Thank you Yokohama F.M

So we didn't win the league cup (Nabisco Cup) - losing 1-0 in extra time to Kashima, but to me that really didn't matter. It would have been great to win a trophy, but I am almost certain that with our current form, winning it would have doomed our 2012 season (that's to say that we survive this year). But in season 2011, another round of games have past and we're still above the drop zone. That I can be relieved about but what frustrates me is the 3-0 defeat to Jubilo Iwata. If it wasn't for Yokohama F.M coming back to defeat Kofu, it would have been the relegation zone for us this week.

I don't know what it is, we just did not show any heart out there. What makes things worst is that our defence which had been our "strength" this year conceded 3 goals and looked very fragile. Don't know why Spiranovic didn't play again. Hamada has been good in Spiranovic's place but the Spiranovic-Nagata combination at the back has been solid all year. As the saying goes, if it ain't broke, don't fix it. Only think that I can think of is that Spiranovic is leaving next year, which I hope for a Reds point of view isn't the case.

Our midfield against Iwata consisted of Kojima, Umesaki, Kashiwagi, Takasaki and Haraguchi; all of whom are young and ironically what was lacking the most out there tonight was a bit of experience. Something someone like Keita brings to the team, even though yes I know he hasn't been playing well this season. I would like to see how Aoyama goes in Kieta's position but again he does lack J-1 experience.

One thing that has been holding us back this year has been up front, our strikers (or lack there of). Since Edmilson's departure mid-season, there hasn't really been any options for us at striker (not that Eji was playing well when he left). Big hopes were placed on Ranko, but he isn't the answer. Takasaki and Sergio play well up front on occasions, but they aren't really the solution. Is Genki an option, maybe but he really isn't the "target-man" we need up front. If only we had better options up front, this season could have been different. I think that's a fair statement don't you?

Either way, this is how we lined up against Iwata

GK: Kato
DF: Nobu Yamada, Hamada, Nagata, Hirakawa
MF: Kojima, Umesaki, Takahashi, Kashiwagi, Haraguchi
FW: Sergio

Subs
57min No Yamada > Noda
66min Segio > Ranko
77min Takahashi > Mazola

Our last three games look like this; Sendai (H), Fukuoka (A) and Kashiwa (H). I'd rather stay up due to our winnings rather then Kofu losses, but as long as we stay up, at the end of the day it doesn't matter. What I hope to see is a win and 2 draws from our last 3 games, is that asking for too much?

Can we win it all?

I know we're only talking about the Nabisco Cup here, I know in recent times it has been the "kiss of death" in terms of relegation and I know I've said that it's something we shouldn't be setting out sights on; but we need to win something. After defeating Gamba Osaka 2-1 against in the semi's, we're now only a win away from winning it and you never know, the confidence we gain by winning the league cup might translate to an improvement in our league performance?

One player playing well and making the most of his cup appearances is Umesaki, who scored the opening goal and "setup" the second (the second goal was an Umesaki shot which deflected of Sergio and was awarded to Sergio). When Umesaki was brought in from Oita at the end of 2007, many people predicted a bright future. But since then lack of playing time (particularly in 2008) and injuries over the last few years have derailed his progress.

Now though, it appears that his injury issues are behind him and has made the most of his opportunities. His opportunity in the Nabisco Cup is due to Genki away on international duty with the Blue Samurai, but I can envision Umesaki playing opposite Genki on the right flank.

Hamada had another solid outing playing in place of Spiranovic, which hopefully confirms his role as back-up to Spiranovic/Nagata at centre back, in turn hopefully it means seeing no more Nobu Yamada and Tsuboi in the heart of our defence.

This is how we lined up against Gamba.

GK: Kato
DF: Ugajin; Hamada; Nagata; Noda
MF: Keita; Kashiwagi; Umesaki; Richardes
FW: Sergio; Ranko

Subs
72min Kashiwagi > Kojima
82min Ranko > Takasaki
90min Keita > Nobu Yamada

Looking forward to the Nabisco Cup final against Kashima Antlers, which will be played at the National Stadium on the 10/29. Up next we play Miyazaki Sangyo-Keiei University on Wednesday in the Emperors Cup before we return to J-1 action against Omiya on Saturday.

The Osaka Fling.

Two matches, two competitions, two different results and I would have preferred if the results was the other way around. First match was on Sunday against Gamba Osaka, a J1 match, which we lost 1-0. What this means is that we are currently only 2 points above the drop zone and our chances of relegation is still very high. Not a comfortable position to be in, particularly if you are team manager Petrovic. I my pre-season expectation of a top-3 finish was extremely optimistic, but our current position is unacceptable.

We have the players there to be at the very least a mid-table club this season, but it seems that Petrovic just can't gel the team together. If it hadn't been for Genki, this season would already be gone for us. Petrovic has to go, he hasn't had the desired impact on the team; our attack seems to be disjointed at times and nothing just seems to be clicking together. This year could be the "changing of the guards", where its time to say good-bye to players like Nobu Yamada and Tsuboi and usher in the next generation.

So basically we're in survival mode in the J1, as long as we don't get relegated, it doesn't really matter where we finish this year. So our focus should be on winning at least one of the cups; the Emperors Cup would be preferable, but a league cup (Nabisco Cup) would be ok as well, which is where we did defeat Cerezo Osaka on Wednesday 2-1 to advance to the semi finals.

In the Cerezo game, Umesaki played a good game against, a full 90mins at that and our "cup specialist" Ranko scored again, this time the winner in the 83min. If only Ranko can transfer his goal scoring abilities to the J1. What fascinated me the most was seeing Hamada start in the place of Spiranovic (who's away on international duties) along side Nagata; and in my opinion he did a decent job. A good enough job to no longer see Nobu Yamada and Tsuboi in that position? I think so.

This is how we lined up

Vs Gamba

GK: Kato

DF: Ugajin, Spiranovic, Nagata, Noda

MF: Kojima, Kashiwagi, Naoki

FW: Richardes, Haraguchi, Ranko

Subs:

HT Noda > Yamada (Nobu)

64min Kojima > Umesaki

76min Ranko > Hara

Vs Cerezo

GK: Kato

DF: Ugajin, Hamada, Nagata, Noda

MF: Keita, Kashiwagi, Umesaki, Naoki

FW: Sergio, Ranko

Subs:

78min Kashiwagi > Kojima

84min Ranko > Takasaki

90min Naoki > Aoyama

Up next our Osaka fling continues, as we take on Gamba Osaka in the semi finals of the Nabisco Cup, but this time it will be in our backyard. Our internationals (Spiranovic & Genki) are still away on national team duties. WE ARE REDS!

Winner!!!

This year we haven't won games that many games, so when we do we can't take it for granted, because in all honesty we don't know when the next one will come. I'm hoping for it to come this weekend against Gamba, but realistically I don't know. It's not a good feeling as a supporter not being able to come in to a match with a winning expectation, it's depressing actually, but that's for another time an place. This blog is all about our victory on Wednesday.

What makes the victory all that much more sweeter, was that it was a "derby" game, which resulted in our neighbours being eliminated. Yes I know it's only the Nabisco cup and I have previously mentioned that winning the Nabisco Cup would spell relegation (as was the fate of Oita and FC Tokyo). But lets see it from a Reds perspective, after the last time we won the League Cup in 2003, resulted in an Emperor's Cup in 2005, the League and Emperor's Cup in 2006 and the ACL in 2007. Not too bad right? I'd be happy with that.

I'd also be happy to see Umesaki finally playing to his potential (as in not being injured); seeing him upfront playing opposite Genki gives us a more dangerous look. Another thing I'd be happy to see is more goals from Ranko. He hasn't started well for the Reds and I know people are already beginning to question him. As for me, I haven't really made up my mind yet; but if he can continue to score goals, like the two he scored against Omiya, then why not? We haven't had a "reliable" target man upfront since Washington. Yes Eji did his best, but he was no Washington. So hopefully Ranko can be just that for the Reds, he has the size, now he just needs to perform week in week out.

Two players I don't like to see week in week out would be Tsuboi and Nobu Yamada; Tsuboi came on at half time for Nagata whilst Nobu started at right back. I don't mind seeing them on spot duty and to be honest with you it was good seeing them play but they aren't what they use to be (Nobu wasn't really a defender to start off with). Is it coincidence that Urawa conceded a goal whilst both of them was on the field? (I know I'm looking too deeply into it.)

At the end of the day, we won 2-1 (4-1 agg) and we're through to the quarter finals of the Nabisco Cup to face Cerezo Osaka. So up next we play Gamba this Sunday (J1) and Cerezo on Wednesday; a week in Osaka for the Reds.

This is how we lined up against Omiya

GK: Yamagishi
DF: Yamada (No); Spiranovic; Nagata; Noda
MF: Keita; Naoki; Richardes
FW: Umesaki; Haraguchi; Ranko

Subs
29min Haraguchi > Mazola
HT Nagata > Tsuboi

61min Ranko > Sergio

Not an easy month to be red

Well I'm back! Been on holidays, got married and now back to the swing of "normal" life! Works been heavy though since I've come back (hence the lack of blogging), but I know you all don't read this blog to know about my life. So with life permitting, normal URDblog blogging will resume. I will finish off my look into the Reds squad and blog after each match (starting this Wednesday against Omiya in the Nabisco Cup). But as for now...

So how about those Reds aye?

Things just haven't gone our way, in this past month (since 8/24) we have lost three, drew two and won our only game in the Nabisco Cup. So basically should we put all of our eggs in the Nabisco Cup basket? Yes we haven't won a trophy for half a decade now, but I don't think winning the Nabisco Cup is a good thing. Look at Oita and Tokyo FC, winners of the League Cup in 2008 & 2009, where are they now? Yes I know Iwata looks to be bucking the trend, but with the way we're going, I wouldn't chance it. Mind you we might even get relegated without winning anything! Currently we sit only two points above the drop zone!

So how has our season ended like this? I don't really want to open a Pandora's box so I wont start. All I can say is after we get through this "rough spell" we all will know who the true supporters really are!

To finish off for now, I want to say... WE ARE REDS!

Could it be!?

Two victories in one week; could it be too early to get excited? Surely the way things have been travelling in 2011 it couldn't be too early. In the Nabisco Cup we have advance into the second round and in the J-1 we've "climbed" back to 10th on the table, we have won as many games as we've lost and it's just the draws that have killed us this year; which is hopefully behind us now. If it wasn't for the last second penalty against Iwata, we would be on a 4 game winning streak in the J-1; we're undefeated in 8 J-1 matches.

One player who can be attributed to the "turn around" as such would be Kashiwagi. Until a few weeks ago Kashiwagi's play has been average at best and that would still be generous. It got up to the point where Petrovic benched him and played him in a training match. I think from that point on Kashiwagi's form has been on the up; scoring goals as well as setting up goals. I know I have mentioned this previously, but I'll mention it again, Kashiwagi's combination with Genki on the left has been the x-factor for the Reds. Insert a healthy Naoki in there, an improved Richardes, Ranko up front we still have Mazola and Sergio coming off the bench, it should be a potent attack.

This weeks two also proves that the Reds can win by one goal. The 2-1 result in the Nabisco Cup match against Yamagata and especially the 1-0 victory over Kawasaki in the JLeague shows that we can hang on to the victory and not come away with a draw; which has been the story of 2011.

One player who kept the victory alive against Kawasaki would be Kato; he has been impressive since taking over from Yamagishi. I can eat my own words when I said that we had no other J-1 ready keeper behind Yamagishi. Kato is J-1 ready.

The one negative I want to bring up in the Kawasaki game is our inability to score a goal. Kawasaki aren't known for their defense, with the only goal coming from an own goal, our offense is still a work in progress. There has been improvements though, but I'd say give it a few more matches. Our defense though has been solid and keeping an "offensive" team like Kawasaki scoreless is a good sign (even with Nobu Yamada on the field for the last 15min). At the end of the day I'm just happy we came away with the three points; and 6 points for the year, against Kawasaki.

This is how we lined up against Kawasaki

GK: Kato

DF: Takasaki; Spiranovic; Nagata; Hirakawa

MF: Keita; Naoki; Kashiwagi

FW: Richardes; Haraguchi; Ranko

Subs

65min Naoki > Tanaka

75min Keita > No Yamada

89min Haraguchi > Sergio

I'll mention this here at the end; Urawa were defeated 1-6 against Omiya in a training match. Up next we have Kobe on Saturday, were we hopefully can avenge our opening round lost to them.

Winning a game feels good right?

So it's always good to win a a match, as is winning a trophy, but is the Nabisco Cup something the Reds wants to win? In 2008 Oita Trinita won the cup; then in 2009 they were relegated to the J2. In 2009 it was FC Tokyo's turn to win the Nabisco Cup, but in 2010 FC Tokyo got relegated to the J2. Now ok I know that last year's winner Jubilo Iwata are currently sitting fifth on the J1 table, but anything can happen right? Plus the fact is that when it comes to the Reds; at the moment losing comes easy, so relegation is something that must be considered. I think winning a competition would please the uppers of the Reds; so it might be something we have in our sights.

The format of this year's Nabisco Cup is different from previous years, the 2011 edition of the Nabisco Cup is a home and away knock-out format. Well sort of; not every team starts in the first round. The top three teams from last years J-1 enters in the semi-final, Niigata and Omiya enters in the quarters and the Reds take on Yamagata in the opening round. 

And after a long spell of draws and defeats, a victory does feel good. The final score of 2-0 is a good result for the Reds. Convincing it wasn't, but a win is a win, considering we played Kato in goals and Nobu Yamada replacing Spiranovic, who's away on international duties with Australia. I think what impressed me the most was the clean sheet as and how we pressed for the second goal; which we scored in the 89min through Haraguchi. Edmilson was the Reds other scorer, scoring his second goal in 2 matches at the stroke of half time.

Considering that the Reds played at relative full strength; I think it's safe to say that we are putting in 100% into the Nabisco Cup. This is how we lined up against Yamagata

GK: Kato
DF: Takahashi; Yamada (No); Nagata; Ugajin
MF: Keita; Kashiwagi; Richardes; Haraguchi
FW: Takasaki; Edmilson

Subs
57min Kashiwagi > Tatsuya
67min Takasaki > Mazola
83min Edmilson > Naoki

Up next is Omiya on Saturday; and leg two at Yamagata of the Nabisco Cup first round is on the 27Jul. Bring on the Saitama Derby!