by Angus MacLeod of JapanFooty.com

Given the poor goal return from Albirex in 2014, one might have expected them to go after an established striker in the off season, but judging from the lack of investment in that department, it would seem that Hiroshi Ibusuki (who arrived at the club last summer) and possibly Japan U23 star Musashi Suzuki will be the men manager Masaaki Yanagishita is most looking to in terms of coming up with the goods in front of goal this campaign.
Versatile attacker Ryohei Yamazaki, who joins from Jubilo Iwata, could prove a useful addition to the side, and one would expect him to chip in with a few goals irrespective of whether or not he is played as an out and out forward.
Hideya Okamoto, who looked particularly impressive when playing alongside Kawamata in 2013, has somewhat surprisingly been allowed to join Oita Trinita, while fan favourite Atomu Tanaka left the club for HJK Helsinki. Defender Shusuke Tsubouchi (Jubilo Iwata) and Isao Homma (Tochigi SC) have also left the club.
Defensively, Albirex once again begin the season looking in good shape, with the loan signing of once-capped Brazilian left back Bruno Cortes in particular being one of the more eye-catching J.League imports over the winter. As impressive as the coup of Cortes is though, Albirex’s biggest achievement over the close season would seem to be the retention of midfield general Leo Silva, despite strong interest from Urawa Reds. I see him as the key player for the team this season (picture taken from JSoccer Magazine’s interview with Leo Silva – see separate post or JSoccer Magazine issue 15 for the interview by Tiago Bontempo).

It would seem very unlikely that Albirex has the capability of challenging for the title over the course of a 34-game season, particularly given the lack of fire power at their disposal. However, with the two stage format coming in to play, there is always an outside chance that a good run of results in either half of the season sees them scrape into the new end-of-year championship play offs, but it is difficult to visualise them being able to score enough goals to do that. While Ibusuki has the potential to get in among the goals, I just cannot really see him carrying the team to the extent that Kawamata did in 2012, and there does not seem to be another player in the side who you would really fancy to hit double figures this campaign.
Albirex’s ‘defence first’ policy has served them well in the past, and, although it could be argued that the squad is now weaker than it was 12 months ago, they have not hemorrhaged players to the extent that I would be tipping them for a relegation battle.
Despite the signing of Bruno Cortes getting attention, the underlying message the list of incoming talent suggests is that we can probably expect more of the same from Albirex in 2014. They are likely to be a tough team to break down and get the better of, and we can expect them to once more prove capable of occasionally outsmarting and defeating supposedly more talented sides using a combination of well rehearsed counter-attacking moves and set pieces. While I do not think they will struggle over the season’s duration, unless of course key players are either injured or transferred out, I do not really envisage
anything more than a solid upper mid-table finish, and again, that will most likely come down to an inability to carve teams open in the last third and convert draws to wins.
The real worry for Albirex this campaign is the familiar threat of players being poached away mid-season. We saw last summer what a huge loss the departure of Kim in particular was, with the side’s counter-attacking ability severely diluted as a result of his departure. Should key players such as Leo Silva or Hiroshi Ibusuki be prised away from the club mid-campaign, or fall victim to long-term injury, it will be very difficult for Albirex to sustain any early season momentum that they may have built up.
The lack of prowess in the last third of the pitch is a major worry, and it would not be surprise if Albirex struggled badly in patches as a result. I cannot imagine them being so bad across the campaign that they wind up going down, but they could be a mildly more entertaining version of what we saw at Ventforet Kofu last season, whereby the team smothers the opposition without really asserting themselves in a creative capacity thorough much
of the campaign.

by @PedroIriondo

After a difficult roller-coaster year last time out, Reysol fans look forward to the new season, this time with Tatsuma Yoshida in charge. Yoshida, although well-familiarized with Kashiwa’s youth academy and its characteristically attacking style, will face a difficult challenge in “Year One after Nelsinho”.
Last season, the legendary Brazilian manager chose the best possible manner to say goodbye – an amazing seven-game winning streak to end the season that granted qualifi cation to the AFC Champions League play-off . Such a magnificent run, coupled with the victory over Lanus at the Suruga Cup Final saved Reysol’s season. The departures of key players such as Junya Tanaka (to Sporting Lisbon, in Portugal), and Leandro Domingues (Nagoya Grampus) did not help with consistency.
For the new season, the return of Yuki Otsu (from VVV Venlo, Holland) and the arrival of Cristiano (Ventforet Kofu) guarantee an electric attacking-midfield. Both players have a great ability to score goals, and to create chances, from which strikers Masato Kudo and Leandro should profit. Otsu, who shone at Kashiwa before moving to Europe, will be especially motivated to recover his best football. In addition, several young players have either come back from loans – Yamanaka, Taketomi, Nakagawa – or have been promoted from the youth team – Nakayama, Oshima – a sign of Yoshida’s confidence in Reysol’s academy.
Even though a new coach and several new players have arrived, Reysol is expected to skip the transition period that this may require. Kashiwa’s goal for the season should be no less than qualifying for the league play-offs and advancing to the knockout stage of the AFC Champions League.
Once there, Reysol has the potential of beating any team. What will finally happen will very much depend of the inspiration of those in the front line.