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January 19, 2004
A Million Thanks

At the beginning of the year, when we started doing our regular "New Year's maintenance" on the site, we took a look at the visitor numbers and guessed that we would probably pass the one million mark around the end of January. But a surge of interest from France and Spain, in particular (no doubt from people trying to get more information on Yoshito Okubo and Koji Nakata) produced a spike in traffic turing the second week of January, and allowed us to pass the milestone earlier than expected. We hope that you will continue to support The Rising Sun News, for at least another million visits.

Reshuffling the Deck for 2005

Tht does not give us much time to study the new rosters and consider the probable impact of each personnel move. This week, we will try to get a head start, by summarizing all of the trades, transfers and transactions (as well as a few key rumours) for each of the 18 first division (J1) teams.

The increase in transfer activity is not just your imagination. There has clearly been a trend towards more off-season exchanges of personnel. Proof of that is easy to obtain. A complete list of the roster moves conducted by Albirex Niigata alone would take up nearly an entire page. Of course, much of that activity involves the exchange of players between Albirex itself and the team's "foreign legion", Albirex Niigata Singapore, which tames part in the Singapore league. For the sake of simplicity, we will not include these in our discussion, but even then, there is a great deal to discuss.

The biggest headlines in Niigata involve the acquisition of several journeymen players intended to add some depth to the team while also shifting to a slightly younger age group. Atop the list is veteran defender / defensive midfielder Keiji Kaimoto, who lost his regular playing spot at Nagoya Grampus to his own younger brother, but who still should be able to contribute something to the defence of an inexperienced team like Albirex. A very similar acquisition involves Shigenori Hagimura, a long-time starter at Kashiwa Reysol who was edged out as that team adopted a younger lineup , and spent last season in the J2 with Kyoto Purple Sanga.

One other player who may contributte on defence is Daisuke Fujii, a member of the U-18 national team and yet another product of Sanfrecce Hiroshima's amazing youth programme. Fujii has been named as a new member of the team, according to an Albirex press release, but it is not yet clear whether he will be on a rental transfer from Sanfrecce, or whether Albirex has acquired him outright. Another former Sanfrecce player definitely will be joining Albirex, as the team upgraded veteran Hiroyoshi Kuwabara's rental contract from last year to a full transfer. Finally, Albirex picked up striker Kosei Nakamura, who had a breakthrough season last year at Montedio Yamagata after several years in the reserves at Kashima Antlers.

To make room for these players, Albirex has released a number of veterans who will probably catch on at some other J.League club eventually, though at the moment, their next destination is uncertain. The list includes former U-23 national team defender Tadahiro Akiba (yet another member of the "lost generation" from the Atlanta Olympics), journeymen midfielders Toshiyuki Abe, Keisuke Kurihara and Tomokazu Hirama. Defender Naoto Matsuyo, acquired on a rental contract from Vissel Kobe, will return to Kobe next season, and the rental contract that sent Hiroshi Morita to Omiya, in the middle of the season last year, has been extended for another year.

Probably the biggest loss, however, will be North Korean international defender An Yeon-Ha (a Japanese-born Korean), who made quite an impression in the latter half of the 2004 season. It appears that the impression was a bit TOO strong, prompting a bid from Nagoya Grampus that Albirex just could not refuse. Another foreign player who will be departing is veteran striker Oseas, though it is unlikely that he will be missed. Albirex also released Roger, a young Brazilian who saw only occasional action in 2004.

The newcomers to the J1 will have their work cut out for them in 2005. Unlike Kawasaki Frontale, who have been in the J1 before, Omiya has neither an aggressive team management nor a source of funds for acquiring new players. The team has managed to make a few acquisitions that will probably be useful to Ardija, but the players involved were probably being actively marketed by their own clubs, who do not appear to need their services next year.

Defender Kazuyoshi Mikami saw very little action at Oita Trinita last year, and probably opted for a move to Omiya in order to be closer to home when the axe eventually falls (a local Saitama boy, Mikami has bounced around to six teams, and seen only minimal action, early in his career at Vissel Kobe). Ardija will probably get a much greater contribution from Naoto Sakurai, a very useful number two striker who has good dribbling moves and set-up skills but who found himself superfluous at Tokyo Verdy, who now have more strikers than they know what do do with. Thiswill probably be the key acquisition for Omiya this year, and the team's hopes could rise or fall depending on how well Sakurai performs.

Another acquisition that could work out favourably for Omiya, but which probably cost them a pittance, involves midfielder Chikara Fujimoto. Described in the Ardija press release as "former national team midfielder", Fujimoto did indeed make one appearance as a substitute under Phillippe Troussier, but more recently he has been out of sight, nominally on loan from Nagoya Grampus to Vissel Kobe, but with little prospect of seeing any action. At the end of December, last year, rumours had the Awa native returning home to help out new J2 entrants Vortis Tokushima. However, it appears that Omiya convinced him to give J1 status one more shot. I guess that just goes to show that not EVERY club in the J.League has deeper pockets thatn Ardija. FUjimoto is another player who might turn out to be a great acquisition, or might be a total disappointment. Either way, though, Ardija probably got a bargain.

Finally, Ardija picked up midfielder Yoshika Matsubara, perhaps the most "lost" of all players from the "lost generation". Apart from his inclusion in the 1996 Olympic team, Matsubara has also completed three overseas stints at four clubs, yet seems to have excelled at remaining virtually unknown among all but the most trivia-oriented ov Japanese football fans. In fact, if you ever run into a boorish show-off who thinks they know everything about Japanese football, and want to shut him up for good, ask him to name all the pro clubs that Matsubara has played for in his career. (the answer: Penarol (Paraguay), Jubilo Iwata, Shimizu S-Pulse, Jubilo Iwata, JEF United Ichihara, Jubilo Iwata, Rijeka (Croatia), Delemont (Switzerland), Bellmare Hiratsuka, Progreso (Paraguay), Avispa Fukuoka, Okinawa Kariyushi, FC Shizuoka, and now, Omiya Ardija).

Almost all of the other roster actions announced so far have involved cutting players who clearly are not up to the challenge of competition in the J1. This is pretty common for new J1 entrants, and thus comes as no surprise. What IS surprising is that Ardija have done so little to replace the outgoing personnel. Perhaps there will be some more deals announced before the season kicks off. At the moment, though, Ardija look like a squirrel in December with just a handful of nuts.

The Kashima Antlers have not made many changes to their roster, at least as of yet. However, there are sure to be at least a few announcements between now and the start of the season, and the only question is how big those announcements will be. There are a great many rumours surrounding the club, some more reliable than others. So far, however, the only deals that have been confirmed are the transfer of Tomohiko Ikeuchi to his home-town club of Consadole Sapporo, Masashi Otani's move to Albirex Niigata, and the release of Brazilians Marcelo Baron Polanczyck and Fabio Junior (Baron has since been picked up by Vegalta Sendai).

The biggest rumour of all, and a matter which now seems to be in the final stages of negotiation, involves a deal to sell Koji Nakata to Olympique Marseille. The Antlers have already rceived a formal offer from Marseille, and the only question now is whether the conditions can be worked out to everyone's satisfaction. Certainly, the loss of Nakata will be a huge blow to the Antlers, but if you consider that he made only minimal contributions to the team in 2003 and 2004, due to a serious knee injury, the actual impact on team performance probably will not be as great as the psychological impact of losing the team captain.

On the other hand, speculation about the offer from Marseille puts the transfer fee at anywhere from 275 to 400 million yen -- a very large slush fund from which to draw in order to sign new players, particularly from overseas. At the same time that the news of Nakata's negoitations with Marseille emerged, another rumour arose in Italy, suggesting that Alessandro Del Piero would soon be on his way to Kashima. So far we view this as nothing more than a wild rumour. Having said that, if Kashima does sell Nakata, they will have a huge bankroll to use in snapping up veterans from Europe who are not happy with their current clubs (at the moment, this includes such names as Roy Keane, Del Piero and Marcel Desaille, among others

Yuichi Nemoto, whose career with the Antlers has been a question mark for the past several years, may finally be returning to the Kashima fold after several years on loan. Nemoto is clearly a talented player, and his steady appearances in the U-23 national team suggest that he could make a contribution. The only problem is that the Antlers have two existing players -- Tatsuya Ishikawa and Toru Araiba -- who can play the same position. It will be interesting to see what the team does with Nemoto, though the loss of Koji Nakata could open up space for either Araiba or Ishikawa to move into a more central midfield role.

About the only other thing we can say is: watch this space. With two (possibly three) openings for foreign players, and the prospects of a bankroll that even the Urawa Reds would envy, it is impossible to imagine that the team will make no further moves between now and March 5.

Cerezo Osaka was one of the most disappointing teams in the J.League, last season, though if you consider that four different coaches were at the helm at one time or another, during the season, that is not really so surprising. This year, the team should have a much more stable coaching staff, with Shinji Kobayashi remaining at the helm, joined by Hiroshi Okuma and several Cerezo "old boys" like Toshinobu Katsuya and Kazuaki "Robocop" Tasaka. This may not be enough to fully offset the loss of star striker Yoshito Okubo, to Mallorca, but at least it will ensure that the team is not plagued by uncertainty and disarray, as it was last season.

In addition to the loss of Okubo, Cerezo will say goodbye to some other veterans, including defender Kenichi Uemura, who was traded to Tokyo Verdy, and Yuji Hironaga, who announced his retirement after being informed that the team was dropping him from the roster. Another veteran midfielder, Yusuke Sato, will join Shonan Bellmare next season, and Kensaku Omori, who was picked up on loan from Consadole Sapporo last season, is moving on to Tokushima Vortis. None of these players will be badluy missed, since Cereo has been developing a group of younger players like Takuya Kokeguchi and Noriyuki Sakemoto, who have certainly earned a starting spot.

Cerezo has not been as active as some other J1 clubs in picking up new personnel, but they did acquire a few key players who should make important contributions in 2005. Top of the list would have to be Teruaki Kurobe, a tall and powerful striker who briefly won a look in the full national team, but whose decision to remain with Kyoto Purple Sanga after they were relegated to the J2 caused him to drop out of sight almost completely. Kurobe probably will not be able to contribute the intensity and energy that Okubo did, up front, but his greater physical size may actually turn out to be even more useful to Cerezo, who already have a number of aggressive, intense, but comparatively diminutive players in the attacking unit. Another player who could be a useful acquisition is Tetsuya Yamazaki, a defender who made strong contributions for Oita Trinita until last year, but saw less playing time under coach Han Berger, whose fluidstyle of play did not really need a straight-up, static defender like Yamazaki.

The key question this year is going to be what sort of help Cerezo can get from its foreign players. Last year, the tall, lumbering Croatian players that Cerezo signed were badly unsuited to J.League play. This year, the team seems to have adopted a Brazilian focus, and has already signed defender Cuadros, from Cruzeiro. The team is said to be negotiating with Corinthians for another defender and a midfielder. We shall see what comes of these discussions, but one thing is certain: they cannot possibly be any worse than the players they are replacing.

Kawasaki Frontale dominated the J2 so completely last season that most observers feel they could have managed a mid-table finish or better in the J1. Until this impression is proven false, the team has no reason to make any major changes. Therefore, it is no surprise to see that the team is making only minor adjustments as it prepares for its second stint in the top-flight division. Although Frontale have dropped a few borderline players from the roster, they do not have any significant departures from last year's squad. However, they have made some judicious acquisitions which could make the team even more competitive in 2005. First, the team took advantage of Nagoya Grampus' excessive pool of "foreign" players and picked up the young, Japanese-born Korean midfielder Chung Young-Dae on a one-year rental. Chung saw little action in 2004, but his skills certainly merit playing time. Since Grampus opted for a Brazilian contingent of players, this year, Frontale was able to pick him up cheaply, albeit only for a year.

Rental contracts also proved to be a useful arrangement for the Urawa Reds, who want to give their promising young defender Hiroyuki Kobayashi some playing time, but simply do not have room for him in their already star-studded lineup. Similarly, Frontale convinced Tokyo Verdy to farm out Kazunori Iio on a one-year loan. There are several possible ways of reading this move. Iio has played for Frontale in the past, and Verdy may be taking this step in order to give youngsters like Takayuki Morimoto and (if rumours are to be believed) Sota Hiroyama a chance to show what they can do. If this is the proper interpretation, then Verdy may be setting ythe stage for a full transfer, once they have assured themselves that their youngsters are progressing favourably. The other possibility is that this is a straight swap -- Verdy have acquired striker Tadamichi Machida from Frontale on a similar one-year deal. Machida is a taller, post-type player, while Iio is a dribbler and set-up man. Verdy already have plenty of the latter, and Frontale have several of the former, including their two aces, Marcus and Kazuki Ganaha. Perhaps the two teams are trying out a straight swap of Iio for Machida, and will decide after a year whether to make the trade permanent.

In any event, short-term acquisitions may not help Kawasaki build for the long term, but they could be very useful in helping the team establish itself as a regular fixture in the J1.In addition to these rental moves, Frontale acquired Yusuke Mori, a player who began his career at Frontale, from Kyoto Purple Sanga on a full transfer. The list may be short, by comparison, but this merely reflects the fact that Frontale management believes in their current team, and sees no need to make changes to a formula that seems to be working.

Gamba Osaka is another team that has been relatively inactive in the transfer market, this year, though that seems to reflect satisfaction with the current roster. Continuing their history of excellent youth development, the team promoted Yasunobu Matsuoka, a member of the U-17 national team, from the Gamba Youth squad. Apart from that, there have been only two significant acquisitions. after the departure of aging forward Magrao, Gamba decided to pick up another Brazilian striker, and settled on Araujo, who looked reasonably efficient up front for Shimizu S-Pulse, last year. In addition, Gamba acquired former U-20 goalkeeper Yosuke Fujiyaga from Consadole Sapporo, who continue to shed players like a long-haired sheepdog in August. The team's existing second-string keeper, Motohiro Yoshida, received a full transfer to Crezo Osaka, to make room for Fujigaya.

Apart from these two moves, the only significant personnel activities announced so far were the release of defender Masao Kiba, who was later picked up by JEF United Ichihara, and rental agreements involving Daisuke Yano (to Sagan Tosu) and Yusuke Igawa (to Nagoya Grampus, for a second year).

For the second year in a row, Nagoya Grampus has been one of the most active participants in the transfer market. However, there is one very significant difference this year: in 2004, the team oversaw a rapid influx of players from a variety of other teams. This year, almost all of the transactions involve players moving on to other teams. Although Grampus is, in fact, bringing in a number ov promising players, almost all of them are rookies brought in from either the youth team, or signed from high schools and universities.

The list of players leaving Nagoya is too long to do more than summarize. The most prominent losses Are probably veteran defender Keiji Kaimoto and midfielder Chikara Fujimoto -- both former national team players, albeit marginal ones -- and foreign players Jorginho and Chung Yong-Dae. Kaimoto will join Albirex Niigata, Fujimoto is on his way to Omiya Ardija, Jorginho has been traded away to Sanfrecce Hiroshima, and Chung will be on a one-year loan to Kawasaki Frontale. The latter two moves were necessary in order to open up space on the roster for An Yong-Ha, a Japan-born Korean who demonstrated his worth at Albirex Niigata last season. An is the most important acquisition that Grampus was able to make, thus far, and he should definitely make a contribution to the Grampus defence.

Lesser contributors who are leaving the club include veteran midfielder Teruo Iwamoto and striker Yasuyuki Moriyama, who both have "retired", though Moriyama will take up a position as player-coach at FC Gifu, as his home-town team takes aim at a spot in the J.League. There are rumours that veteran midfielder Tetsuya Okayama may soon join him, though Nagoya have not yet announced his release.

Apart from the acquisition of An, from Albirex, the only "professional" player that Nagoya have actually acquired this year is Avispa Fukuoka defender Takahiro Masukawa. However, Grampus may also reclaim striker Atsushi Katagiri, who spent last year on loan to Rosario Central, in Paraguay. Among the youngsters joining the team, the two who are most likely to make an early contribution are midfielder Keisuke Honda, a standout player in the national high school championships and a member of the U-18 national team, and Masahiro Sugimoto, a recent graduate of Ryutsu Keizai University.

Despite the heroic efforts of coach Ivica Osim to keep the team competitive, JEF United Ichihara has been hemoraghing players for the past two years, and though the outflow has been slowed, somewhat, thius year once again brings news of key players being sold off to other clubs, in order to make ends meet. This year, the big news involves the loss of national team defender Takayuki Chano to Jubilo Iwata. Though it has not been confirmed, there are rumours that midfielder Shinji Murai, another player with national team ambitions, may also be moving to Jubilo. If you add the retirement of veteran defender Zeljko Milinovic, JEF's defence will be seriously depleted in the coming season. The only real good news was the announcement that U-23 star Yuki Abe will pass up an offer from Nagoya Grampus, and stay with JEF for at least another year.

To help offset the losses on defence, JEF has acquired veteran Masao Kiba from Gamba Osaka, but this hardly qualifies as a replacement for Milinovic and Chano. To make matters worse, reserve defender Masakazu Washida was traded away to Kyoto Purple Sanga, and midfielder Kim Wi-Man was released to Tokushima Vortis. Though it is widely expected that Abe will move into the back line, from the volante position he played in the past, that still leaves JEF very thin on defence. The team did sign defensive midfielder Haruki Seto, who may be able to function as a defender under Osim's strategic scheme, but we think defence could be a problem for JEF this season, particularly if Abe or the highly promising youngster Kozo Yuki should get injured.

On offence, JEF is similarly understrength. Striker Choi Yong-Soo was NOT reclaimed, after his loan to second-division Kyoto Purple Sanga expired, and was instead sold off to Jubilo Iwata. Meanwhile, Sandro Cardoza still faces legal problems, involving an attempted rape charge, and is unlikely to return to the club. The only acquisition that JEF managed to make at striker involves Sanfrecce Hiroshima's Yasushi Takahashi -- hardly a name that strikes fear into the hearts of opposing defenders.

All of the other incoming players are new signings from JEF United Youth or high schools and universities. Despite the magic that Osim is capable of working with even the most marginal players, the team is getting thinner and thinner as the years go on. If you keep letting water out of the pond, sooner or later it is bound to run dry. We will just have to wait and see how much longer the team can maintain a spot in the upper half of the table.

Jubilo Iwata experienced an almost total collapse in the second stage, last season, and in the wake of the worst finish in team history, Jubilo will need to rebuild not only its roster, but also its self-confidence and psychological poise. The aging back line is not getting any younger, and despite a few high-profile acquisitions, the team still has not taken any stems that signal a conscious shift towards younger players. On the contrary, the signs seem to indicate that the team is trying to put off the reckoning with father time as long as it can. Three high-profile signings have been announced already, and all involve players who are well advanced on the downward slope of their careers. Takayuki Chano, who seems to have been acquired from JEF United (there is still no firm confirmation of the deal) is a very talented defender but by no means a youngster. Striker Choi Yong-Soo, also picked up from JEF after a spell at Kyoto Purple Sanga last year, is a consummate finisher, but yet another player who is fast approaching his expiration date. Finally, Yoshikatsu Kawaguchi is returning to Japan in a deal with Jubilo, amid great fanfare. But the press releases have barely mentioned the fact that Kawaguchi will also hit 30 this year.

Of course, there is another, very different way to look at the situation. Six of the players added to the roster this year are being promoted from the Jubilo Iwata youth squad, and four of them have seen action with the U-18 or U-19 national teams. Already, Jubilo could field a quality lineup composed entirely of players under the age of 23. The question is whether incoming coach Masakuni Yamamoto has the nerve to break up the "old boys club" that continues to dominate the Jubilo starting lineup, much to the team's detriment. Unfortunately, the signs are not particularly favourable. Not only is Jubilo's doddering old striker Masashi Nakayama still on the roster, but not one of the aging veterans was on the list of players sold off in the off-season. Vissel Kobe has expressed interest in Toshiya Fujita (ironically, the most capable of the veterans remaining), but so far there has been no agreement. As we noted repeatedly last year, Jubilo desperately needs to strike the right balance between age and youth., but if it fails to achieve perfect balance, it should try to err on the side of youth. So long as the team remains unwilling to sell off even one member of the "old guard", it is hard to believe that coach Yamamoto will have any more success at making the generational change than did Takashi Kuwabara or Masakazu Suzuki, last season

The Yokohama Marinos won the league championship, last season, so it is perhaps not surprising that the team has made few substantial changes to its roster in the off-season. The core of the team is still relatively young yet full of talent. Nevertheless, the team has made a few judcious acquisitions that may turn out to be well worth the cost, while getting rid of some marginal players, particularly those who are getting a bit older.

The Marinos have reportedly made a bid to sign midfielder Koji Yamase, from the Urawa Reds, but so far this deal has not made any progress, A far-less heralded deal, on the other hand, could turn out to be just as useful. The Marinos picked up Shingo Kumabayashi, a playmaker who has languished in obscurity at Shonan Bellmare, but who has fine passing skills and a remarkable "hunger" for the ball that you rarely see in offensive midfielders. Yokohama also picked up Taketo Shiokawa from Kawasaki Frontale, and Hideo Ojima from Montedio Yamagata. Neither player is well knosn, but both served their clubs well in 2004, and could be able to make a contribution at the J1 level. Actually, the most high-profile signing that the Marinos have made, thus far, involved Toin Gakuin HS defender Yusuke Tanaka, a key member of the U-19 squad.

Outgoing players include Yoo Sang-Chul (who will join a Korean club, but is probably close to retirement), Yukihiko Sato, who joins Shimizu S-Pulse, and strikers Sotaro Yasunaga (Kashiwa Reysol) and Yutaro Abe (Montedio Yamagata). As we already noted, none of these are really key players, and most are aging veterans, who were not really contributing to the team any more. Yokohama may not have strengthened its roster greatly in the off-season (at least not yet), but as the reigning league champions, this is hardly a major concern. If youngsters like Daisuke Sakata, Daisuke Nasu and Hayuma Tanaka continue to mature, the Marinos should be in the hunt for a title once again, in 2005

In recent years, whenever the off-season trading mill got moving, all eyes would turn towards Urawa, to see who the team was planning to buy up this year. Based on recent news reports (including an announcement from Vodaphone indicating that they will spend 1.0 billion yen to put their logo on the front of the Reds' uniforms this year), Urawa still has the deepest pockets in the league. But this year, it seems that the team is content to make only cosmetic changes, in hopes that the team will be able to capture the title that eluded them last season.

Though it is still too early to rule out an acquisition of some sort, this year, so far all indications are that the Reds will use their money to hold onto the players they already have. In early January, there were some rumours that midfield playmaker Koji Yamase might be headed for the Yokohama Marinos. However, we think that this may have been an overblown story. Though Yamase and his agent did ask the front office for permission to consider offers, and Yokohama did subsequently signal their interest, we think that Yamase was mainly interested in fielding possible offers from Europe. In any event, it now looks like the young midfielder will remain in Urawa in 2005.

All three foreign stars have indicated that they plan to remain, as well. Consequently, the only significant acquisition announced so far was the signing of Masaya Nishitani, an experienced midfielder who can play either on the wing, or just behind the strikers. Nishitani is probably viewed as an insurance policy in case of injury to either Alex Santos or Nobuhisa Yamada. The Reds did acquire some promising youngsters, who are unlikely to play a part in the short term, but who could prove to be valuable down the road. The two most prominent of these rookies are Takafumi Akahoshi and Hajme Hosogai, both of whom are midfielders with the U-18 national team.

To make room for the newcomers, the Reds have sent veteran defender Ichiei Muroi to Vissel Kobe, and completed the transfers of some youngsters who were farmed out last year on one-year rental contracts: Takuro Nishimura will make a permanent move to Omiya Ardija and Takuya Mikami joins Kyoto Purple Sanga. Keeper Yohei Nishibe's rental to Shimizu S-Pulse has been extended for another year, and Hiroyuki Kobayashi will join the rental ranks and spend the next year at Kawasaki Frontale.

Kashiwa Reysol struggled last season, as they attempted to restructure around a new, more youthful base, but as the season went on, the youngsters began to mature and the team began to look more competitive. However, Reysol has been SO successful at developing youngsters that it now finds itself in a difficult situation, unable to keep all of the promising players on its roster, but also unable to put them all to use lest it find itself fielding an all-U-21 team. Though Reysol is reluctant to let all of these players slip away, it has begun to actively farm them out to other teams -- particularly J2 clubs -- where they can gain more playing experience. This year, no less than seven players will be spending the year with another club, while still remaining in the Reysol fold. In the mean time, Reysol has done what it can, on a relatively limited budget, to acquire a few quality veterans who can form the backbone of the team, while the youngsters mature.

Reysol's biggest acquisition this season is Yukio Tsuchiya, a very talented defender who has been the teeth of the Vissel Kobe defence for the past few years. It is a bit difficult to understand what Vissel was thinking, when they let him slip away. In any event, the 30-year-old will provide a great deal of veteran stability to a back line composed of players who are all nearly ten years younger than Tsuchiya. Another veteran who may be able to provide some support is Sotaro Yasunaga, who Reysol acquired from Yokohama Marinos. Certainly, Yasunaga is superfluous at a team like Yokohama, but in Kashiwa he should see at least some playing time. In addition, the team picked up former Kashima Antlers goalkeeper Shinya Kato to provide depth at that position.

Reysol did not limit itself to veterans, however. Their record of acquiring quality young players continued as the team signed Japanese-born Korean striker Lee Chun-Son from FC Tokyo, and picked up two members of the all-university team -- defender Tsutomu Kobayashi and midfielder Tatsuya Suzuki.

Most of Reysol's veterans had already been sold off over the past two years, but the process reached completion this year as old-timers Takeshi Watanabe and Takahiro Shimotaira both retired, following long and relatively distinguished careers at Reysol. Nozomu Kato avoided retirement by accepting a transfer to J2 club Shonan Bellmare, though at 35, he probably will not be there for long. Completing the garage sale, Reysol sent Takayuki Komine to Vortis Tokushima and Kensuke Nebiki to Vegalta Sendai.

The list of young players being farmed out for a year to J2 clubs is a long one, so we will spare the reader unnecessary repetition. The details are in the table below.

Shimizu S-Pulse seems to have recovered from near total disarray a year ago, and now seems to be stabilizing as a mid-table team, once more. However, based on the off-season moves that the team has made thus far, there is little prospect of a return to the ranks of the contenders. S-Pulse did make one valuable acquisition, picking up midfielder Yukihiko Sato from the Yokohama Marinos. However, the fact that they signed another right wing suggests that S-Pulse have given up hope that Daisuke Ichikawa can ever be fully rehabilitated. There are also rumours about the possible acquisition of defender Takahiro Yamanishi, from Jubilo Iwata, or striker Kazuki Hiramoto, from Tokyo Verdy, but so far these are no more than rumors. The deal with Verdy is the more likely of the two, if only because S-Pulse just finished agreeing to send Kazuyuki Toda to Verdy, on a full transfer. Apart from that, the only significant addition will be Kazumichi Takagi, who returns from a rental stint at Vissel Kobe. S-Pulse is picking up a number of youngsters from their youth programme, and from the high school ranks. This is a good sign for the longer term, since S-Pulse definitely needs to develop their youth programme. However, none of the players joining the team this year seem likely to make an immediate contribution.

On the other side of the ledger, several players will be leaving Shimizu this year, in addition to the aforementioned transfer of Toda to Verdy. In addition, Masanori Sanada has accepted retirement, and a sopt as a goalkeeper coach, and Araujo is moving to Gamba Osaka. In addition, the team's long-term "exchange programme" with Ventforet Kofu continues, with Kotaro Yamazaki, Tatsuya Tsuruta and Hayato Suzuki all moving to the J2 club this season.

Sanfrecce Hiroshima may just be the most remarkable source of talented, exciting young players in the entire J.League. So far, the high quality of the youngsters coming out of the team's youth programme has yet to translate into a winning record, but this year it is at least spinning a large amount of money for the team's coffers. Last season, seven players were sent to other clubs on rental, and five of those seven clubs opted to acquire the plaeyr outright at the start of this season. This year, several more youngsters are moving to other clubs on a rental basis, only because Sanfrecce simply does not have room for them all on its own roster. Furthermore, of the five players that are being upgraded from Sanfrecce Youth to the regular team, this year, four have already played in at least one professional J.League match, and if that is not impressive enough, two (Shunsuke Maeda and Issei Takayanagi) have already recorded their first J.League goals!

Though still too young and thin to challenge for any silverware, we believe that this team has a solid core of young playes who should be able to finish in the middle of the table this year. Their efforts shold be bolstered by the acquisition of several "comparatively experienced" (though still young) players in the off-season. Sanfrecce have signed striker Hayato Sato from Vegalta Sendai, and defender Shohei Ikeda from Shimizu S-Pulse. Both have proven themselves as quality contributors at the J1 level. Furthermore, Sanfrecce have signed Jorginho from Nagoya Grampus, and picked up defender Zininho from Sao Caetano to replace aging defender Ricardo (who will move to Kyoto Purple Sanga).

The list of outgoing players is too extensive to cover completely. The biggest losses will probably be Genki Nakayama (who was sold to Consadole Sapporo) and Kazumasa Takagi (who is departing for Yamagata, but only on a one-year rental). Many of the players listed in the "Out" section are not really being lost, since they were away on a rental deal for most of the season, last year.

FC Tokyo are another very young team that is making steady progress up the ladder towards the ranks of contenders. Though they still need to fill some gaps, they did win their first piece of silverware last year, with a victory in the Nabisco Cup. Thus it is perhaps not surprising that they have made only a handful of roster changes. The team continues to bring in talented young players, adding two new youngsters to the roster this season -- Kenji Suzuki, from Shinya HS and Ryoichi Kurisawa, from University champions Ryutsu Keizai U. After a relatively ineffective season last year, Kelly Guimares was released and Tokyo have acquired another Brazilian midfielder, Danilo, to take his place. The only other acquisition was Taisei Fujita, a young defender who spent the past few years at Nagoya Grampus

On the other side of the ledger, Tokyo have rented out or sold a few marginal players, the most significant of whom is Yoshiro Abe, who will join Oita Trinita on a one-year rental. Tokyo has relatively deep pockets, thanks to rising attendances at Ajinomoto stadium, so they certainly have the money to make a major acquisition or two before the season starts. In fact, it is a bit surprising that they have not done so already. They have not even been the source of any significant rumours. Nevertheless, we will be watching the team closely for the next month, since they certainly are one of the clubs that has the wherewithal to make a major acquisition.

Of all the teams in the league, one would have expected Oita Trinita to be most active during the off-season, even if the team's finances limited their options. Although they got off to a good start last year, under coach Han Berger, they fell apart later in the year and that seemed to be mainly the result of personnel limitations. Just one or two injuries to key players hurt them badly. Thus far, however, the theam has made only two major acquisitions, both at striker. One is Dodo, a relatively talented Brazilian striker who played in Korea, last season, but hardly a "franchise player". To open up a spot for Dodo, the team released Sandro Chaves de Rosa, who was clearly nearing retirement age. Second, Trinita acquired striker Yoshiro Abe, from FC Tokyo, albeit only on a one-year loan deal. These two moves do address Trinita's lack of depth at striker, but we think that this may not be enough to save the team from relegation. Trinita did sign Taikai Uemoto from Jubilo Iwata, but he has only one appearance in his J.League career, and is unlikely to make much of a contribution. The team did lock in Koji Yoshimura, who played for Oita last season on a rental contract from Vissel Kobe, and they will reclaim Shinichi Shibakoya, who spent last season at Mito Hollyhock, on loan.

Meanwhile, Trinita has released several players -- particularly defenders -- who did not fit in with Berger's strategic plans. Tetsuya Yamazaki was cut loose, and eventually picked up by Cerezo Osaka. Tetsuya Ito has retired, as has Hideki Nagai (for a second time). Haruki Seto is on his way to JEF United Ichihara, and Kazuyoshi Mikami and Tomoya Kanamori have been dropped altogether

Tokyo Verdy has been comparatively active in the transfer market, this season, but so far most of the traffic has been going out the door, rather than in. Since Verdy does have a large number of youngsters in the roster, who are seteadily improving, this may not be such a surprise. However, the acquisitions that Verdy HAS made seem to be quite well-considered. The question is, following their Emperor's Cup title on New Year's Day, will Verdy be content to just remain in the upper half of the table, or will they make the moves needed to chase another title? With two open spots for foreign players, a lot could happen between now and the start of the season. So far, the team's actions have SEEMED to be an exercise in raising cash. The question remains, how are they planning to spend it?

Consider, for example, the two biggest moves that the team has announced so far. First, there was the news that Atsuhiro Miura was being sold off to Vissel Kobe. Miura is a high-profile player, and Kobe is a team that seems to enjoy splashing money around. There is little doubt that this produced a good lump sum for the Verdy coffers. Shoerly thereafter, Verdy sold off another well-known player, striker Naoto Sakurai, to J1 newcomers Omiya Ardija. Though Omiya are not nearly as cash-rich as Vissel, Sakurai is probably the marquee player in their "J1 preparation strategy", so he probably didnt come cheap. In addition to these big-name moves, Verdy has rented out three of its more promising youngsters -- Seitaro Tomisawa, Yugo Ichiyanagi and Kazunori Iio. All of these rental contracts will produce a significant sum

Of course, you do have to admit that neither Miura nor Sakurai fit into coach Ossie Ardilles' plans, and were seeing very little playing time. From that perspective, it is no surprise that they were sold off. But who does Verdy intend to acquire with the money? Kazuyuki Toda did join, from Shimizu S-Pulse, but he probably was obtained at a bargain price, since player and team have never been particularly happy with one another. Verdy also picked up former national team defender Kenichi Uemura, essentially for free, since he had been dropped by Sanfrecce Hiroshima. Uemura has never been the same after a serious knee injury sidelined him for a full year in 1998, but he still can make a useful contribution if only as a coach and role model for some of the Verdy youngsters. The veteran striker Washington, picked up from Athletico Paranaense also did not come with a large price tag.

We have little doubt that Verdy already has enough talent on the roster to be competitive in 2005. However, this is a very young and talented squad, which has already captured a title. A few quality additions could make them a contender for the league championship in 2004. With two openings for foreigners still unfilled, it is hard to avoid the impression that something is brewing, beneath the surface. Though the rumour mill is silent, at the moment, we will be watching Verdy closely over the next month, since we can be almost certain that SOMETHING interesting is going to happen.

You have to hand it to him, Vissel Kobe's new owner Hiroshi Mikitani certainly does know how to grab headlines. After years of languishing in the lower reaches of the J.League first division, Vissel fans had grown cynical, and in some ways resigned to their fate as a second-class team. In his first year as owner, Mr. Mikitani has managed to shatter that complacent dissatisfaction completely. With a string of high-profile deals, and even more fantabulous rumours, the new management has set Kobe on its ear. The only problem is, Kobe is still a bottom-tier team, it remains to be seen whether they are moving forward, or just racing around in circles and going nowhere.

Based on his moves so far, this year, it seems that Mr. Mikitani learned his lesson from the Ilhan Mansiz fiasco, and hopefully thre will be no more big bucks squandered on foreign players who never even manage to score a goal. That is the good news. The bad news is that the new management has not lost its hunger for "big names", or learned much about how to appraise aging veterans. This year, Vissel started out on the right foot, with a big bid for JEF United defensive midfielder Yuki Abe. But when this deal went nowhere, the team turned its attention to Atsuhiro Miura, Verdy's aging left wing, whose national team reputation is almost certainly superior than his current playing ability. Not that Miura is a worthless acquisition, but it is highly unlikely that he will be worth the price that Vissel paid. Of course, now that Vissel have Atsu on the roster, Kazu on the bench and Yasu in the clubhouse, all they need to do is sign FC Tokyo's Fumitake, and they will have cornered the market on aging, formerly-great players named Miura. On the other hand, if they are hoping to fill out a Miura royal straight flush, they are out of luck. There isnt an ace left in the deck.

Of course, the acquisition of Miura is certainly not a negative for the team. Nor was the signing of goalkeeper Seiji Honda, from Nagoya Grampus (who already have more top-quality keepers than they need). On the contrary, both players will be of at least some benefit. The move that has Vissel fans tearing their hair out did not come until last week, when Vissel announced that it had sold off veteran defender Yukio Tsuchiya to Kashiwa Reysol, and replaced him with . . . get this . . . Ichiei Muroi. Now Muroi is also a good player, with years of experience at Kashima Antlers and Urawa Reds, and we do not intend any criticism of him whatsoever. But why on earth would a team trade away a talented but aging player and replace him with someone who is LESS talented and one month OLDER?

Im sure you get the picture by now. Vissel may just manage to complete the off-season in slightly better shape, in terms of personnel, than they were in on November 23, 2004 (the close of last season). But anyone who is hoping for a title chase this season should be relieved of those delusions by April, at the latest.

Rumours and Rumblings