J-League News September 2013
Have the Squirrels gone nuts? Where did it all go wrong?
Paul Williams
After avoiding relegation last year, Omiya Ardija, under Slovenian manager Zdenko Verdenik, surprised everyone by beginning the season with a ten game undefeated steak and rightfully went into the mid-season break at the end of May top of the table, five points clear of second placed Yokohama F.Marinos.
The J.League has a history of having surprise Champions, especially over the last few years, and it looked like the 2013 version of Omiya Ardija could be just that with the best defence in the league, and the equal second best attack. Going back to the tail end of last season the club set a new record, going 21 games undefeated.
But with every boom comes a bust, and after the resumption of the league in July boy did the bust come hard for the Saitama-based club.
After coming out of the break with a win and a draw the Squirrels then went on to lose their next eight to drop from first, with a five point lead, to sixth, eight points behind new league leaders Yokohama F.Marinos. Ironically it was against Yokohama that Omiya broke their losing streak, winning 1-0 in their last match.
During that time they also sacked Verdenik, to the surprise of almost everyone. Rumours quickly surfaced of a fallout with both his players and coaching staff.
There were also suggestions that Omiya had always wanted Tsutomu Ogura, Japan's Olympic coach and former national team assistant, to take over when he joined the club after the Olympics last year. However, Verdenik's run of form made that difficult and as soon as the opportunity presented they acted.
Whatever the case one thing was certain and that was that Verdenik had lost the dressing room, with club president Shigeru Suzuki saying: "We were no longer together as a team."
In a bid to stiffen their defence, which at the start of the season looked almost impenetrable, Australian captain Lucas Neill was signed on a short term loan until the end of the season.
Whether Omiya's problems have been solved by these recent changes, or merely papered over, will be told in how they finish the season, beginning with this weekend's visit to 11th placed Albirex Niigata.
A typically tight title race
With Omiya dropping back and relinquishing first place, which they held from round 8 to 16, it has allowed Yokohama F.Marinos (who held top spot for the first seven weeks) and Sanfrecce Hiroshima to pounce and stage a mini battle for the title, with the pair trading places at the top four times in the last seven weeks.
On the back of stellar seasons from Marquinhos, the evergreen striker has netted 16 goals from his 23 games, and the ever silky Shunsuke Nakamura, F.Marinos are looking one of the better bets for this season's title, as I suggested earlier in the season.
They have an experienced side too, with Manabu Saito (23) the only player under 25 to feature regularly in the starting eleven. And it's that experience that has seen them develop a new found consistency this year, especially the ability to turn draws into wins, something they struggled to do last season.
Perennial underachievers Urawa Reds are right in the mix too, sitting one point behind Yokohama in second spot and possessing the league's most potent attack - with 46 goals from their 42 games. And far from relying on a single goal scorer, like Yokohama (Marquinhos - 16), Sanfrecce (Sato - 15) and Kashima (Osako - 14), Urawa are spreading the load.
No single player has scored more than 10 goals, with former Kashima striker Shinzo Koroki the most prolific with nine, however five players have scored five or more goals (Koroki 9, Haraguchi 8, Nasu 6, Kashiwagi 5, Richardes 5). That is more than any of the other top four teams, with Yokohama having three players with five or more, and Sanfrecce and Kashima both with two.
What it means is that the final 10 weeks of the season will be as frenetic as ever and being the J.League who knows what will happen!
Gamba bounce back
After their surprise relegation last season, Gamba Osaka, and Kanto rivals Vissel Kobe, look set to bounce straight back to J1 after dominant displays in J2. After struggling to find their feet in J2 at the beginning of the season, with five draws from their opening seven games, Gamba have more than found their level.
17 wins and five draws from their next 25 games see them sit atop J2, two points clear of Vissel Kobe, but a whopping 11 points clear of third place V-Varen Nagasaki. With the top two automatically earning promotion, it is hard to see how both Gamba and Vissel could manage to miss out on the two automatic spots from here.
The battle for the four remaining play-off spots will, inevitably, come down to the wire. Currently occupying those spots are Nagasaki, JEF United Chiba, Tokushima Vortis and Kyoto Sanga.
After coming agonisingly close to promotion last season, JEF have made a habit out of throwing away seemingly certain promotion positions, so the good folk of Chiba will have all their fingers and toes crossed that this is their year.
After attending their home match against Montedio Yamagata in June, where I was also fortunate enough to visit their training facility and meet their General Manager and Club President, you'll forgive me if I am a little biased in hoping that they secure a spot back in J1 for next season!
Copyright: Paul Williams & Soccerphile.com
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