Friday, December 18, 2009

If the season started today......

What does the depth chart look like?

4-4-2

(Starters in bold)
FW -Franca - Sawa- Kitajima- Tanaka- Hayashi- Suganuma-Kudo

MF -Otsu- Kurisawa-Otani-Leandro Domiguez- Sugiyama-Murakami-Suganuma-Yoshiyuki Kobayashi-Higa-Barada-Yamazaki-Sengoku-Watanabe

DF -Yuzo Kobayashi-Park-Kondo-Murakami- Hashimoto-Koga- Kurakawa- Sakai- Adebayo

GK- Sugeno- Kirihata-Kawanami


Allright, so that's 31 members so far. If you believe rumors Sugiyama will be off the list and back to Shimizu. Yoshiyuki Kobayashi is not going back to Omiya, but might not stay in Kashiwa. Alceu, last year's big signing that got hurt badly in training camp and never played a minute is a potential reinforcement. I am more convinced now that Suganuma is on his way out with the signing of Leandro Dominguez. There also is the possibility of surprise. However, the team in it's current consistency is hands down the team to beat in J2.

Don't believe me?

JEF Chiba- Lost Shimomura, Arai, Saito, and Bosnar

Gained-nobody

Oita- Lost Kanazaki, Fukaya, Morishige, Edmilson, and Suzuki. Uemoto, Takahashi, and Nishikawa are rumored to leave.

Gained-nobody

Tokyo Verdy- Lost Hayashi, and half of their squad was cut. Oguro, Fujita, and Nagareyama are rumored to be leaving.

Gained-nobody

Ventforet Kofu- 13 players out including MF Hayashi and Sugiyama.

Gained-nobody, but lost nobody huge either. The main rival for J2 crown.

Sagan Tosu- Lost Shimada, Takeuchi, and might lose Haavenar. Also lost Kishino to Yokohama FC.

Gained- Hiroki Bandai

Consadole Sapporo- Daigo Nishi is out on loan and Danilson is being pursued by Nagoya

Gained-Not much


There are places that Kashiwa needs upgrades at.......central midfield is the first that comes to mind as well as backup keeper. A familiar face and old rival, Tomi Shimomura would be a good guy to pursue. Takahiro Takagi is probably the best option of a poor group of GKs. Takagi showed that he is more than capable of playing J2 in stints for Thespa and Consadole.

Thursday, December 17, 2009

5 in for Kashiwa

Ryohei Hayashi formerly of Tokyo Verdy is officially a Reysolista.

What you didn't know is that 4 others were signed only two days ago.

Let's start with those close to home. GK Goro Kawanami, a 192 cm 82 kg mass of growing boy signed from Kashiwa youth after putting in a solid performance in the 2nd round of the J Youth Sunstar Tonic Cup. His teammate Akimi Harada will also be suiting up for the big boys on a full time basis after 2 cameos in this year's Nabisco Cup.

FW Junya Tanaka steps in full time after being a college player/pro last year. He becomes a full pro after appearing in 9 games for Kashiwa near the end of last season.

Finally, the big news is the signing of Brazilian MF/FW Leandro Dominguez from EC Vitoria. Leandro Dominguez is 26, 173cm and 70kg. He notched 16 goals in 52 games over the past three seasons and is potentially the playmaker that Popo failed to be.

Not a very painful offseason so far.

Monday, December 14, 2009

A New Yellow Friend?


Sponichi Annex is reporting that a deal has been made between Kashiwa and Verdy rookie Ryohei Hayashi for next year's campaign. Hayashi is a strapping 186cm and growing. While in college, he notched 5 goals in 3 Emperors Cup games and had 6 in spotty duty for the Vultures.

Saturday, December 12, 2009

Into the future


Kashiwa moves on with their lives after being dropped from the heights of J1 by bringing in a new member to Nelsinho's staff. Introducing Takanori Nunobe, a midfielder who left the stage last year after appearing in over 300 games for Verdy Kawasaki, Jubilo Iwata, Vissel Kobe, Cerezo Osaka, and Avsipa Fukuoka. Nunobe actually made his debut under the tutelage of Nelsinho. Nunobe retired in 2008 and filled the role of Ambassador Coach for Fukuoka this year.
NODA LINE REDUX
Just like in pro wrestling, the mini versions of Omiya and Kashiwa took part in a rematch of sorts in Hitachi Stadium for the second round of the J Youth Sunstar Tonic Cup. Kashiwa was victorious with a 2-1 win. Goals were scored by MF Akimi Harada and 2nd year FW Shun Yamazaki. Kashiwa now goes on to the third round to take on the winner of the Jubilo Youth vs Baby Sangas game in Osaka.

Saturday, December 5, 2009

6 get cut as Kashiwa drops the finale




We'll talk about these guys in a moment, but first the game. Kashiwa lost 3-2 in a slugfest. Franca continued his hot streak by adding a brace after Kashiwa went down 3-0 in the first half but like the season in general it was not meant to be. I didn't see the game.......I usually don't so talking about it won't do any good. I did see that Kobayashi and Sugawara both picked up reds giving the pair 23 yellows and 5 reds between the two.
Anyhow let's get to the dirt. Kashiwa cut 6 players on Thursday in the first what possibly will be a steady stream of departures.
Included in the cuts were
21. Yuta Minami- The 12 year veteran was one of only 2 players with a link to the 1999 squad that won the Nabisco Cup. Minami started in 1998 and promptly took over the starting spot after appearing against Verdy Kawasaki. He retained the job up to 2007 when Takanori Sugeno was brought in to freshen up the position. Minami is only 30 so he has the chance to continue as a keeper in the top flight for one of the 3 new promotion candidates or for an an ambitious J2 squad looking to advance. I don't think he's done yet.
11.POPO- Popo came into the squad with much fanfare after leading the K league in goals and being named a best 11 member in 2006. While showing flashes of brilliance, Popo never really panned out as a point scorer and fell out of favor with Nelsinho as the season wore on. 2 years, 8 goals, thousands of shots.
2. Jiro Kamata- 24 years old and last years starter at center back. He started the year injured and never quite got back on track, making appearances in only 11 games. Bit of a shock.
24. Jun Yanagisawa- The 22 year old product of the youth system appeared in 2 games during his 4 year tenure.
18. Iwao Yamane- Mostly a career J2 player, Yamane found a niche with Reysol and made spot starts. This year he was starting in the midfield during their disatrous stretch early in the season to doom them to J2. Yamane is 33 so his options are slightly limited.
16. Anselmo Hamon- The 21 year old striker appeared in 5 games after being brought in for the injured Alceu. Disappointment to say the least.
IN OTHER NEWS
The cute nurse at my elementary school guarantees me that Franca will be brought back next year. Take that to the bank!