Tag Archives: Frontale
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J1 2nd Stage, the story so far! What do you think?
After three games it means VERY little and, of course the play-off spots go on overall points totals, except for the top spot (winners of each stage) but it’s interesting that (after only three games, I know) that half of the division is on a win, a draw and a loss from their three games.
It must be confidence-boosting for Sanfrecce and Vissel to be “riding high” and for the likes of Reysol, Grampus and Kofu, for example, to be gaining points and entering the top 6.
A long way to go but confidence and a winning mentality always help in the long run.
Points shown only
1 Sanfrecce Hiroshima 9
2 Vissel Kobe 7
3 Kashiwa Reysol 6
4 Kawasaki Frontale 4
4 Ventforet Kofu 4
6 Nagoya Grampus 4
6 Gamba Osaka 4
8 Sagan Tosu 4
9 Urawa Reds 4
9 F.C.Tokyo 4
11 Kashima Antlers 4
11 Shonan Bellmare 4
13 Montedio Yamagata 3
14 Albirex Niigata 3
15 Matsumoto Yamaga F.C. 3
16 Yokohama F･Marinos 2
17 Shimizu S-Pulse 2
18 Vegalta Sendai 1
Nabisco Cup Round-Up April 8th matches.
A late goal saved Sanfrecce Hiroshima from defeat against Shonan Bellmare in one of last night’s J.League Yamazaki Nabisco Cup Group A games. Takuma Asano scored his second of the game in additional time to level the scores at 2-2 and save Sanfrecce’s blushes. Bruno Cesar and Shota Kobayashi scored for the J1 new boys.
Elsewhere in Group A, Matsumoto Yamaga took maximum points in a 3-1 away win at Ventforet Kofu. After Takuma Abe had opened the scoring for the home side, Tatsuya Sakai scored his first-ever goal in Japanese football for Yamaga. And then he scored again! Naoki Maeda scored the away team’s other goal.
In the final match in the group – FC Tokyo had the night off in the seven team initial stage – Albirex Niigata triumphed over Sagan Tosu on the only goal of the game from Ryohei Yamazaki.
In Group B, Nagoya Grampus took the lead three times over Montedio Yamagata – on goals from Akira Takeuchi, Asahi Yada and Milivoje Novakovic – but each time the home team pulled level. The final goal in this six-goal thriller came from Hiroki Bandai’s header in the 92nd minute. Grampus stay top of the group, three points clear of Vissel Kobe who have a game in hand on the leaders. Vissel were held to a 0-0 draw at Vegalta Sendai.
Group B’s other match produced a 2-0 away win for Kawasaki Frontale over Shimizu S-Pulse. Goals from Kentaro Moriya and Elsinho gave Frontale their first points of the Nabisco campaign.
The next Nabisco Cup matches take place on April 22nd.
Kawasaki Frontale 2015 Season Preview
by FRsoccerNathan
Kawasaki Frontale were very much the nearly men again in 2014, contesting for the title before falling short in the closing weeks of the campaign. Eventually finishing sixth, Frontale couldn’t match their achievements of 2013 which saw them finish third and qualify for the AFC Asian Champions League.
Arguably Kawasaki’s most important piece of business in the off- season was to retain the services of 32-year-old striker Yoshito Okubo. The J.League’s top scorer for the last two campaigns, Okubo was heavily linked with a move away to FC Tokyo, and former clubs Cerezo Osaka and Vissel Kobe, but the Japanese international has decided to remain in Kanagawa for another season. He will again be complemented by Brazilian winger Renato, the effervescent Kengo Nakamura, and his fellow international Yu Kobayashi. Future Samurai Blue hopefuls Shogo Taniguchi and Ryota Oshima were also key men last season and will be looking to take further steps forward in 2015.
Many of Frontale’s squad players have been cleaned out. The likes of Junichi Inamoto (Consadole Sapporo), Yasuhito Morishima (Jubilo Iwata, loan) and Sota Nakazawa (Cerezo Osaka, loan) have moved on. The most notable outgoings are defenders Yusuke Tanaka and Jeci who have moved to Australia and returned to Brazil respectively.
The attacking side of the team has been bolstered by two prominent additions. Takayuki Funayama, who fired Matsumoto Yamaga to J1 last season with 19 goals has been signed along with Kenyu Sugimoto. Once hotly tipped as a future international, Sugimoto’s career stalled last season as his former club Cerezo Osaka were shockingly relegated. The 22-year-old will be looking to breathe new life into his game at Frontale, and at his best he certainly strengthens manager Kazama’s options.
Other incomings include former Vegalta Sendai defender Makoto Kakuda and Brazilian full- back Elsinho, from Brazilian Serie B side América. However, Frontale still look light at the back which is surprising given that this was their main failing last season.
After a couple of seasons of near misses the new two stage system and end of season champion- ship play-offs are likely to benefit Kawasaki Frontale, who found it difficult to sustain a challenge at the top over the full 34 matches last season.
Web site – www.frontale.co.jp/
English – www.frontale.co.jp/about/club_profile_e. html
Twitter – @frontale_staff
Kawasaki Frontale 2015 shirts
J.League Yamazaki Nabisco Cup semi-final details
First leg 9th October 2014
Sanfrecce Hiroshima v Kashiwa Reysol at Edion
Gamba Osaka v Kawasaki Frontale at Bampaku
Second leg 12th October 2014
Kashiwa Reysol v Sanfrecce Hiroshima at Hitachi
Kawasaki Frontale v Gamba Osaka at Todoroki
The “Nabisco Cup” Final will be played on 8th November at Saitama Stadium 2002
Cerezo Osaka vs Kawasaki Frontale at Nagai 15.30, Dec.1st
Team News
Cerezo Osaka – MF Yamaguchi is suspended. MFs Yoshino and Maruhashi are injured.
Kawasaki Frontale – DFs Jeci and Komiyama injured, DF Morishita is back from injury but not match fit, no suspensions.
Head to Head – 5 wins for Kawasaki, 3 for Cerezo and 2 draws in 10 games since 2005, but Cerezo have not won since early 2006.
Match Preview – Cerezo Osaka are in trouble – not as much trouble as the two teams who will be trying their best to overhaul them of course – but, after bringing in Levir Culpi to save their J1 status, presuming they were safe after three 3-2 wins in-a-row, offering the Brazilian a contract to manage them next season, they have gone five matches with just two points to show from them and they can still drop to J2 with wins from Gamba and Vissel and a loss today for the pink half of Osaka! Last week they were destroyed by Sanfrecce, who clinched the Championship with their 4-1 win. They’ll be without three midfielders and under pressure in front of a nervous crowd.
Kawasaki Frontale have had an inconsistent season of ups and downs. A good start, and then good and bad spells from coach Kazama’s team have frustrated fans and team alike but they are now on a good spell to end the season – three wins in a row and ten goals in their last four games – and are hoping to finish the season on a high. A win for Frontale could, depending on results around them, see them finish in the top 6, a great incentive to finish off the season in style! EXPECT a WIN for KAWASAKI FRONTALE!
J.League J1 Preview Matchday 32 – 14:00 Albirex Niigata vs Kawasaki Frontale at Tohoku Den
Team News
Albirex Niigata – GK Higashiguchi and back-up GK Watanabe both out long-term. MF Uchida out for the season.
Kawasaki Frontale – DF Morishita is back in training after a long injury.
Head to Head
10 wins for Albirex, 8 for Frontale and just one draw over a decade of meetings.
Match Preview
Albirex Niigata dug out a vital away win at S-Pulse last time out and therefore kept in contention for safety, leveling up on points with Gamba Osaka, although 9 goals behind on goal difference, which could be vital on that final day. The defining fact from their season has been that they have scored only 24 goals in 31 games so far – that’s just two goals more than relegated Sapporo or, to out it another way, only four goals more than Sanfrecce’s Hisato Sato. But for the fact that their defence has conceded just one more goal than top team Sanfrecce they would have been relegated long ago. Although Albirex rarely score, Frontale do let a lot of goals in so Albirex need to find the net if they are to win this!
Kawasaki Frontale’s win over Urawa Reds last game out saw them reach 43 points and safety, if not mathematically, virtually! A single point from three games will be enough to make 100% sure of Frontale’s safety, and they would like to see that sooner rather than later, I am sure. An away draw with Vissel, and then that home win over Reds sees them in reasonable form and scoring goals – if Renato continues his sudden return to form Albirex will find themselves in deeper trouble by the end of the day here. EXPECT a WIN for KAWASAKI FRONTALE!
Results 0 Matchday 31 – Shimizu S-Pulse 0-1 Albirex Niigata highlights, Japanese interviews
Wednesday night, Nov. 7 results – –
Reysol 2-2 Gamba
S-Pulse 0-1 Albirex
Sanfrecce 3-0 Consadole
Vegalta 1-1 Cerezo
Frontale 4-2 Reds
Ardija 0-0 Antlers
Vissel 1-2 Marinos
Nagoya 1-0 FC Tokyo
Tosu 3-2 Iwata
Updated table at: http://www.jsoccer.com/tables/
J1 Preview Nov.7th 19.00 – Kawasaki Frontale vs Urawa Reds at Todoroki
Team News
Kawasaki Frontale – MF Ohshima and FW Kazama will miss the game on Japan U-19 duty. DF Morishita back in training but not expected to play yet.
Urawa Reds – MF Yajima will miss the game on Japan U-19 duty. DF Hirakawa doubtful, DF Mizuta out. MF Naoki Yamada in training but not yet fit after 6 months out.
Head to Head – 9 wins for Reds, just 4 for Frontale and 5 draws since 2005. Frontale have not won this game since 2009.
Match Preview – Urawa Reds must win this with S-Pulse on their heels for that 3rd ACL spot, while Kawasaki Frontale are also in a must-win situation, for fear of being dragged deeper into the relegation dogfight. Reds still lack a goalscorer, Genki Haraguchi has proved he is not that player, while Despotovic has not featured this season and must soon be on his way! Rumours of Reds approaching Davi of Kofu and Koroki of Antlers have surfaced this week, but any incoming player will be too late for this season.
Frontale are far from safe and another defeat will have their fans biting their nails for 2 or 3 more games yet, especially if Ardija, Gamba and Vissel get the right results. Surely not all of them will win, but I think this is a defeat for Frontale. Certainly, even 2 or 3 wins in their final games should not hide the fact that coach Kazama has problems somewhere – if he finds them, maybe a better season next year! EXPECT a WIN for URAWA REDS!