BARRY WRITES... Two posts in a week? I'm not sure these pages can handle all this activity!
Sunday saw the return of supporters at Nihondaira, albeit in a limited capacity. Clubs are allowed 50% of their stadium or 5000 fans, whichever is less. Our official total was 4131, so not "full", but above average amongst J1 teams. This, in tandem with restrictions on behaviour that may spread contagions, meant an atmosphere unlike any the stadium has seen before.
I was reminded of the charity match with Yokohama FC after the Great East Japan Earthquake, but while the fans were silent, the PA certainly wasn't. The usual entrance music was booming, recorded singing and chanting kept the samba pumping, and Suzuki-san was giving it loads with his usual full-blooded performance on the mic. Awesome work as always, Mr Suzuki.
So to flesh out my tweets a little, while Sunday was the 4th loss from 4, in my opinion (for what it's worth) there's no need to panic. We showed hard work and endeavor, and were unlucky not to equalise earlier. As an example, you would have put all of the money on Kaneko finding the net just before the hour. Following up Carlinho's saved shot, it looks like Higashiguchi did just enough to make him miss the target.
That was but one chance of what I can best describe as an Orange Onslaught. The second half saw wave after wave of S-Pulse crashing against Gamba's shores. It was almost ceaseless. I enjoyed most our speed and movement. We displayed a real verve, and but for a better cross or shot, we wouldn't have waited until the 84th minute to find the net.
What lack of accuracy we'd shown up to that point was paid back in one. Nakamura floated a perfect cross to the back of the 6 yard box, and Tatsuta rose majestically to crash it home. If claiming our reward for dominating the half came as a huge relief, then just as huge was the frustration at getting caught flat-footed shortly after. On 89 minutes Watanabe shot past three defenders and one keeper to restore the guests' lead, and that's how it ended.
So yeah, an annoying end, but I've watched S-Pulse when we've been bad (2015 springs to mind. Oh, the horror, the horror!). I've also watched us when we've been average and not very interesting. But what I saw on Sunday has me hopeful. Players were hustling. Players were being selfish and having a go. I saw a team swarming forward, moving with fluidity to create space and passing opportunities. Early days, but we were also much better when playing out from the back.
Clearly we're not yet the finished article. We got caught napping more than once, the goals being good examples. But as I sat outside in the late morning sunshine with a cup of tea and a Club (orange, obviously), I couldn't be too down. We've got a new boss who's putting his team together under some pretty tricky circumstances. The games are coming fast and furious, but overall the signs are good. If we build on this, it won't be long until we're racking up some points.
Here's some very limited highlights:
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