Barry writesNagoya 1-0 S-Pulse
Kennedy 32 (pen)
Att. 24316
Line Up
GK Hayashi
DF Yoshida
DF Iwashita
DF Jong a Pin
DF Lee
MF Muramatsu
MF Edamura
MF Kawai (4)
MF Takagi
FW Brosque (60)
FW Omae
Subs Used
Ono (63) on for Edamura (HT)
Shirasaki on for Takagi (73)
Report
A belting stadium, way too many beers, awesome travelling support, friends, football and fun. A defeat, but a lot to take from the performance. All in all, it was just great to have the football back. It's a long, cold winter in Japan with no football to look forward to on the weekends. Welcome back J. League. :)
We had four first time starters (Hayashi, Yoshida, Lee, Kawai) on Saturday, and a fifth came off the bench in the shape of Shirasaki. A very new look S-Pulse, but a very encouraging performance. Lee in particular had only officially been announced last week, but for all the new faces we didn't look like a team lacking cohesion. But for a momentary lack of good judgement from an otherwise solid Yoshida, the game would have ended 0-0.
Nagoya's big two centre backs caused us all kinds of problems and were probably the difference in the end. We created several chances down the wings through twinkle toes Takagi especially, but were frustrated by Tulio and Masukawa time and again. I thought we looked better in the second half and controlled most of the game, no coincidence Ono had come on at half time.
As for the other new signings, Yoshida was exciting, and Hayashi in goal seems a class acquisition. Experienced beyond his years, he had a great début. The back line was organised and did a good job of containing Nagoya for the most part. We have a lot we can take from this, despite the defeat. This season is going to be an interesting one, but compared to last year's schooling at the hands of the eventual champions, I feel like it's going to be a much brighter ten months ahead!
Absolute CORKER of a stadium
Grampus Kun :)
Hayashi in goal - one of several débutantes
Videos
Barry..Defensively we are looking more solid than last year..except for the rookie mistake for the penalty, there was not a single clear cut chance for Nagoya, only one at the end i guess..offensively we still have the same problem as last year wrt a target man!!!
ReplyDeleteYeah, it was a big performance, especially given how many débuts there were out there. Playing Jong a Pin in the centre may be the key. I was impressed with both Yoshida and Lee on the sides.
ReplyDeleteAs for a new striker, I that's still going to happen. After Freddie left we have all the money going spare!
Jong-a pin played as defender i suppose or was it a 3-4-3? btw what happened to Daigo Kobayashi this time around? Injured again? You had mentioned to me before that he was one of the good prospects in our line up to replace Ono going forward?
ReplyDeleteHi Barry!
ReplyDeleteAlthough I couldn't watch the game, I was following the result online. The result was somehow disappointing, but after reading the comments of you and other Shimizu's fans and also watching the highlights, I have become much more optimist about our team. I suppose Shimizu's attack and teamwork involving 7 players on the 20th minute was a kind of climax. I wish the man on the penalty kick could score it. If he did it, maybe it had become the best goal of the first week of J league.
I think the referee was right about penalty kick and he had no responsibility to compensate for rookie mistakes of players:)
I am waiting for next Saturday, however the game will start when it is 6:30 A.M. in Iran:) Hopefully, the game can be watched online. I think it's a good time to revenge last year's 4-0 defeat:)
Shadows>
ReplyDeleteJong a Pin was part of the back four. Playing in the centre with Iwashita. Kobayashi is back but was kept on the bench today. I guess it's always going to be one or the other from those two.
Amir/Iran>
ReplyDeleteYep, it was a penalty. It was down the other end from the Shimizu supporters, so I couldn't see it very well at the time, but he lunged over the forward.
I hope you can find a stream for the Hiroshima game!
Maybe you find it interesting; she is one of us, Iranian fans of Shimizu and Afshin:)
ReplyDeletehttps://www.facebook.com/photo.php?fbid=324596874265075&set=o.107773742651819&type=1
Amir, thanks for the link! That's awesome - made me smile so much just now! :))
ReplyDeleteHey Barry it seems Jymmy Franca has joined S-pulse..Brazilian striker with no so great a scoring record in what seems like a long list of past clubs!! what do you think of the transfer? and more importantly will he play this weekend?? :P
ReplyDeleteHope he will play! He's already been training with us, so he should have an idea of how we play. He's never been anywhere long, but he does seem to score goals. Not idea how the leagues he's been in compare to J1, though. Guess we'll just have to wait and see!
ReplyDelete