By @FRsoccerFraser
Those of you who follow Sagan Tosu will remember that Yoon Jong Hwan left his post as manager in early August with his team atop J1, citing the transfer policy in place for 2015 as one of the main reasons. Caretaker Manager Megumu Yoshida steered them to 5th and has now stepped aside for Hitoshi Morishita, previously of Jubilo Iwata.
Last season’s play was built on a foundation of solid defence, with Akihiro Hayashi protected by a dependable back four of Michihiro Yasuda, Kim Min-Hyeok, Naoya Kikuchi and Ryuhei Niwa. Heading into this season they will be without the services of left back Yasuda, who joins Vissel Kobe, but welcome a replacement in the form of Yutaka Yoshida from Shimizu S-Pulse. They have also loaned out fringe defender Tatsuya Sakai to Matsumoto Yamaga and sold Takashi Kanai to JEF United.
The midfield will see Kei Ikeda sit in front of Naoyuki Fujita and Yoshiki Takahashi, with younger players Choi Sung-Kuen and Tomotaka Okamoto pushing for starts.
The front of their 4-3-3 will be made up of the same faces – having scored 54 goals in 98 J1 appearances Yohei Toyoda will look to challenge again for the Golden Boot, flanked by the creative Kota Mizunuma and South Korean international Kim Min-Woo. Competition on the wings will be from Ryota Hayasaka, as well as new signings Baek Sung-Dong from Jubilo Iwata and 19-year-old Ryosuke Tamura from Kyoto Sanga.
Boasting the smallest hometown in J1, Sagan Tosu mirror that in their relatively small squad. They landed 5th place through consistent performances, particularly against the weaker sides, but will have to be careful, as a run of injuries would highlight their lack of depth. As self-proclaimed underdogs they will not expect to compete for the top places and would do well to reproduce last season’s results.
Image from web site.
As it says on their web site:
FROM TOSU JAPAN , THE TIME HAS COME TO CHANGE THE WORLD
The day has come to unite as one. With a population of 20,000, we have landed in the J.League’s smallest home town. We have no facilities, no sponsors. We simply spend every day covered in mud, chasing down balls. With an environment rarely seen and hard work rarely experienced at the professional level, we have continued to challenge ourselves day in and day out. Continually reflecting and continually changing, our supporters have over time transformed from fans into family. We now have reached a point where victory is within reach. We will capture this dream as one. Through passion comes dreams. So we can fly.
THE TOP OF JAPAN IS FINALLY IN VIEW, LET’S GRAB IT
オフィシャルサイトリニューアルオープン！
Web site – www.sagantosu.jp
Facebook – https://www.facebook.com/pages/SAGANTOSU/495527923859368
Twitter – @saganofficial17
Sagan Tosu TV – www.top.dhc.co.jp/tv/sagantosu/