Yokohama F. Marinos 1-1 S-Pulse

Barry writes:

Yokohama F. Marinos 1-1 S-Pulse
Hyodo 86 ------------------------------------------------------- Omae 80 (pen)

Att. 33436

Line Up

GK K. Yamamoto (yellow 86)

DF Tsujio
DF Iwashita
DF Hiraoka
DF Bosnar
DF Ota

MF M. Yamamoto
MF Edamura
MF Ono

FW Omae
FW Ito

Subs Used

Brosque on for M. Yamamoto (66)
Takahara on for Ono (76)
Arata on for Ito (83)

Report

Probably our best performance so far, but tempered by some cheap loss of possession and in the closing stages the inability to maintain the ball. This lead to a very nervy last ten minutes, but ultimately we held on for a point. The ref, Mr Hajime Matsuo, was blowing for everything that moved, especially giving Ono a hard time. Omae's second goal in two games came from a dive in the box which fooled the ref. Less of this please, Genki! Maybe he was getting frustrated as he'd rattled off a few decent shots over the game but hadn't found the net. The decision was soft, but fair play to him on despatching a perfect kick past Iikura.

Brosque had a big and immediate impact when he came on and very nearly opened the scoring after a swift one two with Ono. His introduction coincided with the game sparking into a frantic last quarter. Nakamura was a hassle throughout, and this was typified when one of his trademark freekicks was only denied by the crossbar.

In the final play of the afternoon, Brosque turned a defender to put himself clean through on goal, but Mr Matsuo once again blew his whistle having deemed the minimal body contact a foul. Maybe he'd realised his mistake on the penalty call and wasn't about to let us win it at the death. I would not be surprised.

Ono was played high up on the left in more of a free role to take advantage of his attacking and creative abilities. With five at the back Iwashita played just in front of a back four as an anchor. After the opening week's battering, the good ship Ghotbi seems to be steadying somewhat as the team beds in and the best system is figured out. With Daigo Kobayashi on the mend, I'm looking forward to the months ahead.

Videos

I grabbed this off the TV just now, so until something better turns up, here you go. Genki's goal against Fukuoka is included at the start.



Iw*ta Watch

Last week we got 11025 in the driving rain for a game that was live on free TV. Less than three hundred more than that turned up the Yamaha this evening for Iw*ta's opening home game. Bare in mind it's the first day of a long weekend, the game wasn't on free TV, and the weather could not have been better. The apathy in the west of Shizuoka is little short of MIND BOGGLING.

S-Pulse 2-1 Yokohama F Marinos (Pre season)

Barry writes:

S-Pulse 2-1 Yokohama F Marinos
Ota 10 ---------------------- Watanabe 23
Omae 78

Att. 7104

Line Up

GK K. Yamamoto

DF Muramatsu
DF Hiraoka
DF Bosnar
DF Ota

MF Omae
MF Iwashita
MF Ono
MF Edamura
MF Ito

FW Takahara

Subs Used

Nagai on for Bosnar (60)
Okane (yellow 80) on for Ito (80)
M. Yamamoto on for Ono (89)

Report

Ghotbi's S-Pulse rose to their first proper test today beating Yokohama FM 2-1 in Numazu.

I didn't go, working as I am to build up enough goodwill with the girlfriend that she'll allow me to traipse off around the country in the coming months. My absence on the terraces didn't faze the lads though, and we rounded off the pre season in solid if not spectacular style. Ghotbi's S-Pulse is starting to take shape and I'm really enjoying the changes after what nobody can deny as the rigidity of the Kenta years.

Like I say, I wasn't there, so I'll let the video speak for itself.

Video

Full highlights:

Yokohama F. Marinos Pre-Season Friendly

Barry writes:

A pre-season match with Yokohama F. Marinos was announced today. The game will take place on Sunday, February 20th. Kick off at 2pm. There'll be a satellite training match before the main event.

The game won't be held at Nihondaira, instead S-Pulse are choosing to spread the love to the east side of the prefecture. The game will be at the Ashitaka Athletics Park in Numazu.

Nishibe's Injury / Aoyama to YFM / Takahara? / Mystic Meg

Barry writes:

Nishibe is out for four weeks following his horrific collision last weekend. Should we make it through, will he be back in time for the cup final on New Year's Day? What am I, Mystic Meg?

Aoyama has signed for Yokohama F. Marinos.

Ex-scum striker Takahara is rumoured to be on the S-Pulse Christmas shopping list. Shizuoka lad born and bred, and Shimizu educated, it was always such a waste he got tempted to the dark side as a youth. We've all done things we regret. Will he find salvation in a bright orange t-shirt? Would certainly put some extra bums on seats and flog a few scarves.

Emp Cup Last 16 Venue Confirmed

Barry writes:

Our Emperor's Cup last 16 game will be played away at Yokohama F. Marinos' second home ground of Mitsuzawa Stadium. Kick off is 7pm, Wednesday November 17th.

I WANT TO GO.

S-Pulse 1-2 Yokohama F. Marinos

Barry writes:

S-Pulse 1-2 Yokohama F. Marinos
Okazaki 30---------------- Hyodo 2
---------------------------------Nakamura 53

Att. 20019

Report

Bollocks.

There's no report for this because I have to get to bed and I'm off to Niigata in the morning. Because of that, I may or may not be able to update this page after Tuesday's game. Worst case scenario it'll be done Sunday evening after the derby.

S-Pa v Yokohama FM - SOLD OUT

Barry writes:

Saturday's match with Yokohama F. Marinos is completely sold out.

This is the fastest selling game at Nihondaira certainly for the last five years, probably a lot longer.

See you there. :)

Yokohama FM 2-6 S-Pulse (Satellite) / Plymouth Argyle???

Barry writes:

Over in Yokohama, S-Pulse's satellite team played Marinos' equivalent today. Two games were played, the first ending 1-0 to the home team, the second 5-1 to us.

The satellite line up differs from regular J. League in that it's a mixture of first teamers and reserves with unlimited substitutions available. Over the first 90 minutes 14 different players took to the field, and in the second game we tried out 18 different players.

Our goals came from:

Fujimoto
Okazaki (2)
Johnsen
Ito
Nagai

Great to see both new singing Ito getting on the score sheet, and Okazaki showing he's raring to go after his World Cup adventure. Click here for full line ups (in Japanese). Speaking of Okachan:

Plymouth Argyle - Are You High?

It was reported on Suponichi via the Daily Mail that Plymouth Argyle hope to sign our Okazaki.

Yes, that's Plymouth Argyle, currently in the third tier of English football alongside the likes of Exeter City and Walsall. And, yes, that's Okazaki, the Japanese international who just held his own in the World Cup against the best Dutch, Danish and Paraguayan defenders, and who was the highest scorer in international football in 2009.

It remains to be seen if Okachan, who has stated in the past his hope to move abroad one day, will be enticed by the prospect of playing in front of 5000 people away at Carlisle, or, even better, 2500 at Dagenham and Redbridge.

Seriously, Shinji - you're playing at a higher level than England's third division already. Much like Jubilo's Robert Cullen snubbed Plymouth last year, don't even think about it. I've nothing personal against the Pilgrims, (I'd say the same thing if my beloved Albion made a bid), but for an international striker hitting the peak of his career, a move to England has to be at least to Championship level.

Yokohama FM 0-0 Urawa (Nabisco Cup)

Barry writes:

Yokohama FM 0-0 Urawa

Att. 13463

Report

And with that display of sheer bloody mindedness, Urawa (who were already out of the competition), gleefully dragged their old rivals down with them. The Saitama reds knew they had more to play for then just their pride - there was of course the chance to royally screw over a bitter enemy.

And screw them over they did, doggedly defending, rushing them on the counter attack, and wasting time at every opportunity until the ref finally blew his whistle deep into the 95th minute. A single goal would have put Yokohama through to the knock out stage at our expense, but Urawa made it their mission to see it didn't happen.

So all that works out just dandy for us, as the group B final standings look a little like this:

#		Team	P	W	D	L	F	A	D	Pts
1		iwata	6	4	1	1	12	5	+7	13
2		S-PULSE	6	3	2	1	6	3	+3	11
3		Yamagata	6	3	1	2	6	6	+0	10
4		Yokohama FM	6	2	3	1	6	3	+3	9
5		Urawa	6	2	2	2	6	6	+0	8
6		Kobe	6	2	1	3	8	10	-2	7
7		Shonan	6	0	0	6	4	15	-11	0

Iwata's impotence in front of goal clearly came to a head at the Yamaha Stadium tonight, as they released Sunday's frustrations all over Yamagata's face in a veritable ejaculation of goals. A 5-0 win for the sky blues (their largest victory for roughly 152 years) sent the visitors out. Given all they needed was a draw to progress, any Mountain Kings who made the journey to iwata tonight will have just cause to be a little peeved at their team's capitulation.

So the next round of fixtures lines up thusly:

Quarter Finals 1st Leg
September 1st 2010 (Wed)

Kashima v Kawasaki
iwata v Sendai
G. Osaka v Hiroshima
FC Tokyo v S-PULSE

Quarter Finals 2nd Leg
September 8th 2010 (Wed)

Kawasaki v Kashima
Sendai v iwata
Hiroshima v G. Osaka
S-PULSE v FC Tokyo

These games happen to fall when I'm back in England for a week, so it pains me to report I'll be missing my first home game of the season. That said, I'll be there for the semi final first leg against either Hiroshima or G. Osaka on September 29th should we make it. The return leg on October 10th I may or may not treat myself to (it's the day before my birthday after all!).

S-Pulse 0-0 Yokohama M. Flügels (Nabisco Cup)

Barry writes:

S-Pulse 0-0 Yokohama M. Flügels

Att. 15269


Line Up

GK Nishibe

DF Tsujio (yellow 90)
DF Iwashita
DF Bosnar
DF Arata

MF Hyodo
MF Ito
MF Ono

FW Nagai
FW Johnsen
FW Fujimoto

Subs Used

Ota on for Bosnar (65)
Hara on for Johnsen (76)
Edamura on for Nagai (78)

Report

Sorry - this is going to be a bit late. If and when I get round to it (I'm moving house this week - loads of time spend shifting boxes, very little spent writing match reviews), but will try to expand on this a little the first chance I get.

In the meantime, here's a picture:

15000 for a Nabisco Cup Group Stage game? Blimey

Videos

Nothing to see here.

Seriously, there was nothing to see.

Yokohama FM 1-2 S-Pulse

Barry writes:

Yokohama FM 1-2 S-Pulse
Shimizu 82 -------------------------------- Okazaki 5, 42

Att. 27114

Line Up

GK Nishibe

DF Tsujio
DF Arata
DF Bosnar
DF Ota (yellow 81)

MF Yamamoto
MF Honda
MF Ono (yellow 15)

FW Hyodo
FW Johnsen
FW Okazaki (yellow 25)

Subs Used

Fujimoto on for Ono (69)
Ito on for M. Yamamoto (86)
Hiraoka on for Tsujio (90)

Report

We picked up a crucial away win to maintain our unbeaten start to the season and return, at least until Kashima play tomorrow, to the top of the table.

I didn't see the game due to Real Life commitments, but was eagerly checking my mobile phone for goal updates. The first one came almost immediately as Okazaki got back into scoring ways in the fifth minute. He doubled the lead just before the break, with both goals displaying his killer instinct as a predatory striker. His positioning and finishing were impeccable in both instances, and his seat on the plane to South Africa is surely set.

Ono was instrumental in both goals. The first came after Ono and Tsujio exchanged a killer one-two move to scythe down the right wing. Tsujio's cross was poorly cleared and Okazaki was clinical in his finishing. We made it two from Ono's looping freekick from the right which was spilt by the Marinos keeper. The ball fell again to Okazaki who made no mistake.

Yokohama didn't have a great day at the office, losing returnee Nakamura through injury in the 27th minute and having a penalty saved in the second half. But they were able to pull one back in the last ten minutes when Shimizu's header deflected off an S-Pulse defender to beat Nishibe. We held on for three valuable away points which helps keep up the momentum of our good start to 2010.

We managed to pick up three more yellow cards today to add to the five others already in the bag (Ono's on three in total already). We've not won fair play awards in the past by accident, so it would be a shame to see our fair play record slip.

Next up is Sendai a week tomorrow. See you there!

Videos etc

The goals, and Nishibe's penalty save.



This weekend's bonus video is of Sendai's supporters celebrating their 2-1 defeat of Kashima (and which means we spend the week top of the table).



I'm loving the crowd surfing on the left hand side. :)

Yokohama Flügels M. 2-0 S-Pulse

Barry writes:

Yokohama Flügels M. 2-0 S-Pulse
Ogura 75
Kurihara 92

Att: 30985

Line Up

GK Nishibe

DF Ichikawa
DF Iwashita
DF Arata
DF Ota

MF Honda
MF M. Yamamoto
MF Fujimoto
MF Hyodo

FW Okazaki
FW Nagasawa

Subs Used

Johnsen on for Nagasawa (63)
Edamura on for Fujimoto (73)
Hara on for M. Yamamoto (80)

Report

Oh, my days. Nagasawa starting up front ahead of Nagai, Johnsen, Omae, Hara? WHAT??? Nishibe holding his place in goal over Kaito? WHAT??? And, lo. He gets beaten by two speculative long range efforts to put the icing on the cake. The cake had up till then been comprised of some really nice passing play and positive forward movement from ourselves, but why we had Nagasawa partnering Okazaki I will never know. He was subbed off just after the hour for Johnsen, by which point most the game was already played and Yokohama were getting their claws in.

So glad we're still in the cup, but for the love of all things holy Kenta, please stop making knee-jerk selection changes. Johnsen being injured for a week should not then mean his place is therefore lost to 21 year old rookie. Sorry, I can't type any more. Too angry / bemused / disappointed.

Roll on December 12th - Emperor's Cup v Niigata. :)

Satellite: S-Pa v Marinos / Kim Dong-Sub and Okazaki / S-Pa Make History

It's time for a news digest!

1) Satellite League

Yokohama F. Marinos 2-1 S-Pulse

Our opening match of this year's satellite league ended in a 2-1 defeat at the hands of Marinos. The game took place Sunday 15th March at Yokohama's MM21 training centre, and attracted a crowd of 1069.

Our goal scorer was recently returned Jungo Fujimoto, who scored the goal of his life (maybe) by beating the entire Marinos team (possibly) before nutmegging the hapless keeper (perhaps). Jungo played an hour before being taken off for Genki.

2) Kim Dong-Sub and Okazaki Called Up

Our soon-to-turn-20 year old Korean, Kim Dong-Sub, was called up this week for the Korean national team (U20). He's off with them between March 16th and April 5th.

Also called up this week was Okazaki. He's been included in the squad which will face Bahrain in Saitama on the 28th of March. The game is part of the 2010 World Cup qualifying campaign. See here for latest group standings.

3) S-Pulse Make History

As predicted, our opening home game against Marinos yielded our largest ever opening weekend crowd. The crowd of 19172 (pictured) were not treated to one of football's finer examples of a game, but if nothing else they can rest safe in the knowledge that they made S-Pulse history. All we need is Jubilo at home on the opening week of 2010 and we can break it again. :)

S-Pulse 0-0 Yokohama F. Marinos

0-0 again. What was that I was saying pre-season about our new-found fire-power up front? :-D

The two teams line up

Week two, our first home game of the season, over 19000 packed in to Nihondaira, and what do they get treated to? A goal-less draw. Darn.

It was a game of two halfs, with us looking distinctly under the kosh for the first 45. We spent a lot of it in our own half, and Marinos were by far the more likely to score. We lost possession far too easily and there was not a great deal to cheer about for the packed S-Pulse end. Saying that, we did manage to hit the woodwork before the break, when we clearly had a good dressing down from Kenta.

The second half we looked a lot better, but the 3-4-3 played by Marinos was in reality 5-2-3 with the wingers playing so deep we were very effectively restricted in getting down the wings. Each long ball hoofed up front was met by groans from those around me, and it wasn't until Yamamoto was taken off for Paulo on 56 that we started to show some decent direction and purpose in our play. He didn't put a foot wrong, and the whole mood of the game changed with his introduction. I would have had him start ahead of Yamamoto even before this game, and after yesterday, I'm going to very surprised if he's not in he starting eleven against Nagoya next week.

Yokohama's colourful lot

Hara, brought on for Okazaki on 76, continued to justify his last year young player of the year short-listing by doing what he does best: running fearlessly at defenders. He went very close to grabbing a winner, and if the game had been 100, not 90, minutes, we would have probably found a way through. Alas, 90 minutes is all you get, and it took us an hour to start threatening the visitors, so we've only ourselves to blame.

In a day where the subs stole the show, Jungo was given a rapturous reception when he was introduced on 82. We were there when he broke his leg at Omiya last July, so it was fantastic to see him back in action. He was only on for 10 minutes, but he looked sharp and has clearly missed his football. The sooner he's back as a starting member the better. He has a real hunger and energy about him which we've dearly missed. Welcome back Jungo!

Jungo is back!

Johnsen appeared a separate entity to the rest of the team, but any new signing takes a while to gel, so it's way too soon to be getting worried yet. The fact we didn't find the net was far more about a lack of decent service than anything else. The Norwegian'll come good given time, and it'll coincide perfectly with better service from the wings.

Saturday was frustrating to say the least, but again, I don't see any cause for panic. The booing at the end of the game was a little bit much in my opinion, especially when you put our opening results in context. We drew 0-0 with Marinos and Omiya, and while Marinos had scored twice in their previous game, Omiya scored three times today. It's still too early in the season to be making too much of such stats, but we've not yet conceded, and that makes us the only team in J1 with none against. Compare that with Jubilo, who have conceded ten, count em, TEN goals in two games.

So in summary, for next week, I expect a starting 11 not too much unlike yesterday, but I do want to see Paulo in from the start. Over to you, Kenta.

Line ups etc:

Att: 19172

The second highest crowd of the day, no less.

Line Up:

GK Nishibe

DF Ichikawa
DF Aoyama
DF Iwashita
DF Kodama

MF Hyodo
MF Ito
MF Yamamoto
MF Edamura

FW Okazaki
FW Johnsen

Subs used:

Paulo for Yamamoto (56)
Hara for Okazaki (76)
Fujimoto for Hyodo (82)

It pays to arrive early

Videos

Full highlights:



A real mixed reception at the end of what was a pretty frustrating game.



Links

Read Mike Tuckerman's report of the game here.

S-Pulse v Yokohama F. Marinos (Preview)

It’s here! It’s finally here! Three and a half months after our last competitive match down ‘Daira way, Saturday at last sees us back in business. In match day two of 2009, we welcome Yokohama F. Marinos (don’t forget the F) to the newly christened Outsourcing Stadium Nihondaira.

Yokohama are no doubt still smarting from getting turned over 4-2 at home by newly promoted Hiroshima, but they really shouldn’t feel too bad about it. It could have been worse, after all. Hiroshima are still riding the wave that started back in March 08 with their Xerox Super Cup victory, and swept them relentlessly on to the J2 title. With 100 points and 99 goals, they were 22 points clear of Yamagata with an incredible +64 goal difference. I doubt anyone would have fancied taking them on last week.

With Marinos playing 3-4-3, it's no big surprise they managed a couple of goals against what is still in effect a J2 defence. But it also goes some way to explain how a stronger team could dictate midfield and overwhelm their three man defence. Word over at the wonderfully professional looking Tricolor Pride, laments the way Hiroshima pulled Marinos all over the pitch, and if we play the fast-paced passing game we're more than capable of, we'll be able to capitalise on the extra space down the flanks to get those crosses into Okazaki and Johnsen.

Last Sunday was a frustrating way to start the season. 17 shots should have reaped better rewards, but all things considered, a draw was fair. Rustiness in front of goal meant we saw some excellent chances go begging. I’m confident we can win the midfield battle on Saturday which will give opportunities for the the likes of Edamura and Okazaki to get back to their deadly best. I'm not expecting a starting eleven much different to last week.

In helping promote our club, Shizuoka City have really been going for it over the last couple of years. Working with S-Pulse, I doubt there's a person left in town unaware of the game on Saturday!

We're set to top last year's gate of 18292 for this fixture, and not only that, 'Daira will be rocking to quite possibly our largest ever opening weekend crowd.

At the time of writing there’s only around 1000 tickets left, so if you’ve not got yours yet, don’t count on paying on the day – get one now! One final word - don't forget your mac, cos like last year, it might be wet!

FRIDAY EVENING EDIT

Good news! While the rain is set to hammer down all night, according to latest weather reports it'll clear up late morning and we'll be blessed with a clear blue sky with which to kick off our 2009 home campaign.

God truly is an S-Pulse fan. :)

S-Pa 1-1 F. Marinos

Yet another game we should have won but didn't. Yet another chance to haul ourselves away from 15th position missed. The longer we wallow down the wrong end of the table, there bigger the emerging split in the fan base becomes. On the whistle, the behind the goal crew was split between those booing the continued poor form, those getting behind the team, and a sizeable number too bloody exhausted and let down to do either. Greeting the S-Pulse team bus as it emerged from the stadium was a small but vocal group berating the recent form and chanting (though I'm not totally versed in Japanese mob vocabulary, I did check) for Kenta's neck. It's safe to say the moment we go out the League Cup that group will grow considerably.

Next up is Reysol at home, the first home game of the season I won't be at, although many others of the Ultras family will be behind the goal as usual. Another poor result on Saturday and things will start getting really sticky for Kenta. With a team full of young talent, 15th position was surprising after ten games, but unthinkable after 21. Yes, we're missing an out and out striker aka Jae-Jin, but looking at Kyoto, Fernandinho seems to be doing OK up front. His transfer was the most baffling thing to of happened this season, and something which has proven in no way justified (which of course we all knew the moment we heard about it). As mentioned previously, Kenta is in the privileged position of having been in charge at Nihondaira longer than any other manager. If he's still there at the start of next year is something I'm really starting to wonder about...

Anyway, enough doom and gloom, I'll just give a quick mention before I sign off to the brilliant Marinos umbrella dance - by far the most imaginative and colourful display a team has brought to Nihondaira in years!

Here's our goal from Iwashita captured on my camera. Please excuse the finger over the top of the screen for half of it!