Tag Archives: Lee

Previews

J1 Preview – Sat. October 27th – 19:00 Vissel Kobe v. Kawasaki Frontale at Home's Stadium

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Team News – Vissel Kobe – DF Lee is suspended. DF Iwanami will miss the game on Japan U-19 duty.
Kawasaki Frontale – MF Ohshima and FW Kazama will miss the game on Japan U-19 duty.

Head to Head – Five wins for Vissel, six for Frontale and two draws in 13 J1 games since 2005.

Match Preview – Vissel Kobe halted a losing run with two draws in their last two outings but have dropped into relegation danger, finding themselves just three points from Gamba osaka in the 3rd relegation spot of 16th. They’Ve had some bad luck with injuries, and suspensions have not helped, but a decent group of young players need to keep hold of that J1 place in order for coach Akira Nishino to be able to build a new dynasty, as he did with Gamba osaka a decade ago. Whether the likes of Ogawa and Morioka are a match for the young Endo and Hashimoto, that Nishino had at Gamba, is another matter, but they deserve a chance, and to do that they need to win this!

Kawasaki Frontale may sit in 12th position but two fortunate wins in their last five games put them in a false position and it is only four points above Vissel… 39 points is usually enough to consider a J1 position safe but anything can happen and, with the form of the teams below them, combined with a defeat here today, they MAY find themselves scrambling for point on the final day – stranger things have happened. They changed their team manager after a few weeks of the season and they may well need to be doing that again before 2013! They are inconsistent, wasteful in front of goal, and deserve little from this season. EXPECT a WIN for VISSEL KOBE!

Previews

J1 Preview Aug.25th – 18:00 Shimizu S-Pulse vs Urawa Reds at Ecopa

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Shimizu S-Pulse – LB Lee and CB Jong-a-Pin are suspended, while DF Yoshida is undergoing fitness tests.
Urawa Reds – all players seem to be fit for selection except Naoki Yamada who is out for the season.

Head to Head – ten wins each and four draws over the last decade – very even. Reds won the encounter earlier this year, but you have to go back to 2008 for Reds’ last League win before that!

Shimizu S-Pulse have begun a revival, as predicted here and this game is a major test of their credentials. A win for S-Pulse will put them within one point of Urawa Reds, while a win for Reds will dent Shimizu’s confidence and send them 7 points adrift of their opponents. Both teams have had problems scoring this season, though S-Pulse have finally started finding the net in the last few weeks and new signing, Korean Olympic forward Kim Hyun Sung will be looking to score his first for the team, while Omae and Takagi are hitting goals again, ably supported by Alex Brosque. So, while the forwards may be on song, the team will be without at least two of their regular defence and so may consider curtailing the attacking tendencies to concentrate on keeping it tight at the back – or maybe not! Coach Afshin Ghotbi is a swashbuckling type and while his players are confident he may just hope to score more goals than Reds!
As noted, Urawa Reds are not scoring many goals, so may not trouble the depleted S-Pulse defence as mush as they should… Ugajin has been scoring from midfield recently, and Haraguchi is gaining confidence up front. If the likes of Tanaka, Popo and Despotovic can give help from the bench Reds may hit the net today.

I am going to stick my neck out and go for a highscoring WIN for SHIMIZU S-PULSE!