La Famiglia di Kobe

Squad Update

2012-01-28T16:00:00.000+09:00

The squad numbers for 2012 were announced at the unveiling ceremony last Saturday. No real surprises.
YOSHIDA keeps the captaincy for another year and TOKUSHIGE becomes our 3rd vice-captain along with OKUBO and KOMOTO. I'm not sure if we're the only team with 3 vice-captains but considering our captain plays no more than 65 minutes each game, I guess it's a good idea to have a few options.

Popo deal done

2012-01-12T23:37:00.001+09:00

It took a while, but an agreement between Vissel and Urawa has finally been reached on the Popo transfer. As earlier stated, I think this is a good deal for us. We've strengthened his position with a couple of key signings and, with all due respect, he is now past his prime. Still, we owe him a lot for our ninth place finish last year, so.... THANK YOU VAMOS POPO!!
This now means Vissel are Brazilian-free. How many other Brazilian-free J1 teams are there? None?

Brazilians back to Brazil

2012-01-09T12:33:00.001+09:00

After a decade in Korea and Japan, Vissel's longest ever serving foreign player, Raphael José BOTTI, joins Brazilian Serie A club Figueirense FC. After being promoted to the top flight last year, the club achieved a very respectable 7th position in the league. Figueirense are one of 2 clubs in the city of Florianópolis on Brazil's south-east coast.
Figueirense official website (Portuguese)

Botti arriving at Hercílio Luz International Airport

Meanwhile, Rogério Miranda Silva (Rogerinho) has joined Ceará, a club located in the north-eastern part of Brazil. Unlike Figueirense, Ceará had a year to forget in 2011 finishing 18th in the league, resulting in relegation to Serie B for 2012.
Ceará Sporting Club official website (Portuguese)

Matsuoka moves to Jubilo

2012-01-08T10:00:00.003+09:00

Matsuoka

Defensive midfielder Ryosuke Matsuoka has moved to Jubilo Iwata.
After joining Vissel in 2007 and making his J.League debut the following year, Matsuoka leaves us having played 126 matches. Always one of the most colorful characters in the squad, I think it's fair to say that his effort, passion and commitment far outweighed his ability, and while it's sad to lose another Vissel comrade, I can understand the decision to let him go.

I remember when he made his debut in the first home match of the season in 2008 wearing the number 26 shirt in a glorious 4-1 victory over Frontale (Leandro hat trick). And who could forget the nutty goal celebration when he earned us a priceless 1-0 victory over Albirex, and survival in J1, with his first ever goal.

First goal against Albirex - Oct. 24, 2009
Matsuoka's departure vacates the number 8 shirt which I assume will go to Nozawa.
Good luck with the new challenge and thanks for the memories from all of us at La Famiglia.

No news on Popo... yet

2012-01-03T12:04:00.005+09:00

It's been almost a month since Urawa made an offer for Popo and still we have heard nothing. The club wasted no time at the end of the season releasing our other 2 Brazilians, but Popo's value has risen considerably based on his performance in 2011. He was arguably our best player. Still, if they make a decent offer, I think we should sell him. He'll be 34 this year and I think the signings we have already made can more than fill the Popo gap (Nozawa, in my humble opinion, is one of the best spot kick takers in the league).The club have not commented on the offer so I think it's only a matter of time.

Mikitani sets ACL target

2012-01-02T11:32:00.007+09:00

Mikitani

Rakuten owner Mikitani said at his year-end press conference that we should be targeting an ACL spot this year. He said that the signings we have made so far have strengthened the squad enough to achieve a league position higher than 4th.

It has also come to light that the club paid Kashima around 60 million yen to buy Nozawa out of the final year of his contract. That may not seem much to those of us who are used to seeing European clubs pay enormous fees for star players, but it's a lot for Vissel. In perspective, it is equivalent to Popo's annual salary last year.

Considering that our 4 big signings have all been let go from teams that have the same target, I think top 3 may be slightly unrealistic. Nevertheless, unlike in previous years, we know that our new signings CAN perform in the J.League. I think we are moving in the right direction.

Vissel buy Nozawa!

2011-12-29T00:08:00.000+09:00

Vissel and Kashima have finally agreed on an undisclosed fee that will buy Takuya NOZAWA out of the final year of his contract at the Antlers. An offer was made 10 days ago for both Nozawa and out-of-contract Yuzo Tashiro whose signing was announced soon after.

Nozawa

Much like the other 3 big signings we have made, Nozawa comes to us leaving a long and impressive career behind at his former club. He came up through the Kashima youth and has played 333 first class matches for Kashima, with a fine tally of 66 goals, many of which have come from free kicks. He can play anywhere in midfield but is usually favored in an attacking role on either the left or right.
While I am delighted to see us signing quality players, I am concerned as to how motivated they will be to join a mid-table club after achieving so much at their former clubs. Nozawa has lifted 11 trophies, including 5 J.League championships, and has never finished lower than 6th in the league. It will be fascinating to see if Wada has the ability to motivate these new signings.

Tashiro signs

2011-12-22T21:39:00.000+09:00

Tashiro

The club announced the signing today of Kashima and former national team striker Yuzo Tashiro today. This is our third "experienced but out-of-favor" signing this off season. Despite his agility and pace, Tashiro aften disappointed in terms of number of goals at the several clubs he has played for, though I clearly remember his partnership with Marquinhos in that magnificent Antlers team that won three consecutive titles from 2007 to 2009. After spending a season on loan at Yamagata in 2010, Kashima brought him back for 2011 where he grabbed a respectable 14 goals in 27 appearances (all competitions). It will be interesting to see how Wada uses him next year. Our style of play is entirely different to that of Kashima's so I expect to see big changes next year if Tashiro is to be used regularly.

Gamba's "has-beens" not a bad buy?

2011-12-22T21:14:00.001+09:00

The only time I can bear mentioning Gamba in posts is when we beat them. Nevertheless, we have signed two players from the dark side and I feel as though it should be known.

Hashimoto

Hideo HASHIMOTO was an absolute legend for Gamba. He came up through their junior and youth teams, and was a mainstay in the senior team for 14 consecutive years. He has won EVERYTHING with Gamba; the league, the Nabisco Cup, the Emperor's Cup, the Super Cup and the Asian Champion's League. Primarily a defensive midfielder, he is versatile and talented enough to play almost any position on the park, and often switches positions mid-match. Many Gamba goals can be sourced to his build-up play and he has no problem finding the net himself. He was a regular member of the national squad between 2007 and 2010. Simply put, he is a terrific footballer. But Gamba have obviously felt that he is of no use to them anymore. He played only 4 league matches in 2011 and he will be 33 next year. I'm reserving judgement, for now, on this signing.

Takagi

Some of you may remember Kazumichi TAKAGI. He played half a season for us back in 2004 on loan from S-Pulse. He plays most of his football at center back, although he can also play at left back or defensive midfield if needed. At 188cm, he is set to be our tallest outfield player. He is a great header of the ball in a defensive role, but has not been known to use his height in attack. I still have an image of him as a Shimizu player, in particular the Hasegawa team from the mid 2000's. Unfortunately, his last 3 years at Gamba see him come to us tainted, although not as blue as Hashimoto. What they do have in common is their age (Takagi is one year younger) and the fact that they both fell out of favor at Gamba this season with Takagi playing in 13 league games.

I'm glad we are taking a different approach in the transfer market this year by signing experienced, proven J.League players. I just wish they weren't from Gamba.

Miyamoto retires

2011-12-19T21:01:00.005+09:00

Former Gamba, Red Bull Salzburg and Vissel Kobe defender Tsuneyasu Miyamoto has retired at the age of 34. The end of his 3-year contract with us has brought to an end an impressive career including 12 successful years over at the dark side, 3 injury plagued seasons with Salzburg in Austria and a somewhat disappointing, but lucrative, final 3 seasons in Kobe. But he will be most fondly remembered for his time with the Japan national team, having made 71 appearances (many as captain) and ranking 16 on the list of most capped Japanese players of all time. In particular, he figured prominently in the 2002 and 2006 World Cup teams that helped increase the popularity of soccer as a sport among Japanese.

Miyamoto played almost every game for us in his first season in 2009, but lost both the armband and his starting position the following year, making only 10 league appearances in the 2010 and 2011 seasons combined. The club had offered him a new contract with a much-reduced annual salary, and after considering this and several other offers, including 2 from Thailand, he has made the right decision to hang up his boots.

I have just gone back to read my posts upon his signing for us back in January 2009.

Miyamoto

For a bit of nostalgia:
Vissel signs Miyamoto
and
Captain Miyamoto

My best memory of Miyamoto in a Vissel shirt was the overhead goal he scored against Kawasaki back in July 2009.
Bicycle kick (1:45)

No Contract Renewal

2011-12-05T00:42:00.001+09:00

In addition to the news that Botti will leave us at the end of this season, the club have announced that six other players will not have their contracts renewed for the 2012 season.
22. BABA, Kenji
25. ISHIBITSU, Yosuke
32. YANAGAWA, Masaki
9. ROGERINHO
26. MISHIMA, Kohei
16. KUSUNOSE, Akihito

Botti to leave Vissel

2011-12-04T22:28:00.001+09:00

RAPHAEL JOSE BOTTI ZACARIAS SENA, or "BOTTI" as we like to call him, played his final game for Vissel Kobe yesterday. I would like to go on record here and say that over the last 5 years he has been our most valuable player. Without the stability he brought to our midfield, we would not have remained in J1 this long, and I have often felt that he has not been given enough credit - possibly due to the nature of the position that he plays. Botti is now a Vissel legend in the eyes of La Famiglia and we will miss him very much.
Botti ole, Botti ole, Forza ole - Botti ole!!

KASHIWA Champions!

2011-12-03T23:30:00.000+09:00

Congratulations to Kashiwa Reysol for taking out the title in what was a thrilling 2011 J.League season. I try not to rave too much about the opposition on this site, but I guess now is as good a time as any to send a few kudos their way. As far as I know, they are the only team to ever win the title after being promoted from J2 - quite an amazing achievement when you think about it. And they did it in style - attacking, free flowing football from start to finish. What made their title even sweeter was that they prevented the odds on favorite Grampus from taking out a consecutive championship, as well as Gamba from winning their 2nd title which would have been an absolute disaster.

The three above mentioned teams all qualify for next year's ACL, while we have to say goodbye to Kofu, Fukuoka and Yamagata who have been relegated to J2 for 2012. Congratulations to F.C. Tokyo, Sagan Tosu and Consadole Sapporo on their successful campaigns this year that will see them promoted to J1 next year. Stay tuned for a detailed look back over Vissel's 2011 season and our preparations for next year, but for now, let's just say that 2011 has been another great roller coaster for all J.league supporters and we look forward to a bigger and better season in 2012.

SENDAI 2 - 0 VISSEL

2011-12-03T23:00:00.000+09:00

J.League Division 1 - Round 34

VEGALTA SENDAI 2			0 VISSEL KOBE
15:30, Saturday December 3rd, 2011
Yurtec Stadium
Attendance: 18,575
		AKAMINE, Shingo (19') AKAMINE, Shingo (80')			-
Team Lineup			Team Lineup
GK	16	HAYASHI, Takuto	GK	30	TOKUSHIGE, Kenta
DF	25	SUGAI, Naoki	DF	2	KONDO, Gakuto (83')
DF	5	CHO, Byung Kuk (46')	DF	4	KITAMOTO, Kunie
DF	2	KAMATA, Jiro	DF	14	MIYAMOTO, Tsuneyasu
DF	23	TAMURA, Naoya	DF	3	SOMA, Takahito
MF	8	MATSUSHITA, Toshihiro (90')	MF	24	MIHARA, Masatoshi
MF	17	TOMITA, Shingo	MF	18	TANAKA, Hideo
MF	11	SEKIGUCHI, Kunimitsu	MF	10	BOTTI (60')
MF	10	RYANG, Yong Gi	MF	13	OKUBO, Yoshito
FW	15	OTA, Yoshiaki (83')	FW	17	YOSHIDA, Takayuki (46')
FW	24	AKAMINE, Shingo	FW	11	POPO
Substitutes			Substitutes
GK	1	SAKURAI, Shigeru	GK	1	KISHI, Takahide
DF	3	WATANABE, Kodai (46')	DF	21	MOGI, Hiroto
DF	4	HOSOKAWA, Junya	MF	8	MATSUOKA, Ryosuke
FW	14	TAKAHASHI, Yoshiki (90')	MF	15	OYA, Tsubasa
FW	18	DIEGO	FW	20	MORIOKA, Ryota (83')
FW	19	MUTO, Yuki (83')	FW	27	TOKURA, Ken (46')
FW	9	NAKAHARA, Takayuki	FW	31	OGAWA, Keijiro (60')
		KAMATA (86')			SOMA (89')
		-			-

VISSEL 3 - 1 IWATA

2011-11-27T21:31:00.002+09:00

J.League Division 1 - Round 33

VISSEL KOBE 3			1 JUBILO IWATA
13:00, Sunday November 27th, 2011
Home's Stadium Kobe
Attendance: 17,187
		KITAMOTO, Kunie (19') SOMA, Takahito (25') MORIOKA, Ryota (87')			MAEDA, Ryoichi (80')
Team Lineup			Team Lineup
GK	30	TOKUSHIGE, Kenta	GK	1	KAWAGUCHI, Yoshikatsu
DF	2	KONDO, Gakuto (85')	DF	5	KOMANO, Yuichi
DF	4	KITAMOTO, Kunie	DF	2	KAGA, Kenichi (11')
DF	5	KOMOTO, Hiroyuki	DF	33	FUJITA, Yoshiaki
DF	3	SOMA, Takahito	DF	6	NASU, Daisuke
MF	24	MIHARA, Masatoshi	MF	22	KOBAYASHI, Yuki
MF	18	TANAKA, Hideo	MF	49	SOUTO, Rodrigo
MF	10	BOTTI (63')	MF	11	NISHI, Norihiro (67')
MF	13	OKUBO, Yoshito	MF	8	GILSINHO (72')
FW	17	YOSHIDA, Takayuki (73')	FW	17	KANAZONO, Hidetaka
FW	11	POPO	FW	18	MAEDA, Ryoichi
Substitutes			Substitutes
GK	1	KISHI, Takahide	GK	21	HATTA, Naoki
DF	14	MIYAMOTO, Tsuneyasu	DF	50	KOGA, Masahiro (11')
DF	21	MOGI, Hiroto (85')	MF	16	KANAZAWA, Jo
MF	15	OYA. Tsubasa	MF	3	OKADA, Ryu
MF	20	MORIOKA, Ryota (73')	MF	20	YAMAMOTO, Shuto (67')
FW	27	TOKURA, Ken (89')	MF	28	FUNATANI, Keisuke
FW	31	OGAWA, Keijiro (63')	FW	19	ARATA, Tomoyuki (72')
		OKUBO (54') OGAWA (76')			GILSINHO (15') MAEDA (47')
		-			-

CEREZO 0 - 3 VISSEL

2011-11-20T22:19:00.004+09:00

J.League Division 1 - Round 32

CEREZO OSAKA 0			3 VISSEL KOBE
16:00, Sunday November 20th, 2011
Kincho Stadium
Attendance: 16,030
		-			YOSHIDA, Takayuki (11') KITAMOTO, Kunie (53') OKUBO, Yoshita (90'+5)
Team Lineup			Team Lineup
GK	21	KIM, Jin Hyeon	GK	30	TOKUSHIGE, Kenta
DF	3	MONIWA, Teruyuki	DF	2	KONDO, Gakuto
DF	14	MARUHASHI, Yusuke	DF	4	KITAMOTO, Kunie
DF	17	SAKEMOTO, Noriyuki	DF	5	KOMOTO, Hiroyuki
DF	22	UEMOTO, Taikai	DF	3	SOMA, Takahito
MF	9	LOPES, Fabio (75')	MF	24	MIHARA, Masatoshi
MF	10	MARTINEZ	MF	18	TANAKA, Hideo
MF	13	KIYOTAKE, Hiroshi	MF	10	BOTTI (85')
MF	16	KIM, Bo-Kyung (56')	MF	13	OKUBO, Yoshito
MF	23	KURATA, Shu	FW	17	YOSHIDA, Takayuki (65')
FW	31	SUGIMOTO, Kenyu	FW	11	POPO (90'+4)
Substitutes			Substitutes
GK	1	MATSUI, Kenya	GK	1	KISHI, Takahide
DF	4	FUJIMOTO, Koya	DF	14	MIYAMOTO, Tsuneyasu
DF	14	MARUHASHI, Yusuke	MF	21	MOGI, Hiroto
MF	7	OTAKE, Yohei	MF	9	ROGERINHO
MF	25	KUROGI, Masato	FW	20	MORIOKA, Ryota (65')
MF	26	MURATA, Kazuya (75')	FW	27	TOKURA, Ken (90'+4)
FW	11	BANDO, Ryuji (56')	FW	31	OGAWA, Keijiro (85')
		SAKEMOTO (41') KURATA (50') MARUHASHI (85')			-
		-			-

Post Match Comments

La Famiglia: What a fantastic win. Our first game at Kincho, second demolition of Cerezo this year, played like Barcelona (well, in parts), Kunie scored, Bando came on - and did nothing, and it looks like we've secured a mid-table finish. Life is grand.
As crazy as it sounds, the Barca reference wasn't completely fiction. Some of our one-touch passing and confidence on the ball was the best I have seen in, well, ever! Just goes to show that once the pressure of relegation is relieved, we can actually play some good football. Check out the Kunie goal captured on the La Famiglia camera.

F.C. TOKYO 2 - 1 VISSEL

2011-11-16T11:45:00.000+09:00

Vissel were eliminated from this year's Emperor's Cup by F.C. Tokyo in a match that went down to the wire. It appeared the game was heading to penalties but Tokyo grabbed the winner in the 121st minute. All 3 goals came from corners!
This loss was hard to take considering we played a full strength team against a J2 opponent. Still, I would be lying if I said I wasn't used to seeing us bow out of the cup every year in the early stages...

VISSEL 2 - 0 YAMAGATA

2011-11-03T23:03:00.001+09:00

J.League Division 1 - Round 31

VISSEL KOBE 2			0 MONTEDIO YAMAGATA
17:00, Thursday November 3rd, 2011
Home's Stadium Kobe
Attendance: 11,420
		YOSHIDA, Takayuki (30') POPO (44')			-
Team Lineup			Team Lineup
GK	30	TOKUSHIGE, Kenta	GK	1	SHIMIZU, Kenta
DF	2	KONDO, Gakuto	DF	2	KOBAYASHI, Ryo
DF	4	KITAMOTO, Kunie	DF	32	MAEDA, Kazuya
DF	5	KOMOTO, Hiroyuki	DF	3	ISHII, Hidenori
DF	21	MOGI, Hiroto	DF	13	ISHIKAWA, Tatsuya
MF	15	OYA, Tsubasa	MF	28	OTA, Tetsuro (67')
MF	8	MATSUOKA, Ryosuke	MF	14	MIYAMOTO, Takuya
MF	7	PARK, Kang-jo	MF	9	FURUHASHI, Tatsuya (74')
MF	13	OKUBO, Yoshito (81')	MF	17	SATO, Kentaro
FW	17	YOSHIDA, Takayuki (69')	MF	7	MIYAZAWA, Katsuyuki (78')
FW	11	POPO (89')	FW	33	YAMAZAKI, Masato
Substitutes			Substitutes
GK	1	KISHI, Takahide	GK	16	UEKUSA, Yuki
DF	3	SOMA, Takahito	DF	22	SONODA, Takuya
DF	14	MIYAMOTO, Tsuneyasu	DF	26	YAMADA, Takumi
MF	10	BOTTI	MF	8	FUNAYAMA, Yuji
MF	18	TANAKA, Hideo (69')	MF	24	ITO, Shun (78')
MF	20	MORIOKA, Ryota (89')	MF	29	HIROSE, Tomoyasu (67')
FW	26	MISHIMA, Kohei (81')	FW	10	HASEGAWA, Yu (74')
		-			MAEDA (16')
		-			-

Post Match Comments

La Famiglia: That's it! We have secured our J1 status with a month still to go in the season. I cannot remember the last time we did that...
From a neutral perspective, this would've been a decent match. Very open, quite a few chances, end to end. But in terms of skill, it lacked a lot on both sides - especially the blue one. Yamagata were terrible, and as much as it hurts to see a team relegated, based on this performance, they deserved it. That said, they could have snatched a draw, having hit the bar twice. Popo and Yoshida were both immense for us and it was only just that they both got on the scoresheet. Lots of negatives to take out of this, but today, let's not.
We have survived.

KASHIMA 1 - 1 VISSEL

2011-10-22T23:30:00.000+09:00

J.League Division 1 - Round 30

KASHIMA ANTLERS 1			1 VISSEL KOBE
17:00, Saturday October 22nd, 2011
Kashima Stadium
Attendance: 13,248
		NOZAWA, Takuya (63')			POPO (54')
Team Lineup			Team Lineup
GK	21	SOGAHATA, Hitoshi	GK	30	TOKUSHIGE, Kenta
DF	7	ARAIBA, Toru	DF	2	KONDO, Gakuto
DF	15	AOKI, Takeshi	DF	4	KITAMOTO, Kunie
DF	6	NAKATA, Koji	DF	5	KOMOTO, Hiroyuki
DF	5	ALEX	DF	21	MOGI, Hiroto
MF	20	SHIBASAKI, Gaku	MF	15	OYA, Tsubasa
MF	40	OGASAWARA, Mitsuo (58')	MF	8	MATSUOKA, Ryosuke
MF	8	NOZAWA, Takuya	MF	7	PARK, Kang-jo
MF	25	ENDO, Yasushi (79')	MF	10	BOTTI
FW	9	OSAKO, Yuya	MF	17	YOSHIDA, Takayuki (66')
FW	30	TASHIRO, Yuzo (73')	FW	11	POPO (89')
Substitutes			Substitutes
GK	1	SUGIYAMA, Tetsu	GK	1	KISHI, Takahide
DF	22	NISHI, Daigo	DF	14	MIYAMOTO, Tsuneyasu
MF	10	MOTOYAMA, Masashi	MF	25	ISHIBITSU, Yosuke
MF	11	FELLYPE GABRIEL (79')	MF	18	TANAKA, Hideo
MF	14	MASUDA, Chikashi (58')	MF	24	MIHARA, Masatoshi
FW	13	KOROKI, Shinzo (73')	FW	20	MORIOKA, Ryota (66')
FW	18	TARTA	FW	26	MISHIMA, Kohei (89')
		-			OYA (24') KOMOTO (61') MOGI (62')
		-			-

VISSEL 1 - 1 SHIMIZU

2011-10-15T11:00:00.003+09:00

J.League Division 1 - Round 29

VISSEL KOBE 1			1 SHIMIZU S-PULSE
16:00, Saturday October 22nd, 2011
Home's Stadium Kobe
Attendance: 12,706
		MORIOKA, Ryota (85')			BOSNAR, Eddy (55')
Team Lineup			Team Lineup
GK	30	TOKUSHIGE, Kenta	GK	1	YAMAMOTO, Kaito
DF	2	KONDO, Gakuto	DF	15	TSUJIO, Shinji
DF	4	KITAMOTO, Kunie	DF	5	IWASHITA, Keisuke
DF	5	KOMOTO, Hiroyuki	DF	17	BOSNAR, Eddy
DF	3	SOMA, Takahito (60')	DF	4	OTA, Kosuke
MF	24	MIHARA, Masatoshi (89')	MF	23	JONG-A-PIN, Calvin
MF	8	MATSUOKA, Ryosuke	MF	18	ONO, Shinji (90'+1)
MF	7	PARK, Kang-jo	MF	28	TAKEUCHI, Ryo (53')
MF	10	BOTTI	FW	11	OMAE, Genki
MF	17	YOSHIDA, Takayuki (68')	FW	13	TAKAGI, Toshiyuki
FW	11	POPO	FW	19	TAKAHARA, Naohiro (80')
Substitutes			Substitutes
GK	1	KISHI, Takahide	GK	29	USUI, Kenpei
DF	14	MIYAMOTO, Tsuneyasu	DF	3	HIRAOKA, Yasuhiro
DF	21	MOGI, Hiroto (60')	DF	26	MURAMATSU, Taisuke (80')
DF	15	OYA, Tsubasa	MF	6	SUGIYAMA, Kota (53')
MF	20	MORIOKA, Ryota (68')	MF	7	YAMAMOTO, Masaki
FW	19	ARITA, Koki	FW	8	EDAMURA, Takuma
FW	26	MISHIMA, Kohei (89')	FW	27	NABETA, Atomu (90'+1)
		KOMOTO (22') MIHARA (74')			ONO (76') JONG-A-PIN (77', 77') IWASHITA (80')
		-			JONG-A-PIN (77')

Post Match Comments

YOSHIDA: Overall
"I thought the game was played at our pace for the 90 minutes. It was a blow to go a goal down to a set piece, but we had a lot of chances in the first half and we should've taken at least one. Our shape was good but we just couldn't finish. As a forward, I need to take responsibility for that."
You were aiming for 4 more wins..
"Yes, a draw at home really hurts, but we want to finish in the top 9 and we will give everything to try and achieve that."

La Famiglia: I agree with Yoshida in that we controlled the majority of the match. We had twice as many shots on goal as them and I think we deserved no less than a draw. To be honest, I thought S-Pulse would bring a little more to this match. Only a few times during the 90 minutes did we see flashes of the class that makes them a better team, at least on paper, and they must be more than satisfied with the point considering this performance. Personally, I was disappointed we didn't get to see Freddy - he's an unreal player! Takahara, however, looks very uninterested and I can see why Urawa let him go. For us, Botti and Popo were the stand-outs again. Botti completely controlled the midfield, pinging passes left, right and center, and Popo was involved in all of our attacks. They way he set up our equalizer, totally embarrassing my fellow countryman Eddy, was pure class. It needs to be said that the extra man advantage after Jong-a-pin was sent off helped us a lot. Ghotbi's attempt to go into shut-down mode backfired and it really looked like we could even snatch the 3 points. Regarding the sending off, it appears that Jong-a-pin is unaware of the rules of football. Just because your foot touches the ball doesn't mean you can bring down a player, especially from behind. ".. but I got the ball" went out years ago. He acted like a total knobhead and was rightly given his marching orders. The La Famiglia camera caught the entire incident. Anyway, we have almost ensured J1 status which, in itself, is a real achievement for us at this point in the season.

VISSEL 8 - 0 SANYO

2011-10-10T23:27:00.000+09:00

Vissel got our Emperor's Cup campaign off to a decent start last Monday with an 8-0 win over Sanyo Electric Sumoto. The game was as you'd expect, a friendly, one-sided affair that we dominated from start to finish. It was also our first visit out to the Kakogawa Sports Park, a mini-trek that actually turned out to be a lot of fun. The ground reminded me a lot of the one at Miki that we went to exactly 5 years ago. The grassy hill provides an excellent spot to get absolutely trashed in the warm Autumn afternoon sun. To be honest, it was the least football I have ever watched at a football match! Can't wait to do it again.

Bae in Korean U-22

2011-10-06T22:57:00.000+09:00

Our new Korean forward BAE Chun-Suk has been selected in the U-22 Korean squad for the their upcoming match against Uzbekistan. BAE has made only a few substitute appearances for us since being brought in last July, but he joins the growing list of young players we have representing national teams. Hopefully, this is a positive sign for the future.

HIROSHIMA 1 - 0 VISSEL

2011-10-01T22:20:00.002+09:00

J.League Division 1 - Round 28

SANFRECCE HIROSHIMA 1			0 VISSEL KOBE
13:30, Saturday October 1st, 2011
Big Arch
Attendance: 12,706
		NAKAJIMA, Koji (90'+1)			-
Team Lineup			Team Lineup
GK	1	NISHIKAWA, Shusaku	GK	30	TOKUSHIGE, Kenta
DF	24	MORIKAWA, Ryota (27')	DF	2	KONDO, Gakuto (88')
DF	8	MORISAKI, Kazuyuki	DF	4	KITAMOTO, Kunie
DF	4	MIZUMOTO, Hiroki	DF	5	KOMOTO, Hiroyuki
MF	14	MIKIC, Mihael (77')	DF	3	SOMA, Takahito
MF	6	AOYAMA, Toshihiro (71')	MF	24	MIHARA, Masatoshi
MF	7	MORISAKI, Koji	MF	18	TANAKA, Hideo
MF	17	HATTORI, Kota	MF	7	PARK, Kang-jo
FW	15	TAKAHAGI, Yojiro	MF	10	BOTTI (74')
FW	9	LEE, Tadanari	MF	13	OKUBO, Yoshito
FW	11	SATO, Hisato	FW	17	YOSHIDA, Takayuki (57')
Substitutes			Substitutes
GK	34	NAKABAYASHI, Hirotsugu	GK	1	KISHI, Takahide
DF	22	YOKOTAKE, Tsubasa	DF	14	MIYAMOTO, Tsuneyasu
MF	35	NAKAJIMA, Koji (27')	MF	6	HANEDA, Kenji (88')
MF	20	ISHIKAWA, Hironori	MF	15	OYA, Tsubasa
MF	16	YAMAGISHI, Satoru (77')	MF	11	POPO (57')
MF	10	MUJIRI, David (71')	FW	19	ARITA, Koki (74')
FW	25	OSAKI, Junya	FW	26	MISHIMA, Kohei
		MIKIC (20')			TANAKA (10') OKUBO (14')
		-			-

Not safe yet...

2011-09-25T12:37:00.003+09:00

What a season it has been so far. 10 wins, 5 draws and 12 losses. Some of us declared 2 weeks ago we were safe - sitting 8th in the table. Now we find ourselves back down closer to familiar Vissel territory, seemingly at the beginning of another bad run with 7 matches to go. From this position, relegation would be an absolute disaster. If I were a neutral, I would still bet on us staying up, but the last two matches have brought back that annual autumn anxiousness that may hang around until the end of the season. All but one of our remaining league games are against teams in the top half of the table.

So what's going wrong? Well, in all fairness, our last two losses have been against very good sides. But one thing that really stood out for me, especially after watching the replays, was that our defense is failing big time, and it hurts me to say that Kitamoto has been the major factor in this. He was torn apart on the ground by Kashiwa last week and then in the air by Grampus two days ago. We have conceded 11 goals in our last 3 losses. Given his attitude and service up until now, dropping him would be a very hard decision to make, but I think the manager will need to consider this - next year. We have no one that can come into center back now. Miyamoto would not offer any more. He's too short and too slow to deal with top J.League forwards now and even his position on the bench seems a waste these days. If Yanagawa comes back from loan next year, he will give us another option, but I really think we need to bring in someone new. Takuya Iwanami, our U-18 center back, captained the national U-17 team at the World Cup in Mexico this year and looks certain to keep his place for the 2013 U-20 World Cup. He now trains with our first team, but we need a player with more experience to come in until he is ready to start for us... or until Gamba buys him, in which case we need to go shopping anyway.

This was how we started against Grampus. Popo's suspension meant that Okubo had to move up front with Yoshida and his skill and ability to hold the ball up in midfield was missed. Soma got his first start and he set up Park's goal. Overall he did ok, but we will need to see him play more to decide if he is worth keeping for next year.

GRAMPUS 3 - 1 VISSEL

2011-09-23T18:00:00.002+09:00

J.League Division 1 - Round 27

NAGOYA GRAMPUS 3			1 VISSEL KOBE
19:00, Friday September 23rd, 2011
Mizuho Stadium
Attendance: 15,987
		TANAKA, Marcus Tulio (10') FUJIMOTO, Jungo (61') KENNEDY, Joshua (86')			PARK, Kang-jo (4')
Team Lineup			Team Lineup
GK	1	NARAZAKI, Seigo	GK	30	TOKUSHIGE, Kenta
DF	32	TANAKA, Hayuma	DF	2	KONDO, Gakuto
DF	4	TANAKA, Marcus Tulio	DF	4	KITAMOTO, Kunie
DF	5	MASUKAWA, Takahiro	DF	5	KOMOTO, Hiroyuki
DF	6	ABE, Shohei	DF	3	SOMA, Takahito
MF	7	NAKAMURA, Naoshi (62')	MF	24	MIHARA, Masatoshi
MF	20	DANILSON	MF	8	MATSUOKA, Ryosuke
MF	8	FUJIMOTO, Jungo (62')	MF	7	PARK, Kang-jo
FW	10	OGAWA, Yoshizumi (88')	MF	10	BOTTI (71')
FW	16	KENNEDY, Joshua	MF	13	OKUBO, Yoshito (84')
FW	11	TAMADA, Keiji	FW	17	YOSHIDA, Takayuki (71')
Substitutes			Substitutes
GK	50	TAKAGI, Yoshinari	GK	1	KISHI, Takahide
DF	3	CHIYOTANDA, Mitsuru	DF	14	MIYAMOTO, Tsuneyasu
MF	9	BURZANOVIC, Igor	MF	29	HAYASHI, Keisuke
MF	14	YOSHIMURA, Keiji (88')	MF	6	HANEDA, Kenji
MF	33	ISOMURA, Ryota	MF	18	TANAKA, Hideo (71')
FW	18	NAGAI, Kensuke (62')	FW	19	ARITA, Koki (71')
FW	25	KANAZAKI, Mu (62')	FW	26	MISHIMA, Kohei (84')
		TANAKA, Marcus Tulio (26') FUJIMOTO (31') DANILSON (81')			MATSUOKA (42')
		-			-

Vissel Youth in Japan U-18

2011-09-18T17:36:00.000+09:00

Hirota (18)

Iwanami (17)

Two Vissel youth players have been selected in the national U-18 squad to travel to Thailand on September 23. Ryuji HIROTA (MF) and Takuya IWANAMI (DF) will join the squad that will begin their initial preparations for the 2013 U-20 World Cup.

VISSEL 0 - 4 KASHIWA

2011-09-17T23:30:00.004+09:00

J.League Division 1 - Round 26

VISSEL KOBE 0			4 KASHIWA REYSOL
19:00, Saturday September 17th, 2011
Kobe Universiade
Attendance: 14,253
		-			KUDO, Masato (4') WAGNER (58') TANAKA, Junya (74') PARK, Dong-hyuk (77')
Team Lineup			Team Lineup
GK	30	TOKUSHIGE, Kenta	GK	21	SUGANO, Takanori
DF	25	ISHIBITSU, Yosuke	DF	5	MASUSHIMA, Tatsuya
DF	4	KITAMOTO, Kunie	DF	6	PARK, Dong-hyuk
DF	5	KOMOTO, Hiroyuki	DF	3	KONDO, Naoya
DF	29	HAYASHI, Keisuke (61')	DF	22	HASHIMOTO, Wataru
MF	24	MIHARA, Masatoshi (82')	MF	8	SAWA, Masakatsu (81')
MF	18	TANAKA, Hideo	MF	28	KURISAWA, Ryoichi
MF	7	PARK, Kang-jo	MF	7	OTANI, Hidekazu
MF	13	OKUBO, Yoshito	MF	15	WAGNER
MF	17	YOSHIDA, Takayuki (61')	FW	19	KUDO, Masato (82')
FW	11	POPO (72')	FW	18	TANAKA, Junya
Substitutes			Substitutes
GK	1	KISHI, Takahide	GK	16	INADA, Koji
DF	3	SOMA, Takahito (61')	DF	2	NAKAJIMA, Takanori
DF	14	MIYAMOTO, Tsuneyasu	DF	23	KURAKAWA, Yohei
DF	6	HANEDA, Kenji	MF	14	Kweon Han-Jin
MF	10	BOTTI (61')	FW	17	AHN, Young-Hak
FW	20	MORIOKA, Ryota	FW	13	HYODO, Akihiro (81')
FW	19	ARITA, Koki (82')	FW	11	HAYASHI, Ryohei (82')
		KOMOTO (77') POPO (87')			WAGNER (24') SAWA (37') HASHIMOTO (83') MASUSHIMA (85')
		-			-

Post Match Comments

La Famiglia: Bit of a reality check for us. We never really looked in this game and despite a few good recent results, I knew it would take something special to get any points against Kashiwa, who for me have been the best team in the league this year. Without making too many blatent errors, our defense seemed to struggle throughout, particularly Kitamoto. He is a rock when dealing with long balls or anything in the air, but looked very out of sorts when the Kashiwa attack carried the ball at pace into our area. Our boys never gave up and I guess sometimes you have to hold your hands up and admit the gap in class. It's just hard to do when the team in question just got promoted!

KAWASAKI 0 - 3 VISSEL

2011-09-11T20:55:00.001+09:00

J.League Division 1 - Round 25

KAWASAKI FRONTALE 0			3 VISSEL KOBE
19:00, Sunday September 11th, 2011
Todoroki Stadium
Attendance: 14,918
		-			YOSHIDA, Takayuki (39') PARK, Kang-jo (51') OKUBO, Yoshito (88')
Team Lineup			Team Lineup
GK	28	SUGIYAMA, Rikihiro	GK	30	TOKUSHIGE, Kenta
DF	3	TANAKA, Yusuke	DF	2	KONDO, Gakuto (84')
DF	4	IGAWA, Yusuke	DF	4	KITAMOTO, Kunie
DF	17	KIKUCHI, Kosuke	DF	5	KOMOTO, Hiroyuki
DF	24	TANAKA, Yudai (86')	DF	29	HAYASHI, Keisuke (60')
MF	6	TASAKA, Yusuke	MF	24	MIHARA, Masatoshi
MF	19	SHIBASAKI, Kosei	MF	18	TANAKA, Hideo
MF	13	YAMASE, Koji (69')	MF	7	PARK, Kang-jo
MF	16	KUSUKAMI, Junpei	MF	13	OKUBO, Yoshito
FW	9	YAJIMA, Takuro (81')	MF	17	YOSHIDA, Takayuki (69')
FW	10	JUNINHO	FW	11	POPO
Substitutes			Substitutes
GK	1	AIZAWA, Takashi	GK	1	KISHI, Takahide
DF	2	ITO, Hiroki	DF	14	MIYAMOTO, Tsuneyasu
DF	5	SONODA, Jun	MF	6	HANEDA, Kenji (84')
MF	30	OSHIMA, Ryota	MF	9	ROGERINHO
MF	23	NOBORIZATO, Kyohei (81')	MF	10	BOTTI (60')
FW	21	NATSUME, Yuki (86')	FW	20	MORIOKA, Ryota
FW	11	KOBAYASHI, Yu (69')	FW	19	ARITA, Koki (69')
		SHIBASAKI (76')			MIHARA (41')
		-			-

Post Match Comments

WADA, Masahiro: Overall
"That was a huge win for us away from home. We had 2 weeks since the 4-0 defeat to Gamba to rebuild and we wanted to show what we could do here today. We started with two different side backs in Hayashi and Kondo. I was a little concerned about Hayashi as it was his first start this year, but he was solid for us. Unfortunately, both of them cramped up and they had to be substituted. Our first 2 goals were very Kobe-like, hard work and pressing up front, and I knew the lead would give us an opportunity to get something on the counter."

VISSEL 0 - 4 GAMBA

2011-08-28T23:43:00.002+09:00

J.League Division 1 - Round 24

VISSEL KOBE 0			4 GAMBA OSAKA
18:00, Sunday August 28th, 2011
Home's Stadium Kobe
Attendance: 17,177
		-			TAKEI, Takuya (28') KIM, Seung-yong (55') LEE, Keunho (70') FUTAGAWA, Takahiro (90'+4)
Team Lineup			Team Lineup
GK	30	TOKUSHIGE, Kenta	GK	1	FUJIGAYA, Yosuke
DF	25	ISHIBITSU, Yosuke	DF	21	KAJI, Akira
DF	4	KITAMOTO, Kunie	DF	4	TAKAGI, Kazumichi
DF	5	KOMOTO, Hiroyuki	DF	5	YAMAGUCHI, Satoshi
DF	21	MOGI, Hiroto	DF	15	FUJIHARU, Hiroki
MF	24	MIHARA, Masatoshi (85')	MF	17	MYOJIN, Tomokazu
MF	18	TANAKA, Hideo	MF	7	ENDO, Yasuhito (77')
MF	7	PARK, Kang-jo	MF	13	KIM, Seung-yong (70')
MF	10	OKUBO, Yoshito	MF	23	TAKEI, Takuya
MF	17	YOSHIDA, Takayuki (60')	FW	22	LEE, Keunho
FW	11	POPO (72')	FW	9	RAFINHA (83')
Substitutes			Substitutes
GK	1	KISHI, Takahide	GK	29	KIMURA, Atsushi
DF	2	KONDO, Gakuto	DF	3	KIM, Jungya
DF	14	MIYAMOTO, Tsuneyasu	DF	8	SASAKI, Hayato
MF	6	HANEDA, Kenji	MF	10	FUTAGAWA, Takahiro (77')
MF	9	ROGERINHO (60')	FW	14	HIRAI, Shoki (83')
FW	19	ARITA, Koki (72')	FW	16	OTSUKA, Shohei
FW	35	BAE, Chun-suk (85')	FW	33	AFONSO (70')
		-			MYOJIN (37') RAFINHA (54') FUJIHARU (90')
		-			-

FUKUOKA 2 - 2 VISSEL

2011-08-24T22:57:00.003+09:00

J.League Division 1 - Round 23

AVISPA FUKUOKA 2			2 VISSEL KOBE
19:00, Wednesday August 24th, 2011
Level-5 Stadium
Attendance: 6,119
		MATSUURA, Takuya (60') SHIGEMATSU, Kentaro (90'+3)			POPO (6') YOSHIDA, Takayuki (24')
Team Lineup			Team Lineup
GK	23	ROKUTAN, Yuji	GK	30	TOKUSHIGE, Kenta
DF	3	YAMAGATA, Tatsunori (71')	DF	25	ISHIBITSU, Yosuke
DF	6	NIWA, Daiki	DF	4	KITAMOTO, Kunie
DF	13	KOBARA, Shogo	DF	14	MIYAMOTO, Tsuneyasu (72')
DF	4	WADA, Takumi	DF	21	MOGI, Hiroto
MF	7	NAKAMACHI, Kosuke	MF	8	MATSUOKA, Ryosuke
MF	8	SUZUKI, Jun	MF	18	TANAKA, Hideo (59')
MF	11	TANAKA, Yusuke	MF	7	PARK, Kang-jo
MF	14	MATSUURA, Takuya	MF	13	OKUBO, Yoshito
FW	16	OKAMOTO, Hideya (74')	MF	17	YOSHIDA, Takayuki (68')
FW	10	JOGO, Hisashi (81')	FW	11	POPO
Substitutes			Substitutes
GK	1	KAMIYAMA, Ryuichi	GK	1	KISHI, Takahide
DF	20	MIYAJI, Yosuke	DF	2	KONDO, Gakuto
DF	2	KIM, Min Jae (71')	MF	6	HANEDA, Kenji (72')
MF	22	SUEYOSHI, Toshiya	MF	9	ROGERINHO
MF	21	SHIMIZU, Norihisa	MF	24	MIHARA, Masatoshi (59')
FW	24	SHIGEMATSU, Kentaro (74')	FW	19	ARITA, Koki
FW	9	TAKAHASHI, Yutaka (81')	FW	35	BAE, Chun-suk (68')
		TANAKA (17')			OKUBO (58') ISHIBITSU (68')
		-			-

VISSEL 2 - 1 NIIGATA

2011-08-20T22:40:00.006+09:00

J.League Division 1 - Round 22

VISSEL KOBE 2			1 NIIGATA ALBIREX
19:00, Saturday August 20th, 2011
Home's Stadium Kobe
Attendance: 11,340
		YOSHIDA, Takayuki (30') MATSUOKA, Ryosuke (60')			ANDERSON (4')
Team Lineup			Team Lineup
GK	30	TOKUSHIGE, Kenta	GK	21	HIGASHIGUCHI, Masaaki
DF	25	ISHIBITSU, Yosuke	DF	25	MURAKAMI, Yusuke
DF	4	KITAMOTO, Kunie	DF	3	CHIBA, Kazuhiko
DF	5	KOMOTO, Hiroyuki	DF	36	KIKUCHI, Naoya
DF	2	KONDO, Gakuto	DF	5	ISHIKAWA, Naoki
MF	8	MATSUOKA, Ryosuke	MF	6	MIKADO, Yuta (74')
MF	18	TANAKA, Hideo	MF	15	HONMA, Isao
MF	7	PARK, Kang-jo	MF	23	TANAKA, Atomu
MF	10	OKUBO, Yoshito (90'+1)	MF	9	CHO, Young Cheol (66')
MF	17	YOSHIDA, Takayuki (63')	FW	11	BRUNO, Lopes
FW	11	POPO (83')	FW	7	ANDERSON (81')
Substitutes			Substitutes
GK	1	KISHI, Takahide	GK	30	OZAWA, Hideaki
DF	14	MIYAMOTO, Tsuneyasu	DF	4	SUZUKI, Daisuke
DF	29	HAYASHI, Keisuke	DF	24	SAKAI, Gotoku
MF	9	ROGERINHO	MF	32	KOBAYASHI, Yoshiyuki (74')
MF	24	MIHARA, Masatoshi (63')	MF	14	FUJITA, Seiya
FW	19	ARITA, Koki (90'+1)	FW	8	KOGURE, Fumiya (81')
FW	35	BAE, Chun-suk (83')	FW	18	KAWAMATA, Kengo (66')
		KOMOTO (5') MATSUOKA (14')			MIKADO (20') TANAKA (72') (79')
		-			TANAKA (79')

Post Match Comments

	WADA, Masahiro: Overall "I wasn't really satisfied with our first half performance. They were putting pressure on our two center backs which was uncomfortable for us, especially after Komoto got a yellow. Therefore, I felt we were lucky to grab that equalizer through Yoshida. It really took the pressure off. I told the players at half time that they need to start moving the ball with more confidence and not rely so much on the long ball. The movement improved with both side backs getting up and Matsuoka did well to get that far foward to jump on the loose ball. Our substitutes have stepped up when players have been suspended and I expect them to do the same on Wednesday when we have to play without Komoto."
	OKUBO, Yoshito: Overall "I'd give us 0 out of 100 for our first half performance. We tried to push up and get in behind their defenders, but it ended up being 45 minutes of throw ins and defending. The goal was some individual brilliance from Taka-san (Yoshida) who was our lone front man for most of the half. The second half was much better with Matsuoka and Tanaka moving forward into the gaps and we were able to start making passes, something we wanted to do from the beginning. When Matsuoka plays well, we always win, so I am looking forward to seeing him grow even more to strengthen the team as a whole."
	La Famiglia: I'm back. Having suffered years of below average football in Kobe, I have to say that Yoshito's comments were a bit harsh. Yes, we were much better in the second half, but I thought we were doing enough to stay in the match. For the first time in a while, Kitamoto and Komoto looked fragile. Their two Brazilians we using strength and pace to put lots of pressure on, however, I felt this could have been avoided had Gakuto not tried to get forward so early. The gap he left was stretching the line and we lost the first line of defense in Matsuoka when he had to drop back to cover. It will be interesting to see what Wada does in Komoto's absense on Wednesday. March on - 4 wins in a row!

VISSEL 2 - 0 YOKOHAMA

2011-08-13T23:37:00.002+09:00

J.League Division 1 - Round 21

VISSEL KOBE 2			0 YOKOHAMA F.MARINOS
19:00, Saturday August 13th, 2011
Home's Stadium Kobe
Attendance: 13,930
		OKUBO, Yoshito (34') POPO (88')			-
Team Lineup			Team Lineup
GK	30	TOKUSHIGE, Kenta	GK	21	IIKURA, Hiroki
DF	25	ISHIBITSU, Yosuke	DF	20	HATO, Yasuhiro
DF	4	KITAMOTO, Kunie	DF	4	KURIHARA, Yuzo
DF	5	KOMOTO, Hiroyuki	DF	22	NAKAZAWA, Yuji
DF	21	MOGI, Hiroto	DF	24	KANAI, Takashi (83')
MF	18	TANAKA, Hideo	MF	6	OGURA, Shohei
MF	10	BOTTI (21')	MF	25	NAKAMURA, Shunsuke (63')
MF	7	PARK, Kang jo (90')	MF	29	TANIGUCHI, Hiroyuki
MF	13	OKUBO, Yoshito (86')	MF	7	HYODO, Shingo
MF	17	YOSHIDA, Takayuki (75')	FW	11	OGURO, Masashi
FW	11	POPO	FW	9	WATANABE, Kazuma (63')
Substitutes			Substitutes
GK	1	KISHI, Takahide	GK	1	ENOMOTO, Tetsuya
DF	2	KONDO, Gakuto	DF	26	AOYAMA, Naoaki
DF	14	MIYAMOTO, Tsuneyasu	DF	5	KIM, Kunhoan (63')
MF	9	ROGERINHO (86')	DF	2	AMANO, Takashi
MF	20	MORIOKA, Ryota (75')	MF	14	KANO, Kenta (83')
MF	24	MIHARA, Masatoshi (21')	MF	8	HASEGAWA, Aria Jasuru
FW	35	BAE, Chun-suk	FW	10	ONO, Yuji (63')
		MOGI (69')			TANIGUCHI (41') KANAI (52')
		-			-

URAWA 2 - 3 VISSEL

2011-08-05T23:00:00.004+09:00

J.League Division 1 - Round 20

URAWA REDS 2			3 VISSEL KOBE
19:00, Saturday August 6th, 2011
Saitama Stadium
Attendance: 32,231
		TANAKA, Tatsuya (47') MAZZOLLA (77')			YOSHIDA, Takayuki (14', 19') OKUBO, Yoshito (90'+3)
Team Lineup			Team Lineup
GK	18	KATO, Nobuhiro	GK	30	TOKUSHIGE, Kenta
DF	5	TAKAHASHI, Shunki	DF	25	ISHIBITSU, Yosuke
DF	4	SPIRANOVIC, Matthew	DF	4	KITAMOTO, Kunie
DF	17	NAGATA, Mitsuru	DF	5	KOMOTO, Hiroyuki
DF	14	HIRAKAWA, Tadaaki	DF	21	MOGI, Hiroto
MF	13	SUZUKI, Keita (46')	MF	8	MATSUOKA, Ryosuke
MF	8	KASHIWAGI, Yosuke	MF	18	TANAKA, Hideo
MF	10	MARCIO RICHARDES	MF	7	PARK, Kang jo
FW	22	YAMADA, Naoki (46')	MF	10	BOTTI
FW	24	HARAGUCHI, Genki	MF	17	YOSHIDA, Takayuki (56')
FW	31	DESPOTOVIC, Ranko (86')	FW	11	POPO (78')
Substitutes			Substitutes
GK	1	YAMAGISHI, Norihiro	GK	1	KISHI, Takahide
DF	3	UGAJIN, Tomoya	DF	2	KONDO, Gakuto
MF	6	YAMADA, Nobuhisa	DF	14	MIYAMOTO, Tsuneyasu
FW	16	TAKASAKI, Hiroyuki (86')	MF	6	HANEDA, Kenji
FW	11	TANAKA, Tatsuya (46')	MF	9	ROGERINHO (69')
FW	15	ESCUDERO	MF	20	MORIOKA, Ryota (78')
FW	29	MAZZOLLA (46')	MF	13	OKUBO, Yoshito (56')
		KASHIWAGI (50') TAKAHASHI (72')			MATSUOKA (36') MORIOKA (81')
		-			-

VISSEL 4 - 2 KOFU

2011-07-30T23:30:00.001+09:00

J.League Division 1 - Round 19

VISSEL KOBE 4			2 VENTFORET KOFU
19:00, Saturday July 30th, 2011
Home's Stadium Kobe
Attendance: 9,231
		ISHIBITSU, Yosuke (11') YOSHIDA, Takayuki (24') YOSHIDA, Takayuki (49') TANAKA, Hideo (82')			PAULINHO (52') KIM, Jin Kyu (58')
Team Lineup			Team Lineup
GK	30	TOKUSHIGE, Kenta	GK	1	OGI, Kota
DF	25	ISHIBITSU, Yosuke	DF	25	ICHIKAWA, Daisuke
DF	4	KITAMOTO, Kunie	DF	5	DANIEL
DF	5	KOMOTO, Hiroyuki	DF	4	YAMAMOTO, Hideomi
DF	21	MOGI, Hiroto	DF	13	UCHIYAMA, Toshihiko
MF	8	MATSUOKA, Ryosuke	MF	7	ISHIHARA, Katsuya
MF	18	TANAKA, Hideo	MF	27	ITO, Teruyoshi (46')
MF	7	PARK, Kang jo (90')	MF	26	ABE, Yoshiro (46')
MF	10	BOTTI (90'+3)	MF	18	KASHIWA, Yoshifumi (72')
MF	17	YOSHIDA, Takayuki (66')	FW	10	PAULINHO
FW	11	POPO	FW	14	HAVENAAR, Mike
Substitutes			Substitutes
GK	1	KISHI, Takahide	GK	21	ARATANI, Hiroki
DF	2	KONDO, Gakuto	DF	19	KIM, Jin Kyu (46')
DF	14	MIYAMOTO, Tsuneyasu (90')	MF	8	YABU, Yuji
MF	6	HANEDA, Kenji	MF	20	KATAGIRI, Atsushi (72')
FW	9	ROGERINHO	MF	30	HOSAKA, Kazunari
MF	20	MORIOKA, Ryota (90'+3)	FW	11	DAVI (46')
FW	13	OKUBO, Yoshito (66')	FW	16	MATSUHASHI, Masaru
		PARK (23') TANAKA (57') KOMOTO (63')			PAULINHO (22')
		-			-

Post Match Comments

	WADA, Masahiro: Overall "It was a really tough game and we are glad to get the 3 points. I felt we played very well in the first half, grabbing an early goal and pretty much controlling the play throughout. However, I told the players at half time that it wouldn't finish at 2-0 and asked them to go for the third goal which they did. We knew what they wanted to do by bringing on Davi and Kim for the second half, using their height for long balls and set plays. Despite the fact that they got back into the match with 2 goals, I had faith in the players I selected to hang on, and Tanaka sealed it for us, finally, with his 2nd chance!"
	ISHIBITSU, Yosuke: Was the ex-manager Miura factor relevant? "Yes, it felt like a revenge match." You ran to the bench after your goal "I ran through on goal trying to get the timing right, got a nice back-heel pass and put it away. I wasn't really conscious of the fact I ran to the bench. My body just took me there."
	La Famiglia: Great match for the neutrals, but who cares about them! As the manager said, we really did control the match for most of the first half, but they certainly didn't put up much of a fight. Their passing was schoolboy at times, and we capitalized the many errors they made. For once, I agreed with Wada's team selection and the timing of the Yoshida-Okubo substitution was appropriate. This would have been a classic victory for Vissel had we not let them back into the match with some sloppy defending. In all honesty, had the opposition been one of 13 or 14 other teams in the league, I think we may have dropped the 2 points after that major slip in concentration in the second half. But, we didn't, so woo hoo!!

New S-Korean FW!

2011-07-28T20:00:00.002+09:00

The club has just announced the signing of South Korean U-22 striker BAE Chun-Suk. The 21 year-old comes to us from Soongsil University, having chalked up quite an impressive youth record at international level, representing South Korea right through from U-15. His profile describes him as an aggressive center forward with strength in front of goal and scoring ability.
Well, that SOUNDS good...

VISSEL 1 - 2 MARINOS

2011-07-27T23:30:00.001+09:00

Yamazaki Nabisco Cup - Round 1 (2nd leg)

VISSEL KOBE 1			2 YOKOHAMA F.MARINOS
19:00, Wednesday July 27th, 2011
Home's Stadium Kobe
Attendance: 5,204
		YOSHIDA, Takayuki (20')			KURIHARA, Yuzo (44') TANIGUCHI, Hiroyuki (78')
Team Lineup			Team Lineup
GK	30	TOKUSHIGE, Kenta	GK	21	IIKURA, Hiroki
DF	25	ISHIBITSU, Yosuke	DF	13	KOBAYASHI, Yuzo
DF	4	KITAMOTO, Kunie	DF	4	KURIHARA, Yuzo
DF	5	KOMOTO, Hiroyuki	DF	22	NAKAZAWA, Yuji
DF	21	MOGI, Hiroto	DF	20	HATO, Yasuhiro
MF	8	MATSUOKA, Ryosuke	MF	6	OGURA, Shohei
MF	18	TANAKA, Hideo	MF	25	NAKAMURA, Shunsuke (81')
MF	7	PARK, Kang jo (83')	MF	7	HYODO, Shingo
MF	10	BOTTI (62')	MF	29	TANIGUCHI, Hiroyuki
MF	17	YOSHIDA, Takayuki (78')	FW	8	HASEGAWA, Aria Jasuru (73')
FW	11	POPO	FW	9	WATANABE, Kazuma (66')
Substitutes			Substitutes
GK	1	KISHI, Takahide	GK	31	AKIMOTO, Yota
DF	2	KONDO, Gakuto	DF	26	AOYAMA, Naoaki
DF	14	MIYAMOTO, Tsuneyasu	DF	24	KANAI, Takashi
MF	6	HANEDA, Kenji	DF	5	KIM, Kunhohan (66')
MF	20	MORIOKA, Ryota (78')	DF	2	AMANO, Takashi (81')
FW	9	ROGERINHO (83')	MF	14	KANO, Kenta
FW	13	OKUBO, Yoshito (62')	FW	11	OGURO, Masashi (73')
		YOSHIDA (27') MATSUOKA (32')			-
		-			-

Post Match Comments

La Famiglia: Vissel crashed out of the Nabisco Cup tonight in spectacular fashion with a 1-2 defeat at home to Marinos. A 0-0 result would have seen us go through to the 2nd round (away goals) so when Yoshida put us in front midway through the 1st half, things were looking sweet. But you can always count on Vissel Kobe to throw away a very winable match - and tonight was no exception. We didn't play particularly bad, but there was an obvious lack of creativity in the final third, so most of our promising moves broke down before we could get shots on goal. Wada waited far too long to substitute Yoshida and Park leaving their replacements Morioka and Rogerinho very little time to make an impact. Yoshito was not up for it at all, spitting the dummy several times like we all know he can. The schedule this summer is pretty full on so our elimination may turn out to be a good thing. Big match against Kofu this Saturday.

MARINOS 1 - 0 VISSEL

2011-07-23T23:58:00.001+09:00

J.League Division 1 - Round 6

YOKOHAMA F.MARINOS 1			0 VISSEL KOBE
19:00, Saturday July 23rd, 2011
Nissan Stadium
Attendance: 15,402
		HYODO, Shingo (63')			-
Team Lineup			Team Lineup
GK	21	IIKURA, Hiroki	GK	30	TOKUSHIGE, Kenta
DF	13	KOBAYASHI, Yuzo	DF	25	ISHIBITSU, Yosuke
DF	4	KURIHARA, Yuzo	DF	4	KITAMOTO, Kunie
DF	22	NAKAZAWA, Yuji	DF	5	KOMOTO, Hiroyuki
DF	20	HATO, Yasuhiro	DF	21	MOGI, Hiroto
MF	6	OGURA, Shohei	MF	8	MATSUOKA, Ryosuke (89')
MF	25	NAKAMURA, Shunsuke (73')	MF	18	TANAKA, Hideo (67')
MF	7	HYODO, Shingo	MF	7	PARK, Kang jo (69')
MF	29	TANIGUCHI, Hiroyuki	MF	10	BOTTI (84')
FW	11	OGURO, Masashi (86')	MF	17	YOSHIDA, Takayuki (60')
FW	9	WATANABE, Kazuma (65')	FW	11	POPO
Substitutes			Substitutes
GK	1	ENOMOTO, Tetsuya	GK	1	KISHI, Takahide
DF	26	AOYAMA, Naoaki	DF	3	SOMA, Takahito (84')
DF	24	KANAI, Takashi	DF	14	MIYAMOTO, Tsuneyasu
DF	5	KIM, Kunhohan (65')	MF	9	ROGERINHO (69')
DF	2	AMANO, Takashi (73')	MF	20	MORIOKA, Ryota
MF	14	KANO, Kenta	MF	13	OKUBO, Yoshito (60')
MF	8	HASEGAWA, Aria Jasuru (86')	FW	19	ARITA, Koki
		-			BOTTI (39')
		-			-

Yoshito - 200 J1 Appearances!

2011-07-17T12:48:00.001+09:00

VISSEL 4 - 1 CEREZO

2011-07-16T11:45:00.003+09:00

J.League Division 1 - Round 5

VISSEL KOBE 4			1 CEREZO OSAKA
19:00, Saturday July 16, 2011
Home's Stadium Kobe
Attendance: 14,961
		MATSUOKA, Ryosuke (2') POPO (54') PARK, Kang jo (57') OKUBO, Yoshito (89')			KIM Bo Kyung (67')
Team Lineup			Team Lineup
GK	30	TOKUSHIGE, Kenta	GK	21	KIM, Jin Hyeon
DF	25	ISHIBITSU, Yosuke	DF	3	MONIWA, Teruyuki
DF	4	KITAMOTO, Kunie	DF	4	FUJIMOTO, Kota
DF	5	KOMOTO, Hiroyuki	DF	14	MARUHASHI, Yusuke
DF	21	MOGI, Hiroto	DF	20	TAKAHASHI, Daisuke
MF	8	MATSUOKA, Ryosuke (90')	MF	5	CHUGO, Masaki (46')
MF	18	TANAKA, Hideo	MF	7	INUI, Takashi
MF	7	PARK, Kang jo	MF	13	KIYOTAKE, Hiroshi (74')
MF	10	BOTTI (83')	MF	16	KIM Bo Kyung
FW	17	YOSHIDA, Takayuki (64')	FW	23	KURATA, Shu
MF	11	POPO	FW	9	RODRIGO, Pimpao Vianna (74')
Substitutes			Substitutes
GK	1	KISHI, Takahide	GK	1	MATSUI, Kenya
DF	2	KONDO, Gakuto	DF	2	OGIHARA, Takahiro
DF	14	MIYAMOTO, Tsuneyasu (90')	MF	6	YAMAGUCHI, Hotaru (74')
MF	6	HANEDA, Kenji	MF	25	KUROGI, Masato
MF	9	ROGERINHO	FW	11	BANDO, Ryuji (74')
MF	20	MORIOKA, Ryota (64')	FW	15	KOMATSU, Rui (46')
FW	13	OKUBO, Yoshito (83')	FW	31	SUGIMOTO, Kenyu
		MOGI (78')			CHUGO (27') KIM Bo Kyung (88')
		-			-

Post Match Comments

	WADA, Masahiro: Overall "We are really glad to get a result and to be able to give something back to the fans who have given us so much support. I had a feeling thaat one goal was not going to be enough against a team with so much attacking power, and I think the pressure we constantly applied to them from the get-go gave us the edge today."
	PARK, Kang jo: Was that Vissel-like football? "Yes, we played some good football today. Now we need keep this momentum going." There was a lot of one-touch passing "I think the movement of the "third man" made it look that way. Good positioning enabled us to play a good passing game."
	POPO: A tough run of games "I wouldn't say it's been tough because we have played some good football (despite the results), including the Gamba match the other day." Goals two games in a row! "There was a period when I wasn't getting much playing time, so I'm glad I could pay back the manager for giving me a chance."
	La Famiglia: Fantastic match - fantastic night! It's about time we had something to celebrate. We played really good football today, great passing, constant pressure and overall solid defense. Park's comment summed it up nicely. What a difference it makes when the man on the ball always has a couple of passing options. For a moment there I thought I was in the Camp Nou! Surely Vamos Popo has secured a starting role in the team for the forseeable future. He had 9 of our 19 shots. Check out the video of his goal celebration and his screaming free kick! Oh, and Bando Ryuji - fuck you!

GAMBA 3 - 2 VISSEL

2011-07-13T23:29:00.005+09:00

J.League Division 1 - Round 4

GAMBA OSAKA 3			2 VISSEL KOBE
19:00, Wednesday July 12th, 2011
Bampaku
Attendance: 15,244
		FUTAGAWA, Takahiro (45'+1) USAMI, Takashi (63') LEE, Keunho (79')			POPO (68') PARK, Kang jo (80')
Team Lineup			Team Lineup
GK	1	FUJIGAYA, Yosuke	GK	30	TOKUSHIGE, Kenta
DF	21	KAJI, Akira	DF	25	ISHIBITSU, Yosuke
DF	2	NAKAZAWA, Sota	DF	4	KITAMOTO, Kunie
DF	5	YAMAGUCHI, Satoshi	DF	5	KOMOTO, Hiroyuki
DF	6	SHIMOHIRA, Takumi	DF	21	MOGI, Hiroto
MF	23	TAKEI, Takuya	MF	8	MATSUOKA, Ryosuke (89')
MF	25	YOKOTANI, Shigeru (79')	MF	18	TANAKA, Hideo (67')
MF	10	FUTAGAWA, Takahiro (79')	MF	7	PARK, Kang jo
MF	11	USAMI, Takashi	MF	9	ROGERINHO (46')
FW	14	HIRAI, Shoki (61')	MF	10	BOTTI
FW	22	LEE, Keunho	FW	11	POPO
Substitutes			Substitutes
GK	29	KIMURA, Atsushi	GK	1	KISHI, Takahide
DF	30	UCHIDA, Tatsuya	DF	2	KONDO, Gakuto
MF	7	ENDO, Yasuhito (79')	DF	14	MIYAMOTO, Tsuneyasu
MF	8	SASAKI, Hayato (79')	MF	6	HANEDA, Kenji
MF	13	KIM, Seung yong (61')	MF	17	YOSHIDA, Takayuki (89')
FW	16	OTSUKA, Shohei	MF	20	MORIOKA, Ryota (46')
FW	18	KAWANISHI, Shota	FW	19	ARITA, Koki (67')
		-			ISHIBITSU (74')
		-			-

Post Match Comments

La Famiglia: Gamba home and away are the two most important matches each season for Vissel. However, despite our excellent home form against them over the last four years, we haven't beaten them on their own turf for about six years if my memory serves me correctly (don't trust it). Tonight was another shitty trip out to a shitty ground for another shitty result. In all fairness, we didn't play that badly. Wada opted for a Brazilian three-pronged attack indicating we were going for the win. I was disappointed when he substituted Rogerinho at the break - I felt he should have given it a bit longer. His replacement, Morioka, offered very little. The highlight for us was our second goal, lovely back heel from Popo to set up Park for a clinical finish (check out the video). It was a big evening for Scumba as they were sending off Usami in his final match before heading off to Bayern Munich. The post-match ceremony meant we didn't have to ride the train with them.

VISSEL 0 - 1 NAGOYA

2011-07-09T11:50:00.003+09:00

J.League Division 1 - Round 3

VISSEL KOBE 0			1 NAGOYA GRAMPUS
19:00, Saturday July 9, 2011
Home's Stadium Kobe
Attendance: 17,568
		-			NAKAMURA (84')
Team Lineup			Team Lineup
GK	30	TOKUSHIGE, Kenta	GK	50	TAKAGI, Yoshinari
DF	25	ISHIBITSU, Yosuke	DF	32	TANAKA, Hayuma (76')
DF	4	KITAMOTO, Kunie	DF	4	TANAKA, Marcus Tulio
DF	5	KOMOTO, Hiroyuki	DF	5	MASUKAWA, Takahiro
DF	21	MOGI, Hiroto	DF	6	ABE, Shohei
MF	6	HANEDA, Kenji	MF	33	ISOMURA, Ryota (69')
MF	18	TANAKA, Hideo	MF	20	DANILSON, Luis
MF	10	BOTTI	MF	8	FUJIMOTO, Jungo (69')
MF	31	OGAWA, Keijiro (56')	FW	10	OGAWA, Yoshizumi
FW	17	YOSHIDA, Takayuki (77')	FW	16	KENNEDY, Joshua
MF	13	OKUBO, Yoshito (87')	FW	11	TAMADA, Keiji
Substitutes			Substitutes
GK	1	KISHI, Takahide	GK	21	NISHIMURA, Koji
DF	2	KONDO, Gakuto	DF	3	CHIYOTANDA, Mitsuru
DF	14	MIYAMOTO, Tsuneyasu	DF	38	SANTOS, Alessandro
MF	7	PARK, Kang-jo (77')	MF	7	NAKAMURA, Naoshi (69')
MF	8	MATSUOKA, Ryosuke	MF	9	BURZANVIC, Igor (69')
MF	20	MORIOKA, Ryota (87')	MF	34	YOSHIDA, Makito
FW	27	POPO (56')	FW	18	NAGAI, Kensuke (76')
		HANEDA (41')			-
		-			-

Post Match Comments

WADA, Masahiro: Overall
"Our inability to capitalize on the many chances we had, again, was our downfall. I felt we played a good game, pressing them through the middle and maintaining a lot of possession, but they dealt us one damaging blow towards the end which meant we ended up with nothing, a somewhat familiar result of late."

La Famiglia: I didn't expect us to have as much possession as we did. Grampus have been on a good run of form and we have been crap. Apart from 10 or 15 minutes of pressure (that we handled quite well) in the first half, it was all us. Having Botti back in the team has meant we don't have to play as many long balls and the team has clearly been working on the speed of our counter attacks. Tanaka can be a burden losing the ball far too often, but Wada has persisted with him due to his pace and work rate and I can understand this. We had 20 shots today, most of which were terrible. If we can't put away one or two of these per game, we might as well give up.

Injuries

2011-07-06T01:30:00.008+09:00

Tokura is set to miss the next 3 months with a stress fracture in his right foot. Without sounding too nasty, this is probably more of a blow for the player himself than the team as a whole considering the poor form he's been in of late. Still, we wish him a quick recovery.
Meanwhile, center back Komoto suffered a broken nose in the defeat to Iwata last Sunday which may see him miss the match against Grampus this Saturday. Unless he borrows Okubo's batman mask, I suspect Miyamoto will be given his first game of the season.

Soma signs for Vissel

2011-07-05T20:14:00.002+09:00

Vissel have just signed defender Takahito Soma from 2nd division Bundesliga club Energie Cottbus.
I haven't followed the player's career since he left the J.league a few years ago to play in Portugal. Moreover, I was not aware that he was playing in the 2nd tier in Germany until yesterday when we signed him. I do, however, clearly remember him playing for those scumbags up in Urawa before his European adventure and if he is half as good as what he was back then, he might be able to contribute something to Vissel. He is primarily a left-sided midfielder but I have seen him play at left back. I assume he will play in one of those positions for us, but you just never know with Vissel!

IWATA 3 - 0 VISSEL

2011-07-04T22:58:00.003+09:00

J.League Division 1 - Round 2

JUBILO IWATA 3			0 VISSEL KOBE
19:00, Sunday July 3rd, 2011
Yamaha Stadium
Attendance: 7,706
		NASU, Daisuke (55') KANAZONO, Hidetaka (72') Own Goal (73')
Team Lineup			Team Lineup
GK	1	KAWAGUCHI, Yoshikatsu	GK	30	TOKUSHIGE, Kenta
DF	5	KOMANO, Yuichi	DF	25	ISHIBITSU, Yosuke
DF	2	KAGA, Kenichi	DF	4	KITAMOTO, Kunie
DF	33	FUJITA, Yoshiaki	DF	5	KOMOTO, Hiroyuki
DF	20	YAMAMOTO, Shuto	DF	21	MOGI, Hiroto
MF	22	KOBAYASHI, Yuki	MF	6	HANEDA, Kenji (75')
MF	6	NASU, Daisuke	MF	18	TANAKA, Hideo
MF	23	YAMAMOTO, Kosuke (78')	MF	10	BOTTI (69')
MF	10	YAMADA, Hiroki (89')	MF	31	OGAWA, Keijiro
FW	17	KANAZONO, Hidetaka (70')	FW	13	OKUBO, Yoshito
FW	18	MAEDA, Ryoichi	FW	17	YOSHIDA, Takayuki (63')
Substitutes			Substitutes
GK	21	HATTA, Naoki	GK	1	KISHI, Takahide
DF	13	LEE, Gang Jin	DF	2	KONDO, Gakuto
DF	16	KANAZAWA, Jo (89')	DF	14	MIYAMOTO, Tsuneyasu
MF	3	OKADA, Ryu	MF	7	PARK, Kang-jo
MF	15	SUGANUMA, Minoru	MF	8	MATSUOKA, Ryosuke (75')
MF	8	GILSINHO (78')	MF	22	BABA, Kenji (69')
FW	17	KANAZONO, Hidetaka (70')	FW	11	POPO (63')
		YAMAMOTO (27') NASU (37')			-
		-			-

Post Match Comments

La Famiglia: Wada lost this game. We played quite well in the first half, created chances and looked like we could easily grab a point, if not all 3. Botti was controlling our midfield and you could almost hear every Vissel supporter's jaw drop when Wada took him off mid-way through the second half - for the second week in a row. Soon after, we collapsed - for the second week in a row. It was good to see Haneda get his first start and while he looked OK in defense, he offered us close to nothing moving forward. Ogawa had some nice chances and was unlucky to convert. Ishibitsu is still nervous at the back, but proved he is a better option than Gakuto by whipping in some trademark early crosses that almost led to goals. Baba did himself no favors with a very average final 20 minutes. He'll be lucky to even make the bench next week. All in all, frustrating again (that I'm not the manager - yet).

OMIYA 1 - 1 VISSEL

2011-06-26T21:18:00.003+09:00

J.League Division 1 - Round 18

OMIYA ARDIJA 1			1 VISSEL KOBE
19:00, Sunday June 26, 2011
NACK5 Stadium
Attendance: 5,627
		HIGASHI, Keigo (83')			OKUBO, Yoshito (53')
Team Lineup			Team Lineup
GK	1	KITANO, Takashi	GK	30	TOKUSHIGE, Kenta
DF	30	WATABE, Daisuke	DF	2	KONDO, Gakuto
DF	4	FUKAYA, Yuki	DF	4	KITAMOTO, Kunie
DF	14	TSUBOUCHI, Shusuke	DF	5	KOMOTO, Hiroyuki
DF	26	MURAKAMI, Kazuhiro (72')	DF	21	MOGI, Hiroto
MF	23	KANAZAWA, Shin (59')	MF	8	MATSUOKA, Ryosuke
MF	17	UEDA, Kota	MF	10	BOTTI (82')
MF	6	AOKI, Takuya	MF	18	TANAKA, Hideo
MF	11	FUJIMOTO, Chikara (59')	MF	31	OGAWA, Keijiro
FW	10	RAFAEL	FW	13	OKUBO, Yoshito
FW	7	LEE, Chun Soo	FW	17	YOSHIDA, Takayuki (61')
Substitutes			Substitutes
GK	21	EZUMI, Koji	GK	1	KISHI, Takahide
DF	20	KIM, Young Gwon (72')	DF	14	MIYAMOTO, Tsuneyasu
MF	8	HIGASHI, Keigo (59')	DF	25	ISHIBITSU, Yosuke
MF	13	WATANABE, Daigo	MF	6	HANEDA, Kenji
MF	16	KANAKUBO, Jun	MF	7	PARK, Kang-jo (82')
MF	34	KATAOKA, Yosuke	MF	22	BABA, Kenji
FW	9	ISHIHARA, Naoki (59')	FW	11	POPO (61')
		-			MOGI (90'+1)
		-			-

Post Match Comments

WADA, Masahiro: Overall
"It was frustrating to give up the goal and in hindsight we should have taken one of the many counter chances we had to seal the game. Still, they were also going for the win at home so we are satisfied to have prevented them from grabbing another to take the game. The players are tired after this run of 5 matches so we will take this week to prepare for the next match."

La Famiglia: This would have been a rather entertaining match to watch for a neutral - plenty of end-to-end football and chances. For yours truly, it was somewhat nerve-wracking. Neither side gave up much in the first half and the 0-0 scoreline at the break probably reflected the overall balance of play. However, Vissel came out firing in the second half and scored a well-deserved opener within 10 minutes thanks to Ogawa pressing the byline and cutting back a pass for Okubo to slot home. The introduction of Higashi and Ishihara injected energy into the Omiya attack, but I thought we would be able to hold on and perhaps even snatch a second from one of the many counter opportunities we had. Ogawa was phenomenal in the second half, pushing deep up both wings causing them all kinds of problems. They started to do the same, though, and our fragility at both left and right back was quickly found out. They eventually got the equalizer through a nice bit of play on the left side of the penalty area by Higashi who slammed home from an angle what looked like a wonder goal. The replay, however, showed that the ball actually rebounded off 2 players. Personally, I didn't understand the decision to take off Botti. He was totally dominating the midfield up until his substitution and, coincidence or not, they got their goal a minute later. Wada needs to do something about Gakuto and Mogi at the back. They're not good enough.

VISSEL 0 -1 KASHIMA

2011-06-22T22:59:00.002+09:00

J.League Division 1 - Round 17

VISSEL KOBE 0			1 KASHIMA ANTLERS
19:00, Wednesday June 22, 2011
Home's Stadium Kobe
Attendance: 9,705
		-			TASHIRO (37')
Team Lineup			Team Lineup
GK	30	TOKUSHIGE, Kenta	GK	21	SOGAHATA, Hitoshi
DF	2	KONDO, Gakuto	DF	22	NISHI, Daigo
DF	4	KITAMOTO, Kunie	DF	3	IWAMASA, Daiki
DF	5	KOMOTO, Hiroyuki	DF	6	NAKATA, Koji
DF	21	MOGI, Hiroto	DF	5	ALEX
MF	8	MATSUOKA, Ryosuke (82')	MF	14	MASUDA, Chikashi
MF	10	BOTTI	MF	40	OGASAWARA, Mitsuo (72')
MF	18	TANAKA, Hideo	MF	8	NOZAWA, Takuya
MF	31	OGAWA, Keijiro (67')	MF	25	ENDO, Yasushi (80')
FW	17	YOSHIDA, Takayuki (72')	FW	13	KOROKI, Shinzo
MF	13	OKUBO, Yoshito	FW	30	TASHIRO, Yuzo
Substitutes			Substitutes
GK	1	KISHI, Takahide	GK	1	SUGIYAMA, Tetsu
DF	14	MIYAMOTO, Tsuneyasu	DF	7	ARAIBA, Toru
DF	25	ISHIBITSU, Yosuke	MF	19	INOHA, Masahiko (80')
MF	6	Haneda, Kenji	MF	10	MOTOYAMA, Masashi (86')
MF	7	PARK, Kang-jo (82')	MF	20	SHIBASAKI, Gaku (72') (86')
FW	11	POPO (67')	MF	26	KOYANO, Kenji
FW	27	TOKURA, Ken (72')	FW	33	SARTORI, Igor
		KOMOTO (65') OKUBO (87')			MOTOYAMA (89')
		-			-

Did you know?

2011-06-21T23:55:00.002+09:00

Haneda Kenji played the first 7 years of his career at Kashima Antlers.While this might sound like a great start to a career in the J.league, especially considering this was a time when Kashima were one of the best teams in Japan, Haneda will not have fond memories of his time in Ibaraki. During these 7 years, he made just 19 league appearances for the club, mainly due to a horrific ankle injury that saw him sidelined for a whopping 3 and a half years. Kashima deserves a bit of credit for even keeping him on their books. After his recover, he never secured a spot in the first squad and moved to Cerezo where he managed to somewhat resurrect his career.

Although it would make for a nice story, I don't think Haneda deserves a place in the starting lineup tomorrow against Kashima following a rather lackluster appearance in the second half shambles against Yamagata. Still, I hope he gets a bit more playing time in the coming weeks.

Changes needed

2011-06-19T12:40:00.003+09:00

This is the formation I would like to see in the next match.

YAMAGATA 2 - 0 VISSEL

2011-06-18T23:30:00.002+09:00

J.League Division 1 - Round 16

MONTEDIO YAMAGATA 2			0 VISSEL KOBE
19:00, Saturday June 18, 2011
ND Soft Stadium
Attendance: 6,587
		OKUBO, Yetsuya (53') ITO, Shun (83')			-
Team Lineup			Team Lineup
GK	16	UEKUSA, Yuki	GK	30	TOKUSHIGE, Kenta
DF	14	MIYAMOTO, Takuya	DF	2	KONDO, Gakuto
DF	4	NISHIKAWA, Shogo	DF	4	KITAMOTO, Kunie
DF	3	ISHII, Hidenori	DF	5	KOMOTO, Hiroyuki
DF	4	KOBAYASHI, Ryo	DF	21	MOGI, Hiroto
MF	29	HIROSE, Tomoyasu (82')	MF	8	MATSUOKA, Ryosuke (71')
MF	8	FUNAYAMA, Yuji (76')	MF	10	BOTTI
MF	28	OTA, Tetsuro	MF	7	PARK Kang-jo (64')
MF	17	SATO, Kentaro	MF	13	OKUBO, Yoshito
MF	24	ITO, Shun (90'+4)	FW	17	YOSHIDA, Takayuki (58')
FW	24	OKUBO, Tetsuya	FW	27	TOKURA Ken
Substitutes			Substitutes
GK	1	SHIMIZU, Kenta	GK	1	KISHI, Takahide
DF	22	SONODA, Takuya	DF	14	MIYAMOTO, Tsuneyasu
DF	26	YAMADA, Takumi	DF	25	ISHIBITSU, Yosuke
MF	5	SHIMOMURA, Tomi (82')	DF	6	HANEDA, Kenji (64')
MF	7	MIYAZAWA, Katsuyuki (90'+4)	MF	18	TANAKA, Hideo
MF	19	AKIBA, Masaru (76')	MF	20	MORIOKA, Ryota (58')
FW	21	KAWASHIMA, Daichi	FW	11	POPO (71')
		MIYAMOTO (21')			OKUBO (61')

Post Match Comments

	WADA, Masahiro: Overall "We wanted to get something out of this match after the disappointing draw against Fukuoka last Wednesday, but it wasn't to be. Even when we had a lot of possession in the first half, Yamagata dropped back and we were not able break them down."
	YOSHIDA, Takayuki: Overall "Our play today was terrible and I was also disappointed in myself despite being my first start in a while." What's missing? We were unable to link up vertically due to the enormous space between our midfield and the front (in attack) and the back (in defense). The latter left us exposed and they took advantage of that.
	OKUBO, Yoshito: Overall "I hardly touched the ball in the second half. I had to drop in a defensive midfield role in the first half to try to build something from the back, but we didn't really scare them at all. Morioka took over this role in the second half so I could push forward but I hardly got the ball."
	La Famiglia: Yet another frustrating match. Many of the players' post match comments pointed to the distance between our midfield and forwards preventing us from linking up and this was quite evident when watching the match. However, normally a manager would see this as a positive and try to put pressure on the opposition up the middle by inserting a player to create a link-up. Wada didn't do this. He persisted with Tokura who was bordering on embarrassing at times with his lack of control and inability to stay on his feet, and the substitutions did not reflect what we were lacking.

VISSEL 0 - 0 FUKUOKA

2011-06-15T23:10:00.003+09:00

J.League Division 1 - Round 15

VISSEL KOBE 0			0 AVISPA FUKUOKA
19:00, Wednesday June 15, 2011
Home's Stadium Kobe
Attendance: 6,151
		-			-
Team Lineup			Team Lineup
GK	30	TOKUSHIGE, Kenta	GK	23	ROKUTANI, Yuji
DF	25	ISHIBITSU, Yosuke	DF	3	YAMAGATA, Tatsunori (81')
DF	4	KITAMOTO, Kunie	DF	6	NIWA, Daiki
DF	5	KOMOTO, Hiroyuki	DF	13	KOBARA, Shogo
DF	21	MOGI, Hiroto	DF	4	WADA, Takumi
MF	18	TANAKA, Hideo	MF	22	SUEYOSHI, Toshiya
MF	10	BOTTI	MF	8	SUZUKI, Jun (70')
MF	7	PARK, Kang-jo (79')	MF	11	TANAKA, Yusuke
MF	13	OKUBO, Yoshito	MF	14	MATSUURA, Takuya (75')
FW	9	ROGERINHO (46')	MF	24	SHIGEMATSU, Kentaro
FW	11	POPO (66')	FW	10	JOGO, Hisashi
Substitutes			Substitutes
GK	1	KISHI, Takahide	GK	1	KAMIYAMA, Ryuichi
DF	2	KONDO, Gakuto	DF	17	YAMAGUCHI, Kazuki (81')
DF	14	MIYAMOTO, Tsuneyasu	MF	20	MIYAJI, Yosuke
MF	6	Haneda, Kenji	MF	19	NARUOKA, Sho (70')
MF	20	MORIOKA, Ryota (66')	MF	28	USHINOHAMA, Taku
FW	19	ARITA, Koki (46')	FW	18	YOSHIHARA, Masato
FW	27	TOKURA, Ken (79')	FW	9	TAKAHASHI, Yutaka (75')
		ISHIBITSU (48') PARK (77')			TANAKA (2') KOBARA (57') ROKUTANI (77')
		-			-

Post Match Comments

	WADA, Masahiro: Overall "To be honest, there is nothing we can take out of this match. As the match went on, I think we started to fear losing the match which didn't help us at all. Thanks to all the fans for coming out on a weeknight. Now, we just need to focus on the next match."
	BOTTI: Overall "Today was a bad day. They constantly pressed us and didn't give us any room which is exactly what we should've done to them. There's no way you can win by playing like this at home."
	POPO: Overall "We were terrible tonight. You could say that Fukuoka played well, but we were totally off our game. We weren't able to do what we set out to do and we just need to forget this game and move on."
	La Famiglia: Talk about a match to forget! Fukuoka dictated play throughout the first half - without really doing anything. They never looked like scoring, but were able to prevent us from playing our game. Call it anti-football but if that's what they set out to do, they succeeded. The midweek fixture should not give us an excuse to underperform like this. We fielded a strong team and should have taken 3 points from this match. That was the first time I have heard booing to that extent from the stands this year. Shame on Fukuoka for their time wasting, too. They took every opportunity in the second half to waste time, getting carded once for it, for why - I have absolutely no idea. They could've won this match. We were that off our game. What good is a point to a team at the very bottom of the table?

VISSEL 1 - 1 SENDAI

2011-06-11T23:41:00.002+09:00

J.League Division 1 - Round 14

VISSEL KOBE 1			1 VEGALTA SENDAI
17:00, Saturday June 11, 2011
Home's Stadium Kobe
Attendance: 13,034
		MOGI (89')			AKAMINE (21')
Team Lineup			Team Lineup
GK	30	TOKUSHIGE, Kenta	GK	16	HAYASHI, Takuto
DF	25	ISHIBITSU, Yosuke	DF	25	SUGAI, Naoki
DF	4	KITAMOTO, Kunie	DF	5	CHO, Byung Kuk
DF	5	KOMOTO, Hiroyuki	DF	2	KAMATA, Jiro
DF	21	MOGI, Hiroto	DF	27	PARK, Ju Sung
MF	18	TANAKA, Hideo	MF	17	TOMITA, Shingo (90'+3)
MF	8	MATSUOKA, Ryosuke (46')	MF	6	KAKUDA, Makoto
MF	7	PARK, Kang-jo	MF	8	MATSUSHITA, Toshihiro (84')
MF	31	OGAWA, Keijiro (74')	MF	11	SEKIGUCHI, Kunimitsu (72')
FW	9	ROGERINHO	MF	10	RYANG, Yong Gi
FW	27	TOKURA, Ken (46')	FW	24	AKAMINE, Shingo
Substitutes			Substitutes
GK	1	KISHI, Takahide	GK	1	SAKURAI, Shigeru
DF	2	KONDO, Gakuto	DF	23	TAMURA, Naoya
DF	14	MIYAMOTO, Tsuneyasu	MF	31	SAITO, Daisuke
MF	6	Haneda, Kenji	MF	14	TAKAHASHI, Yoshiki (90'+3)
MF	10	BOTTI (46')	MF	15	OTA, Yoshiaki (72')
FW	11	POPO (46')	FW	13	NAKASHIMA, Yuki (84')
FW	19	ARITA, Koki (74')	FW	30	YANAGISAWA, Atsushi
		TOKURA (14') MATSUOKA (33') ROGERINHO (36') POPO (78')			SEKIGUCHI (42') KAKUDA (65') OTA (81') CHO (86')
		-			-

Post Match Comments

	WADA, Masahiro: Overall "Alhough we were looking to grab all 3 points at home, we are satisfied with being able to grab a late equalizer. They were really solid in defense, especially after scoring the opener, and it is not surprising they are near the top of the table. I had no hesitation in bringing on Popo and Botti at half time as they are normally starters, and they created more chances for us. We have only 3 days to prepare for the Avispa game, but we will be targeting all 3 points."
	ROGERINHO: Overall "This is the kind of game you want to dictate from the get go but we were unable to do that. The biggest positive to take out of this match is, like the Marinos game, we were able to hang on and snatch an equalizer at the end." The introduction of Botti and Popo "I have an understanding with them and knowing exactly what we had to do enabled us to push forward more and create chances."
	MOGI, Hiroto: The goal "We had more possession in the second half and our volante dropping back enabled me to push forward. At that stage of the match, you have to have a go. I just tried to get into a position to take a shot and it came off."

YOKOHAMA F.M 1 - 1 VISSEL

2011-06-05T17:47:00.000+09:00

Yamazaki Nabisco Cup - Round 1 (1st leg)

YOKOHAMA F.MARINOS 1			1 VISSEL KOBE
15:00, Sunday June 5, 2011
Mitsuzawa Stadium
Attendance: 8,101
		AOYAMA Naoaki 74'			ROGERINHO 90'+3
Team Lineup			Team Lineup
GK	21	IIKURA, Hiroki	GK	30	TOKUSHIGE, Kenta
DF	13	KOBAYASHI, Yuzo	DF	25	ISHIBITSU, Yosuke
DF	26	AOYAMA, Naoaki	DF	4	KITAMOTO, Kunie
DF	22	NAKAZAWA, Yuji	DF	5	KOMOTO, Hiroyuki
DF	24	KANAI, Takashi	DF	21	MOGI, Hiroto
MF	6	OGURA, Shohei	MF	18	TANAKA, Hideo
MF	25	NAKAMURA, Shunsuke (72')	MF	8	MATSUOKA, Ryosuke (83')
MF	7	HYODO, Shingo	MF	7	PARK Kang-jo
MF	29	TANIGUCHI, Hiroyuki	MF	31	OGAWA, Keijiro (90')
FW	11	OGURO, Masashi (46')	FW	9	ROGERINHO
FW	9	WATANABE, Kazuma (77')	FW	27	TOKURA Ken (68')
Substitutes			Substitutes
GK	31	AKIMOTO, Yota	GK	1	KISHI, Takahide
DF	20	HATO, Yasuhiro	DF	14	MIYAMOTO, Tsuneyasu
DF	5	KIM, Kunhoan (77')	DF	29	HAYASHI, Keisuke
DF	2	AMANO, Takashi	MF	6	HANEDA, Kenji (83')
MF	14	KANO, Kenta (72')	MF	20	MORIOKA, Ryota (90')
MF	8	HASEGAWA, Aria Jasuru	MF	22	BABA, Kenji
FW	10	ONO, Yuji (46')	FW	19	ARITA, Koki (68')
		KOBAYASHI (21') NAKAMURA (68')			KITAMOTO (32') OGAWA (59')

KASHIWA 3 - 0 VISSEL

2011-05-28T20:52:00.005+09:00

J.League Division 1 - Round 13

KASHIWA REYSOL 3			0 VISSEL KOBE
14:00, Saturday May 28, 2011
Hitachi Kashiwa Soccer Stadium
Attendance: 6,855
		TANAKA Junya 21' 24' DOMINGUES Leandro 73'
Team Lineup			Team Lineup
GK	21	SUGENO, Takanori	GK	30	TOKUSHIGE, Kenta
DF	4	SAKAI, Hiroki	DF	2	KONDO, Gakuto (38')
DF	5	MASUSHIMA, Tatsuya	DF	4	KITAMOTO, Kunie
DF	3	KONDO, Naoya	DF	5	KOMOTO, Hiroyuki
DF	15	WAGNER, Jorge	DF	21	MOGI, Hiroto
MF	10	DOMINGUES, Leandro	MF	18	TANAKA, Hideo
MF	7	OTANI, Hidekazu	MF	8	MATSUOKA, Ryosuke
MF	28	KURISAWA, Ryoichi	MF	7	PARK Kang-jo
MF	14	OTSU, Yuki	MF	13	OKUBO, Yoshito
FW	9	KITAJIMA, Hideaki (81')	FW	20	MORIOKA, Rytoa (46')
FW	18	TANAKA, Junya (81')	FW	27	TOKURA Ken (71')
Substitutes			Substitutes
GK	1	KIRIHATA, Kazushige	GK	1	KISHI, Takahide
DF	23	KURAKAWA, Yohei	DF	14	MIYAMOTO, Tsuneyasu
DF	22	HASHIMOTO, Wataru	DF	25	ISHIBITSU, Yosuke (38')
MF	20	BARADA, Akimi	MF	6	HANEDA, Kenji
MF	13	HYODO, Akihiro	MF	9	ROGERINHO (46')
MF	8	SAWA, Masakatsu (81')	FW	11	POPO (71')
FW	19	KUDO, Masato (81')	FW	31	OGAWA, Keijiro
		TANAKA (61') SUGENO (62')			KITAMOTO (11') OKUBO (27')
					POPO (86')

Mihara out for a month

2011-05-25T22:04:00.002+09:00

Vissel will be without midfielder Masatoshi Mihara for the next 4 weeks while he recovers from an ankle sprain.The injury was suffered early on in the last match against Hiroshima, which saw Tanaka come on to replace him and score the winner only moments later. Mihara has been a regular for us over the last year, so we wish him a quick recovery.
He clearly hasn't wasted any time taking advantage of the extra time off, though. While the lads hit the training pitch on Monday morning, Mihara went off to the local ward office... to get married.

VISSEL 1 - 0 HIROSHIMA

2011-05-21T23:30:00.008+09:00

J.League Division 1 - Round 12

VISSEL KOBE 1			0 SANFRECCE HIROSHIMA
19:00, Saturday May 21, 2011
Home's Stadium Kobe
Attendance: 15,520
		TANAKA (36')			-
Team Lineup			Team Lineup
GK	30	TOKUSHIGE, Kenta	GK	21	NISHIKAWA, Shusaku
DF	2	KONDO, Gakuto	DF	8	MORISAKI, Kazuyuki
DF	4	KITAMOTO, Kunie	MF	35	NAKAJIMA, Koji
DF	5	KOMOTO, Hiroyuki	DF	22	YOKOTAKE, Tsubasa (74')
DF	21	MOGI, Hiroto	MF	14	MIKIC, Mihael
MF	24	MIHARA, Masatoshi (31')	MF	28	MARUTANI, Takuya (65')
MF	8	MATSUOKA, Ryosuke	MF	5	TOMIC, Ante
MF	7	PARK, Kang-jo	MF	16	YAMAGISHI, Satoru (44')
MF	13	OKUBO, Yoshito	MF	15	TAKAHAGI, Yojiro
FW	20	MORIOKA, Ryota (77')	MF	10	MUJIRI, David
FW	27	TOKURA, Ken (87')	FW	11	SATO, Hisato
Substitutes			Substitutes
GK	1	KISHI, Takahide	GK	34	NAKABAYASHI, Hirotsugu
DF	14	MIYAMOTO, Tsuneyasu	DF	19	MORITA, Kohei
DF	25	ISHIBITSU, Yosuke	MF	17	HATTORI, Kota (44')
MF	18	TANAKA, Hideo (31')	MF	20	ISHIKAWA, Hironori (74')
FW	11	POPO (77')	MF	23	SAMESHIMA, Kota
FW	19	ARITA, Koki (87')	FW	25	OSAKI, Junya
FW	31	OGAWA, Keijiro	FW	30	YAMASAKI, Masato (65')
		TANAKA (85')			TOMIC (4')
		-			-

Post Match Comments

	WADA, Masahiro: Overall "We had been training all week to deal with the Sanfrecce formation and I told Okubo and Park to drop back in defense to cover Mikic and Yamagishi on either side when needed. Tanaka got his second bench start since coming back and the unfortunate injury to Mihara early on gave him an opportunity to make his mark, which he did with a wonderful goal. Getting our third win on the trot is huge for us and gives us a lot of confidence. The only disappointment was that we weren't able to capitalize on the 3 or 4 chances we had on the counter."
	TANAKA Hideo: The goal "After drawing the defenders towards him, Yoshito saw the run I was making and I gave me the ball in just the right spot." You immediately ran to the manager "Yes, I was thankful for having been given the opportunity. It's my 7th year here and I wanted to give something back, and I hope I can do the same again for the team, the manager and myself."
	OKUBO Yoshito: Overall "Up until now, Hiroshima have done a lot of damage to teams with their formation and side changing, so we worked really hard in training to deal with this, particularly with Kang-jo and myself man-marking on the sides. It was exhausting." Your chances "I should have scored. I will try to put them away next time."
	La Famiglia: I knew Tanaka would get a chance today but didn't realise it would be so soon in the match. Great goal and a solid performance from him all round. Hiroshima have been playing the exact same formation for at least 2 years and most teams usually set up to combat this. Today, Wada's defensive tactics worked, but we should've had at least 3 more goals on the counter. Okubo was very wasteful. If I had to criticise Wada for anything, it would be the timing for substituting Tokura. He was clearly struggling (tired) from about the 65th minute, constantly going to the side to guzzle water, and his impact on the game was dwindling. Tokura should have come off before Morioka, not after. Anyway, we're third!

THE DEMOLITION TEAM

2011-05-19T19:35:00.005+09:00

This is the team and formation that demolished S-Pulse last week.

I'm willing to put the house I don't own on Wada going for the exact same lineup this Saturday night against Hiroshima. The purple boys play just three at the back so we need players in the center who can shut down a 5-man (sometimes 6-man) midfield. Okubo, Matsuoka and Mihara would be my first choices to fulfill such a role. Park is also fast enough to cover the right side in defense (when he's not scoring goals!). With Botti out, I would say this is the perfect opportunity for Tanaka to make his first appearance for a while later in the game as well.

Lee Fired

2011-05-18T21:32:00.003+09:00

If you are a high profile individual in Japan, don't get drunk and do something stupid.
Following his little drunken spin to the conbini the other night, the club announced today that Lee Jae Min's contract will be terminated - effective immediately. Though we all know how dangerous drunk driving can be, the penalty does seem a bit harsh considering he didn't hurt anyone, physically. I suspect the decision was made a little easier due to the fact that Lee was not a regular starter and had shown no more than average potential at best. Let that be a warning to ALL those people living out in Nishi-ku. Always have a bumper stock of chu-hi for those lonely Sunday nights, or get your girlfriend to do the drink run. And if you don't have a woman, you should NOT be living in Nishi-ku.

Kanaya shacho has also been hit hard with a massive 10% pay cut for the next 3 months!

No BOTTI for 2 weeks

2011-05-17T20:22:00.002+09:00

Vissel will be without midfielder BOTTI for the next couple of games as he is returning to Brazil for personal reasons tomorrow (May 18).
The player confirmed in a statement today that he will away until the end of May.
"It's very hard for me to leave the team mid-season when they need me most. Unfortunately, an illness in the family has left me no choice. Of course, football is important to me, but nothing is more important in life than family. Still, I will be back in Kobe as soon as I can."

Lee Jae Min Arrested

2011-05-16T20:10:00.002+09:00

Vissel striker Lee Jae Min was arrested early this morning for drunk driving. According to the police report, Lee, 23, had been drinking at his house in Nishi-ku on Sunday night into the early hours of Monday morning when he drove his car to a nearby convenience store. Police were called to the scene after the car smashed into the glass at the store and arrested the striker when a blood alcohol level exceeding the legal limit was confirmed.
The club has expressed their extreme disappoint at the player's actions, and are now considering the appropriate punishment. Although no one was injured in the incident, the strong wording of the statement suggests that Lee is in deep shit. Silly boy.

KOBE SANKA - THE REMIX!!

2011-05-15T21:17:00.003+09:00

Avery's Irish Pub, sponsor of La Famiglia di Kobe, has produced a new video of Kobe Sanka.

SHIMIZU 1 - 5 VISSEL

2011-05-14T23:30:00.007+09:00

J.League Division 1 - Round 11

SHIMIZU S-PULSE 1			5 VISSEL KOBE
14:00, Saturday May 14, 2011
Outsourcing Stadium
Attendance: 14,350
		TAKAHARA Naohiro 77'			OKUBO Yoshito 18' 57' TOKURA Ken 34' 75' BOTTI 91'
Team Lineup			Team Lineup
GK	1	YAMAMOTO, Kaito	GK	30	TOKUSHIGE, Kenta
DF	15	TSUJIO, Shinji (46')	DF	2	KONDO, Gakuto
DF	25	OKANE, Naoya (61')	DF	4	KITAMOTO, Kunie
DF	17	BOSNAR, Eddy	DF	5	KOMOTO, Hiroyuki
DF	4	Ota, Kosuke	DF	21	MOGI, Hiroto
MF	8	EDAMURA, Takuma	MF	24	MIHARA, Masatoshi
MF	5	IWASHITA, Keisuke	MF	8	MATSUOKA, Ryosuke
MF	30	ALEX	MF	7	PARK Kang-jo (73')
FW	11	OMAE Genki	MF	13	OKUBO, Yoshito (83')
FW	14	ITO Sho (75')	FW	17	YOSHIDA Takayuki (59')
FW	13	TAKAGI Toshiyuki	FW	27	TOKURA Ken
Substitutes			Substitutes
GK	21	TAKEDA Yohei	GK	1	KISHI, Takahide
DF	26	MURAMATSU Taisuke	DF	14	MIYAMOTO, Tsuneyasu
MF	7	YAMAMOTO Masaki	MF	10	BOTTI (73')
MF	18	ONO Shinji (46')	MF	18	TANAKA Hideo
FW	9	NAGAI Yuichiro (61')	FW	20	MORIOKA Ryota
FW	19	TAKAHARA Naohiro (75')	FW	11	POPO (59')
FW	27	NABETA, Atomu	FW	31	OGAWA, Keijiro (83')
		BOSNAR (24') ALEX (30')

Post Match Comments

	WADA, Masahiro: Overall "First, I'm glad we were able to get our second win on the trot. We've been working on having 10 players shut down the opposition in defense, and I think Tokura and Yoshida were effective in preventing their 2 center backs from delivering the long ball. The fact that we finished the match without any cautions was even more satisfying and I expressed this to the players in the dressing room after the match."
	KITAMOTO Kunie: Overall "I think the first goal had a big impact on the game. Yoshito capitalized on a mistake at the back by putting away a pretty amazing shot. Moreover, we didn't have to deal with many long balls at our end thanks to Yoshida putting pressure on their defense up front. It's great to get another win, but now we need to consolidate by focussing on getting another victory against Hiroshima next Saturday."
	TOKURA Ken: Your first goal "I knew that Kang-jo would pass it to me, so I just got into position, took my time and put it away. It was a good angle." A year since you've scored "Yes, it felt good. I was grateful to the manager for using me today and went into the game particularly trying to impress him. But more than anything, I wanted to give something back to my family and the fans who have never stopped supporting me.
	OKUBO Yoshito: Overall "The hard work and running paid off. They had to put more men forward to try and salvage something which enabled us to get them on the counter, something Kobe is quite good at." The opener "It was an angle I wouldn't normally shoot from, especially with my left foot, but I just took a chance as it was the beginning of the game - and it went in."

VISSEL 1 - 0 KAWASAKI

2011-05-07T18:40:00.003+09:00

J.League Division 1 - Round 10

VISSEL KOBE 1			0 KAWASAKI FRONTALE
14:00, Saturday May 7, 2011
Home's Stadium Kobe
Attendance: 10,364
		PARK (68')			-
Team Lineup			Team Lineup
GK	30	TOKUSHIGE, Kenta	GK	1	AIZAWA, Takashi
DF	2	KONDO, Gakuto	DF	3	TANAKA, Yusuke
DF	4	KITAMOTO, Kunie	DF	4	IGAWA, Yusuke
DF	5	KOMOTO, Hiroyuki	DF	17	KIKUCHI, Kosuke (78')
DF	21	MOGI, Hiroto	DF	18	YOKOYAMA, Tomonobu
MF	24	MIHARA, Masatoshi	MF	14	NAKAMURA, Kengo
MF	8	MATSUOKA, Ryosuke	MF	19	SHIBASAKI, Kosuke
MF	9	ROGERINHO (87')	MF	23	NOBORIZATO, Kyohei (73')
MF	13	OKUBO, Yoshito	MF	13	YAMASE, Koji
FW	27	TOKURA, Ken (79')	FW	9	YAJIMA, Takuro (80')
FW	20	MORIOKA, Ryota (67')	FW	10	JUNINHO
Substitutes			Substitutes
GK	1	KISHI, Takahide	GK	27	ANDO, Shunsuke
DF	14	MIYAMOTO, Tsuneyasu	DF	2	ITO, Hiroki
MF	7	PARK, Kang-jo (67')	DF	18	YOKOYAMA, Tomonobu (78')
MF	10	BOTTI (87')	MF	22	FUKUMORI, Akito
MF	17	YOSHIDA, Takayuki (79')	MF	30	OSHIMA, Ryota (73')
FW	11	POPO	FW	11	KOBAYASHI, Yu (80')
FW	31	OGAWA, Keijiro	FW	29	KUKINO, Satoshi
		MATSUOKA (28') OKUBO (45'+1) TOKURA (54') KITAMOTO (74') KONDO (84')			TANAKA (45'+1)
		-			-

Post Match Comments

	WADA, Masahiro: Overall "It was a really tough match. We had more players cramping up than we had substitutes. After playing reasonably well and losing the last 2 matches, it's very satisfying to finally get a victory."
	PARK, Kang-jo: The goal "I just happened to be in the right place. I tapped it in with my first touch, but it has given me a lot of confidence, particulary since it brought us victory today.I was thinking about how I could contribute to the game while sitting on the bench."
	La Famiglia: It's great to get the 3 points, but this was far from what you could call a good performance. We wasted opportunities and I felt we were lucky to get Frontale on an off day. Despite looking a bit better in terms of his passing, Rogerinho still can't take a decent shot. Tokura finally got his start today and I felt he did enough, especially in the air, to keep his place for next week. However, I still have my doubts about Morioka. He gets pushed off the ball far too easily.