It's a blog (in English mostly) all about football...in Japan with the J-League and Cerezo Osaka, in the English Premier League with Spurs and anywhere else the football takes us.
Zweigen Kanazawa didn't exist ten years ago but it didn't take them long to figure out that if they kept calm and played football, beyond the hype (in J2), we are more than beatable this year. Once they realised that for brief moments they looked like vintage Barcelona for short spells, we were that bad. Mesmerised by a team able to string more than a few passes together. Still we were treated to Sato's beautiful goal and then they were treated to a soft penalty given as a parting gift from Maruhashi to Kanazawa with love. What next (in J2)?
Just bad timing with this picture, there must be millions of better pictures of Forlan playing for Cerezo...taken by other people.
Kanazawa fans expectant after some nice spells and a wonder strike
Despite the best efforts of behind the goal flag waving this went in
Did Puma ask for a refund due to poor product placement?
Kakitani couldn't convert our best chances as we went back to looking like a team that needs more time to gel. Forlan dropped back into midfield too much for my liking where he couldn't really do any damage with his long passing. His best work comes from being closer to the last defenders and finding space which he isn't doing often enough at the moment. We have always needed an old head to calm and inspire our young team as Simplicio did last season. Forlan however just got angry on a couple of occasions instead of leading when our heads were down. His quote later to the AFP that "They don't have to listen if they don't want to be part of it" seems like an odd way to express leadership though. Ogihara has gone backwards, much like his passing in this game, in terms of his development which is highlighted by Hasegawa making it to the Japan team training session while he has been left behind. I don't think Popovic likes how Ogihara plays and on this form he doesn't deserve to be anywhere near the first team. This was not the best preparation for the next game which happens to be the Osaka Derby in Yanmar stadium on Saturday. Kashiwa Reysol's goals came from Tanaka early on and ex-Gamba forward Leandro later in the 2nd half. Maruhashi got our consolation goal in the dying minutes of the game.
The first half was exciting and either team could have been winning at the break. Fortunately for us S-Pulse couldn't finish off their best chances. The second half was a different story. It looked like Popovic told the players "Look, you can't defend so this is a dangerous scoreline, go out and don't stop attacking until the game is won." Who knows what he actually said but that's what it looked like. A great 45 minutes of attacking football followed and we created lots of chances. Forlan failed to find the back of the net but was getting into good positions. Happily Sugimoto got his name on the scoresheet with the 4th goal after his clumsy challenge gave Shimizu a penalty in the first half. Left back Maruhashi got our second and also hit the bar with a rocket of a shot. Our first and third goals game courtesy of our centre backs Yamashita and Kacar from set pieces. Ogihara was dropped today and Aria moved into the centre of midfield where his performance was much improved. Very promising performance particularly in the second half but we should expect a bit of rotation for our next game against Buriram United of Thailand in the ACL. Our second home game this season saw 20,323 compared to 37,079 two weeks ago which is worrying for the club as we have planned for consistently higher gate receipts this season.
Still not sure who that is on the flag. Any help?
Omae sends Jin-Hyeon the wrong way
Packed behind the goal but lots of empty seats visible elsewhere
A
poorly attended Wednesday week night cup match despite the promise of
a place in the quarter finals after this victory. Sagan Tosu scored
in the first minute but this actually gave us something to chase and
play for from the start so we did well. Maruhashi equalised with a
great free-kick and teenage sensation Minamio grabbed the winner to
leave us second in our group.
Nicest fans in Japan, the poor attendance revealed that away fans in Kincho now have seats instead of a grassy knoll
Our view of the Maruhashi free-kick, he's the one just under the beer person's nose
