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January 5, 2003
Trading Activity Nears an End, as Season Approaches

Two weeks ago, we provided a look at some of the player moves that had been completed or rumoured during the off-season. This week, as the pace of trading activity drops off and teams begin to solidify their rosters for the 2003 season, we will take a quick look at all of the comings and goings that have been confirmed, as well as a few lingering rumours and half-completed moves. We will provide a final list of all player activity in our preseason projections, which we plan to post a week before the 2003 season kicks off.

Vegalta Sendai have added several players that definitely represent a step up in terms of quality, compared to the personnel who were available last season, though many of these are "cast-offs" from other clubs. Sendai has apparently taken over from FC Tokyo the role as "the island of lost boys". Nevertheless, with the striking skills of Marcos up front, and an improved supporting cast (particularly in defence), a mid-table finish in 2003 is quite possible.

Vegalta have added a number of former Kashima Antlers players to their roster. Though this reflects the disparity in talent between the two teams (Vegalta seems to be collecting the Antlers' hand-me-downs), you could certainly choose a worse club as your source of talent. One player who will definitely add to the quality of Vegalta's defensive midfield is Yuichi Nemoto, a regular starter at wing back on the U-20 team, who still belongs to the Antlers butis being farmed out to give him time to develop his talents, before being brought up to the Kashima "varsity". He played on a one-year loan to Cerezo Osaka last season, and Vegalta have also acquired him on a one-year loan. Daijiro Takakuwa, another former Antler, will be a more permanent addition. Last year, Kashima rented him out to Tokyo Verdy, but with Hitoshi Sogahata nailing down the starting goalkeeper role for the Antlers, he has been traded to Vegalta on a full transfer. Takakuwa is a quality keeper, and will no doubt be a major improvement compared with the pathetic Norio Takahashi, who started for Vegalta last season but is now out of work. A third former Antler who will probably start for Vegalta in 2003 is Fabiano, signed on loan from Flamengo in what is basically an extension of the deal the Antlers made to acquire him last season. Fabiano replaces Ricardo Ribero -- yet another former Antler -- who was released by Vegalta and is now apparently headed for Sanfrecce Hiroshima

Vegalta's rental list is still growing, which may not be good news for the long term but should be beneficial in 2003. One big surprise in the offseason was the decision by JEF United to rent out Hisato Sato for another year. This young striker saw only minimal playing time at Cerezo Osaka, last year, but as a member of the U-20 squad he has shown the skills required to play at the top leve. Sato has good ball skills and can finish well, though some critics think he is too small (170cm) to become a truly dangerous striker. Another player who will join Vegalta on a one-year loan is Yuki Yamauchi, a 20-year old defender who saw virtually no playing time for Nagoya Grampus last year, but is said to have decent talent.

On a more permanent note, Vegalta picked up Takumi Morikawa on a full transfer from Kashiwa Reysol. The defensive midfielder is dependable but not particularly flashy, and as bounced around the league to teams such as Kawasaki Frontale and Sapporo (in addition to two stints at Reysol), and even spent a year training at Juventude in Brazil (on the youth team). Another player who joins Vegalta on a full transfer is Takuya Ishii, a player who fully deserves the stigma of being on the "island of lost boys". Ishii defied all logic by convincing the Urawa Reds to hang onto him for five seasons. At 24, Ishii may still have several years of service left in him, and he does have a certain toughness and killer instinct that is useful in defensive midfield. However, in quality terms, he probably is more suited to playing on a J2 team.

Finally, Vegalta have managed to extend the rental contracts for several key players who made useful contributions in 2002, and who will be back for at least one more year. Midfielder Silvinho, who is on loan from San Jose in the Sao Paulo league, will remain in Sendai for at least another six months. In addition, Vegalta has added one year to the rental contracts of striker Yoshiteru Yamashita (Avispa Fukuoka), Masahiro Kazuma (Yokohama Marinos) and Kiyomitsu Kobari (Tokyo Verdy)

The Kashima Antlers have made relatively few changes for 2003, though the deals that they are pursuing seem likely to have a major impact. Basically, the Antlers seem to be happy with the core of talent on the team already, and the main additions have been moves to reclaim players who already belong to the team. Kashima released their two veteran Brazilian defenders, Fabiano and Augusto, at the end of 2002. Though both are getting along in years, this decision is probably less a reflection of their abilities and more a testament to the rapid improvement of young reserves like Tomohiko Ikeuchi, Jun Uchida and Takuya Ichikawa. In addition, Kashima will reclaim former national team wing back Naoki Soma, who was on loan to Verdy last season. Coming back from a devastating knee injury, Soma was solid but not spectacular in 2002. However, that may be largely a reflection of the role that he was asked to play at Verdy, which did not allow him to use his greatest strengths, such are running the overlap on the wing and hitting his forwards with an accurate cross. The return of Soma basically made Augusto expendable. The release of Fabiano seemed to be slightly more of a gamble, but only until the team landed former national-team defender Go Oiwa on a full transfer from Jubilo. This will give the Antlers a formidable back line of Akita, Oiwa, Narahashi and Soma, with some promising rookies available for backup duty.

Two other players who return to the Antlers after one-year loans are forward Tomoyuki Hirase and keeper Shinya Kato, who both spent last year at Yokohama Marinos. Hirase will be a mildly useful addition to the front line, though he probably will not be able to push either Atsushi Yanagisawa or Euller out of the starting lineup. Kato is also destined for backup duty, though he is a talented player who will be useful if Hitoshi Sogahata should get injured.

The Antlers also seemed to be basically happy with their midfield, though they will probably be hoping for some more maturity and leadership from midfielders Masashi Motoyama, Koji Nakata and Mitsuo Ogasawara. Last year, there were two criticisms of the midfield. First, following the departure of Bismarck, in 2001, no one stepped up to be the field general at midfield. Ogasawara began to take over that role towards the end of the season, but he always looks better when playing off someone else's initiative than when orchestrating plays himself. Motoyama, meanwhile, seems best suited to a role as the first player off the bench. He injects energy to the offence when he comes on, but he is not suited to be an offensive leader. To address this problem, the Antlers signed Fernando Almeida de Oliveira of Vitoria, in Brazil's Bahia state. The 27-year-old has excellent vision, good ball skills and can shoot with either foot. He took the free kicks and PKs for Vitoria last year, and in partnership with Ogasawara and Nakata, could create a deadly set play combination. Reportedly, Toninho Cerezo negotiated his transfer personally with the president of Vitoria, Paulo Calmeira.

Kashima is also reportedly negotiating with Palmeiras for defensive midfielder Claudicir. Perhaps the most obvious weakness that the Antlers faced last year was the lack of an enforcer in deep midfield, particularly after veteran Naoto Honda took over the volante role from the injury-prone Koji Kumagai. A player of Claudicir's stature should provide valuable solidity to the midfield, and hopefully give Koji Nakata more chances to roam forward, where he is most dangerous. However, there are still question marks about this transfer, and if the Antlers fail to sign Claudicir, they probably will go shopping for another defensive midfielder.

There are rumours that Atsushi Yanagisawa may move to Serie A club Chievo in June. If this deal goes through, it could exacerbate problems that already exist in the front line. The loss of Yanagisawa is hard to quantify. He has been justly criticised for his inability to find the net. However, he is a dynamic player who adds a great deal to the team beyond his goals total. Kashima probably would like to land a top-notch striker, though at the moment, it looks like they will stay with Yanagisawa and Euller, with Hirase off the bench. One rumour which surfaced recently involves the possible return of Takayuki Suzuki from Belgium. Despite showing flashes of quality, he is not really making the grade in the Jupiler league, and some believe that he may be heading back to Japan in the future. Although RC Genk purchased Suzuki on a full transfer and thus his obligations to the Antlers are complete, if he did return to Japan, Kashima is the most likely place for him to go.

Kashiwa Reysol struggled badly in 2002, yet the team has been relatively inactive in the transfer market during the off-season, apart from releasing a host of borderline players. This partly reflects the team's weak finances, but it is also partly based on the fact that some of the team's youngsters proved themselves capable in the final weeks of the 2002 season, and coach Aurelio may not want to make any major roster changes these kids a chance to show how far they can carry the team. Among the rookies who distinguished themselves in late 2002 are defender Toru Nagata, a rock in the back line of Japan's U-20 squad, and two promising strikers -- Keiji Tamada (22) and Yuji Unozawa (19). The team's confidence in these two youngsters was reinforced when Kashiwa traded away former national team member Hideaki Kitajima to Shimizu S-Pulse. The lanky forward won a brief look in the national team after having a stellar year in 2000, but he subseqeuntly contracted Shoji Jo disease, and became incapable of hitting the net. This deal will be no loss to Reysol, but could be bad news for S-Pulse.

Reysol have clearly committed themselves to a programme of rebuilding based on youth. Apart from the return of midfielder Takahiro Shimotaira, a former Reysol veteran, from FC Tokyo, the only veteran player who they have acquired is Brazilian striker Marcio, from Parana. He will probably partner with Brazilian national team striker Edilson, assuming that his contract is renewed (no confirmation yet, but it seems highly likely). To make room for Marcio, Kashiwa released veteran defensive midfielder Cesar Sampaio, who is reportedly close to a deal with J2 club Sanfrecce Hiroshima. On the other hand, Reysol did sign several promising rookies including Takaaki Yano, a 185cm striker who has looked impressive with the U-19 national team.

Although JEF United put together a decent performance last season, they may face some reorganisation difficulties in 2003, since coach Josef Venglos left at the end of last season to be replaced by Ivica Osim. Nevertheless, JEF United continues to develop one step at a time, and they have added a few players in the off-season who could make a positive contribution.

The team's biggest signing for the 2003 season is likely to be Sandro Cardoza dos Santos, last year's golden boot winner in the K.League, who was purchased from Suwon Bluewings. Although Dos Santos will probably face tighter defensive pressure than he did in the wide-open style of the K.League, his partnership with Choi Yong-Soo in the front line will give JEF two proven poachers up front. If the youthful midfield is able to provide good service, the team could really create fireworks this season. Considering the firepower that they already have up front, JEF apparently decided that they could afford to drop a few other strikers. Mitsutoshi Watada, whose one-year loan from Vissel Kobe was not renewed, will probably not be much of a loss, nor will Takashi Uemura, who retired after spending last year on the bench. A somewhat more surprising move was JEF's decision not to reclaim young Hayato Sato following his rental to Cerezo Osaka last season, and instead ship him off to Vegalta Sendai on another one-year loan package.

JEF also released Tadatoshi Masuda, a former national team midfielder when he was with Kashima Antlers, who made a farily impressive contribution in the Emperor's Cup tournament, but who is getting along in years. He probably will retire, since he has not been linked to any other teams yet. To fill the gap, JEF signed another former national team player who has fallen out of the "star" ranks as he matures, Shigeyoshi Mochizuki. A dependable defensive midfielder / wing back, Mochizuki was signed from Vissel Kobe, who could not find a place for him in their starting lineup last season. The only other acquisitions announced thus far are two relatively marginal players, Keeper Ken Ishikawa from Mito Hollyhock and midfielder Koji Nakajima from Vegalta Sendai

The Urawa Reds have been aggressively building a competitive team overthe past three years, and the team's use of its huge treasure chest to attract quality players continues in 2003. Under the direction of team manager Hans Ooft and coach Wim Jansen, the Reds are now viewed as one of the most promising young teams in the league, and they continue to get better with each passing month. The deals that they have already made to strengthen their squad will put them among the top contenders for a title this season, and there may still be a few more moves in store before the 2003 season begins. Last December, the team signedConsadole's 21-year-old midfielder Koji Yamase, a regular fixture in the U-21 team until his injury midway through the 2002 season. Yamase has been criticised as a ball hog in the past, but few would deny his dribbling skills and his nose for the net. If he can be integrated into the Reds midfield, he could add even more dynamite to what is already an explosive offence. Another player who the Reds acquired late in 2002 is goalkeeper Ryuta Tsuzuki, a former national team member with Gamba Osaka. Although Urawa already has some promising young keepers, Tsuzuki is a proven performer who can hold down the starting spot while the youngsters develop their skills.

The biggest offseason deal for Urawa, however, was the signing of Edmundo, who was released by Tokyo Verdy when they were unable to meet his contract demands. The Animal seemed to be losing a step in speed during the latter half of 2002, but he still has the imposing physical presence and the finishing skill that made him a star for Brazil. To make room for Edmundo, Urawa released Livonir "Tuto" Ruschel, who has since been picked up by Shimizu S-Pulse. Though Tuto was clearly a talented player, the Reds are already overflowing with offensive weapons that can be deployed in the front line, such as Yuichiro Nagai and young Tatsuya Tanaka, so they probably though it would be wiser to use the money they were spending on Tuto's salary to lure a few other promising youngsters. The third foreign player for the Reds is likely to be Ned Zelic, an Australian veteran who was signed by two separate teams in 2002 (Kyoto Purple Sanga and Urawa), but has yet to play in a J.League match. It is only speculation, but we view Zelic as just a "place-holder", who will probably be dropped like a hot lump of lead if Urawa finds any other talented foreign players who are looking for a home

Apart from elevating a few of their youth players to the varsity team, those are the only deals that the Reds have concluded, thus far. However, the list of players dropped is a long one, leaving Urawa with plenty of space on their roster even though Ooft would have no problem filling in a roster card with the players already available. This fact suggests that the team is still shopping, and since the league does not have a transfer deadline, as they do in Europe, they will probably continue to do so throughout the season if a talented player becomes available. The Reds cut a lot of dead wood at the end of the 2002 season. Masahiro Fukuda and Masami Ihara were convinced to retire, while the team dropped or traded Shinsen Yamane, Tomonobu Hayakawa, Takamasa Watanabe, Ryuji Kawai, Ryuji Michiki, Akihiro Tabata, Manabu Ikeda and Tomoyasu Ando. With plentiful funds available, and lots of open roster spots, the Reds will be able to bid on any quality players who hit the market.

Tokyo Verdy finally turned the corner in 2002, following a long and spectacular decline, finishing fourth in the first stage and achieving generally good results. Although Edmundo was clearly the force driving the team's success, a host of other players -- including many youngsters drawn from the Verdy youth system -- were emerging as future stars. Although the team opted not to renew Edmundo's contract in 2003 (in part because the financial burden was more than the team could bear), Verdy picked up several players who should be able to offset this loss, at least partially.

The biggest acquisition in the off-season was the signing of Cameroon national team striker Patrick Mboma, who formerly played for Gamba Osaka. The "black panther", as he is referred to in the Japanese sports tabloids, may be nearing the end of his career, but his poaching abilities should be a good match for the young midfielders and talented wings that Verdy has developed in the past year or two. Verdy also signed Ramon Menezes Hubner, a dependable midfielder and former Brazilian national team cap, from Vasco da Gama, to provide a bit of veteran leadership at midfield. A deal for Vissel Kobe midfielder Takeshi Hirano may have similar objectives, though chances are that Kobe were simply dangling Hirano on the market at a low price, and Verdy decided he was worth the money.

One significant loss that Verdy has not yet replaced is veteran defender Naoki Soma, who returned to the Antlers at the end of his rental contract. Although Verdy used him as a central defender rather than at his usual position, on the left side, he was one of Verdy's few solid, experienced backs last season. The team has plenty of punch and youthful energy, but defence may be Verdy's achilles heel in 2003. Keeper Daijiro Takakuwa, who performed well in the first stage before being injured, is also being released at the end of his rental contract. However, young Yoshinari Takaki demonstrated in the latter half of the season that he can handle the job just fine on his own.

Verdy also released all players who still had links to Verdy's "golden years", including Tsuyoshi Kitazawa, Toshimi Kikuchi and Hideki Nagai. Clearly, the team is planning to go with youngsters, as is demonstrated by their full-court-press effort to extend Hayuma Tanaka's loan contract by another year. The young wing back from Yokohama Marinos was extremely valuable to Verdy last season, and he can only get better as he matures.

FC Tokyo has been struggling to move above the middle of the table on the strength of performances from younger, developing players like Mitsuhiro Toda, Masashi Miyazawa and, most importantly, right wing Naohiro Ishikawa. The biggest deal of the offseason for Tokyo actually has no impact on the roster -- it was the effort to convince the Yokohama Marinos to extend Ishikawa's rental agreement for another year. The U-21 star fits in well with his Tokyo teammates, and has established himself as one of Tokyo's main offensive weapons. Defender Teruaki Moniwa was another player who was acquired on rental in 2002 and emerged in 2002 as a potential star, though his former team, Shonan Bellmare, has little bargaining leverage, and they agreed to a full transfer at the end of last season.

So far, Tokyo has not made any significant moves in the offseason apart from signing two more talented youngsters from Ryutsu Keizai University (both strikers). This is a bit surprising, since Tokyo has plenty of cash, as well as room for another foreign player on their roster. It may just be that the team is still in negotiations, and does not want to leak the information just yet. Nevertheless, Tokyo bears close watching over the next week or two. The team did release some borderline players like Takahiro Shimotaira (who returned to Reysol) and Yukihiko Sato (who has been rented to Yokohama). Apart from that, the only news has been the return of Shinya Sakoi, from the Yokohama Marinos, and Kazuyoshi Suwazono, from JFL club Okinawa Kariyu, both of whom spent 2002 on one-year loan contracts.

Yokohama Marinos fans have to be the most disappointed group in the J.League, this year, after a big publicity buildup and lots of empty promises were showered across the bay city in early January, only to evaporate like insubstantial rainbows by the end of the month. At the end of last year, the team hired former Consadole Sapporo and Japan National Team coach Takeshi Okada, charging him with the task of building a true contender. Okada made it clear that he wanted to hire some talented players to shore up the team's scoring capacity, and the names that began floating around town made it seem like the Marinos were on track to be a top contender in 2003. Yokohama claimed to be in "intense negotiations" with striker Francisco Delgado from Boca Juniors, Brasilian national team defender Cafu, and another Brazilian with national team experience, Luizao. Three weeks later, as the team prepares to raise the curtain for its new player introduction ceremony, the only people standing backstage are the human question mark, Tatsuhiko Kubo, and three cast-off veterans -- Yukihiko Sato (you must be kidding), Tomonobu Hayakawa (surely you jest!) and Ruyji Kawai (Yuko! wheres the bottle of extra-strength Tylenol!!).

As if to provide yet another slap in the face for their long-suffering fans, the Marinos did not even opt to reclaim some of the most talented youngsters that had been loaned to other teams in 2002. The team decided to renew the loan contracts of Naohiro Ishikawa (to FC Tokyo) and Hayuma Tanaka (to Tokyo Verdy) either one of whom could probably win a three-on-one match against Sato, Hayakawa and Kawai -- even on a bad day. The team also extended rental agreements involving Masahiro Kazuma (Vegalta Sendai) and Tomokazu Hirama (Consadole Sapporo).

Meanwhile, the Marinos decided to lock in autistic midfielder Daisuke Oku permanently, with a full transfer (he was on loan from Iwata last season). The only real player of any value in "acquisitions" side of the ledger is Kubo, formerly of Sanfrecce Hiroshima. A speedy striker with one of the most powerful boots in the league, Kubo's main weakness has been his quirky character, which sometimes makes it difficult for him to work effectively with teammates. In Hiroshima, teammates openly referred to him as "the space alien". Though he clearly has individual skills, his coordination (or lack thereof) with the team forced former NT coach Phillippe Troussier to drop him as a candidate for the World Cup squad. It is an open question whether Kubo will be able to fit into what s already a mentally fragile Marinos team. Clearly the team wants to put together a more potent attack than they had last year, but one has to question the wisdom of adding another psychiatric patient to an offence that already seems mentally unstable. Okada has shown himself to be a near genius at getting the maximum value from his players, but it would be a huge understatement to say that he has his work cut out for him in 2003.

In 2002, S-Pulse started the season as one of the favourites to finish high in the league table, or perhaps even win a league championship at long last. But as happens so often with star-studded groupings, S-Pulse turned out to be another "Blind Faith" -- or at best, a football version of "ASIA". There were simply too many large egos to fit onto a single football field. The team seems to be almost obsessed in its efforts to address the problem, but so far, there is little indication that S-Pulse know what step to take next. One positive step that was taken towards the end of last season was the replacement of former coach Zemunovic with Takeshi Oki, who spend 2002 as coach of Ventforet Kofu. Oki did a good job with a rather limited supply of talent in Kofu. It remains to be seen whether he can make the step up to the top level, but he certainly will be an improvement over his predecessor. Zemunovic probably does not deserve the blame for his team's problems, but the simple fact was that most players hated him, and this dissension was like an open wound affecting team morale. With Oki in the coaching chair, the team has a chance to try to put the internal bickering behind them.

Unfortunately, S-Pulse's other personnel moves in the offseason do not really address the team's problems, which have more to do with team chemistry than talent. The team dropped Srdan Pecelj, who contributed nothing in 2002, released teen sensation Juninho to Ventforet Kofu on a full transfer, and traded Marcelo "Baron" Polancyk to Cerezo Osaka. The first of these moves was a no-brainer, the second a bit questionable, though it may have been viewed as a "trade" in return for the services of both coach Oki and midfielder Kazumi Tsurumi, who will play for S-Pulse in 2003 on a one-year loan. The release of Baron seemed rather foolish, at first. Though Baron was relatively unproductive at Shimizu, he was a league scoring leader with JEF United, and his problems at S-Pulse seemed to be more a reflection of poor service from midfield than any problem with his finishing. However, S-Puse used the open spot on their roster to sign Livonir "Tuto" Ruschel, who was recently released by Urawa Reds. Tuto may be a step up from Baron. Although he had a bit of difficulty finding the net at Urawa, last season, he has a lot more movement and speed than Baron, and is a more multi-dimensional player. The only question is whether he will exacerbate the clash of egos, since Tuto has displayed difficulties in accepting a "supporting player" role, in the past. The last of the "gaijin" slots at S-Pulse will be filled by Emerson da Silva, a reliable Brazilian defender from Vitoria, who will add both size and experience to the central defence.

To fill out the front line even more, S-Pulse signed Hideaki Kitajima, a striker from Kashiwa Reysol who had a brief run of success in 1999 and 2000, only to succumb to "Shoji Jo disease" over the past two seasons, and lose his scoring touch completely. It is hard to see what Kitajima can add at S-Pulse, though chances are he will not see much playing time anyway. This seems like a poor player decision, but at least it is not a catastrophic one. S-Pulse got one big break in the off-season which will mitigate the impact of the Kitajima deal. Though he originally intended to stay in Japan for just six months, Korean ace Ahn Jung-Hwan decided to extend his contract at S-Pulse through June, when he failed to attract a sufficiently lucrative offer from Europe. Ahn and his management company agreed that the transfer market will probably be better this summer, and have agreed to sign with Shimizu for six more months.

Moving to the list of domestic players, there is a strong likelihood that Kazuyuki Toda will be signing with Sunderland soon. The strong-armed volante with the "flavour of the week" hairstyle has beenb taking part in training sessions with Sunderland, and seems to have impressed Howard Wilkinson. The club is negotiating with S-Pulse at this moment, and a deal may be announced within the next week. Furthermore, there is no guarantee that Alex Santos, Daisuke Ichikawa or Ryuzo Morioka will be with the team for the full season. Both sought overseas transfers in 2002, and may still be shopping for a club. It looks like all three will be available for the first stage, but depending on conditions at S-Pulse, they may jump ship in June, accompanying Ahn to Europe and leaving S-Pulse badly depleted. The only major domestic signing, apart from Kitajima, was the acquisition of veteran attacking midfielder Naoki Hiraoka from Nagoya Grampus. Though Hiraoka is certainly a quality player, S-Pulse already have one of the most valuable senior-citizen midfielders in the league, in Masaaki Sawanobori. Hiraoka is practically a clone of the S-Pulse captain, and only two years younger (31). Though he may make a useful contribution, particularly if Alex moves to Europe, this is yet another indication that S-Pulse do not have a clear game plan.

Despite their tremendous success in 2002, there are a number of question marks for Jubilo in 2003. Coach Masakazu Suzuki retired at the end of the season, choosing to go out while he was on top, and his spot will probably be filled by assistant coach Masaaki Yanagimoto. More importantly, the team's ace striker Takakara signed a three-year contract with Hamburger SV, in the Bundesliga, which will deprive the team of much of its scoring punch. With many other players in their early 30s, the team may have passed its peak for the time being, and it will need to start looking for new blood if they want to remain a top contender. Though Jubilo cannot be written off as a championship contender in 2003, it seems more likely that they will need to enter a restructuring phase following their success in 2002, and it may be a year or two before they are back at the top of the list of contenders.

Of course, a winning organization like Jubilo never loses its way completely. The team made some clever deals to attract top high-school prospects Sho Naruoka and Kentaro Oi, both members of the U-19 national team, to Iwata in 2003. Though it will probably be several years before they can make a major contribution, both players have obvious talent, and are a first step in the team's effort to bring in young blood. There are some other young players who have started to show signs of filling the shoes of Takahara and Nakayama, such as Ryoichi Maeda and Yasumasa Nishino who both put on fine displays at the Toyota U-22 Tournament in Qatar. With young prospects like these, even if Jubilo drops out of the top spot in 2003, they should be back in the chase within a few years.

Oddly enough, two of the most talented young players on the team, Norihiro Nishi and Jo Kanazawa, have been dangled as possible transfer prospects. Though both are clearly talented individuals, Jubilo seems to view both as expendable and has not given them many chances to break in. Nishi signed on for another year, though it is hard to say why. Jubilo have made it clear that they would like to sign S-Pulse's Daisuke Ichikawa, who plays the same position. Like Rodney Dangerfield, Nishi just dont get no respect. No respect at all . . . Meanwhile, veteran Go Oiwa was traded away to Kashima Antlers after Jubilo decided that he is expendable. He saw little action in 2002, but if either Makoto Tanaka or Hideto Suzuki gets injured this season, it could be a decision that they come to regret.

With the loss of Takahara and the continued aging of Masashi Nakayama, Jubilo definitiely need help up front. Though the youngsters mentioned above are all excellent prospects, it is highly unlikely that any of them will be ready to take over the scoring duties of Takahara, for at least another year or so. Jubilo may still spring for a top striker -- perhaps Ulsan Hyundai's Kim Do-Kuen, who has been mentioned as a possible acquisition -- but for the time being they look rather thin at this position.

Nagoya Grampus had another disappointing year in 2002, and towards the end of the season there were signs that coach Zdenko Verdenik was beginning to give up on hopes of winning a title with the "old guard" of skilled but underperforming veterans, and was starting to blood his rookies as the first step towards rebuilding the team. At the end of the day, one has to describe the team's prospects for 2003 as "a mystery", just as has been the case throughout the team's existence, but at least there are signs that the team has found a "direction". Grampus have some excellent youth players, and they acquired several more inthe offseason. Though 2003 will probably be a rebuilding year, the team seems to be committing itself to the younger generation

Perhaps the best indication that Grampus are giving up on the veterans and going with their youngsters was the decision to trade away defensive midfielder Motohiro Yamaguchi, a former national team player and the captain of the defunct Yokohama Flugels, on a full transfer to Albirex Niigata. Yamaguchi may have been moving towards the twilight of his career, but he still made a solid contribution in 2002. Having said that, Yamaguchi was a lingering symbol of past failures, and for a team that is trying to bring in more youth, he may have been something of an obstacle to progress. Two other veterans were also dropped: midfielder Naoki Hiraoka, who was traded to Shimizu S-Pulse, and striker Yasuyuki Moriyama, who will be loaned to Consadole Sapporo for one year.

Nagoya is bringing in a large crop of promising rookies, as they did last season, and this is probably the team's strongest hope for the future. Rookies like Ryuta Hara and Kei Yamaguchi distinguished themselves in 2002, especially towards the end of the season, while others like Taku Harada and Atsushi Katagiri saw less playing time, but nevertheless are viewed as promising future stars. This season the team adds Numazu Gakuen H.S. midfielder Keiji Watanabe Aoyama Gakuen U. midfielder Koji Kitamura, as well as a few Grampus Youth players who are being elevated to the "varsity" team.

Grampus apparently are not giving up entirely on the hope to be competitive in 2003. They added two players who will be able to make a contribution right away, though neither one is "star" material. The first is former Sanfrecce Hiroshima midfielder Chikara Fujimoto, who was released by Hiroshima at the end of last season. Fujimoto has some good moves, and is a proven finisher, but he does not really have the vision or creativity to orchestrate an offence. Another move that has been confirmed involves defender Yukichiro Kaimoto, the younger brother of Nagoya defender Keiji Kaimoto, who enjoyed solid success last year as a starter for Songnam, in the K.League. Although these moves may help somewhat, it still seems that Nagoya is a few players short of what is needed to make the team a legitimate contender in 2003. Barring any further acquisitions, it looks like the team plans to concentrate on developing their talented youngsters, with an eye towards future glories.

Purple Sanga achieved remarkable results in 2002, finishing fifth in the league over the entire season, and capping its year with a victory in the Emperor's Cup final. Unfortunately, Gert Engels will need to do some repair work if he hopes to prepare the team to repeat this success in 2003. The biggest blow to the team will be the loss of Park Ji-Sung to PSV Eindhoven. Although this has been widely expected ever since Park distinguished himself at the 2002 World Cup, it is nevertheless difficult to replace such an integral player. Unfortunately, this is not the greatest of Kyoto's concerns. The team may also to lose the services of midfielder Shingo Suzuki, who provided much of the direction to Kyoto's attack in 2002. Suzuki was in Kyoto on a one-year loan from Albirex Niigata, and given his performance in 2002, several other teams are bidding for his services. That is, assuming that Niigata does not opt to bring Suzuki back home, to help the team in its bid for promotion next year. There have been some rumours to suggest that Kyoto will convince Albirex to extend the loan, but Kyoto probably do not have deep enough pockets to purchase a player of his quality on a full transfer

Kyoto did manage to retain two other key players who were at the club on loan contracts in 2002. Midfielder Atsushi Mio has been signed on a full transfer, from Ventforet Kofu, and Shohei Yamamoto's rental from Mito Hollyhock has been extended by one year. Kyoto are hoping to extend the contract of Daisuke Nakaharai, as well. The team also landed a player who is a good prospect for the future -- Daigo Watanabe of Kunimi High School. Kyoto continues to attract useful young players, and Engels has proven himself a master at getting the maximum contribution from his squad. The question is whether Purple Sanga have enough cash to lure another player of Park's ability to the team. There have been some rumours involving other Korean players, but nothing definite has been announced. The Purple Sanga have several spots open in their roster, for either domestic or foreign players, but once again, the weak finances of the club are a major stumbling block in the team's efforts to join the ranks of the top contenders.

Gamba Osaka turned in a reasonably good performance in 2002, suggesting that they are just a few players short of being a champion. Though they have yet to win a title of any kind, they have fallen just short on several occasions, and the continued influx of talented youngsters from their excellent youth programme allows the team to get better every year. Thus, it is no surprise that the team limited itself to some fine-tuning in the off-season. The only major changes involve foreign players, and in this category it looks like Gamba have made a step up.

Last season, Cerezo brought in Brazilian midfield general Marcelinho Carioca, midfielder Fabinho and striker Magrao. All three made a contribution to the team's third-place finish over the course of the 2002 season, but Magrao was the real star, distinguishing himself as the team's designated poacher. Gamba decided to release both Marcelinho and Fabinho at the end of the season, but the two players that they have signed as replacements should earn them a spot as one of the leading contenders in 2003. The biggest deal was the signing of Paraguayan defender Francisco Arce, who has been one of his national team's most valuable players in the past two World Cups. Arce was signed to a full transfer deal from Palmeiras, which is quite a coup for Gamba. A defender of Arce's abilities, at just 31 years of age, probably has several years left in the tank. Though Gamba have a relatively good defensive unit already, there have been rumours that national team defencer Tsuneyasu Miyamoto may leave in June. The acquisition of Arce would negate any impact from the loss of Miyamoto, and he will definitely add backbone to the Gamba defence from day one. A second acquisition that strengthen's Gamba's chances in 2003 is Marco Aurelio Galeano, a 30-year-old midfielder from Botafogo. Galeano may lack the "Carioca flair" of Marcelinho, but he is a dependable midfielder with a powerful boot, who took the free kicks and PKs for Botafogo.

The team added two other players who, while not of the same star calibre, may make some positive contributions this season. Both defender Toru Irie and Motohiro Yoshida were signed on full transfers from Kashiwa Reysol (the former played at Kobe last season, on a one-year loan). Irie seems to have been picked up as an insurance policy in case Miyamoto leaves at mid-season. Since another defender, Hiroshige Yanagimoto, has been traded to Cerezo Osaka, Gamba might find themselves a bit thin at the position later in the year.

Though Gamba are not a particularly rich club, they continue to draw a great deal of new talent from the youth system. Five rookies have been added to the squad this season. On the whole, the team has made itself stronger in the off-season, particularly through the addition of Arce. It is still too soon to say whether this will be enough to earn the team their first piece of silverware, but they definitely are viewed as a more serious contender than ever before.

Cerezo Osaka regrouped quickly following their relegation in 2002, bouncing back to the top-flight division in just one season.

Although the team managed to keep most of its top personnel on the roster despite falling to the J2 last year, Cerezo is nevertheless following the usual path of a recently promoted team, bolstering its roster with the addition of several journeyman veterans while shedding a large number of players who are not viewed as solid enough to play in the top division. Five players have been added through acquisition from the second-string rosters of other J1 clubs. These include former Shimizu S-Pulse defender Takuma Koga and Gamba Osaka's Hiroshige Yanagimoto, who should bolster the team's shaky back line. Midfielder Yusuke Sato, who provided much of the offence for Montedio Yamagata last year, and Yokohama FC veteran Yuji Hironaga have been brought in to replace two valuable midfielders whose rental contracts could not be renewed. Probably these two will not be able to fully replace Yuichi Nemoto and Hisato Sato, who are both headed for Vegalta Sendai this season, but they should at least add some depth and experience.

Cerezo's most important moves to improve over last year involve foreign players. The team signed Marcelo "Baron" Polanczyk, formerly of Shimizu S-Pulse, a tall striker who led the J.League in scoring when he was with JEF United, but was rather ineffective at Shimizu. It is hard to say whether Baron's problems were due to a drop in his own performance level, or the result of poor chemistry in Shimizu. But whatever the case may be, the "Pink Baron" will certainly be an improvement over strikers Turkovic and Akinori Nishizawa, who were both pitiful performers in 2002. Cerezo also signed young Albin Pelak, a 21-year old midfielder who showed good promise as a member of the Bosnia-Hercegovinia national team at age 20 but is still a relatively unknown quantity. Though the team is not likely to be a leading contender, they should have enough talent in the team to maintain their spot in the top-flight division this season.

Despite laying out a lot of money to pack their roster with has-beens in 2002, Vissel struggled for yet another season, and eventually had to admit that most of the players on their roster were washed up. The team is setting out to rebuild in 2003, though with coach Hiroshi Soejima (who led Cerezo to relegation in 2001) in charge, it is hard to have a great deal of optimism. Kobe has ditched some of the dead weight from last season, though recend reports suggest that Kazu Miura may have talked his way into another one-year contract. The team did, however, hang on to players like Ryuji Bando and Masayuki Okano, who delivered at least some positive results last season. Kobe will also keep its three Brazilians, Sidiclei, Oseas and Harison, giving the team at least some base on which to build. they also added Korean midfielder, Park Kun-Ha. Nevertheless, Kobe have a lot of work to do if they hope to rebuild the team into a cohesive and competitive unit.

Apart from the "acquisitions" that merely allow the team to hold onto players from last season, Kobe added just one major player -- defender Ryuji Michiki from Urawa Reds. Michiki appeared for the national team on occasion, several years ago, and will add some experience to the back line. However, this alone is not going to move Vissel out of the lower half of the table. Most likely, the team will need another year or two to rebuild, assuming they manage to avoid relegation for that long.

Oita Trinita is working hard to position itself to stay up in the J1 during the 2003 season. However, this will not be an easy task. Oita have a proven scoring threat in the form of Andradinha, a striker who has been one of the J2 scoring leaders both with Oita in 2002, and with Albirex Niigata, the previous two years. There are several experienced players in the squad who have been picked up from other clubs, such as keeper Hayato Okanaka and defender Tomohiro Katanosaka. However, the team needs to add a few more quality players in order to be competitive

One big addition involves the acquisition of striker Will, who was dropped by the Yokohama Marinos last season for disciplinary reasons, but who has demonstrated the capacity to be a scoring dynamo under the proper circumstances (as at Consadole Sapporo in 2001). It will be very interesting to see if he can recover his past form. If so, he and Andradinha could provide a potent scoring combination.

There are rumours that Oita may pick up some of the discards from other clubs, expressing interest in Shoji Jo, Tsuyoshi Kitazawa and Hideki Nagai, among others. Hopefully they will manage to avoid this temptation. The team has some quality players, particularly youngsters, and they do not need to imitate the mistakes of clubs like Tokyo Verdy 2001 or Vissel Kobe 2002. Oita may struggle to stay up this season, but they should play a fairly exciting and entertaining style, assuming they go with the roster they have in place right now.

Rumours and Rumblings

Rabid Rooster Wants to be a Black Cat

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