Kawasaki Frontale 2 - 1 Kashima Antlers
Ahhhhh. This was a lot of fun, wasn’t it? I’ve long been saying that Kashima aren’t as good as their league position suggests. When we played them at the National Stadium they were pretty bad, and were fortunate to catch us on a day when we were terrible. And don’t forget that they have had an unbelievable amount of penalties whereas we’ve had just the one in 23 games. Some might say that their luck turned in this match and I’d agree to some extent but I’ll go into that in more detail later. So it’s great to win and it’s also great to enjoy defeating a horrible club. Some Frontale fans might have mixed feelings given that they have our old manager. They seemed again to think that they’d stolen him from us given the way they were chanting his name before the game. I expect they weren’t chanting his name in the same way afterwards. I don’t have any personal enjoyment from beating the new team of our old manager per se, but when that team is a scummy one who have seemed to get the rub of the green more often than not this year, (something which continued to a certain extent in this match), well then, I actually do enjoy it a lot. Perhaps the one big downside was that everyone else won in the top five, so it hasn’t helped us out when it comes to the title race. But I don’t really believe we’re seriously in that anyway. Particularly when you consider that Takai has just left and Ito is now injured. We need reinforcements fast I think. But the rest of the top five winning meant that it was a bigger blow to Kashima so I guess that’s a good thing. Hopefully the other scummy teams who are up there, (looking at you Kobe), can experience similar big blows for the rest of the season. We’ve now got a bit of time off till our next game. Time to recuperate and hopefully get some players back from injury. Although Ito wasn’t at the Fan Event yesterday and was on crutches after the game on Saturday, Erison was there and was dancing, so fingers crossed we’re using that as part of his recovery schedule.
Us -
It was a bit of a mixed start for us in this game. Whilst we looked a bit brighter and were definitely getting the ball forward more quickly and causing them problems, we were blighted by the usual awful finishing that seems to be a Frontale thing recently. The stats look kind of positive with ten shots but the reality is that only four were on target and I think all of them were about as powerfully and accurately hit away from the keeper as a back pass from a defender would have been. Kashima were even worse in attack but naturally managed to score after they were gifted a goal by some dodgy defending by us. If we ever manage to stop shooting ourselves in the foot we might make some real progress. Thankfully we scored at the end of the first half though, as to have gone in one down after having so many chances would have been a real gut punch. We did our best to mess it up though as Yamada almost got the goal canceled due to him being offside. Yamada still isn’t playing particularly well, and his call up to the national team is absolutely baffling, but maybe there are some green shoots of recovery starting to show. He seems to pass a bit more than previously. Admittedly previously he didn’t pass at all though. I have to admit, I don’t really have that many strong memories of our performance in the rest of the game. Well, apart from the massive let off when Jesiel’s red card which he revived very soon after coming on at half time was canceled. Phew. I don’t think we were mind-blowingly good in this game, but we definitely did enough to win. We ended up with fifty percent more shots and possession than Kashima so I think they’d be clutching at straws to think they deserved to get anything.
Them -
Sure they’re going to complain about the ref and I am going to do the same in the section below. I think their big problem is that they didn’t get a penalty in this game. That seems to be what normally happens. They didn’t look that good and hopefully they’ll tumble down the league. I’m not sure they’d have scored if we hadn’t put a goal on a plate for them. Perhaps they might think they’re going through a slump but I suspect that they’ve been massively lucky so far this year and are now getting what their play deserves. In spite of the massive wealth the club has and employing the most successful manger in the league, they still might struggle to crawl out of their usual spot in third or fourth. There is a classic Oniki way of playing, (note the singular here. There really is only one), but for some reason he isn’t using it at Kashima. Some might say if it ain’t broke, don’t fix it, but recent results make it look like it is broken. Whether he has the character or the power to change things, I don’t know. Kashima is one of those teams where it seems that whoever they hire or buy, things rarely change that much. I’d put Urawa and FC Tokyo in that category too. They seem to have some scumbag players and some scumbag fans so I guess that works out quite well. I still remember with great amusement that video clip of a group of furious Antlers fans being held back by a thin plastic fence so low that it could be stepped over by a Dachshund and so poorly supported that it could be toppled by someone turning on the extractor fan in the changing rooms. I guess it was the single old man security guard that repelled them. Somehow though this fearsome reputation of their tough guy fans seemed to convince the ref that things should go their way though.
Us -
It was a bit of a mixed start for us in this game. Whilst we looked a bit brighter and were definitely getting the ball forward more quickly and causing them problems, we were blighted by the usual awful finishing that seems to be a Frontale thing recently. The stats look kind of positive with ten shots but the reality is that only four were on target and I think all of them were about as powerfully and accurately hit away from the keeper as a back pass from a defender would have been. Kashima were even worse in attack but naturally managed to score after they were gifted a goal by some dodgy defending by us. If we ever manage to stop shooting ourselves in the foot we might make some real progress. Thankfully we scored at the end of the first half though, as to have gone in one down after having so many chances would have been a real gut punch. We did our best to mess it up though as Yamada almost got the goal canceled due to him being offside. Yamada still isn’t playing particularly well, and his call up to the national team is absolutely baffling, but maybe there are some green shoots of recovery starting to show. He seems to pass a bit more than previously. Admittedly previously he didn’t pass at all though. I have to admit, I don’t really have that many strong memories of our performance in the rest of the game. Well, apart from the massive let off when Jesiel’s red card which he revived very soon after coming on at half time was canceled. Phew. I don’t think we were mind-blowingly good in this game, but we definitely did enough to win. We ended up with fifty percent more shots and possession than Kashima so I think they’d be clutching at straws to think they deserved to get anything.
Them -
Sure they’re going to complain about the ref and I am going to do the same in the section below. I think their big problem is that they didn’t get a penalty in this game. That seems to be what normally happens. They didn’t look that good and hopefully they’ll tumble down the league. I’m not sure they’d have scored if we hadn’t put a goal on a plate for them. Perhaps they might think they’re going through a slump but I suspect that they’ve been massively lucky so far this year and are now getting what their play deserves. In spite of the massive wealth the club has and employing the most successful manger in the league, they still might struggle to crawl out of their usual spot in third or fourth. There is a classic Oniki way of playing, (note the singular here. There really is only one), but for some reason he isn’t using it at Kashima. Some might say if it ain’t broke, don’t fix it, but recent results make it look like it is broken. Whether he has the character or the power to change things, I don’t know. Kashima is one of those teams where it seems that whoever they hire or buy, things rarely change that much. I’d put Urawa and FC Tokyo in that category too. They seem to have some scumbag players and some scumbag fans so I guess that works out quite well. I still remember with great amusement that video clip of a group of furious Antlers fans being held back by a thin plastic fence so low that it could be stepped over by a Dachshund and so poorly supported that it could be toppled by someone turning on the extractor fan in the changing rooms. I guess it was the single old man security guard that repelled them. Somehow though this fearsome reputation of their tough guy fans seemed to convince the ref that things should go their way though.
Ref and VAR -
Ahhhh, Araki. Last time we had you there wasn’t much to moan about which was an absolute miracle. Thankfully for the sake of consistency he was back to his awful… best… worst in this match. Maybe it was the rolled up shorts and blonde dye job that terrified Araki so much but Suzuki should absolutely have been sent off for a second yellow card. There was another very dodgy decision from the ref at the end of the game, when someone absolutely clattered (I think) Sasaki off the ball and off the pitch and the ref did nothing. Maybe by that stage he already thought he was in enough trouble with the Kashima fans. He’d really done his best to please them only to have his decisions overturned by VAR. I suppose I have to give him some credit for listening to the VAR though. But he was an absolute bottler when it came to doing things that Kashima might not like. Praise the lord though, we had someone good on VAR. I recently praised Kawamata and he’s done well again. I haven’t really dared look back at the Jesiel red card he canceled as it looked a cert at the time. Thankfully we were saved by offside. And Kawamata also allowed the Ito goal. From the first replay it did seem like it might get canceled due to Yamada looking like he was in the way, but from another angle, he’s not really anywhere near the keeper and to his credit he tries to get out the way of the ball rather than trying to nick the goal for himself and get it ruled out in the process. Even when we praise the VAR guy though, we shouldn’t forget that for one of these decisions he was having to correct an error that the twerps on the field made. I think the thing that made me most angry towards Araki was when two Kashima players tackled each other, ending up in a heap on the floor. Araki apparently thought that counted as a half foul on them and decided to stop the match to let them get treatment, (neither of the players were actually injured), and then gave them the ball from the restart. Truly baffling nonsense from a predictably bad referee. Araki, go and do one. Kawamata, thank you again for your skills and knowledge.
Ahhh, lovely stuff. A win against horrible opposition a good old moan about the ref! Great times! Next up, Sagamihara at home in the Emperor’s Cup the Wednesday after next. I would say that presumably we’ll see some rotation in that match, but I’m not sure we have that many players to rotate right now. Hopefully we can all enjoy the little break and preserve the little bit of form we got back in this match.
Team
GK 98. YAMAGUCHI Louis
DF 31. VAN WERMESKERKEN Sai
DF 2. TAKAI Kota
DF 35. MARUYAMA Yuichi
DF 13. MIURA Sota
MF 19. KAWAHARA So
MF 6. YAMAMOTO Yuki
MF 14. WAKIZAKA Yasuto
FW 41. IENAGA Akihiro (Yellow card 80')
FW 20. YAMADA Shin
FW 17. ITO Tatsuya
Subs
GK 21. ANDO Shunsuke
DF 4. JESIEL (on for MARUYAMA 46') (Yellow card 82')
DF 5. SASAKI Asahi (on for MIURA 84')
GK 98. YAMAGUCHI Louis
DF 31. VAN WERMESKERKEN Sai
DF 2. TAKAI Kota
DF 35. MARUYAMA Yuichi
DF 13. MIURA Sota
MF 19. KAWAHARA So
MF 6. YAMAMOTO Yuki
MF 14. WAKIZAKA Yasuto
FW 41. IENAGA Akihiro (Yellow card 80')
FW 20. YAMADA Shin
FW 17. ITO Tatsuya
Subs
GK 21. ANDO Shunsuke
DF 4. JESIEL (on for MARUYAMA 46') (Yellow card 82')
DF 5. SASAKI Asahi (on for MIURA 84')
MF 8. TACHIBANADA Kento (on for YAMAMOTO 78')
FW 11. KOBAYASHI Yu
MF 16. OZEKI Yuto
FW 23. MARCINHO (on for ITO 46')
FW 24. MIYAGI Ten (on for IENAGA 90+3')
FW 11. KOBAYASHI Yu
MF 16. OZEKI Yuto
FW 23. MARCINHO (on for ITO 46')
FW 24. MIYAGI Ten (on for IENAGA 90+3')
FW 38. KANDA Soma
Goals
LEO CEARA (Kashima) 25' 0-1
ITO (Frontale) 25' 1-1
MARCINHO (Frontale) 58' 2-1
Highlights
