Kawasaki Frontale 0 - 0 Kashiwa Reysol (AET) (8-7 on penalties)
Errrrmmmm. Well what happened there then? I don’t really understand how it happened but we are Emperor’s Cup champions and can now put another star on our shirt. I know that nobody wants to hear me moan after we’ve won a title, so either please bear with me whilst I get that out of the way quickly and then can go on to something a bit more positive or interesting, or skip the next paragraph to the point marked below to save your sanity.
So here we go with the moans. One shot in the first half! And it took 39 minutes for that to happen! Only five more shots in the second half. In the same time Kashiwa had 22! We didn’t even have the possession we normally do. We couldn’t even enjoy those sideways passes. Things picked up a bit in extra time, but until then, oh my god it was bad. And there just doesn’t seem to be any ideas from the manager on how to change things. I don’t understand why he needs his magnet board so much as every change is pretty much like for like, (or puts someone out of position without altering anything else). On 84 minutes with us perhaps hoping we might be able to try and win the game Oniki made our final two subs and brought on a defender and a defensive midfielder. In the game Kashiwa apparently had 32 shots, 19 of which were on target. I can remember a couple of great saves, but apart from that I guess we were just lucky that we were up against a team who really couldn’t shoot. Especially lucky as we were a team that relly couldn’t even make it to a shooting position. When talking about our Tosu performance I said it looked like we were already on the beach. In this game it looked like we were still sitting on the beach but apparently oblivious as the tide comes in, up to our chins. I hope it’s a coincidence that since Oniki signed his new contract we have gone back to playing the worst stuff of the whole of his time in charge of us. We’d been on a good run until he signed, but since then have managed one goal in 210 minutes of football and that was an own goal. I’ll finish this moaning section by just reiterating that we were truly terrible in this match. I think the first half against Kyoto was better and we conceded three times in that game. I have absolutely no idea how we won. But of course, I’m delighted that we did.
[SKIP TO HERE IF YOU WANT TO AVOID MOST OF THE MOANING]
As much as I’d like to rip into Kashiwa and make snarky comments about them, you’ve got to feel sorry for them. Even if they did heartily boo both Segawa and Ominami. You’ve got to feel particularly sorry for their keeper, who did amazingly in the penalty shoot out, getting his hands on loads of our penalties, but fortunately for us, not being able to stop enough of them. It’s really harsh that it was him whose penalty was saved to hand us the victory. If ever there was someone who didn’t deserve that, it was him. Probably Matheus Savio deserved that, who didn’t take long in this match to go down and roll around on the pitch feigning injury. He did however create a lot of chances. A lot of chances that Kashiwa were thoroughly incapable of taking for some reason. But I shouldn’t let that cloud two amazing saves by Sung-Ryong to keep us in the game. Even at that stage he was clearly our man of the match. Little did we know that he was going to go on and score our winning penalty too. Amazing, and kind of amusing considering that our great leader tried to bin him off earlier in the season. As undeserved as the win was, I’m really delighted for our players, especially the ones who’d never won anything before. I guess this victory in some way validates Ominami’s decision to transfer to us, even though clearly the season didn’t really go how he might have expected it to. There were plenty of tears on the pitch and in the stands after the final penalty was saved, If only we could have skipped the match and gone straight to the penalties. The pre-game entertainment was quite good I thought and surprisingly stylish when you consider how bad the soundtrack is at Emperor’s Cup games. And there wasn’t a flame cannon in sight, so I guess that particular cringy moment is something that the J League is into and not the JFA.
So, we’ve done the ‘we’re crap section’ and the ‘they were unlucky’ section. So all that’s left really is the random stuff. First of all, the pitch in spite of it looking much better than it did in the J2 play off final, seemed to be totally cack. Perhps they got the spray paint and the roller out. Undoubtedly they got the sand out. every time the ball ‘bounced’ there was a puff of sand from the turf. Don’t get me wrong though, I’m not saying that was the thing that was preventing us from getting the ball into any kind of shooting position. I had plenty of moans at the ref Kimura during the game but he probably did alright as there is nothing that is sitting burning in the pit of my stomach at the moment. I felt sorry for Gomis, who late in extra time almost chose an amazing time to score his first goal for us but was denied by a great save and then a lucky rebound for Kashiwa. It was a shame he missed his penalty too as he had the chance to win us a tournament the first time he put the ball in the net. But it wasn’t to be. I wonder how much longer he’ll be with us. Not sure it was his dream to come to Japan and sit on the bench for the final few years of his career. But we do know that Damiao is going, so perhaps that will open the door for him slightly. At the same time, we’ll be losing a striker in his mid thirties who has recently hit some good form and replacing him with one in his late thirties who has struggled a bit so far. Can’t say he’s really had a decent run yet though. Who might be joining Damiao in departing? Well Terada is rumoured to be leaving for a spot as manager of a team in a rice producing area of Japan according to a slightly cryptic tweet. (Apparently that’s Fukushima Utd). Clearly he has realised that he’s kind of wasting his time as Oniki will apparently only ever leave Frontale if he is forcibly removed. Marcinhho has been conspicuously absent the last two games, but apparently he has ‘a slight injury’. It was a shame he didn’t play in this game as even though our attacks through him often peter out, we don’t really have any other way of playing. So I guess it’s no surprise that we struggled to make chances without him. Even with Damiao leaving, you’ve got to think a lot of the attacking players might think they’d be better off looking elsewhere, as most of them seem to have been snubbed at one stage or another this year. I know most rumours are probably baseless, but I’ve heard Miyashiro might be leaving, (curse of my shirt again… sorry), Tono is being linked with a return to Avispa, (what, he doesn’t like being played out of position for 25 minutes each week?) and another player who we haven’t seen recently is Yamada. But to be honest, I have no evidence for that last one. In midfield, there has been talk of Tachibanada leaving, but maybe not much recently. Last year it seemed like he’d be the next to depart for next to nothing, but I’m not sure he’s done enough this year to attract that much attention. Joao Schmidt might want to go somewhere though, as he’s clearly thought of as a back up by Oniki now. And perhaps somewhat out of the blue, Wakizaka being so emotional, and some comments he made have started rumours about him. Or at least feelings about him. I don’t know if it’s just because he was our only representative in the J League team of the year, (his inclusion was a bit of a surprise to me, to be honest). Further back, Sasaki seems to have totally disappeared since he scored the winner away at Kochi United. And once again we have midfielders starting ahead of him in his position, which can’t give him much confidence. And this morning it’s being reported that Yamane has received an offer from LA United, so maybe we’ll lose him too. In my opinion, the problem, as I’ve said many times before, is that we just don’t rotate enough or properly. It’s basically the whole front three or centre back pairing changes, (if we don’t have loads of inuries), and that’s it. And that only happens about one game in five. I don’t really understand how anyone is supposed to get into any kind of form or even really have a chance to take. I think I also said that Oniki staying or going might have a significant affect on the squad. I think that perhaps if he was gong we might have some players who think they would have more of a chance with a new manager, with god forbid some new ideas, in charge. With him staying, with the players fully aware of his inflexibility, I imagine some might want to try their luck elsewhere. But this is all mainly speculation on my part.
How has this post about a game where we won a title managed to start with a moan and later turn into a ‘doom and gloom, everyone’s leaving’ tract? Well, I guess that’s just the way I write ‘em. It was pretty evident though that it wasn’t a great game and the joy of winning a title even in lucky fashion doesn’t completely cover up the doubts that are clear to see. I’m sorry I’m so negative, but perhaps that’s because I’m already thinking about the 2024 season. If we start the first game with pretty much the same lineup and tactics I think we all need to buckle up for what could be a very testing year. Or perhaps Oniki will use the break to have a good think and change things. Perhaps he’ll come up with another idea like getting Yamane to move into midfield when attacking like he did at the start of this season. The fact that his one big tactical change was a disaster, taking one of our effective attackers from his position and getting him to move into an area when he can penetrate less, doesn’t exactly fill me with confidence. Conversely, perhaps we’ll start next year with lots of different players after having loads of people leave. It would be a major shock, but might hint at the state the players think we are in. Perhaps we need a few players to leave to freshen us up a bit. It’s just a shame that the ones who probably do go will be the ones who haven’t really had much of a chance, leaving us with the same old line ups and the same old ideas. Sorry that should have said idea. Anyway, let’s be positive. We are the champions! All of Japan is looking at us with admiration. It doesn’t matter that most of the admirers didn’t see the game. In fact perhaps that’s a bonus. I’m delighted for Sung-Ryong and the players who won their first titles. I’m sad to see Damiao go. I’m kind of relieved that after Tuesday’s game away in Ulsan, which I won’t be attending or even watching due to being on a plane, we’ll have a break. I think everyone needs it. I certainly do. When we went to the Sagan Tosu away game we spent a night in Kagoshima. At the station, I bought a keyring that says ‘Kagoshima! Soccer Victory!’ It’s not a branded Kagoshima United thing, more like a ‘lucky charm’ mass-produced with a slight variation with the wording and picture (Examination Success!, Basketball Win!) depending on which aspect of your life needs a bit of a plasticky luck boost. Some might say that the two games we’ve played since the purchase have been pretty awful. But on the evidence of the results so far, it’s working. Even if perhaps it might be working at the cost of some of our sanities! SOCCER VICTORY!
So here we go with the moans. One shot in the first half! And it took 39 minutes for that to happen! Only five more shots in the second half. In the same time Kashiwa had 22! We didn’t even have the possession we normally do. We couldn’t even enjoy those sideways passes. Things picked up a bit in extra time, but until then, oh my god it was bad. And there just doesn’t seem to be any ideas from the manager on how to change things. I don’t understand why he needs his magnet board so much as every change is pretty much like for like, (or puts someone out of position without altering anything else). On 84 minutes with us perhaps hoping we might be able to try and win the game Oniki made our final two subs and brought on a defender and a defensive midfielder. In the game Kashiwa apparently had 32 shots, 19 of which were on target. I can remember a couple of great saves, but apart from that I guess we were just lucky that we were up against a team who really couldn’t shoot. Especially lucky as we were a team that relly couldn’t even make it to a shooting position. When talking about our Tosu performance I said it looked like we were already on the beach. In this game it looked like we were still sitting on the beach but apparently oblivious as the tide comes in, up to our chins. I hope it’s a coincidence that since Oniki signed his new contract we have gone back to playing the worst stuff of the whole of his time in charge of us. We’d been on a good run until he signed, but since then have managed one goal in 210 minutes of football and that was an own goal. I’ll finish this moaning section by just reiterating that we were truly terrible in this match. I think the first half against Kyoto was better and we conceded three times in that game. I have absolutely no idea how we won. But of course, I’m delighted that we did.
[SKIP TO HERE IF YOU WANT TO AVOID MOST OF THE MOANING]
As much as I’d like to rip into Kashiwa and make snarky comments about them, you’ve got to feel sorry for them. Even if they did heartily boo both Segawa and Ominami. You’ve got to feel particularly sorry for their keeper, who did amazingly in the penalty shoot out, getting his hands on loads of our penalties, but fortunately for us, not being able to stop enough of them. It’s really harsh that it was him whose penalty was saved to hand us the victory. If ever there was someone who didn’t deserve that, it was him. Probably Matheus Savio deserved that, who didn’t take long in this match to go down and roll around on the pitch feigning injury. He did however create a lot of chances. A lot of chances that Kashiwa were thoroughly incapable of taking for some reason. But I shouldn’t let that cloud two amazing saves by Sung-Ryong to keep us in the game. Even at that stage he was clearly our man of the match. Little did we know that he was going to go on and score our winning penalty too. Amazing, and kind of amusing considering that our great leader tried to bin him off earlier in the season. As undeserved as the win was, I’m really delighted for our players, especially the ones who’d never won anything before. I guess this victory in some way validates Ominami’s decision to transfer to us, even though clearly the season didn’t really go how he might have expected it to. There were plenty of tears on the pitch and in the stands after the final penalty was saved, If only we could have skipped the match and gone straight to the penalties. The pre-game entertainment was quite good I thought and surprisingly stylish when you consider how bad the soundtrack is at Emperor’s Cup games. And there wasn’t a flame cannon in sight, so I guess that particular cringy moment is something that the J League is into and not the JFA.
So, we’ve done the ‘we’re crap section’ and the ‘they were unlucky’ section. So all that’s left really is the random stuff. First of all, the pitch in spite of it looking much better than it did in the J2 play off final, seemed to be totally cack. Perhps they got the spray paint and the roller out. Undoubtedly they got the sand out. every time the ball ‘bounced’ there was a puff of sand from the turf. Don’t get me wrong though, I’m not saying that was the thing that was preventing us from getting the ball into any kind of shooting position. I had plenty of moans at the ref Kimura during the game but he probably did alright as there is nothing that is sitting burning in the pit of my stomach at the moment. I felt sorry for Gomis, who late in extra time almost chose an amazing time to score his first goal for us but was denied by a great save and then a lucky rebound for Kashiwa. It was a shame he missed his penalty too as he had the chance to win us a tournament the first time he put the ball in the net. But it wasn’t to be. I wonder how much longer he’ll be with us. Not sure it was his dream to come to Japan and sit on the bench for the final few years of his career. But we do know that Damiao is going, so perhaps that will open the door for him slightly. At the same time, we’ll be losing a striker in his mid thirties who has recently hit some good form and replacing him with one in his late thirties who has struggled a bit so far. Can’t say he’s really had a decent run yet though. Who might be joining Damiao in departing? Well Terada is rumoured to be leaving for a spot as manager of a team in a rice producing area of Japan according to a slightly cryptic tweet. (Apparently that’s Fukushima Utd). Clearly he has realised that he’s kind of wasting his time as Oniki will apparently only ever leave Frontale if he is forcibly removed. Marcinhho has been conspicuously absent the last two games, but apparently he has ‘a slight injury’. It was a shame he didn’t play in this game as even though our attacks through him often peter out, we don’t really have any other way of playing. So I guess it’s no surprise that we struggled to make chances without him. Even with Damiao leaving, you’ve got to think a lot of the attacking players might think they’d be better off looking elsewhere, as most of them seem to have been snubbed at one stage or another this year. I know most rumours are probably baseless, but I’ve heard Miyashiro might be leaving, (curse of my shirt again… sorry), Tono is being linked with a return to Avispa, (what, he doesn’t like being played out of position for 25 minutes each week?) and another player who we haven’t seen recently is Yamada. But to be honest, I have no evidence for that last one. In midfield, there has been talk of Tachibanada leaving, but maybe not much recently. Last year it seemed like he’d be the next to depart for next to nothing, but I’m not sure he’s done enough this year to attract that much attention. Joao Schmidt might want to go somewhere though, as he’s clearly thought of as a back up by Oniki now. And perhaps somewhat out of the blue, Wakizaka being so emotional, and some comments he made have started rumours about him. Or at least feelings about him. I don’t know if it’s just because he was our only representative in the J League team of the year, (his inclusion was a bit of a surprise to me, to be honest). Further back, Sasaki seems to have totally disappeared since he scored the winner away at Kochi United. And once again we have midfielders starting ahead of him in his position, which can’t give him much confidence. And this morning it’s being reported that Yamane has received an offer from LA United, so maybe we’ll lose him too. In my opinion, the problem, as I’ve said many times before, is that we just don’t rotate enough or properly. It’s basically the whole front three or centre back pairing changes, (if we don’t have loads of inuries), and that’s it. And that only happens about one game in five. I don’t really understand how anyone is supposed to get into any kind of form or even really have a chance to take. I think I also said that Oniki staying or going might have a significant affect on the squad. I think that perhaps if he was gong we might have some players who think they would have more of a chance with a new manager, with god forbid some new ideas, in charge. With him staying, with the players fully aware of his inflexibility, I imagine some might want to try their luck elsewhere. But this is all mainly speculation on my part.
How has this post about a game where we won a title managed to start with a moan and later turn into a ‘doom and gloom, everyone’s leaving’ tract? Well, I guess that’s just the way I write ‘em. It was pretty evident though that it wasn’t a great game and the joy of winning a title even in lucky fashion doesn’t completely cover up the doubts that are clear to see. I’m sorry I’m so negative, but perhaps that’s because I’m already thinking about the 2024 season. If we start the first game with pretty much the same lineup and tactics I think we all need to buckle up for what could be a very testing year. Or perhaps Oniki will use the break to have a good think and change things. Perhaps he’ll come up with another idea like getting Yamane to move into midfield when attacking like he did at the start of this season. The fact that his one big tactical change was a disaster, taking one of our effective attackers from his position and getting him to move into an area when he can penetrate less, doesn’t exactly fill me with confidence. Conversely, perhaps we’ll start next year with lots of different players after having loads of people leave. It would be a major shock, but might hint at the state the players think we are in. Perhaps we need a few players to leave to freshen us up a bit. It’s just a shame that the ones who probably do go will be the ones who haven’t really had much of a chance, leaving us with the same old line ups and the same old ideas. Sorry that should have said idea. Anyway, let’s be positive. We are the champions! All of Japan is looking at us with admiration. It doesn’t matter that most of the admirers didn’t see the game. In fact perhaps that’s a bonus. I’m delighted for Sung-Ryong and the players who won their first titles. I’m sad to see Damiao go. I’m kind of relieved that after Tuesday’s game away in Ulsan, which I won’t be attending or even watching due to being on a plane, we’ll have a break. I think everyone needs it. I certainly do. When we went to the Sagan Tosu away game we spent a night in Kagoshima. At the station, I bought a keyring that says ‘Kagoshima! Soccer Victory!’ It’s not a branded Kagoshima United thing, more like a ‘lucky charm’ mass-produced with a slight variation with the wording and picture (Examination Success!, Basketball Win!) depending on which aspect of your life needs a bit of a plasticky luck boost. Some might say that the two games we’ve played since the purchase have been pretty awful. But on the evidence of the results so far, it’s working. Even if perhaps it might be working at the cost of some of our sanities! SOCCER VICTORY!
Team
GK 1. JUNG Sung-Ryong
DF 13. YAMANE Miki
DF 31. YAMAMURA Kazuya
DF 3. OMINAMI Takuma
DF 2. NOBORIZATO KyoheiMF 8. TACHIBANADA Kento
MF 16. SEKO Tatsuki
MF 14. WAKIZAKA Yasuto (Yellow card 55')
FW 41. IENAGA Akihiro
FW 9. LEANDRO DAMIAO
FW 33. MIYASHIRO Taisei
FW 33. MIYASHIRO Taisei
Subs
GK 99. KAMIFUKUMOTO Naoto
DF 4. JESIEL (on for OMINAMI 87')
MF 6. JOAO SCHMIDT (on for WAKIZAKA 87')
MF 6. JOAO SCHMIDT (on for WAKIZAKA 87')
FW 11. KOBAYASHI Yu (on for LEANDRO DAMIAO 77')
FW 18. Bafetimbi GOMIS (on for KOBAYASHI 106')
FW 17. TONO Daiya (on for SEKO 64')
FW 30. SEGAWA Yusuke (on for MIYASHIRO 64')
My Frontale Man Of The Match
Sung-Ryong JUNG - needs absolutely no explanation. Arise Sir Sung- Ryong!
Goals
None
Penalties
IENAGA (Frontale) 1-0
MATHEUS SAVIO (Kashiwa) 1-1
SEGAWA (Frontale) 2-1
HOSOYA (Kashiwa) 2-2
YAMAMURA (Frontale) 3-2
TOSHIMA (Kashiwa) 3-3IENAGA (Frontale) 1-0
MATHEUS SAVIO (Kashiwa) 1-1
SEGAWA (Frontale) 2-1
HOSOYA (Kashiwa) 2-2
YAMAMURA (Frontale) 3-2
TACHIBANADA (Frontale) 4-3
SENTO (Kashiwa) 4-3 (Hit post)
GOMIS (Frontale) 4-3 (Saved)
MUTO (Kashiwa) 4-4
NOBORIZATO (Frontale) 4-4 (Saved)
KATAYAMA (Kashiwa) 4-4 (Hit post)
TONO (Frontale) 5-4
YAMAMOTO (Kashiwa) 5-5
YAMAMOTO (Kashiwa) 5-5
YAMANE (Frontale) 6-5
KAWAGUCHI (Kashiwa) 6-6
KAWAGUCHI (Kashiwa) 6-6
JOAO SCHMIDT (Frontale) 7-6
TATSUTA (Kashiwa) 7-7
TATSUTA (Kashiwa) 7-7
JUNG (Frontale) 8-7
MATSUMOTO (Kashiwa) 8-7 (Saved)
MATSUMOTO (Kashiwa) 8-7 (Saved)
Highlights
