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Looks like all our wishes are coming true, even before the guy in the big red suit visits us later this month.
After the big clear out of one third of our squad the other day, the announcement that everyone's favorite chairman, Sadayuki Adachi, is stepping down, looks to be an indication that,
The club have made another announcement regarding players who will NOT have their contracts renewed for next year. The list bears a striking resemblance to the list I drew up back in July.
#8 Alan Bahia
#9 Marcel
#11 Matsuhashi
#15 Uchiyama
#16 Koga
#19 Sudo
#27 Kishida
#32 Uetani
#33 Niwa
#34 Doi
5 forwards out!!
Uetani and Doi, both still only 20, didn't make any appearances in the top team this year and I guess the club saw no potential in them. Niwa had a few starts, mostly in cup games, but failed to prove his worth after returning from a 2-year loan spell at Cerezo.
As for the rest, they are too old and/or just not good enough. A couple of other players without squad numbers were also released, as was Adachi (the wrong one!), one of our coaches.
Not a bad start, I say.
Once the following names are added to the above list we will be able to make a proper, fresh start.
#14 Miyamoto
#17 Yoshida
#23 Gakuto
Vissel survive to endure another painful year in J1 - in typically unspectacular fashion. Despite losing away to FC Tokyo, Kashiwa were unable to beat Omiya which means it is now mathematically impossible for them to jump out of the bottom 3 in the last round. Or should I say it is now mathematically impossible for us to drop into the relegation zone.
Thank God the season is almost over.
The quest for survival continues.
A 2-2 draw at home yesterday against Marinos, and an unexpected win for Kashiwa, means we have to wait at least one more week to celebrate(?) another year of J1 football. Considering our horrible start to the match, I guess we should be pleased with the point.
The starting lineup did not look great. Ishibitsu was out with influenza, and our best players Okubo and Kim were both on the bench as they had just returned from international duty. We were 2-0 down after 15 minutes and the signs were there for an embarrassing thrashing at home. Miura had obviously spotted the problem early on because he brought Kim on for Kishida in just the 27th minute, a move that changed the game. We began to control, or at least hold, the ball much better in the middle and Mogi got one back for us only minutes later. The goal came at the right time to cool the crowd who were getting more and more pissed off at the shitty display of football, particularly as we were all aware of the Kashiwa result.
Another big impact substitution was made at half time when Okubo came on for Hide. It took him only 5 minutes to get on the score sheet with an immaculately placed shot from the right side of the area. His presence gave us more than the goal though. In what was a fairly evenly matched second half, the pressure that both he and Mogi continued to put on their defense took the sting out of their play giving us real hope of an amazing comeback victory. Both teams had several opportunities to snatch all 3 points in the last 25 minutes but the game ended in what was probably a fair result. Shit.
Credit to Miura for making the right substitutions at the right times. Man of the match should probably go to him.
The club appear set to keep him in charge for another year which I personally feel is the wrong decision. However, I'll save that rant for another time - after Guus Hiddink tells us officially he's not coming to Kobe!
As a side note, according to reports, Kim Nam-Il played very well in Korea's friendlies last week. Maybe he'll make the world cup squad!
After taking a surprising lead early in the second half, Vissel's unrealistic dream of silverware was shattered yet again yesterday when Kashima snatched victory with a last minute goal in the 4th round of the Emperor's Cup.
In all fairness, Kashima were the better team for the majority of the match. They outplayed us in the midfield simply by keeping possession and their forwards played like forwards should play - making space and taking shots. They put pressure on us when we did have the ball, even in our own half, and this forced us into errors and we were always on the back foot. In contrast, we gave them a lot of space when they had possession, and it almost looked like the Vissel players had been told not to tackle. This lead to their first goal.
Their winner came from a straightforward header by Danilo in the 43rd minute. Our defending was just embarrassing. Take a look at the video for a lesson in how NOT to defend a set piece. Miyamoto & Komoto were on Marquinhos, Ishibitsu(178cm) marking Danilo(186cm) from behind and Kobayashi lost in the middle. Kobayashi, who completely misread the cross should have been all over Danilo, and Ishibitsu could have at least bumped him.
Oh well, there's always next year.
Vissel had a chance to mathematically secure another year of top flight footy today but failed in a 0-1 away defeat to Grampus.
After only 15 minutes, Matsuoka played a terrible back pass right to the feet of Burzanovic who coolly slotted home what would turn out to be the winner. Tough luck. It was only 2 weeks ago that Matsuoka was the hero for us in the 1-0 victory over Niigata with his first ever goal in the J.league.
Overall, it was pretty poor football. Neither team took control of the midfield, passing was sloppy all round and the crossing/shooting was generally inaccurate. The absence of the usual strikers for each team today didn't help - Okubo off practicing his diving somewhere and Kennedy probably healing the sick and performing miracles off the field for a change. Nevertheless, there were chances. We hit the bar twice and wasted several other opportunities in the area.
15 minutes after the break, Kim Nam-Il was shown a straight red for a careless tackle in the middle of the park. He went in with his boot raised, and although there was no malice intended, it was probably a fair decision based on the new laws of the game. The timing, however, is not all that bad. Kim was to miss the next couple of matches anyway due to his call-up to the national squad - not that there is ever a "good" time to get a red card. Something of more concern is the condition of Park Kang-Jo. He was brought on in the second half but lasted only ten minutes before he left the field holding his leg/knee in pain.
I've always had a bit of a soft spot for Grampus - for why I'm not exactly sure. Perhaps it's because Vissel vs Grampus was the first ever J.League match I went to back in 1997. But we really needed to beat them today and this defeat hurts. I actually thought that the relegation battle would be over by tonight, but in a strange turn of events, Kashiwa are attempting to pull off the impossible. Not only did Vissel and Omiya (also losing 0-1) fail to put nails in Reysols coffin to J2, the boys in Yellow from Chiba trounced title contenders S-Pulse 5-0! What has happened to Shimizu? With the top 3 teams all winning today, it looks like their season is over now.
So the end of season drama continues...
Kim Nam-Il has been called up to the South Korean national squad for the second time this year for their upcoming friendlies against Denmark and Serbia. Kim has been not been a regular member of the squad since the 2006 World Cup and the few chances he has been given since then have mainly been due to the reluctance of clubs to release their younger stars for friendlies. With the K-League playoffs set to start this month, several other foreign based irregular members are bound to be called up as well. The matches will take place in Europe so this means Vissel will be without Kim for at least 2 of our last 4 league matches and our big Emperor's Cup clash with Kashima on the 14th.
La Famiglia di Kobe now has a sponsor and new t-shirt.
Avery's Irish Pub in downtown Sannomiya, one of our regular post-match watering holes, has been kind enough to associate their establishment (and funds!) with our group.
The new t-shirt has the Godfather-like official embroidered La Famiglia emblem on the front, while the back has two logos - the original La Famiglia logo at the top and The Avery's logo at the bottom.
The t-shirts are available to all members of La Famiglia di Kobe or can be purchased by anyone at the pub.
Vissel defeated Kashiwa 1-0 at home today to progress to the final 16 of this year's Emperor's Cup. Our goal came in the 68th minute courtesy of substitute Okubo, who was later sent off a minute before time.
Next up, we face Kashima away on November 14.
Won't write much now as I'm severely hungover. I'll just say that we beat Niigata yesterday and basically secured another year of pain in J1. Matsuoka got his first goal for us, La Famiglia made some new friends from Brazil, and I spilt my first beer of the year.
Sorry people who were sitting in front of me.
Well, we certainly have an nervous end to the season approaching! Vissel are deservedly hovering 2 spots above relegation now after a 0-1 defeat at Yamagata. We went a goal down 5 minutes before half time, and apparently we had only one shot on target in the entire second half. On this form, the only thing that will save us from playing the likes of Tochigi and Okayama next year is Kashiwa who are playing equally terrible, maintaining a 7 point cushion just below us. All of our remaining 5 games are against teams that are currently mid-table (5th to 11th) and I think a win and a draw will be enough. In contrast, Kashiwa still have to play both Shimizu and Kawasaki, as well as Yamagata and Omiya who are also trying to avoid relegation. I predict we will scrape through.
At the other end of the table, there are only 6 points between the top 8 teams!! On current form, my money is on S-Pulse.
We won our first game in the Emperor's Cup yesterday - 5-0 against Tokai University. Apart from resting Okubo, Kim and Enomoto, Miura opted for an almost full-strength team, obviously trying to avoid the embarrassment of our early exit from the cup last year. In all truth, we didn't play particularly well, despte what the scoreline might suggest. Ganaha and Marcel (2nd half) had a golden opportunity to state their cases for inclusion in the regular squad but were very disappointing. Ganaha seems to be lacking confidence big time which is preventing him from shooting and Marcel is still slow and lazy. Personally, I was hoping to see some of our younger squad members on the bench but, considering we won 5-0, I will refrain from playing "manager" today.
Mogi got a hat trick - in the first half!
Mogi, Mogi, Mogi, oi, oi, oi!!!
BTW, Matsumoto Yamaga, the team we thrashed 8-0 last year, beat Urawa 2-0.
Nice!
This Sunday (1pm @ Home's) is our first match in the Emperor's Cup for this year. It's actually the 2nd round but Vissel got a bye in the 1st round for being such an awesome team! We're up against the powerhouse that is Tokai University, and given our recent form, it will no doubt be a tough match.
We are still in the hunt for silverware!!!
Unfortunately, I was not able to attend the game yesterday, so I will not be writing a report until I see the replay. I did, however, see the highlights and most of them were around the Kyoto goal so this seems to be a game we should have won. Kyoto went ahead just before the half time break when Yanagisawa slotted home a penalty after he was taken down in the area by Uchiyama. Kitamoto leveled the match in the 64th minute when he skillfully latched on to a Botti free kick to score his first goal of the season - in his 200th match for Kobe.
The point still leaves us safe, but in an uncomfortable position just above the relegation zone.
This was always gonna be a tough game. Shimizu haven't lost a league match for about 3 months and are making a valiant challenge for the title - now only a point behind struggling Kashima. To get something away from home today would have been a huge result for us, and in the end, it was obviously asking too much.
Still, I think even the neutrals would have to admit that we gave them a run for their money today. They came out firing and Vissel played most of the first half defensively (as you would expect), but still managed to have some decent shots on goal. But we threw away any chance we had to grab the 3 points when Nam-Il was sent off for a second yellow only 10 minutes into the second half. The tackle definitely didn't warrant a booking but he had already been marked by the ref a couple of times so it was far from surprising.
Tactically, I thought Miura was almost spot on. The way he dealt with the sending off by bringing Uchiyama into the defense and pushing Matsuoka forward into the position (Volante) that he should have been playing all year was the right move, and this gave us hope of taking a point from a bad situation. But we let them score 10 minutes from the end by failing to put someone on the right post for a set piece, Ichikawa scoring the easiest of goals - even nutmegging one of his own teammates.
Had we lost to Gamba or Urawa like that I would still be in shock and unable to write this post. I have always had a soft spot for S-Pulse and I hope they continue on their brilliant run. However, if that's all they've got to beat a 10 man Vissel at home, I wouldn't bet on them just yet.
Here's a stat you won't see much. Yesterday's draw was our third draw against JEF this year! 1 point at home against the second bottom team in the league is 2 dropped points. At 2-1, we had more than enough opportunities to seal the 3 points but Okubo, Mogi, and Yoshida, who were all off form, lacked the finishing touch that they have shown us over the last month or so.
The 2 goals from Park were class, particularly the second. He was the only player for us yesterday who could have put that away from that position and he has definitely earned his renewed status as a starting member. Much of the game was played in the top third on either side so Miura was right to keep 3 up front. But considering none of them were making any kind of impact, I can't understand why he waited until the 87th minute to make our first and only substitute (Baba for Mogi). It was a high pace match and some fresh legs (maybe Koga or Matsuhashi) may have made a difference midway through the second half.
Despite our recent run of form, we've given up 2 goals in each of our last 4 games. This could hurt us should we slip down into the relegation battle and it indicates some defensive problems.
Kudos to the JEF supporters, too. They brought a good crowd (not that much smaller than ours!) all the way from Chiba and they were in fine voice. I don't think it will be enough to keep them up, though.
What a miserable night.
As a Vissel Kobe supporter, there is nothing worse than losing to Gamba. Having been undefeated in the league against them for 4 years, this was going to happen sooner or later - but it's still painful.
We deserved to lose the game. Right from the go - Gamba dominated. They outclassed us all over the pitch, particularly in the center, indicating that our veteran volante partnership of Miyamoto and Kim may not be the answer against strong opposition. All three of their goals looked easy, but, in all fairness, were the result of pure class. Lucas was immense up front for them, reminding us that every team needs a strong, fast striker who is not afraid to shoot (have we ever had one of those?).
As usual, we had our moments but they were few and far between. Ishibitsu's cross to set up Mogi's header was pinpoint accurate giving us hope midway through the first half. We equalized through an Okubo PK which I think we were lucky to get. I haven't seen the replay yet but I think it was given for a late tackle on Yoshida by their keeper.
Some will disagree with me but I thought Enomoto was poor. Although they were not his fault, he could've saved their 2nd and 3rd goals had he been on his usual form.
To sum up, everything about last night was shitty.
A late KO at Banpaku on a Saturday night - it takes forever to get there and even longer to get back (after changing trains about 18 times).
The ground sucks. You can sit anywhere and still be at least 150 meters from the pitch! Exits are limited (1 in the away section) causing huge queues for a crowd that was far from big, and the fans have to listen to ear-piercing shitty remixes of shitty 90's dance music (in mono) through a crackling speaker placed conveniently behind us for most of the evening.
And... it rained. Man, did it rain.
My one regret about last night was not drinking enough to cause the memory loss I'm usually faced with on a Sunday morning.
Less than 2 days until the big game out at Bum-Fucku. With a win, Vissel could actually jump up to 8th in the table, providing some other results go our way.
Apart from survival in J1, NOTHING means more than this match.
Good news. Recent history is on our side. We haven't lost a league game against Scumba for 4 years!
Bad news. It appears that Vissel will be without their largest supporter group, and La Famiglia comrades, Vikinghi. Their main man has been banned for another object throwing incident in the Urawa match, and the group is now prohibited from showing/using their banners, flags etc. Vissel supporters usually only occupy a very small section at away matches so I think we'll be OK this week, but if this ban sticks, our games from now on (both home and away) will not be the same.
Hey, I just found a Kansai Derby page on the J's GOAL website completely dedicated to the six matches per year between Vissel, Scumba and Kyoto. It has statistics and news specific to only those matches and it's actually quite cool!
And for all you tossers out there...
The Vissel Kobe Official Shop will be selling a limited edition Hanshin Derby t-shirt and Scamba/Vissel scarf at the ground on Saturday. Excuse me for cursing but, who the fuck would buy that???
Here's a shot of our captain (ex-Scumba!) holding one of them with a stupid "I'll plug just about anything" grin on his face!!
Look out Bum-Fucku!
Can you imagine Rooney doing the same thing with an Everton scarf, or Sol Campbell with a Tottenham scarf?!
Several times a year, our beloved team reminds us of the joy of being Vissel Kobe supporters. Occasions such as avoiding relegation, gaining promotion, beating Gamba (home & away!) and massive victories at home against the likes of Kashima all come to mind. Last night was one of those occasions when we beat Urawa Reds 3-2 in a magical evening at Home's Stadium.
Without getting to "football", I'll just say that we played them off the park. The 3-2 scoreline did not reflect our overall dominance of the match in defense, and especially the midfield. We played a basic 4-4-2 with Yoshida and Okubo starting up front. In the second half, Okubo dropped back a bit to make way for Mogi who had come on for the injured Nam-Il. Yoshida will be remembered for his 2 goals but Okubo gets my man of the match for the way he held the ball up in the middle throughout the second half. The way a player of his size uses his his strength to shrug off players is immense. I mentioned a while back that his best position is in the hole at the front of the midfield and last night he proved me right. If we have someone else who can play as a straight out striker, that's where he should play.
Special mentions also to Komoto who got the much-needed 3rd goal and Botti who was involved in everything.
Next up we have the second most important match of the season - Gamba away.
It really does seem like every game now is a must-win, and last night was no exception. Apart from a couple of fluke results, Oita have been terrible all year so anything but a victory would have been unacceptable. We dominated for most of the match and should have scored at least 4 or 5. Okubo and Yoshida, the strike partnership on the night, each grabbed a goal, both of which were aided by some very slack defense. Without taking too much away from a decent away victory, Oita were poor. I haven't seen a team lacking that much ability to finish since the one-top Marcel period. It was sad.
Beating a team that bad doesn't mean much. However, there are some reasons for Vissel fans to get excited.
First, Okubo looks sharp again. He's back to his whinging but, as we know too well, that's part of the Yoshito package. He put us 1-0 up when he headed home a nice Yoshida cross after about 30 minutes. It was an easy header, but, he was THERE.
Gakuto started again at right back but Miura came to his senses at half time and brought on Ishibitsu. He immediately made an impact by setting up our second goal. Gakuto plays with a lot of heart and has showed us over the past few games that he probably deserves to be in the squad, but Ishibitsu is simply a better player. End of story.
Finally, we are gradually climbing out of the danger zone heading for our usual mid-table finish. No complaints for now.
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