AC Nagano Parceiro v Machida Zelvia

FC Ryukyu v Kataller Toyama

Blaublitz Akita v SC Sagamihara

Fujieda MYFC v Y.S.C.C.

Grulla Morioka v Fukushima United

… and finally a look at Champions Renofa Yamaguchi, promoted to J2 for 2016.

MACHIDA ZELVIA

Sunday saw Zelvia’s second defeat of the season at the hands of a team we beat 7-1 the last time we met. What on earth happened?

by Eilean Kelly
Follow Eilean on Twitter @FortressNozuta

For me, there are two reasons. First, FC Ryuku came well-prepared. Having learned the lesson of their previous drubbing, they took no chances and came armed with a strong defensive strategy that saw Zelvia’s players frustrated almost every time they approached the goal. Time and time again Machida had the ball taken from them or kicked away to safety with the result that they had only a few good chances indeed for a clear shot on goal. While Ryukyu played a mainly defensive game, they didn’t waste the chance that they were given. After spending the first 25 minutes shutting down Zelvia’s efforts, they went on the attack with a long shot that was deflected onto Zelvia’s bar and rebounded back into the field, where it was eventually collected by Ryukyu and sent into the net. They later scored a second goal thanks to poor defending by Zelvia, but that one was ruled offside.

The second reason is that because of numerous injuries, Zelvia have not been at their best since the season resumed . In particular, we are sorely missing the tactical awareness and passing ability of our captain Ri Han Jae who, despite participating in training sessions of late, has yet to make an appearance proper since Matchday 17. Without his presence the team just can’t seem to get their act together, and gone are the days of the bold, decisive passing that characterised the first half of the season. Compounding this, other key players such as Keisuke Harada and Takafumi Suzuki were also out injured recently, and Ryuto Otake has been making irregular appearances after recovering from an injury earlier in the season. As a result, Zelvia’s style of play has been disrupted and they have lost their rhythm – when I look at the team now I am reminded of our performance in the 2013 season rather than that of earlier this year. Yesterday saw a lot of back passing, an unwelcome return to darker days for me, and Tetsuya Kijima (himself recovering from injury) is again not receiving the passes that he expects. For the first time this season, I’m starting to wonder about Naoki Soma’s choice of players: Zelvia may well be lacking strength in depth, but our manager doesn’t yet seem to have settled on or worked out his best back-up team.

To add to our woes, our nearest rivals AC Nagano Parceiro and Zweigen Kanazawa were both victorious yesterday, which means that Zelvia’s hitherto seven point lead has been reduced to just four.

We are now two-thirds of the way through the season and the championship is still Zelvia’s to lose. Next week sees us take a trip to the mountains of Nagano for our third and final clash with Parceiro, and I cannot emphasize enough how crucial this match is. While they have not been the powerhouse that they were last year, Parceiro are formidable opponents and a win over Zelvia would see them only 2 points shy of us (albeit with a whopping goal difference in our favour). If Kanazawa were also to win, that would leave us just one point clear at the top of the table. We have not had the best record against Parceiro, getting our first victory against them only this year, and I am not too confident about the outcome of this match given our current weakened state. Here’s hoping that my pessimism is misplaced.

Table at http://www.jsoccer.com/tables/

Starting at the top, Ventforet Kofu clinched the J2 Championship in an away victory over Avispa Fukuoka, while Kyoto Sanga put away their inconsistency for a while (?) and made 2nd spot their own with a 3-1 win over FC Gifu. Kyoto also have a game in hand – to be played this week at Tokushima Vortis – and COULD go four points clear of 3rd placed Shonan Bellmare with a win. With three games to go after that match is played, it would be a HUGE three points for the Kansai team.

Meanwhile, fighting for the play-off spots we saw Montedio Yamagata stay in the hunt with a 1-0 win over Giravanz Kitakyushu, who are now out of the running. Shonan Bellmare fought out a 1-1 draw and are in 3rd (66 points) and 6th (33) respectively. Oita Trinita went down away to Gainare Tottori in a shock result that sees Oita left in 4th on 64 points. In 5th we see Yokohama FC, who pulled off single goal away win at Roasso Kumamoto. Hanging around just outside the play-off zone, in 7th we see Tokyo Verdy, only edged out be JEF on goal difference, it must be said, who beat up Tochigi 4-1, effectively ending the losing team’s play-off hopes, although not mathematically, and this IS J2 we are discussing!

Montedio are in 8th and still in the fight and a special mention for Matsumoto Yamaga, in their debut year in J2, up to 9th (with a win over Mito HollyHock) and, technically still in with a chance, too – but, more importantly well clear of relegation and a nicely-consolidated place in J2 for 2013.

Fagiano Okayama likely lost their slim hopes of making the play-offs with a 1-0 defeat at Thespa Kusatsu, while aforementioned defeats for Kitakyushi, Mito and Tochigi sees those teams consigned to middle-table “obscurity” for this season now.

At the bottom Machida Zelvia went down 4-2 at home to Ehime FC and are now six points adrift of FC Gifu, in 21st position in J2 and are staring relegation from J2 in the face, J.League with associate members V-Varen Nagasaki well clear at the top of the JFL. For a full explanation of the possibilities of J2/JFL relegation/promotion see JSoccer Magazine Issue 5 page 27.

In J1 AND J2 we are in for BIG finish – be there with JSoccer Magazine and JSoccer.com