositioned himself in the defensive line and none of the Ryukyu defenders responded to a new player being inserted into their ranks.

4. One missed call. Maybe we have no room to complain about the actual Ehime goal, but I think the referee missed a clear hand ball in the 22nd minute when a Uesato cross bounced up and hit Toyama in the arm inside the box. There were some slight appeals for hand ball by Ryukyu, but they were not enough to persuade the referee to give the foul. Perhaps that just sounds like a disappointed Ryukyu fan making that out to be more than it actually was.

5. Houston, we may have a problem. This was the second consecutive match that Ryukyu could only muster 4 shots on target. While I thought, albeit incorrectly, that Ryukyu would produce shots and goals in this match similar to Sagamihara, not to Kyoto, I think a concerning trend is emerging. Ryukyu have now been held to under 4 shots on target in 5 out of their 13 games this season. They are averaging roughly 12 shots, with 7 on target, for the season but those numbers could be propped up by the Verdy (reduced to 10 men) and Sagamihara matches where Ryukyu had 18 and 14 shots on target.

For the season Ryukyu are averaging a goal every 7 shots/4 shots on target and I have no idea where that ranks compared to the rest of the league. The worrying trend seems to be the low number of shots on net over the past 5 weeks compared to the start of the season. Granted, there were two games earlier in the year, Iwata and Omiya, where Ryukyu generated only 2 shots on net. Perhaps it is normal for teams to experience these types of results or perhaps it can be attributed to playing Zelvia, Kofu and Kyoto, all of which are teams sitting inside the top 6 of the table.

6. Round 13 in J2

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As mentioned earlier, Albirex Niigata drew 0-0 at home to Matsumoto Yamaga with Kyoto Sanga FC defeating Montedio Yamagata 1-0. Ryukyu also received a bit of luck when both Jubilo Iwata and FC Machida Zelvia drew, though it was a tough draw for Blaublitz Akita against Iwata as the goal came deep into stoppage time preventing the hosts from bagging all 3 points. Ventforet Kofu won 2-0 which allowed them to leap frog Zelvia.

Elsewhere, JEF United Chiba grabbed their second win in a row while V-Varen Nagasaki won for the first time in four matches under their new manager. The much ballyhooed bottom of the table tilt between Thespakusatsu Gunma and Omiya ended in a 1 all draw after Gunma snatched a late equalizer in stoppage time resulting in both teams staying entrenched at the foot of the table.

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7. Conclusion

Once more we’ll need to put a match in the rear view mirror and move on. 16th Tochigi SC come to Okinawa this Saturday and Ryukyu need to take out some aggression out on this side with the extra day to prepare. The race at the top is really tight and Ryukyu cannot afford to drop anymore points with the match between Niigata and Kyoto looming large as well the Niigata/Ryukyu match at the end of the month.

FC Ryukyu Squad Review Part 1: Defense #FC琉球

This will be a 3-part series covering the defensive, mid field, and forward and goalie positions. I open this series by taking a look at the back line of FC Ryukyu. I will provide a brief synopsis for any player that featured for FC Ryukyu this year, as well as my thoughts on who we should try to retain at the end of each section. With that in mind, let’s get started.

The Center Backs

Lee Yong-Jick: Lee was the preferred 1st choice CB for Higuchi all season as indicated by his 37 starts, and 1 substitute appearance. CB is not Yong-Jick’s natural position and I suppose that is why he was often out of position, in addition to making some ill-advised, ill-timed challenges that quickly led to the opposition breaking on net with numbers. Yong-Jick’s most memorable moment occurred during his first ever game for the club when he prevented a 2nd JEF UTD Chiba goal from a Taguchi turnover, by sprinting back to his own net and heading the shot away.  Yong-Jick was also not much of weapon on set pieces despite his obvious height advantage. He scored 0 goals and provided 1 assist this year. I am not sure how the club is going to proceed with Lee in the offseason but I could see him returning for 2021.

Daisei Suzuki: Suzuki transferred to FC Ryukyu via a loan from Tokushima Vortis in the offseason but I believe that he joined on a permanent deal shortly after the season restart this summer. Suzuki appeared in 20 games while dealing with some injuries and drops in form. Make no mistake, Suzuki is a raw player and never really progressed in spite of all the playing time he received this year. Like Yong-Jick, he is prone to turnovers and mental mistakes. He does possess some aggressiveness and speed, but if he is to develop any further, he’ll need better coaching and probably some added muscle.

Tetsuya Chinen: Chinen is the fastest CB that FC Ryukyu have in the lineup. He is also the strongest, though a mid-season break with CV-19 took a bit out of him, which is to be expected. He is quick to close down players, can put in good challenges when called upon, and can score goals. His only knock is that he isn’t as tall as some of the other CBs in the league, but that can be overcome with his speed and technique.  If I were to tip a player that should be in the starting 11 next year, it would be Chinen so look for him to improve on the 11 appearances he made in 2020.

Ryohei Okazaki: Okazaki only featured 5 times for FC Ryukyu this year but that was due to lengthy absences stemming from multiple injuries. We all should remember Okazaki from 2019 and a lot of those memories were not that good. But Higuchi has faith in this player, and seems to think he can one day develop into an integral part of the Ryukyu defense. Like Suzuki, Okazaki needs better coaching and technique to progress or he will become more of a liability, than asset, in defense.

Ryoji Fukui: Fukui is your prototypical Swiss Army Knife in that he can play all 4 defensive positions. He still possesses a bit of speed to close down attackers, when chasing them that is, but his tackling always makes you hold your breath as it borders on reckless. Luckily, Fukui came out on top this year as he wasn’t sent off, but he had a few close calls. Fukui turned 33 this year so I am not sure how much longer he is going to be around.

The Full Backs

Keita Tanaka: The hands down 2020 comeback player of the year for the club, Tanaka was arguably one of our best players. Tanaka played in 34 games, added 2 goals and 6 assists, but it was his switch to RB on Match Day 5 that stands out as his biggest contribution. Ryukyu had plenty of talent in the midfield and it was always going to prove difficult to shoehorn in all of them barring injury. This type of switch will not work for every player, but Tanaka has the temperament, skill, and tenacity that few others possess. He is extremely aggressive in the attack and in defense, has a great shot, and is an excellent passer. His partnership with Koya down the right really allowed Higuchi’s attacking style to flourish. Tanaka has been a stalwart at FC Ryukyu for many years and I hope to see him again in 2021.

Keigo Numata: Signed from Kanazawa in the offseason, Numata had the task of replacing Tokumoto at LB. Numata ended up playing in 39 games where he scored 3 goals, at least two were from headers, and provided 6 assists. There were a few times where it looked like Numata’s fitness let him down, but that is expected with an older player who played nearly every minute of every game. Maybe with a lighter fixture schedule in 2021, Numata will be a little fresher and offer slightly more, but that is anyone’s guess.

Yuya Torikai: Yuya was the starting RB to begin the season but was eventually usurped by Tanaka. Torikai rejoined FC Ryukyu in the 2019 summer transfer window and bolstered the side in the midst of several poor results. This year, he wasn’t nearly as valuable and has become expendable with Tanaka’s emergence at RB. At 32, with a decline in performance and the talent at RB on the current roster, we may see his departure.

Makito Uehara: The younger Uehara is the best young prospect in defense for FC Ryukyu, and possibly the team. Uehara featured in 15 games and scored a thunderous goal against Omiya. Like several players requiring better coaching, Makito is raw but has far more skills and traits then those of his defensive counterparts. He is tall for a fullback, and has a nice burst to add to his long-distance speed. I don’t think he is a true fullback, as we never saw the touch that someone like Tanaka and Numata possess. Uehara, as I’ve said all year, could be a phenomenal central defensive mid fielder that could handle many of the stronger CBs in J2. He is good at tackling, strong enough to win contested challenges, and could win aerial battles. It would be a shame to let his talents become wasted behind the much better fullbacks of Tanaka and Tavares, so a switch to CDM could really benefit him and the club.  

Felipe Tavares: Signed from Brazil in the offseason, I though Tavares would push for a starting role. He did start the very first game of 2020, looked good in both the attack and defense, but then strangely disappeared from the lineup for well over 10 months. Thanks to Tanaka’s emergence as a crucial part to Higuchi’s attacking philosophy, I don’t think we’ll see Tavares making many starts outside of an occasional rest for Tanaka. I still think he needs to be rostered in 2021 as he can be an asset on set pieces, but he doesn’t not have the touch that Tanaka offers.

2021 Outlook

Keep: Tanaka, Numata, Chinen, Suzuki, Tavares, Uehara, and Yong-Jick. Yong-Jick never really figured out the CB role this year but he did stay healthy enough to play nearly every game. Maybe he’ll figure it out next year, but at age 30, it is unlikely. He, along with several other players, can probably be kept at relatively low wages, but that means we should be spending on some better defenders in the offseason. Tanaka and Numata are likely to open the season as our starting fullbacks with Tavares and Uehara as prospect players. We may one day see the partnership of Chinen and Suzuki at CB, but for now, they fall into the developmental category.

Let them Walk, or, Retain at low costs: Okazaki, Torikai and Fukui. Fukui offers limited upside but can play across multiple positions and fill in as injures mount. Torikai is likely to move on as he is well behind the other RBs currently rostered and 32 years of age. Okazaki has never developed into an effective CB and at 28, can be safely let go.

Gut Feeling: Despite the reduction in goals allowed from 2019 to 2020, defense is our top priority this offseason. The position can no longer be ignored for sake of attacking football. Yong-Jick, Okazaki, and Fukui will likely be retained as they are favorites of Higuchi. Suzuki, barring a return to Vortis, will also stay. FC Ryukyu have a strange way about them when it comes to foreign players so we could see the departure of Tavares for no reason. There seems little risk of losing Chinen, Uehara, and Numata, but any team could be keen to acquiring the services of Tanaka. His long standing history with the club may seem forgo any offers from other clubs.

That is it for our defenders. We will look at the midfield position in the second installment of this series, and hopefully I have that published before there are too many contract cancellations or renewals.

“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 4th 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 3rd 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!

“Twice as Nice” Match Day 37 Report: Tochigi SC 0-2 FC Ryukyu 10/20/2019

Intro

FC Ryukyu earned their 11th win of the campaign with a 2-0 victory over Tochigi SC this past Sunday. The win sees FC Ryukyu’s point total climb to 43 and puts them 13 points clear of the drop zone with only a handful of games remaining. In other words, we can reasonably assume that FC Ryukyu are safe from relegation in their first season in the J2. It was also the second time in a row that FC Ryukyu earned a victory on the road, a feat they have never done this year prior to this weekend.

Match Recap

Starting 11 and reserves for both sides. Courtesy of the J League website.

There were some notable omissions from the FC Ryukyu starting 11 this week. Shinji Ono and Yu Tomidokoro were replaced by Koki Kazama and Shuto Kawai. The Shinji move was most likely necessitated after he picked up a knock last week against Verdy. Kawai, on the other hand, was a bit more noteworthy. First, it is great to see Kawai get back to full health as his speed brings a vital element to the FC Ryukyu attack (more on that later). Second, the move signaled to me that Higuchi may have game planned for needing speed to hit Tochigi on the counter if FC Ryukyu were not going to have large amounts of possession. This was certainly a shock as the starting lineup rarely changes for FC Ryukyu based on our opponent’s apparent strengths and weaknesses, rather, it changes due to injury, suspension or players experiencing a loss of form. A welcome sign nonetheless.

There was not really much to report on in the first half of this game. FC Ryukyu looked slow to start the match and were not offering much in the attack. In fact, FC Ryukyu seemed fixated on attacking down the right side but were either bogged down or would lose possession in the Tochigi deep right end. Tochigi, on the other hand, threw all they had at us in the first half and really pressed hard to get out in front. They made calls for a possible handball from Tokumoto in the box following an overhead kick but the ref was not having any of it. Tochigi nearly broke the deadlock when a header bounced across the face of goal and harmlessly out of bounds.

FC Ryukyu’s one good opportunity came from a nice little give-and-go between Kawai and Yamada but the shot from Kawai had no real power or placement behind it and the keeper had no problem saving the shot.  FC Ryukyu suffered what could be a very catastrophic injury to RB, Yuya Torikai, early in the first half. A Tochigi player came down on the inside of Torika’s right boot and though he tried to continue after initially spending several minutes on the ground, he eventually succumbed to the injury and was replaced by Uehara. That is not a typo. A striker came on at RB as FC Ryukyu dressed zero defenders on the bench for this match. I would’ve thought that a CDM or MF would’ve slid into the RB role but it was our striker. This was a bit odd as Uehara rarely plays more than 15-20 minutes per match and was now going to be asked to defend, and to play for +75 minutes. In any case, both sides headed into half time at 0-0.

FC Ryukyu started better in the second half and the Tochigi attack sort of fizzled out around the 67-minute mark when their best effort that half was saved by Dany Carvajal. FC Ryukyu did really well to absorb Tochigi’s best efforts and were now primed to go on the attack. The break through occurred in the 79th minute when Koki found Uejo in between 2 Tochigi defenders on the left side of the Tochigi 18-yard box. Uejo did really well to let the ball roll across his body and then sent a well-aimed shot past the diving Tochigi defender giving FC Ryukyu the 1-0 lead.

With only 10 minutes remaining Tochigi were now forced to throw more into attack in hopes of equalizing which played directly into Higuchi’s strategy for hitting Tochigi on the counter. Now, the Torikai injury most likely disrupted the original game plan of bringing on Uehara late, with 1-2 MFs possibly coming on for Kawai and Koki. It didn’t matter as Kawai and Uehara were both up to task and played the full 90 and 75 minutes respectfully. In fact, Higuchi never used his 3rd sub this game which is a bit of a shame as Ramon deserved a run out after getting back to match fitness this week.

Tochigi had one more opportunity to tie the match very late in the 4th minute of stoppage time. A Tochigi deflected shot fell to another attacker who was able to find a wide-open Tochigi attacker inside the 18-yard box. Fortunately for FC Ryukyu, the Tochigi player miss hit the shot and it was sent wide out of bounds and harmlessly away from the Ryukyu net.

FC Ryukyu did score one more time this match when Uejo bagged his second on the day for a brace. The goal was one of the best team goals I’ve seen by this team all season. The play started from a Tokumoto long pass down the middle where Yamada then back-heeled it to a sprinting Kawai, whose run down the middle caused the Tochigi defenders to pinch in thus allowing Uejo all sorts of space out wide. Kawai waited until the very end and then found Uejo with a pass who promptly slotted home his 13th goal of the campaign.

The goal was the very last play of the game and everyone could see the importance of this win all over the faces of the coaches and players.

Box score. Courtesy of the J League website.

Man of the Match

J. League website

#14, FWD, Satoki Uejo. 2 really well taken goals and so much has been said already. Honorable mentions to Dany Carvajal for keeping his 3rd clean sheet in a row on the road and Uehara for playing out of position for the remainder of the match.

Review of the keys to Victory for FC Ryukyu on Match Day 37

1. Defend set pieces from Tochigi. PASS. FC Ryukyu blanked Tochigi but had to make it interesting along the way. Ryukyu surrendered plenty of early CKs and FKs for Tochigi and did well to prevent any goals.

2. Finish in front of goal. PASS. See Uejo’s two goals.

3. Pay attention on defense and defend against long balls over the top. PASS. Tochigi never attempted many of these and FC Ryukyu did defend well on Sunday.

4. Exploit the new Tochigi goal keeper. PASS. Only because we won 2-0 but we had so few shots on net that tested the keeper. There were long stretches of no offense by Ryukyu this game but they made it count when they needed too.

Match Day 37 Prediction

I said the match could end 1-0 in either direction but it was FC Ryukyu who did the business on Sunday.

Match Day 37 Takeaways

1. FC Ryukyu face a real selection crisis at RB as both Torikai and Nishioka are injured. Nishioka is out at least 3 weeks with no updates at the time of this entry on the Torikai injury. Torikai’s injury was bad enough that he didn’t want to put any weight on his foot and was stretched off, possibly all the way to the bench/locker room. We cannot expect Uehara to play RB going forward and since we rarely ever know if any of the reserve players are dealing with injuries, what is the side going to do?

I don’t think the club can recall Masutani from Okayama, who at least has RB experience, and I am not sure where Nishikawa has disappeared too after his appearances in July and August. Jumpei Arai featured in the opening match of the season but that is it as far as FC Ryukyu defenders with match day experience this season. Maybe it is time to dress the youngster, Daniel Sanches, and push Fukui out to RB, a position he has played this season due to other Ryukyu injuries. Other than that, I am not sure of the fitness levels, or whereabouts, for Miyauchi, Rion Fukui, Naito and Hanafusa, who may also not be with the club at the moment.

2. FC Ryukyu also dodged a bullet when Fukui picked up a very early yellow card. Had he been sent off at any point in the match, it would have left FC Ryukyu with only 2 defenders on the pitch. Granted, this did not happen but as we’ve all seen, Fukui can make some rash challenges at times and puts himself dangerously close to getting sent off during games. In that regards, this was a very physical match some very hard tackling occurring from both sets of players. Tochigi were guilty on more than one occasion and one of their players was lucky to only be yellow carded, not red carded, for a studs-up challenge that cleaned out the Ryukyu player.  

3. FC Ryukyu’s road form has greatly improved over the course of their last 4 matches. In fact, FC Ryukyu are unbeaten in their last 4 road matches. They’ve drawn twice, and then won twice in a row with those 8 points proving to be a real difference in the short term. I have been harping on the fact that the road form of this club needed to improve or else they could be facing a relegation scrap. Well, after losing 6 straight road games, FC Ryukyu have finally done what needed to be done and earned some victories on the road. Granted, those matches were against Kanazawa, Machida, Fukuoka and Tochigi. All teams in, around and below Ryukyu in the table but that doesn’t matter as they should be beating these clubs. Again, a great turn around at a crucial time of the season.

4. The second goal from Uejo displayed so many things that it needs to be discussed more than just as goal that ultimately sealed the victory for Ryukyu on Sunday.  First, and back to my soap box, I have been screaming to get more speed into the FC Ryukyu attack all year. Speed scares defenders and Kawai had their undivided attention when he was running right at the central defenders at full tilt. There was no way either one of the Tochigi defenders alone was going to match Kawai’s speed thus forcing a reinforcement to pinch in. This created acres of space of Uejo to run into and eventually finish from. We’ve seen this before from Ryukyu. If you recall the Kyoto Sanga match, Kawai’s speed allowed him to get in and around the back line and resulted in Ryukyu tying the match.

Second, it was one of the best team goals by this club all season. Aside from the aforementioned Kawai goal against Kyoto, the other one was the Tanaka finish against Omiya Ardija way back on match day 2. Finally, it is going to be nearly impossible to prevent larger clubs from acquiring the services of Uejo next year. Though he made it look easy at the end there, he still had a lot to do with the finish. The Tochigi goal keeper rightly anticipated that Kawai would ultimately pass to Uejo and he though came out to cut down the angle, Uejo has become such a lethal finisher when given time and space. He simply cannot be denied in front of goal. Look at all of the goals Uejo has scored this year and there are so many that are top quality. Finishing with flair is something all to its own.

J2 Games of Note on Match Day 37

Conclusion

FC Ryukyu welcome Omiya Ardija to town for their next to last home game this season. Omiya are coming off a shocking 3-2 defeat at home to Tokushima Vortis and likely seeking revenge against FC Ryukyu for the earlier 4-3 defeat they suffered on match day 2. It is hard to not celebrate the fact that FC Ryukyu have most likely hit the expected point total for safety without remaining at least guarded until it’s all but certain. In any event, I’d like to see the side give the fans two respectable results with their remaining home games. Generating attendance numbers in the near future will become tougher and tougher with the introduction of a new basketball stadium and baseball team in Okinawa, and though they’ve improved the numbers this year, they are not nearly at the level required to generate income that drives operating budgets and promotes long term sustainability in the upper echelons of the J League. Great win boys and see you next week.

Cover photo from J League.

“Green with Envy” Match Day 36 Report: FC Ryukyu 1-5 Tokyo Verdy 10/12/2019

Intro

Not the sort of performance you were hoping for coming off of 5 games unbeaten by FC Ryukyu but nonetheless, the side suffered another heavy defeat, this time in front of the home crowd of 4,800 on Saturday. The loss, while infuriating, does not put FC Ryukyu in any worse of position than they started match day 36. While that may sound encouraging, it seems the team took a big step backwards on Saturday night with that performance and I hope its simply a one-off rather than indicative of future performances.

Match Recap

When you are pasted 5-1 at home there is not much to report on, however, I am sure it was enjoyable for both the neutral and casual football fan with all those goals. The overall sense I gleaned form the match was that FC Ryukyu were not able to capitalize on their opportunities whereas Tokyo Verdy did just that. Verdy’s first goal came in the 25th minute of the first half but FC Ryukyu had lenty chances of their own and were never outmatched by the Verdy defense. Again, it was just poor finishing in front of goal that sunk this side on Saturday. Yu flashed just high of the goal and then in typical fashion of matches like this one, Verdy hit us on a counter for a 2-0 lead.

Most of Verdy’s goals this past Saturday followed a very distinct pattern. Verdy were able to pull apart our defense with quick, accurate passes back across the pitch to change the direction of attack. FC Ryukyu could simply not recover in time to defend against the open attacker which lead to wide open looks on net. The second Verdy goal saw Torikai getting caught flat footed on a run by a Verdy attacker followed with a long over the top ball that Koike was able to get underneath and rip past our defense for a breakaway on Dany. The second Verdy goal was followed in quick succession by a 3rd when once again, the Ryukyu defense was caught out and though Dany may have done better to get a hand to it and deflect it away from goal, the ball went slightly underneath his arm and into the bottom left corner of goal.

FC Ryukyu came out strong to start the second half and Uejo scored one of the goals of the year from a shot from distance. It was the type of shot that left the Verdy Goal Keeper completely stunned and immobilized as he assumed it was going high over the bar. Instead, the ball had so much dip on it, it went over the keeper and just inside the cross bar where it bounced off the crossbar and into the bottom of the net. Simply amazing. Uejo also had another opportunity from distance that tested the Verdy keeper and he made an awkward save on it to basically chest it out of bounds so I assume there was some swerve and dip on that shot from Uejo as well.

 While that gave a flicker of hope for the home crowd, that flame was extinguished very quickly by a Verdy goal 4 minutes later on a counter attack and the fifth in the 69th minute. The match ended 5-1 and there isn’t much more to recap.

Starting Lineups & Subs for Match Day 36. Courtesy of the J League website.
Lots of red on the right (wrong!) side. Courtesy of the J League website.

Man of the Match

#19 MF Junki Kokie of Tokyo Verdy. Bagged a hat-trick and was devastating to the Ryukyu defense.

Review of FC Ryukyu Keys to Victory for Match Day 36

1. Score from Corner Kicks. FAIL. Obviously since our only goal was from the open run of play by Uejo. However, FC Ryukyu looked better on corner kicks with deliveries from both Koya and Shinji. Their delivery is far better than I have seen on these normal set pieces and hopefully FC Ryukyu will be able to grab a goal or two from a CK in the near future.

2. Hammer Verdy on the Counter Attack. PASS. Uejo’s goal began with a Verdy giveaway in their end and FC Ryukyu were able to hit them on the break. The irony is, Verdy were more aggressive and more lethal in their counter attacks all night.

Match Day 36 Prediction

Of course, predict a FC Ryukyu 2-1 victory and get rewarded with a 5-1 drubbing.

Match Day 36 Takeaways

1. The defensive performance was particularly poor on Saturday and watching Verdy pull us apart on what seemed to be “training ground practice stuff” was hard to watch. Ryukyu defenders were often caught flat footed and Verdy were able to exploit that with deep runs past our defenders and onto long over the top balls. Ryukyu didn’t have the speed to match Verdy and this resulted in several breakaways and free looks on net. Also, the Ryukyu defenders would pinch in and leave our flanks exposed to runs, passes and crosses. Verdy showed the rest of the league how to quickly and repeatedly unlock our defense so this needs to be addressed in the near term before we see out the season with 6 straight losses.  

2. Tokumotu did his bet, the combo of Pariaba and Klebinho were too much for one man to handle. In fact, he wasn’t getting much help over the top. It was a good battle to watch but we need some better defending from our mid fielders.

Match Day 36 around J2

The typhoon forced some matches to be abandoned or rescheduled and there were some interesting results this past extended match day 36 weekend.

Still a ton to play for the top 9 sides in the table. Courtesy of J League website.
Coming down to a photo finish at the bottom. Courtesy of J League website.

Conclusion

Best to erase this loss from everyone’s memory and move on. FC Ryukyu have 2 home game remaining against Omiya and Kyoto and hopefully we’ll be able to celebrate this sides one last time at home with a win but it looks like a long shot at this point. However, we could, and should, be celebrating some FC Ryukyu road wins the remainder of the campaign. FC Ryukyu are on the road this Sunday against Tochigi SC in a very winnable game that would once again seal safety for the boys.

“Pest Control” Match Day 35 Preview: Avispa Fukuoka vs FC Ryukyu 10/5/2019

Intro

Avispa Fukuoka and FC Ryukyu square off this weekend in a crucial, 6-point relegation match at the bottom of the J2 table. It was FC Ryukyu who got the better of Avispa the last time these two teams met when they opened the J2 season in February. But this is a very different FC Ryukyu team who is traveling for the second week in a row and who has yet to earn a win on the road in quite some time.

Fukuoka’s lineup from that opening fixture has remained largely intact with the exception of an occasional injury or player being dropping to the bench. Whereas Ryukyu have made 5 changes to the starting lineup that bested Fukuoka 3-1 to start the season. Avispa enter match day 35 having secured 7 points from their previous 5 fixtures with FC Ryukyu bringing a 4-game unbeaten streak to the Kyushu prefecture. Only 2 points, and 2 positions in the table separate these two sides so this is going to be a massive bottom of the table tilt on Saturday.

Weather Forecast

The weather looks great with little prospect of rain.

Avispa Fukuoka

Avispa went 2 wins, 1 draw and 2 losses over the course of their last five fixtures. Their win against Ehime FC was quite impressive and seemed to be sparked by a spectacular save by their foreign goal keeper Serantes. Fukuoka scored 3 of the best goals I saw from them in the review and looked like a team that was getting ready to storm back up the table and out of the relegation scrap. However, they followed the Ehime victory with a 1-0 loss to Nagasaki. In a game where Fukuoka had a majority of chances, Nagasaki caught the Avispa back line napping with a surgical pass to Hirota Goya who scored his 18th goal of the season.

Fukuoka rebounded nicely to win 1-0 on the road against another opponent seeking to get out of the relegation zone, Tochigi SC. Fukuoka where then lucky to earn a late draw against Okayama after on-loan FC Ryukyu defender, Masutani, fouled a Fukuoka attacker in the box and gave Avispa a PK to tie the match. Avispa’s most recent match against Renofa Yamaguchi ended 2-0 in favor of Renofa despite another highlight reel save by Serantes.

On paper and on film, FC Ryukyu and Avispa Fukuoka look like two very similar teams. Each have a strong goal keeper and both have questions in defense. Both teams can score some beautiful goals while also suffering through patches of goalless games and little creativity. Fukuoka, like FC Ryukyu, are prone to some mental mistakes with the occasional lapse of concentration at the back that can allow opponents to get on the front foot. The only real difference I see between the sides is that while FC Ryukyu have suffered some heavy defeats with score lines of +4 goals conceded, Fukuoka have not. However, Fukuoka have been shut out in many more matches this season than FC Ryukyu.

FC Ryukyu

FC Ryukyu are in the midst of their longest winning streak since the one they opened the season with that included 4 straight wins and 2 draws. Unbeaten in 4 and looking to separate themselves from the bottom 4, FC Ryukyu are desperate for a positive result on the road this weekend. It is no secret that FC Ryukyu own one of the worst, if not the worst, road records in J2 this season. 1 win, 5 draws, 8 points out of a possible 48 and no wins since match day 2 way back in March. Despite all of that, things are looking up for FC Ryukyu on the road.

FC Ryukyu have drawn their last 2 matches on the road that includes a come from behind draw at Kanazawa. While we all would’ve loved to see FC Ryukyu take all 3 points last week at 19th placed Zelvia, an improvement in the road form is a welcoming sign heading into the last 2 months of the season. Keep in mind that FC Ryukyu play only 3 out of the final 8 matches at home so road points are massive. One reason for the new found success should be attributed to the change in the FC Ryukyu lineup. Shinji’s presence in the deep lying mid field, coupled with the presence of Koya Kazama in the attack, has provided the much-needed structure Ryukyu were missing during their rough stretch of games this summer. With that said, FC Ryukyu will need both of these players, along with Uejo, Koizumi, Kawai and Ramon, to be firing on all cylinders this weekend to secure all 3 points.

Injuries/Suspensions

Avispa Fukuoka will be with out #16 MF, Ishizu Daisuke this weekend as he tore his Right ACL back in early July. I do not know of any suspended players for Fukuoka this weekend.

FC Ryukyu are reporting no injuries or suspensions this week.

FC Ryukyu Keys to Victory

1. Exploit Avispa’s weakness at defending passes that emanate from the deep lying Mid Fielders. A majority of the goals I witnessed Fukuka concede for this review were of this nature. This was also a strength of FC Ryukyu against Renofa and Kanazawa but one which they failed to employ successfully against Zelvia. Shinji, Yu, Uesato, Koya and even Tokumoto and Torikai can all unlock the Fukuoka defense with precision passing through the central defense of Avispa.

2. Pressure the Fukuoka back line with quick passes in and around the top of the box. Avispa seem very disorganized at the back and often get caught ball watching. This often leads to opposing attackers being left alone and unmarked in the 18-yard box. This sets up well for the Ryukyu if they make quality runs and can find the open spaces between the Fukuoka defenders.

3. Finish off drives. Fukuoka have one of the best goal keepers in J2 in Serantes. The goal keepers’ performance this season is a large reason why Fukuoka are not farther down the table. Ryukyu will need to be clinical in front of goal even if they get behind the Fukuoka defense as this man has proven to be a stalwart in net.

4. Defend against Fukuoka’s tendency to attack down their right side. A majority of the attacks for Avispa in the 5 matches I watched were down the right side. The play that worked the best seemed to be the one where; their RWB would cross a pass over the immediate defender and CB; thus leaving the remaining CB to cover the run of the Fukuoka striker; and leave a slight gap at the top of the box for the CAM to pick up the ball and have a free look on net. Knowing that, it would require Uesato or Ono to track back and cover the top of the box to prevent any dangerous shots on net.

Match Prediction

I feel another 1-1 draw is on the horizon.

Interesting Facts

J2 Match Day 35 Fixtures of Note

Conclusion

These two evenly matched sides are producing some solid results in the short term that should help their long term prospects of staying in the J2 for 2020. Avispa are no slouches and could easily run the score up on Ryukyu tomorrow if the Okinawa side starts slow and never gets going.

However, a win is close to coming and it will feel like such a relief for this side when it does. But the sooner the better. Starting last week against Machida, FC Ryukyu’s next 4 road fixtures include; Avispa, Tochigi, Yamaguchi and Ehime. Certainly, a win can be found in there somewhere along with enough points to reach safety if FC Ryukyu can maintain their current form. Safe travels for all the FC Ryukyu fans heading to Fukuoka this Saturday and good luck to the boys.