Tag Archives: Yamamoto

Previews

J1 Preview – Sept.15th -19:00 Vissel Kobe vs Jubilo Iwata at Kobe Universiade

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Vissel Kobe – DF Inoha is suspended. DF Hayashi is out for the season, MF Haneda is doubtful, but not in contention for selection anyway!?

Jubilo Iwata – MF Fujita is suspended. FW Kanazono still reported injured. GK Kawaguchi and MF Matsuoka out for the season. DFs Sakurauchi and Cho out. MFs Yamamoto, Baek and Rodrigo Souto all out injured.

8 wins for Jubilo, 7 for Vissel and 3 draws since 2003, Vissel winning both of the last two games 3-1, home and away!

Vissel Kobe lost narrowly, and probably deserved a draw, last time out at Kashima Antlers, and the team were probably disappointed with that. Then they lost in the Emperor’s Cup to lower league opposition, so plenty of players will have plenty to prove to their fans… another loss will be very upsetting for the Vissel faithful. The team are “only” nine points away from a 3rd place spot right now. ON the other hand they are also nine points away from a relegation spot – very middling. They will be looking to put on a final spurt in the last ten games with a view to finishing in the top 6. A tough call, but not impossible, they can then build on that in 2013 and become a championship-challenging team – or that is what the plan is! The likes of Ogawa and Morioka must mature together with the experience of Okubo and Kitamoto, blending together to make a real team. These are games that they must win if they are to gain the confidence to move up the table.

Jubilo Iwata remain in touch with the leaders, having held Sanfrecce Hiroshima to a draw last time out, and beating Kashiwa Reysol and Cerezo Osaka before that. Jubilo may be the top scorers in J1 this season, but they have conceded a lot, too – in fact one more goal than Vissel Kobe up to this game. Let’s go for a HIGH-SCORING DRAW!!

Previews

J1 Preview Aug.25th – 19:00 Kashiwa Reysol vs Jubilo Iwata at Kashiwa

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Jubilo Iwata – GL Kawaguchi and MF Matsuoka out for the season, DF Cho, MF Yamamoto and FW Han out injured. DF/MF Riki Kitawaki has been allocated number 28 and may be considered for selection soon.

Head to Head – 9 wins for Jubilo, just 3 for Reysol, and 3 draws since 2003, all in J1.

Kashiwa missed the influence of suspended midfielder Leandro Domingues last week and struggled to create chances, but I question their wisdom in bringing in Neto Baiano and leaving the likes of Sawa and Tanaka on the bench. Proven goalscorers, team players doing well, replaced by a player who was a complete failure in his previous stint in Japan. I can only presume that Reysol see a huge improvement since then and feel he is worth a place – I will reserve judgement for now.
This is certainly a HUGE game for both teams – Reysol have drawn their last three games after an impressive run took them up the table, while Jubilo have been inconsistent lately but still cling to 6th place, just two points behind Reysol. Jubilo have won only one in their last four but remain J1 top-scorers, unfortunately they are 4th worst in defence, having conceded 35 goals. Japan national team forward Maeda scored two late goals to get all three points for Jubilo against Cerezo last week and will be looking to consolidate his position in the Samurai Blue ahead of the World Cup 2014 qualifier against Iraq
Reysol are only two goals behind Jubilo in the scoring stakes so perhaps we can expect a HIGH SCORING DRAW here today!?

Previews

J1 Preview Aug.18th – 19:00 Jubilo Iwata vs Cerezo Osaka at Yamaha

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Jubilo Iwata – GK Kawaguchi is out for the season. FW Kanazono is out for at least another two months. MF Matsuoka is out for the season. MF Yamamoto out for a month, DF Cho out for at least another two weeks. FW Han out for a month or so.

Cerezo Osaka – MFs Yamaguchi and Ogihara and FW Sugimoto have returned from Olympic duty.

7 wins for Jubilo, 6 for Cerezo and 2 draws since 2003 – all in J1, of course. Jubilo have never been relegated.

Jubilo are suffering from a long injury list and are starting to tire and drop points when they really would like to be winning games. Influential Korean MF/FW Baek will be back from the Olympics and I feel he is a key man in the machine at Jubilo and may help turn things around for them but they must tighten up their defence – outside the bottom three they have the worst defensive record in J1. Having said that they have scored almost two goals per game on average so expect goals one way or another! They have won just one of the last five, and that was against bottom club Sapporo, and, if they are to stay in touch with the top 3 this is a must win for them.

Cerezo Osaka have been hit from all sides this season and must be wondering what they have to do to keep a fixed team. With Yamaguchi and Ogihara at London 2012 and Kim and Kiyotake shipped out, they have been playing with an entirely new midfield for the last few games and it’s only due to some timely goals from Kakitani that they are not deeper in trouble. The player, who signed with Cerezo before he was ten years old, but then spent the best part of three seasons at Tokushima Vortis developing his game, returned just in time to help the team get over the losses of Kagawa and Inui, and then saw Ienaga, Kim and Kiyotake also leave the team. He is the man to watch, a rising star, but how long will Cerezo be able to hold onto him? Jubilo injuries and players returning to Cerezo will swing it towards a WIN for CEREZO OSAKA!