J-League Season 2014: Gamba Osaka - 2014 J.League Champions
Paul Williams
Who would've thought we'd be uttering that phrase in July when they sat second last and looked like they'd be battling relegation in their first year back in J1?
And as is the way in the J.League, they did it thanks to some final day drama.
After Urawa conceded with the last kick (or header) of the game last week against Sagan Tosu, giving Gamba the league lead on goal difference, it appeared to be a fait accompli that Gamba would seal the title when they visited last placed Tokushima Vortis.
Those who know the J.League know nothing is quite that easy, especially Urawa fans who recall their collapse in 2007 when they lost to last-placed Yokohama FC to hand the title to Kashima Antlers.
And so it proved.
Tokushima turned in one of their better performances of the season to frustrate Gamba 0-0 and providing another example of a Japanese team being unable to win the title.
Yokohama F.Marinos last year, Urawa this year. There's clearly a mental issue there for Japanese players that we've seen time and time again, even with the national team.
So while Gamba struggled with the pressure, Urawa could go out against Nagoya with a relative freedom knowing it was out of their hands. A second-minute goal gave them, in real time, the league lead back. Suddenly Reds fans were full of hope.
As time ticked on and Urawa held on to a 1-0 lead it looked as though they might pull of a last day escape, yet when the pressure was on (and no doubt they knew the result of the other game), they crumbled, conceding twice in the final 20 minutes to hand Gamba Osaka the title by just one point.
Gamba hadn't so much as won the title as Urawa had lost it.
For Urawa it is the second season in a row where they have been in a position to win the league in the final few rounds, only to buckle under the pressure. This year appeared worse because they held the lead for the majority of the final half of the season and appeared likely to coast to the title.
Yet last year they also threw it away in the final few rounds, even missing out on an ACL spot with a capitulation to Cerezo Osaka (5-2) on the final day.
In 2013 they lost four of their last five (drawing the other), while this year they only won one of their final six matches.
It's not something that will sit well with Urawa fans, and neither should it. You would think there now has to be serious questions asked of manager Mihailo Petrovic. While he has returned Urawa to the pointy end of the table, when it has come to the crunch, he has shown an inability to be able to get his side over the line.
But full credit has to go to Gamba Osaka.
I wrote earlier this year that they looked like they might be a yo-yo club, not something anyone thought possible when they stormed through J2 last season. Their final 20 games after the World Cup break, however, were nothing short of phenomenal - 15 wins, 3 draws and just 2 losses. In that were runs of five and seven consecutive wins. Simply outstanding form.
It's no surprise then that evergreen midfielder Yasuhito Endo was crowned J.League MVP earlier this week.
At the other end of the table, the pink half of Osaka is mourning after they were relegated.
A season that started with so much promise and excitement never got off the ground. Even with Diego Forlan, Cerezo never looked like a team capable of anything and Forlan has come out in the aftermath and given his honest opinion of what happened. With six months still to run on his contract it's hard to see the Uruguayan sticking around.
It's a sour end to a relationship that started so well when Forlan impressed the locals by introducing himself in Japanese at his first press conference.
Just where did it all go wrong? Cerezo now have a full off-season to figure that out, while on the other side of Osaka they have turned their attention to this weekend's Emperor's Cup against Montedio Yamagata (who won promotion to J1 last weekend) and the possibility of completing an historic domestic treble.
It'd be a brave man that would tip against them completing it.
Copyright: Paul Williams & Soccerphile.com
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