The Rising Sun News -- Camp Chronicles
Perhaps the most interesting was a move that sent former Japan Olympic team captain Masakiyo Maezono to his old team, Tokyo Verdy. New Verdy coach Yasutaro Matsuki has been collecting members of Verdy's "old guard" in a bid to bring back the club's glory days. While Maezono is a big marquee name, it remains to be seen what he will add to the club. He was cashiered from Verdy in 1998 after a miserable season, managed to talk himself into a try-out with Santos, in Brazil, but soon found himself playing in the lower divisions in Brazil. In 2000 he returned to join second-division club Shonan Bellmare, but failed to make much of an impression even in the lower leagues. It is unclear exactly what the problem is, since Maezono was once viewed as a rising star on a par with Hidetoshi Nakata, but some have suggested either a severe alcohol problem or simply a lack of discipline that leaves him constantly out of condition and unable to perform at his peak. Certainly, Verdy fans will be hoping that he can conquer whatever demons have plagued him over the past three years and return to top form at his new home in Tokyo.
Where Have All the Gaijin Gone?
Another development that has attracted quite a bit of publicity is the disappearance of foreign faces from the rosters of most J1 teams. Verdy takes the new trend to the extreme, as coach Matsuki plans to begin the season without a single non-Japanese player on the roster. However, the trend is league-wide. First division teams have reduced the number of foreign players on their rosters by an average of slightly over one player per team.There are a number of explanations for this trend. Certainly, the high cost of signing quality players from overseas is one point to keep in mind. As budgets in the J.League have fallen, so has the number of quality foreigners. However, this is not a complete explanation. Some of the wealthiest teams in the league are leading the way in reducing foreign personnel. Another possibility is that many coaches and team executives have come to believe that it is too hard for foreign players to adjust to Japan, and to playing with Japanese teammates. Inability to communicate is a serious problem on the soccer pitch, so until a player "gets up to speed", they are more of a detriment to their team than a benefit. This theory is supported by recent trends in the source of foreign players. A high percentage of the league's foreign contingent are from Korea, which is close enough and similar enough to Japan as to minimize the adjustment period for foreign players. Most of the remainder are Brazilians, and a high percentage of those Brazilians have been in Japan for over three years.
However, the most important factor is simply the tradeoff between cost and performance. The quality of Japanese players has improved greatly since the J.League has formed, creating a very large pool of talented domestic personnel from which to choose. It doesnt make much sense to shell out top dollar for a foreign player who is only marginally better in performance than a cheaper Japanese player. On the other hand, there has been a sharp increase in the number of players who are picked up from second-division teams, after a stellar season playing for the smaller club. It is not clear whether this trend will continue, but it does seem likely that the number of foreign "superstars" playing out the final years of their career in Japan will drop steadily in the future. Most of the "gaijin" players will probably be youngsters with good promise. Korea, and perhaps other Asian countries, will become a more important source of personnel than Europe or South America. One would hope, though, that Japan continues to import at least some players, to provide domestic clubs and players with exposure to different playing styles and concepts.
Fantastic Freshmen
As alluded to in the section above, a large number of talented youngsters have been entering the league recently, as the quality and competitiveness of youth programs in Japan improves. It should be no surprise, then, that much of the talk in the training camps these days revolves around the performance of the new crop of rookies. As competitive as it might be, high school football does not attract enough media attention to give these players exposure prior to their J.League debut. With just one or two exceptions, one only begins to see their likely potential as the February training camps progress. Based on the information that has emerged so far, here is a quick run-down on some of the new faces that may make their mark in 2001.| 15 | Yoshito Okubo | MF | 09-Jun-1982 | 168/61 | Cerezo Osaka |
| A graduate of Kyushu's traditional soccer powerhouse, Kunimi High School, this young midfielder first came to the attention of scouts as a member of Japan's U-19 team. Okubo is a scoring midfielder in the mold of Argentina's Ariel Ortega. Though he has decent defensive skills and can pass well, he likes nothing better than finishing off the shot by himself. In Japan's high school championships, at the end of last year, Okubo led the tournament in scoring, getting two more goals than any striker in the tourney. |  |
| 23 | Yutaka Tahara | FW | 27-Apr-1982 | 184/84 | Yokohama Marinos |
| 17 | Hayato Yano | FW | 29-Oct-1980 | 182/78 | Tokyo Verdy |
Yano is another tall, broad-shouldered striker with some strong similarities to Tahara. Last year Yano was signed by Verdy out of high school, but instead of entering the J.League right away he spent some time training in South America. Now that Yasutaro Matsuki has come in to rebuild Verdy, many observers expect a return to the high-ball tactics that the team used in the early years of the J.League. Teaming up with veteran Nobuhiro Takeda, Yano could be a dangerous weapon in the front line. Since Verdy sold off their top scorer last year, Kim Hyun-Sook, Yano will probably have a chance to start for the team this year, as long as his performance makes the grade.
| 5 | Sota Nakazawa | DF | 26-Oct-1982 | 188/74 |
| Sota Nakazawa is viewed as the best defender to emerge from the high school ranks in 2001. A tall central defender with excellent skills in the air, Nakazawa will probably have a good chance to claim the stopper role, playing in front of Hong Myung-Bo. Considering the wealth of experience that Hong brings to Reysol, Nakazawa has an opportunity to lear a great deal in a very short time. In addition to competing for a place in the Reysol starting lineup, he has been tapped as a probable starter in Japan's U-20 squad which will play in the World Youth Championships in Argentina this summer. |  |
| 23 | Takeshi AOKI | MF | 28-Sep-1982 | 182/70 |
| One of only two new players joining the Antlers this season, Takeshi Aoki is the latest in a long line of youngsters who have appeared in the Antlers training camp, relatively unheralded, after having been personally identified and selected by Antlers General Manager Zico. Each time the tableau seems to be the same. A young kid that few people have heard of, and whome nobody expects to make much of an impression. But then you see the twinkle in Zico's eye, and he quietly says "just wait till you see the kid play". Since Zico has discovered and cultivated at least a dozen of the midfielders who will start for J.League clubs this season, nowadays when he makes such statements people tend to listen. |  |
Send all questions, comments and queries to: