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August 8, 2004

More Midseason Moves

In our view, Niigata's biggest problem in the first stage seemed to be defence, but based on their off-season moves, the coaching staff disagrees with that assessment. Theteam released Anderson, a Brazilian veteran who provided what little stability there was in Niigata's back line. In his place, the team signed former Brazil NT striker Oseas, who played previously for Vissel Kobe but was released at theend of the 2003 season. In addition, Albirex picked up a youngster who played at striker for the Brazilian U-20 squad, named Roberto.

To replace Anderson in defence, Albirex acquired Naoto Matsuo on a one-year rental from Vissel Kobe. Matsuo demonstraqted some good defensive instincts at Vissel, but was unable to win much playing time in a back line that features veteran Yukio Tsuchiya as well as up-and-coming stars Kunie Kitamoto and Shunsuke Tsubouchi. Though we think that Niigata's defence will remain a weak point, the addition of Matsuo should at least help fill some of the gaps. One other acquisition, announced right at the end of the first stage, brings midfielder Tomokazu Hirama from Consadole Sapporo. Hirama was one of the few effective players on Consadole, earlier in the season, and this loss could mean that Consadole's already pathetic won-loss record will become even worse. However, Hirama certainly deserves a better fate than to languish at Consadole, and he could see some action in midfield, off the bench, for Niigata.

The only other changes for Albirex involve the transfer of reserves to either J2 clubs, or the team's Singapore League squad (Albirex Niigata are a member of the Singapore League, and the Singapore "Albirex Niigata" squad is composed mainly of promising youngsters who the coaches want to develop by giving them more exposure to competitive match conditions. However, a few veterans are also assigned to the squad to provide the backbone of the team). Striker Hiroshi Morita was sent to Omiya Ardija on a six-month loan contract, while midfielder Katsuyuki Miyazawa is on a similar loan to Montedio Yamagata. Meanwhile, two youngsters -- defender Yuki Sakai and Akihiro Kurihara (both 19 years of age) -- have been transferred to Singapore.

The first change announced was actually not an acquisition, but simply the expiration of Takayuki Suzuki's rental contract to Heusden-Zolder, in Belgium. Suzuki's contract was not renewed by the Belgian club, and he formally returned to the Antlers roster on July 1. Suzuki has never been a great finisher, and some may feel that his addition to the lineup will not make that much difference. However, when the standard for comparison is the goalless wonder, Tomoyuki Hirase, even Suzuki's meagre finishing skills will be an improvement. More importantly, Suzuki is an excellent post player with tremendous strength and ability to hold the ball against pressure. These skills were never utilised effectively by his teams in Begium, but the Antlers -- with their busy and technically brilliant midfield, can probably employ the skills that Suzuki does possess as an efective way of making the team as a whole more dangerous.

This will particularly be true if the Antlers second acquisition, Marcelo Baron Polanczyk, can demonstrate the finishing finesse that he displayed over a 75-goal J.League career. Baron had a sluggish season at Cerezo Osaka in 2003, and was dropped by the club, only to turn up at Ventforet Kofu, the team that first brought him to Japan in 1997. Though his weak numbers at Cerezo led many to conclude that Baron was "washed up", at age 30, he seemed to revive his career this season, and his fine finishing helped Ventforet climb towards the top of the J2 table. As they showed in the first stage, the Antlers have a wealth of creativity in midfield, and only lack a person who can put the ball in the net. Though he may be slightly past his prime, Baron will surely be an improvement on either Hirase or Fabio Junior, who was dropped in the middle of the season without ever having scored a J.League goal.

With Suzuki and Baron joining the squad, Hirase became superfluous (well . . . he was superfluous even BEFORE the other two joined the club, but that is another story . . . ), Therefore, it was no surprise when the Antlers announced this week that he has been sold to Vissel Kobe on a full transfer. Some will consider this another example of the Crimson Group buying merchandise that has far greater "name value" than performance value, but when you think about it, Hirase cant do any worse than Kazu Miura, so perhaps he deal will be good for all parties concerned. In any event, the Antlers have definitely traded up, and it will be intersting to see if their scoring improves enough to make them a contender in the second stage.

The only other change in the off-season was a deal that sent veteran midfielder Koji Kumagai to Vegalta Sendai. Kumagai is a quality player -- not spectacular, but someone who can make a steady contribution every week. However, the Antlers are so deep in midfield that Kumagai saw little action, even when the top 3-4 Antlers midfielders were out injured. The move to Vegalta will probably give him the regular playing time which he deserves, and it could be a beneficial acquisition for Vegalta.

In addition to the coaching changes, Cerezo has brought in new foreign players, following the departure of striker Kruno Lovrek and defender Davorim Kablar. One addition will be Mario Garba, a Croatian midfielder who showed promise in the U-21 squad, though his subsequent performances in the Croatian league raise a few questions about his dependability. In addition, the team acquired a 19-year-old Serbian striker named Miki, who played at Incheon United (Korea) for the first half of this season. We have not been able to find much data on the youngster, though he did play for Yugoslavia's U-18 squad in the past.

The only other change that Grampus made was to transfer reserve midfielder Kunihiko Takizawa to Vissel Kobe, on a six-month loan.

The only other roster changes that the Reds made over the summer involved six-month loan agreements that will send reserves Takuya Mikami and Takuro Nishimura to Kyoto Purple Sanga and Omiya Ardija, respectively.

Unfortunately, the move may have come a few months too late to rescue the team's relationship with Brazilian midfielder Dudu. The U-20 star returned to Brazil in June indicating that he did not want to come back to Japan. Considering how badly he was misused under coach Ikeya, his attitute is not surprising. However, he is still under contract to Reysol, and one certainly hopes that the team can convince him to come back and give it another try.

The one major acquisition that Reysol made over the summer was to pick up defender Yasuhiro Hato, a wing back who figured briefly in the full national team, under Troussier, from Yokohama Marinos. Hato could provide a useful dimension of speed on the wing, for Reysol, and he will also bring useful experience, as one of the few veterans on a very young squad. Other than that, Reysol's only move was to send reserve defender Kensuke Nebiki to Vegalta Sendai, on a one-year rental contract.

The most important change for Sanfrecce was the result of Cesar Sampaio's retirement. The veteran midfielder was slowing down significantly, this season, and his main contributions to the team were along the lines of organisation, experience, and the example he set for the younger players. Joubert Araujo Martins (Beto), another veteran midfielder who was acquired from Vasco da Gama, will have a hard time filling Sampaio's shoes in terms of leadership, but based on his performance during a breif spell at Consadole Sapporo, in 2003, he may be just as effective in terms of his actual contributions on the pitch.

Sanfrecce also jugled a few rental contracts in an effort to improve their chances in the second stage. Aging veteran Yasuo Manaka was transferred on rental to Yokohama FC, at the end of June, and the rental contract for defender Yusuke Igawa expired in July. These two positions in the roster will be taken by two other players acquired on rental contracts -- goalkeeper Hideaki Ueno, from Kyoto Purple Sanga, and striker Kohei Morita, from Omiya Ardija.

S-Pulse will be reclaiming one "big-name" player for the second stage, as Kazuyuki Toda rejoins the club after his rental contract to ADO Den Haag expired. However, it is anyone's guess whether the return of flamboyant defensive midfielder will be a positive or a negative for S-Pulse. Toda has a certain amount of talent, and he is definitely a hard-working and physically imposing player. However, he is also a loose cannon who generated a lot of angst in the clubhouse during his previous stint with Shimizu. The team has not made any other roster changes, so it is a safe bet that they will not be in the ranks of contenders during the second stage. If Toda can make a positive contribution, and keep his temper in check both on the field and in the clubhouse, they could finish in the upper half of the table, but it is equally likely that the harmony and hard work ethic that Antoninho instilled in the team during the first stage will erode and S-Pulse will return to their disorganised and dissolute ways. This is a team badly in need of a major management shakeup. Failing that, they are unlikely to do any better than they did in the first stage.

Verdy's most high-profile player, at the moment, is 16-year-old striker Takayuki Morimoto. During the summer, two more young strikers joined him in what could become the youngest front line in the league. Another teenager, Tomoki Ikemoto, has been playing for the youth team of River Plate on a temporary arrangement that was set up with the help of Ardilles. Though he has not signed a contract with Verdy, yet, the youngster did take part in practice sessions over the summer, and it will probably be up to Ardilles to decide whether to offer him a contract with Verdy, or let him get a bit more experience at RIver Plate.

Meanwhile, Patrick Mboma retired from the squad after an injury-plagued first stage. His spot on the roster may be taken by an teenage Egyptian named Ali Elsamuni, who also happens to play as a striker. If all falls into place, the day could come when Verdy fields a team with three forwards, all of whom are under the age of 19! So far Elsamuni has not been signed to a formal contract, but sources close to the club suggest that this may just be a matter of days away.

The Crimson Group's first big effort to jump-start Vissel is now little more than an embarassing footnote in J.League history. After basically going AWOL from the club, in June, Turkish striker Ilhan Mansiz returned to Germany and immediately hired a lawyer to help him get out of his contract with Vissel. This week, the team finally gave up on getting him back, and although they will surely demand some sort of compensation before giving him legal approval to sign with any other team, they officially wrote off the signing as a loss on Friday, but removing his name from the list of registered players.

Ilhan's place on the roster will be taken by a Czech international midfielder, Horvith, who may not be as well-known, but who couldnt possibly be as big a disappointment. Since coach Ivan Hasek recommended the move, at least we can assume that the new player will not feud with his own coach. Unfortunately, though, not all of the team's moves have been as promising. In fact, many of them look like acts of desperation. For example, the team has been talking very loudly about their plans to sign Shinji Ono's younger brother, Masaaki. However, while the younger Ono has indeed practiced with the team a few times, he currently has a contract with the German club Saarbrucken (where he plays on the youth team). Given the high demand for Japanese players in Europe, it is unlikely that a club would simply release a young and promising player without asking a significant transfer fee. But should Vissel pay top dollar for a teenager who has never played in a professional match, and whose only claim to fame is having a brother on the national team?

Similarly, the announcement by Vissel Kobe that they had signed "former national team striker" Tomoyuki Hirase from Kashima Antlers could only be interpreted as sarcastic overstatement, or unintentional irony -- most likely it would be the latter. If you want to split hairs, it may be true that Hirase was named to the national team once or twice, but the fact is that after his marginally successful performances on the Olympic team, almost five years ago, he has become one of the most disappointing players in the entire league. The best way to appreciate Hirase's value as a striker is to look at the Kashima Antlers fan message boards, which overflowed with rejoicing and congratulatory accolades when the team formally announced that they had traded Hirase away permanently, on a full transfer rather than a loan.

Vissel's other acquisitions appear more encouraging, at least by comparison with the Hirase deal. Kobe have piocked up midfielder Kunihiko Takizawa on a rental contract from Nagoya Grampus, and Kazumishi Takaki on a similar loan from Shimizu S-Pulse. Both players have shown some talent, but they certainly are not going to make a major impact on Vissel's competitiveness. Furthermore, the acquisition of Takizawa on loan was really just a replacement move, since the timing coincided with the expiration of a one-year rental that brought Tomohiro Wanami from Consadole Sapporo. Wanami is probably a match for Takizawa in terms of quality, so the net change is virtually nil. Finally, Kobe sent a player of their own away on rental -- defender Naoto Matsuo, who will join Albirex Niigata. Although Matsuo was not seeing much action, due to the depth of Vissel's back line, he was a quality player, and his loss can only be viewed as a negative. Overall, Kobe do not appear any more competitive than they were at the end of the first stage. Hopefully the decision to close the book on Ilhan will do positive things for morale, but judging from their roster, the best this team can hope for in the second stage is a mid-table finish.

Rumours and Rumblings

Reds Hit by Lighning; No ManU Match

Manchester United must have received a great deal of angry complaints, since they performed a dramatic somersault between the evening of August 6 and the morning of August 7. Following the cancellation, the team failed to even send representatives out onto the pitch to greet the crowd and ask for their understanding, and there was even considerable hesitation about refunding ticket prices. But by early the next morning, the press representatives for the club were in full damage-control mode, expressing their regrets to "the wonderful fans who travelled so far to see this match". The dour club reps who were reluctant to even discuss refunds, on the previous night, were replaced by effusive spokespersons waxing eloquent abou how they intend to make things up to the Reds fans. Mancheser United intends to provide free admission to a regular ManU match for 50 selected Reds fans (from among those who paid admission to this event), and have promised to schedule a tour of Japan at the end of the year. All those who can prove that they paid admission to the Vodaphone Cup will receive special treatment, including free admission to the Reds-ManU contest and some sort of promotional packet of goodies.

Though the belated nature of the response created an unfortunate and negative first impression, The Rising Sun News commends the club for getting things right in the end. Manchester United have a strong following in Japan, and particularly among Urawa Reds supporters (who not surprisingly have a rabid infatuation with anything "red'), but the apparent snub of the Reds fans on Thursday night might have had a very negative impact on the club's profile in Japan. It is good to see that the organisers of the Vodaphone Cup and the club officials eventually recognised that the fans are the ones who pay their salaries. The plans announced by Manchester United will go a long way to soothing the disappointment of people who were looking forward to seeing the two teams clash.