The top, the bottom and all parts in between. And what we said at the start of the season to compare and check how right (or wrong) it was!Please read on for the JSoccer.COMment…

Some notes on the last weekend action for some of our boys overseas… Kagawa, Otsu, Yano, Inoha, Makino, Inui, Honda, Nagatomo, Kimura, Morimoto, Abe and more …. read on for a line or two on your favourite player.

Last night the final Best XI for J1 was announced (I posted the original “best 29″ yesterday – see below)Ｊリーグは、２０１１シーズンにおける最優秀選手賞、ベストイレブン、ベストヤングプレーヤー賞をはじめとする各賞の受賞者を、以下の通り決定いたしました。　受賞者については、本日横浜アリーナにて行われた「２０１１Ｊリーグアウォーズ」にて表彰されました。 Leandro Dominguez (no surprise there!) was the MVP and the full Best XI (3-5-2 formation) is:GK – Narazaki (Grampus)DF – Kondo, Sakai (Reysol), Tulio (Grampus)MF – Jorge Wagner, Leandro Dominguez (Reysol), Endo (Gamba), Fujimoto (Grampus), Kiyotake (Cerezo)FW – Kennedy (Grampus), 194cm Havenaar Mike (Ventforet)ＧＫ　楢崎　正剛 名古屋グランパス ＤＦ　近藤　直也 柏レイソルＤＦ　酒井　宏樹 柏レイソルＤＦ　田中　マルクス闘莉王 名古屋グランパスＭＦ　ジョルジ　ワグネル 柏レイソルＭＦ　レアンドロ　ドミンゲス 柏レイソルＭＦ　藤本　淳吾 名古屋グランパス ＭＦ　遠藤　保仁 ガンバ大阪ＭＦ　清武　弘嗣 セレッソ大阪ＦＷ　ハーフナー　マイク ヴァンフォーレ甲府ＦＷ　ケネディ 名古屋グランパス

Who DO YOU think is missing? Or shouldn’t be there!!?ゴールキーパー ベガルタ仙台 林 卓人 Takuto HAYASHI柏レイソル 菅野　孝憲 Takanori SUGENO名古屋グランパス 楢﨑正剛 Seigo NARAZAKIディフェンダーベガルタ仙台 角田　誠 Makoto KAKUDAベガルタ仙台 鎌田　次郎 Jiro KAMATA柏レイソル 近藤　直也 Naoya KONDO柏レイソル 酒井　宏樹 Hiroki SAKAI横浜Ｆ・マリノス 栗原　勇蔵 Yuzo KURIHARA横浜Ｆ・マリノス 中澤　佑二 Yuji NAKAZAWA清水エスパルス 太田　宏介 Kosuke OTA名古屋グランパス 田中　マルクス 闘莉王 Marcus Tulio TANAKA名古屋グランパス 増川　隆洋 Takahiro MASUKAWAミッドフィルダー鹿島アントラーズ 野沢　拓也 Takuya NOZAWA柏レイソル 大谷　秀和 Hidekazu OTANI柏レイソル ジョルジ　ワグネル JORGE WAGNER柏レイソル レアンドロ　ドミンゲス LEANDRO DOMINGUES川崎フロンターレ 中村　憲剛 Kengo NAKAMURAジュビロ磐田 駒野　友一 Yuichi KOMANO名古屋グランパス ダニルソン DANILSON名古屋グランパス 藤本　淳吾 Jungo FUJIMOTOガンバ大阪 遠藤　保仁 Yasuhito ENDOセレッソ大阪 清武　弘嗣 Hiroshi KIYOTAKEフォワードヴァンフォーレ甲府 ハーフナー　マイク Mike HAVENAAR (194 cm)ジュビロ磐田 前田　遼一 Ryoichi MAEDA名古屋グランパス ケネディ Joshua KENNEDY名古屋グランパス 玉田　圭司 Keiji TAMADAガンバ大阪 イ　グノ LEE Keun Hoガンバ大阪 ラフィーニャ RAFINHAサンフレッチェ広島 李　忠成 Tadanari LEE

コンサドーレ札幌 MF 河合　竜二 Ryuji KAWAI水戸ホーリーホック GK 本間　幸司 Koji HOMMA栃木ＳＣ MF 水沼　宏太 Kota MIZUNUMAザスパ草津 MF 熊林　親吾 Shingo KUMABAYASHIジェフユナイテッド千葉 FW 深井　正樹 Masaki FUKAIＦＣ東京 DF 今野　泰幸 Yasuyuki KONNO東京ヴェルディ MF 阿部　拓馬 Takuma ABE横浜ＦＣ MF 野崎　陽介 Yosuke NOZAKI湘南ベルマーレ FW 高山　薫 Kaoru TAKAYAMAカターレ富山 FW 黒部　光昭 Teruaki KUROBEＦＣ岐阜 FW 押谷　祐樹 Yuki OSHITANI京都サンガF.C. FW 宮吉　拓実 Takumi MIYAYOSHIガイナーレ鳥取 MF 服部　年宏 Toshihiro HATTORIファジアーノ岡山 DF 植田　龍仁朗 Ryujiro UEDA徳島ヴォルティス MF 柿谷　曜一朗 Yoichiro KAKITANI愛媛ＦＣ FW 齋藤　学 Manabu SAITOギラヴァンツ北九州 MF 安田　晃大 Kodai YASUDAサガン鳥栖 FW 豊田　陽平 Yohei TOYODAロアッソ熊本 GK 南　雄太 Yuta MINAMI大分トリニータ FW 前田　俊介 Shunsuke MAEDA

Jubilo Iwata 2-1 Kawasaki Frontale Yamaha 12,349Omiya Ardija 3-1 Ventforet Kofu NACK5.S 10,628Vegalta Sendai 2-0 Vissel Kobe Yurtec.S 18,575Albirex Niigata 0-1 Nagoya Grampus Tohoku Den.S 26,300Cerezo Osaka 7-1 Avispa Fukuoka KINCHO.S 11,009Shimizu S-Pulse 1-3 Gamba Osaka OUTSOURCING.S 18,670Yokohama F.Marinos 1-1 Kashima Antlers Nissan.S 26,973Montedio Yamagata 1-3 Sanfrecce Hiroshima ND.S 7,016Urawa Reds 1-3 Kashiwa Reysol Saitama.S 54,44154,000+ people saw Reds capitulate and give the title to Kashiwa Reysol!Gamba Osaka and Nagoya Grampus also won away, but it was not enough as Reysol had their fate in their own hands and didn’t disappoint their fans.

1 Kashiwa Reysol 72 +232 Nagoya Grampus 71 +313 Gamba Osaka 70 +274 Vegalta Sendai 56 +145 Yokohama F･Marinos 56 +66 Kashima Antlers 50 +137 Sanfrecce Hiroshima 50 +38 Jubilo Iwata 47 +89 Vissel Kobe 46 -110 Shimizu S-Pulse 45 -911 Kawasaki Frontale 44 -112 Cerezo Osaka 43 +1413 Omiya Ardija 42 -1014 Albirex Niigata 39 -815 Urawa Reds 36 -716 Ventforet Kofu 33 -2117 Avispa Fukuoka 22 -4118 Montedio Yamagata 21 -41Down to J1 go Montedio, Avispa and Ventforet. Champions are Reysol and go into the AFC ACL along with Grampus and Gamba. Reysol also play in the Club World Cup!

FC Tokyo’s Konno made an offer by Gamba Osaka … Konno is the player who scored the goal that gave FC Tokyo a 2-2 draw against Cerezo Osaka in the final game in 2005. That goal, on 89m. 57s. took two points from Cerezo and dropped them from 1st to 5th, giving Gamba Osaka the trophy! Irony! And what would be an excellent acquisition for ANY team!

Nikkan Sports have picked up what was hinted at in Issue 2 of JSoccer Magazine – Wagner Lopes is indeed returning to Japan (as he said he “hoped to one day”! As I hinted even more yesterday on Facebook and Twitter – he has already quit his position in Brazil for a “foreign” offer. Nothing else official yet, but watch this space and await news. Issue 3 PLAN is for a Ramos interview so expect him to be looking for a managerial position soon, too!!? :-)Here’s how they said it on NikkanSports.comＧ大阪の来季監督に、元日本代表ＦＷの呂比須ワグナー氏（４２）の就任が２９日、確実になった。１０年の長期政権を任せてきた西野朗監督（５６）の退任を２３日に発表し、クラブ側はすぐに後任監督の人選に着手。ブラジル出身で日本国籍を所持する同氏は、９８年Ｗ杯フランス大会で救世主として日本を初のＷ杯出場へ導いた。日本への情熱とカリスマ性を重視し、西野監督の後任として適任と判断した。既に条件提示を済ませており、１２月中に正式発表になる見通し。

Mark Smith was in Tokushima to see the promotion battle.Saturday’s game saw Vortis surrender their advantage in the chase for the third promotion slot from J2. They crashed to a 0-3 loss at home against a Sagan Tosu team that looks as though it should be able to hold its own in J1. The visitors were the more direct and effective team, and should do better than the likes of Avispa and Yokohama FC in the top flight. We wish them well.Tokushima have risen to the brink of promotion thanks to solid team play, but on Saturday both Elizeu and Kakitani were guilty of trying to do too much on their own. Vortis’ chances of salvaging an otherwise excellent season will depend on Naohiko Minobe and his staff’s ability to inspire the players to rebound from this setback, and from the team concentrating on what it does best. Fagiano are not a highly fancied team, but the regional rivals will not want to lose to Inland Sea neighbours Vortis. It could be a thrilling game in Okayama this Saturday.As for the game itself, a nervous start by both teams meant that the game never lived up to the high standard the two teams showed in the previous encounter at Sagan. The course of the game was decided in the opening 15 minutes when Sagan scored on their first serious venture forward after six minutes, and Vortis failed to convert a penalty a few minutes later. Tokushige