Wrapping Up 2012

Happy New Year to all On the Gas readers (even you, Anonymous). In this post I'll wrap up FC Tokyo's 2012 season with some stats and a general review of the squad.

All Tokyo supporters left Aji Sta on the final day of the 2012 season in a buoyant mood after our 6-2 destruction of 2nd-placed Sendai, but once the dust settled and the buzz wore off we were left with the simple fact that our second half of the year wasn't good enough, and a season that offered so much promise through the start of July ultimately ended with us going nowhere.

We had reached the halfway point in 5th, but won just five games in the second half of the season and ended up 10th, an accurate reflection of where we stood in what was a fiercely competitive and unpredictable league. The back-to-back wins over Champions-to-be Hiroshima and Yokohama (who ended up 4th) in Matchdays 23 & 24 showed what we were capable of, but our inconsistency reared its ugly head in dire home losses to Niigata and Omiya, and at the end of the day we could have no complaints with a mid-table finish.

Stats

At the end of the first half of the season I posted a Mid-Term Report, so lets follow the same pattern and look at our results from Matchdays 18-34 in four areas:

• Home: W: 4 D: 0 L: 4 GF: 17 GA: 10 (2012: W: 8 D: 1 L: 8 GF: 30 GA: 22)

The goals for column is obviously hugely weighted by our massive wins over Sapporo and Sendai, but while we were excellent in defeating Yokohama and fought back well to overcome Iwata, three of the four losses were all indicative of our lack of an out-and-out goalscorer, something the club has yet to address (but still might) this offseason. I'm writing off the Aji Swamp loss to Kobe.

• Away: W: 1 D: 5 L: 3 GF: 9 GA: 14 (2012: W: 6 D: 5 L: 6 GF: 17 GA: 22)

This isn't as bad as it looks actually, you can put the descrepancy in goal difference down to the Popo Horror Show in Kashima, and we showed a boatload of character to come from behind and take a point in four of our five away draws. When you consider that 12 of the 22 we conceeded away from home all season came in just three games, we've done fairly well overall allowing just 10 in the other 14 games, and we kept six clean sheets on the road, compared to just two at home all year.

• Against top-half teams: W: 3 D: 3 L: 3 GF: 15 GA: 11

This was the one area I said we needed to do better in at midseason, and the fact that we took 10 points out of 12 available in the second half of the season against the teams who finished in the top four shows that we made decent progress. The three losses here were all by the odd goal, and in all three games we outshot the opposition (by a huge margin against Kawasucki and Nagoya) so we could feel a little hard done by. Just for reference's sake we had a record of W: 3 D: 1 L: 5 against these teams in the first half of the year.

• Against other bottom-half teams: W: 2 D: 2 L: 4 GF: 11 GA: 13

This was a massive disappointment, and the key reason why we were unable to sustain an ACL push through to the end of the season. In the first half we won six of eight against these clubs (W: 6 D: 0 L: 2), but a return of eight points from 24 is simply not good enough, especially as three of the four losses came at home. Just about the only positive here (apart from the pumping of Sapporo) came when we fought back to earn a point at Gamba, playing a major part in their relegation.

Squad

The past two years I've posted a player-by-player review with grades, but I'm not going to bother with that this season, just a summary of major names in each area of the park.

Goalkeepers

   Shuichi Gonda unveiled The Scorpion in Matchday 1 at Omiya, kept us in the game at home against the Red Cubic Zirconias in Matchday 13, and cemented himself as one of the league's top three or four 'keepers throughout another excellent season. On top of that he represented the club with distinction at the Olympics, also establishing himself in Alberto Zaccheroni's Japan squads. A move to Europe is probably inevitable, but leave it for another year eh Gon-chan? Hitoshi Shiota saw action in just four league games (three starts), but his season will undoubtedly be remembered for the enduring image of him watching a 45-yard free kick sail over his head and into the net in stoppage time as we lost to Yokogawa Musashino in the Emperor's Cup.

Defenders

   Masato Morishige missed only one game (through suspension) and was generally excellent, coping well with a revolving group of players alongside him in the centre of defence. No goals from free kicks this year, but his two goals were both massive: the winner in the away Classico and the equalizer at home against Urawa. Kenichi Kaga was inconsistent and his season was derailed by injuries, not what we were hoping for from Yasuyuki Konno's replacement. Jang Hyun Soo really came on towards the end of the season, and if he gets a run in the team next year he should really blossom.
   On the flanks Yuhei Tokunaga was again very reliable, and did quite well for Japan at the Olympics. Kosuke Ota started the season well but was prone to lapses in concentration and then missed almost five months due to injury: a bit of a lost season, really. Kenta Mukuhara and Hokuto Nakamura were both in and out of the team, mainly in Ota's absence, but neither took a stranglehold on the position, while Yuichi Maruyama is one for the future after three league appearances.

Midfielders

   Hideto Takahashi broke into the national team set-up and made everything tick in our engine room in a superb season, also filling in in the centre of defence for a spell alongside Morishige. Takuji Yonemoto made a successful recovery from his second serious knee injury, and though he was ocassionally the odd man out in central midfield he made 27 appearances in a strong bounce-back season. Aria Jasuru Hasegawa started all 28 games he appeared in - he was suspended for the other six - and though he's not everyone's cup of tea, and though he can't tackle, he was without question the most successful of the new players brought in in the last offseason. Yohei Kajiyama missed eight games due to injury and scored only twice from his regular role 'in the hole', but Greek side Panathinaikos saw enough to take Casual on loan for the rest of the European season.
   Naohiro Ishikawa got off to a flier with two brilliant goals in the first home game against Nagoya and then the opener away at Kobe in the next matchday, but then took seven months to get the last of his five goals with a brace against Sapporo. He'll never be a 15 goal guy again, but five to ten from him next year along with occasionally dynamic wing play will do for us. Sotan Tanabe's season never really got going, and he may benefit from the Casual-shaped hole we now have behind the striker (though new signing Keigo Higashi will likely have a say in that), while Naotake Hanyu, though still extremely popular amongst the supporters, might have run his race with us after an injury-hit season (and reported interest from promoted Kofu). Hiroki Kawano promised much in the brief glimpses we had of him but all of his nine league appearances were off the bench and his season was ruined by injury, and Yohei Otake was in the same boat, he was superb in the Champions League against Beijing but a knee injury ended his season soon after. Tatsuya Yazawa made 20 appearances before being sold back to Chiba in August.
   Saving the best of this bunch 'til last: Nemanja Vucicevic was the story of the season for us after his arrival in early August: he finished joint-second on our goalscoring list with six from just 13 appearances (all off the bench). His direct style through the middle endeared Nema to the supporters straight away, and we all hope the club can get him re-signed for 2013.

Forwards

   Lucas bagged a brace in the Sendai slaughter to take him up to 10 goals for the season, and he'll be back for 2013, though hopefully the big fella won't have to shoulder as much of the responsibility up front next season. Kazuma Watanabe was brought in to get us goals but never seemed to win over the manager: just eight of his 27 appearances were starts. He managed just six goals (one fewer than his final season with Yokohama), including a 36-minute hat trick in the memorable comeback win over Tosu, when his nose was the star of the show, though he did finish quite strongly, starting and scoring in the final two games. Sota Hirayama couldn't get in the team, got injured at the end of April, and then made a nine minute cameo at the end of the final game which we all thought would be his Tokyo swan song, but despite some J2 offers apparently he's staying on for next season.
   Yohei Hayashi got the briefest of tastes of first team action, one minute in the league and a few more in the ACL, but he'll benefit from the year of training with the first team and will hopefully kick on in 2013, while Edmilson came in, scored twice, and took off.

2013 Ins & Outs

As briefly mentioned above: Kajiyama has gone to Greece and Higashi has been signed as a direct replacement; Hanyu might be heading to Kofu; and there have been whispers of a loan offer from Cerezo Osaka for Mukuhara. I'd prefer to be shot of Nakamura, as I believe Mukuhara is a better bet as our third full back, but the latter may feel he'll get more playing time at another club.
If we can re-sign Vucicevic, and Kawano is fit, then we are fairly set in midfield I think, so that leaves us needing a top-drawer striker - not easy to find I know. Our success rate with bringing in (new) Brazilians has been pretty poor of late, but I'd suggest picking up the phone and calling the front office of Al Sadd in Qatar: they have a fella called Leandro who's pretty handy.


So there you have it. Thanks for making it down this far, and thanks for reading On the Gas throughout the 2012 season. I can't say for sure if the blog will be back in its entirety for the 2013 campaign, as The J-Talk Podcast will continue to occupy a lot of my time, but its been a great ride (most of the time!) following The Gasmen for another year, and lets hope we're challenging for honours next season.

Up the Gas!

Going Out In Style

FC Tokyo 6-2 Sendai

J1 Matchday 34

What a way to end the season! FC Tokyo finished 2012 in style, demolishing Sendai 6-2 before a crowd of just under 31,000 on December 1st. Lucas and Nemanja Vucicevic both bagged braces, with Jang Hyun Soo and Kazuma Watanabe also getting on the scoresheet. Sendai had lost any hope of winning the league the previous Saturday and were understandably flat, but Tokyo deserve all the plaudits for a brilliant display.

Ranko Popovic started with the same XI that drew away at Gamba Osaka in the last game, and after an early spell of Sendai possession Tokyo were quickly into gear, with Hideto Takahashi's long-range drive hitting the bar in the 7th minute. Just a minute later Takahashi, stationed right on the halfway line out on the left, spotted Lucas' run through the defence and lofted the ball forward to meet the Brazilian's run. Lucas nodded the ball on, held off a defender and dinked the ball left-footed past the on-rushing Sendai 'keeper and into the net for 1-0.

In the 17th minute Lucas grabbed his second, and 10th of the year, finishing off a sublime passing move that began with Yuhei Tokunaga's throw-in from the right. Watanabe received the ball and found Lucas, who played it forward to Yohei Kajiyama just on the edge of the box. Casual returned to Lucas, who played another one-two with Aria Hasegawa and darted into the Sendai penalty area. The 'keeper came out again but Lucas kept his composure and finished superbly with the outside of his right boot as the home end went mental.

Sendai were not in the game at all, but things evened-out slightly after the second goal, and the Tohoku side worked their way back into the game with a brilliant close range header from Shingo Akamine in the 35th minute, the ex-Tokyo man flicking Wilson's cross from the right past Shuichi Gonda. Wilson had a shot well saved by Gonda just before half time, but we went into the break 2-1 up and good value for our lead.

Akamine had a golden chance to level things up in the second minute of the second half but missed the target with only Gonda to beat, and then our two goal lead was restored just two minutes later when Jang headed in Hasegawa's corner from the left, the South Korean defender's second goal of a promising debut season.

In the 56th minute it was 4-1 after Watanabe took Hasegawa's pass from just inside the box and showed great close control to take the ball around the 'keeper and fire into the roof of the net with his left boot. It had been a bit of a lost season for Kazuma, but he finished with goals in each of the last two giving him six for the season.

After a bit of a lull for 20 minutes or so Tokyo produced a grandstand finish, and it was no surprise that Vucicevic, coming off the bench for the 13th straight game since his arrival, was at the centre of things. Sota Hirayama (on for the last 10 minutes in what will probably be his last Tokyo appearance) started the move for our fifth, dribbling up field before playing the ball out to fellow sub Naohiro Ishikawa on the right. Nao played a square ball into the centre which Kajiyama stepped over, Vucicevic played it forward to Casual who continued his run, and with the 'keeper advancing again Kajiyama played it back across to Nema who smashed home with his left foot. Another brilliant goal, and as we sat there scratching our heads wondering where this kind of performance had been all season, we weren't to know the best was yet to come.

In the 92nd minute Nema found Nao who dashed into the box, but with defenders surrounding him he was dragged to the floor, only for the ball to break perfectly for the ever-alert Nema, who produced a stunning turn on the ball reminiscent of Zinedine Zidane in his pomp, and with the crowd already out of their seats he passed the ball into the net for 6-1. Absolutely outrageous piece of skill, and his sixth goal in 13 appearances was without doubt the pick of the crop.

With the very last kick of the game Sendai grabbed the scantest of consolations when Muto lashed a volley past Gonda, but we were outstanding all game and our six goals were our best ever return in J1 play.

The sha-sha-shaaas got a good working over after the game, and everyone went home happy, with hope that we'll do a lot better than our 10th-placed finish this season in 2013. More displays like this, and that will be guaranteed.

Up the Gas!

Matchdays 31 to 33

I've been busy with J-Talk Podcasts, and not able to pay much attention at all to this blog in the final month of the season, so let's start our wrap-up with a brief look at Matchdays 31 to 33.

Nagoya 1-0 FC Tokyo

J1 Matchday 31

The Wednesday after we smashed Sapporo at home we headed to Nagoya, who were still well-and-truly in the hunt for the third ACL spot. Tulio scored the only goal of the game with a far post header from a corner in the first half, and though we outshot Grampus 16-6 there was no way through for us. The result saw us stay in ninth, but our own ACL hopes were all-but extinguished.

FC Tokyo 0-1 Kobe

J1 Matchday 32

Kobe came to town on November 17th in deep relegation trouble, and somehow left with all three points after a farcical game that frankly shouldn't have been allowed to finish. Heavy rain throughout the day soaked the pitch, and it only got stronger throughout the game, with players unable to dribble through huge pools of water from late in the first half.

Kobe scored an excellent goal through young fullback Ryo Okui, who played a one-two with striker Keijiro Ogawa and finished smartly from outside the box in the 27th minute, but the second half was a complete joke with the ball stopping dead everywhere on the pitch apart from some narrow spaces right on the touchlines. We had some chances in the second half but it was impossible to pass the ball along the floor, and one wonders if the game would've been postponed had we gone ahead, and not Kobe.

Gamba Osaka 2-2 FC Tokyo

J1 Matchday 33

For the second straight game we took on a relegation-haunted opponent, and while we'd all been entertained by Gamba's struggles throughout the season, I'd wager most observers still expected them to get out of jail in the last couple of games of the year.

After some early Gamba pressure, with Shuichi Gonda called into action to make a fine, low save from Akihiro Ienaga's shot, Aria Hasegawa had the ball in the net in the 14th minute only for the goal to be ruled out for a very borderline offside. Seven minutes later though we took the lead with a Yuhei Tokunaga thunderbolt from just inside the area. Kosuke Ota played a deep cross from out near the left touchline in search of Lucas, and when the ball sailed over the big man and his marker's head, Tokunaga arrived completely unmarked and lashed in at the keeper's near post.

Kazuma Watanabe and Aria both had close-range shots superbly saved in the 33rd minute, but Ienaga was not to be denied four minutes later though, and he got the hosts back on level terms with a header from a Yasuhito Endo freekick, although the ref missed an obvious foul on Jang Hyun Soo as our South Korean defender was pulled down by his shirt right in front of where Ienaga met the ball. Ienaga then struck again with half an hour left to give Gamba what looked to be a priceless lead that would've taken them out of the bottom three, although again we had complaints as Leandro flattened Masato Morishige as he started his run to meet a loose ball in the box.

But just as Yamagata did to us in our final home game of 2010 (I'm still having flashbacks of Yuzo Tashiro getting in front of Yasuyuki Konno and heading in Montedio's equalizer), there was to be a twist in the tail late on, and again, as has so often been the case since his arrival, Nemanja Vucicevic was heavily involved again, as he took a pass from Ota and unleashed a fierce shot that cannoned down off the bar (and may have crossed the line), with Watanabe outjumping Konno and heading home from a yard out for 2-2.

We had a chance to win it in stoppage time too, but Lucas made poor contact with his shot and the final whistle blew soon after, a hugely satisfying point in a game that meant a lot more to the hosts than it did to us. We stayed in 10th, and Gamba in 16th, and by now of course we all know how the last day of the season played out for them.

Give Me Five (sorry...)

After the hard-earned point in Osaka, we hosted already-relegated Sapporo at Aji Sta last Saturday evening. After a couple of early scares, we tore them to shreds in the second half.

FC Tokyo 5-0 Sapporo

J1 Matchday 30

Sapporo had taken four points from the two games since their relegation was confirmed, including three from a memorable win at Urawa, but they were depleted in defence for this one, with Jade North missing due to injury, Kazuki Kushibiki suspended and Tatsuki Nara away with Japan's Under 19s. We welcomed back Masato Morishige from suspension, and Jang Hyun Soo came in alongside Morige, with Hideto Takahashi needed in central midfield following Aria Hasegawa's red card against Cerezo. Kenta Mukuhara was dropped again, with Yuhei Tokunaga returning to right back.

We almost got on the board in just the second minute when Yohei Kajiyama played a lovely ball through to Lucas, but although the big man had time to pick his spot his low drive cannoned off the outside of the keeper's left-hand post. We then had a scare of our own in the 10th minute, but Takuji Yonemoto slid in just in the nick of time to clear the ball out for a corner after Sapporo defender Shunsuke Iwanuma darted into the box.

In the 17th minute Jang grabbed our first of the evening, and his first for the club, firing in a bullet header from Naohiro Ishikawa's cross after Sapporo failed to clear his initial corner. Jang celebrated by rushing over to the manager for a bear hug, but just two minutes later we were almost caught on the break again (again on our right) but Yasuaki Okamoto curled his shot across the face of goal and out for a goal kick.

That was it for goals in the first half, but we didn't take long to kick into gear after the restart, and Sotan Tanabe grabbed his first goal since the home win over Yokohama at the start of September with a fine finish across the keeper from a tight angle in the 47th minute. Then Ishikawa, who hadn't scored in the league since the away win over Kobe at the end of March, grabbed a quickfire brace, his first coming in the 59th minute with a composed finish from eight yards out after the ball broke perfectly for him, and then just five minutes later he finished a perfectly-weighted ball over the top from Morishige first-time with his left foot.

Funnily enough, Nao's number was originally posted on the subs board after his first goal, with Nemanja Vucicevic ready to come on, but after the ball didn't go out of play for a couple of minutes the 18 changed to a 7 and Yonemoto made way for Nema, with Ishikawa's second coming just a minute later!

Nema's been in everything the last four or five weeks, and he grabbed his fourth league goal for us to cap the scoring in the 81st minute, a surging run from a central area on the right freeing him up for a left foot strike from outside the box which flew past the keeper and in for 5-0.

A thoroughly satisfying evening, and the first time we'd scored more than three in a game all season. The win saw us creep back into the top half of the table in 9th, five points behind third-placed Urawa with four games to go. We're unlikely to catch them, but in our four remaining games we could have a big say in all three league races up for grabs: the title race (we play Sendai at home on the final day); the scrap for the third ACL spot (we play away at Nagoya (5th) next); and the #RelegationDogfight (we play Kobe (14th) at home in Matchday 32 and Gamba Osaka (16th) away the next week).

Up the Gas!

Nema Again!

Catching up here, firstly with the away draw against Cerezo.

Cerezo Osaka 1-1 FC Tokyo

J1 Matchday 29

(Highlights above from the club's official YouTube channel)

The players showed good character to come from a goal down at the Kincho Stadium, and it was that man Nemanja Vucicevic who did the business again, netting the equaliser in the 74th minute to finish off a superb move that he himself started deep in our half.

The first half ended goalless despite a number of chances at either end, the best of ours probably a shot from the edge of the box that hooked wide from Yohei Kajiyama after Takuji Yonemoto's superbly-timed tackle won the ball back. Cerezo looked threatening on the break, and Kenyu Sugimoto's flick went just wide as Shuichi Gonda raced out of his net to close down the Olympic striker.

In the fifth minute of the second half we went a goal down after a brilliant strike from outside the box by their left back Yusuke Maruhashi. A crossfield ball from Hotaru Yamaguchi found Maruhashi one-on-one with Naohiro Ishikawa on their left, and with Nao playing him loosely but looking to cut off a dribble to the byline Maruhashi instead cut inside and rifled a shot into the top corner at Gonda's near post. It was almost 2-0 just a minute later when Sugimoto sent Yoichiro Kakitani clean through on Gonda with a delightful flick-on, but Kakitani failed to hit the target and we breathed again.

Nema came on as our second change in the 63rd minute, and the goal eleven minutes later was absolutely first class, with his finish the last of his five touches in the move. First, he won the nicked the ball from behind right on the edge of our box on the left and played it back to Hokuto Nakamura. He took the return pass from Hokuto and found Aria Hasegawa in the centre circle, all the while continuing a diagonal run through the middle. Aria played the ball to Lucas and darted down the right-hand channel, Lucas returned to Nema who then played a superb through ball to Aria, whose first-time cross was met by Nema arriving in the box, and his strike beat the keeper at his left-hand post.

That goal will hopefully go on Nema's highlights reel on his website, and he's making a great case to be kept on next season, though we're still wondering why he hasn't started a game yet (perhaps an indication that he won't be?). Anyway though both teams had 15 minutes to find a winner none was forthcoming and we held out well enough at the end, though Aria was sent off for his second yellow card in the 93rd minute for an unnecessary challenge on former Gasman Teruyuki Moniwa. That's Aria's 3rd red of the season.

Running Out Of Gas...

Shimizu 3-0 FC Tokyo

Nabisco Cup Semi Final 2nd Leg

That could hardly have gone worse. FC Tokyo bowed out of the Cracker Cup with a hugely disappointing 3-0 loss at Shimizu on Saturday. The tie was technically in the balance until second half stoppage time, as we needed a single goal to send it into extra time with Shimizu 2-0 up on the day, but that goal never looked like coming and S-Pulse sealed it in the 96th minute after Genki Omae's third goal of the game from the penalty spot following Masato Morishige's red card.

That will see Morishige suspended for Saturday's trip to Cerezo Osaka, but lets deal with the game at hand. Mr. Popovic was forced into two changes to the XI, with Shuichi Gonda and Hideto Takahashi away with the national team in Europe, so Hitoshi Shiota came in in goal and Kenta Mukuhara replaced Takahashi and lined-up at right back, with Yuhei Tokunaga shifting over into the centre. There were three other changes too, with the inclusions I ripped the manager on last week, Jang Hyun Soo, Naotake Hanyu and Kazuma Watanabe all out (Hanyu due to injury), and Yuichi Maruyama (at left back), Takuji Yonemoto and Edmilson coming in, with Yohei Kajiyama starting in the hole and Lucas on the left of midfield. There was also a spot on the bench for Sota Hirayama, his first matchday involvement since the end of April.

Things were fairly cagey in the early stages, and Edmilson spurned a great chance just before the ten minute mark when he stubbed his toe (see above) in the act of shooting, his effort sailing into the side netting from a great position on the left of the box. For the next fifteen minutes we held them comfortably at arm's length, then Omae scored his first, heading back across Shiota after we failed to clear a free kick and Toshiyuki Takagi crossed from the right.

1-0 down at half time we were still well and truly in it, and 11 minutes into the second half Nemanja Vucicevic came on for the ineffectual Edmilson, with Lucas moving up front. Just five minutes later though Shimizu doubled their lead on the day after we were horribly caught out on a counter-attack. A long cross-field ball from the left found Omae one-on-one against Maruyama, and he turned our makeshift fullback inside out on a dribble to the top of the box, before firing through Maruyama's legs and inside Shiota's right-hand post.

We still needed just a single goal to restore parity in the tie, but the only options the manager had to turn things around were Hirayama and Watanabe...hardly inspiring and obviously very similar players. As it was Yonemoto got the hook for Big Sota six minutes after the second goal, but while the big man held the ball up fairly well and looked to play in the likes of Naohiro Ishikawa and Vucicevic, we were limited to half chances, with Nao uncharacteristically wasteful.

Our last roll of the dice saw Watanabe come on for Ishikawa in the 90th minute, and even though Shimizu's ridiculous time-wasting throughout the second half saw five minutes added-on, we never looked like it, and salt was rubbed into the wound when Morishige clumsily took out S-Pulse sub Atomu Nabeta right at the death and Omae scored from the spot.

So no trip back to Kokuritsu for us this season, and probably just as well as we have six important league games left, starting with Cerezo away, who have won their last three games 3-2, on Saturday evening. Hopefully the manager can get the players up for that, and then with three of our last five at home our chances of a top half finish are still alive.

Up the Gas!

The Popo Horror Show

Kashima 5-1 FC Tokyo

J1 Matchday 28

What a disgraceful performance. If you've come here looking for a silver lining or flowery words of praise then you've come to the wrong place. If you're offended by criticism of the manager or the players, because all 'good supporters' should always support the team, even when they're dreadful, then I suggest you hit the 'X' in the top right corner of your browser now.

FC Tokyo travelled up to Kashima on Saturday afternoon and got battered, blowing a legitimate chance to move into the top six against a team with much more to play for, granted, but also under far more pressure. I'll sum up the game in a paragraph and then vent, as I feel the manager completely bollocksed it up at the selection table, exposing us in both midfield and defence.

Kashima won 5-1. Dutra scored in the 18th minute, volleying home from inside the box after Shuichi Gonda could only parry away a cross into our area. Gaku Shibasaki made it 2-0 with a neat finish 20 minutes later. In the first minute of the second half Lucas smacked a superb volley straight at the keeper, and then ten minutes later Naohiro Ishikawa spurned a good chance for us when he fired high and wide. Antlers killed the game off with two goals in two minutes, the first coming from Yasushi Endo in the 69th minute, then Dutra took a lovely pass from Yuya Osako and stroked home. Hideto Takahashi made it 4-1 with his first J1 goal with seven minutes left, but Dutra completed his hat-trick with a superb long range strike in the 87th minute. Well done Kashima, you completely outplayed us. The loss saw us drop from 8th back to 10th.

Right. I was extremely surprised when I saw our XI, which contained three changes from the team which beat Iwata at home the previous Saturday. Jang Hyun Soo, who had been impressive at centre half for the last half hour last week, was named at left back, with Kenta Mukuhara, who the manager seems to have lost confidence in, dropped. Naotake Hanyu came in for Takuji Yonemoto, which meant a reshuffle in midfield, with Aria Hasegawa and Yohei Kajiyama in the centre, Ishikawa in his usual position on the right, Roswell on the left and Lucas in the hole behind.....Kazuma Watanabe, who replaced Edmilson.

All three changes puzzled me. All season on The J-Talk Podcast my guests have been saying how important momentum is in the J.League, and they're absolutely right, and any we had after the Iwata win was almost entirely wiped away with this XI we put out. Lets start from the front and work backwards:

• Why was Edmilson dropped?

   Sure, he'd only started three of the seven games he's appeared in since joining us, but he'd scored in two straight games and while still unfit you can see he's been making progress in that regard and lasted until the 80th minute last week.
   Kazuma, meanwhile, had made five starts all season and not scored a single goal in those games. He was impressive in his ten-minute cameo last time out of course, as he set up Nema's winner, but to throw him in for his first start in two months ahead of a player who'd scored in consecutive games appeared a very strange decision, and as it panned out Kazuma had no impact whatsoever before making way for Edgy in the 57th minute.

• Hanyu's inclusion threw off the balance of the team.

Roswell did very well to get himself fit after four months out, but he just can't do it at this level anymore.
   He remains very popular with the supporters but sentiment should mean nothing when he offers next to nothing going forward. As it was, he had to go off injured after 35 minutes and was replaced by Yone, which saw Casual move forward into the hole, Lucas to the striker's role and Kazuma to the left of midfield.
   The main problem I had with Hanyu's selection was that it meant we played without a true holding midfielder for, I'm almost certain, the first time this season. Yone's form has been patchy at best over the past month, but in Aria and Casual we started two players in centre mid who are far better going forward and are, to put it nicely, not the best at winning the ball back. How many times had they started a game together in the centre this season? Off the top of my head I'd say none, and it certainly seemed that way as they appeared to have little idea how to play together.
   We'll come onto Jang in a moment, but if the manager wanted to start him here and didn't fancy Yone in centre mid, why not play the South Korean at centre half and return Hideto Takahashi to midfield alongside Aria? (I'd have preferred Casual, but Aria is never getting dropped no matter how poorly he plays.)
   And I haven't even brought up the fact that Roswell's inclusion means that Nemanja Vucicevic is still yet to make his first start for us despite being our best player for the previous three games...

• Why, oh, why, play Jang at left back?

   I've no idea why Mukuhara has fallen out of favour, perhaps the manager held him accountable for the cross Yuichi Komano put in for Iwata's disallowed goal last week, but over both Yuichi Maruyama and Jang, who have both played left back recently, he offers decent delivery from wide areas, something of a goal threat (just ask Urawa), and is, most importantly, a full back by trade.
   Jang had played some right back for us earlier in the season of course, but he's a centre back and will hopefully develop into an excellent one. After his strong half hour against Iwata he would've no doubt felt a boost of confidence, but that will have been torn to shreds here, as he had no idea how to deal with the movement and pace of Yasushi Endo in particular, but also the other Kashima forwards who stretched our entire back line with intelligent runs pretty much the whole game.
  As I mentioned above, Jang would've been a good selection in the centre, but I fear for us on Saturday at Shimizu in the Cracker Cup 2nd leg if he's named at full back again.

Mr. Popovic clearly erred in my opinion in the changes he made. This late in the season there shouldn't be this need to make wholesale changes, especially after we had played so well in the previous game and a half (as annoyed as I was after the Classico loss, remember, we dominated that game).

I have no idea what XI we'll see on Saturday, but I hope the manager puts these mistakes right. Come on Tokyo, let's get back to Kokuritsu!

Good Game, Good Score

FC Tokyo 2-1 Iwata

J1 Matchday 27

After the Classico disappointment of a week ago, FC Tokyo rebounded in the best possible way, coming from behind to defeat fourth-placed Iwata on Saturday in one of the most entertaining games we've seen at Aji Sta this season. Second half goals from Edmilson and Nemanja Vucicevic did the trick, after Iwata had taken an early lead.

Mr Popovic made two changes to the XI, bringing in Kenta Mukuhara for Yuichi Maruyama at left back, and naming Edmilson up-front, with Lucas shifting to the left of midfield and Naotake Hanyu dropping back to the bench. We had a great chance in the 5th minute when Captain Casual sent a rasping volley on target that the 'keeper almost made a hash of, but four minutes later we were behind after a mid-range cross from the right from their captain Hiroki Yamada was headed-in at the far post by Minoru Suganuma.

And its fair to say that for the rest of the first half they were the better team. Hideto Takahashi hit the post with a header from Naohiro Ishikawa's corner in the 26th minute, and Lucas had a header on target in stoppage time, but apart from those two chances Iwata held us comfortably at arm's length, and something needed to be done...and the manager did something!

On came Nemanja Vucicevic for the second half, replacing Takuji Yonemoto, and almost instantly we were transformed, as Nema's direct, no-nonsense style saw us look far more threatening. Nine minutes into the second 45 we were level, after Nao raced onto Aria Hasegawa's excellent through ball down the left channel and fired in a first-time cross to meet Nema's intelligent run across the box. Nema flicked the ball for the far post, the 'keeper got down well but spilled a relatively easy take and johnny-on-the-spot Edmilson fired in the rebound from six yards out.

Just three minutes later, as I was still waiting for my post-goal tweet to go through, Iwata made what looked like the perfect response to our equaliser when Ryoichi Maeda headed in a superb Yuichi Komano cross, but somewhat luckily for us the linesman's flag went up for a veeerrrry close offside (replays showed it was just the right decision). The next 20 minutes were fairly open as both sides went in search of a potential winner, but in the last ten minutes of the game we assumed control, and the introduction of Kazuma Watanabe (on for Edmilson) had a lot to do with that.

And then, with five minutes left, we took the lead, and again Aria started the move with another measured through ball that Watanabe's marker might have done better with. As it was Kazuma showed good control, and from almost right on the byline on the right cut the ball back to around the penalty spot, Lucas drew his defender closer to goal and Nema raced onto the ball in space, opened up his body and stroked a first-time finish with his left foot high into the net. Superb team goal, great strike from Nema, and my favourite whipping-boy Aria deserves credit for the role he played in helping to set up both goals.

There were still five minutes to play, but through that time and the five minutes of stoppage time the ref played we were fairly comfortable, and at the final whistle the home crowd celebrated an excellent team win. Nema did the hero interview, but clearly needs some work on his sha-sha-shaaaas, maybe the boys can train him up on that at Kodaira this week. The win saw us move up to 8th, and we're now just two points behind Iwata with seven to play. This weekend we visit Kashima.

Up the Gas!

Up and Down Again...

Here we go again, the good and the bad of FC Tokyo. We've dominated the last three halves of football we've played, but have come away from the league game at Shimizu and the home Classico with a grand total of one point.

First things first, and there were plenty of positives to come out of the trip to Shizuoka.

Shimizu 1-1 FC Tokyo

J1 Matchday 25

This was the first league game in two weeks, and after the Emperor's Cup embarrassment against Yokogawa Musashino we hoped to regain the J1 momentum we'd picked up in successive wins over Hiroshima and Yokohama. We were forced into one change, with Aria Hasegawa suspended after his fourth yellow card of the season (just as well his two reds weren't included!) and replaced by Yuichi Maruyama, which meant a return to 4-4-2 in the league with Kenichi Kaga in the centre and Hideto Takahashi in central midfield, while the manager brought Naohiro Ishikawa back in place of Kenta Mukuhara.

And it was Nao who had our best chance of the first half after Yuhei Tokunaga played the ball forward to Lucas, and the big Brazilian's first-time lay-off was placed perfectly for our flying winger as he dashed towards the box. After a touch to set himself Nao smashed the ball goalwards but saw his effort thunder off the crossbar and away from danger. For the most part Shimizu controlled things though, as we had little time to build play, and towards the end of the half their pressure bore fruit after Takuji Yonemoto appeared to be clipped from behind by Genki Omae as he tried to dribble out of defence. With Yone sprawled on the floor appealing for a foul but the ref waving play on, Omae took a touch and let fly from 25 yards with the ball deflecting off Kaga on its way past Shuichi Gonda and into the net.

That was a dagger four minutes before halftime, and Gonda had to be at his best to prevent S-Pulse from making it 2-0 a couple of minutes into the second half when he tipped Hideki Ishige's volley out for a corner, but from the time Nemanja Vucicevic replaced Sotan Tanabe in the 51st minute the game changed totally, as we found more time on the ball and looked far more threatening with it. Nema had done very well in his cameos since joining the club, and got his first Tokyo goal, and a reward for some quick thinking, in the 59th minute. From a corner, with the Shimizu defence still organising themselves, he played the ball short to Takahashi and peeled off completely unmarked, taking the return pass and waltzing into the box. From there, all he had to do was pick his spot, and he did it perfectly, lashing across the Shimizu 'keeper and inside the far post.

Both teams had 30 minutes to get a winner, but with Shimizu rocking from the goal it was pretty much one-way traffic, and while we definitely would've taken a point at halftime, to not come away with all three at the end of the game was slightly frustrating, considering that Yonemoto, Vucicevic again, and Lucas all had good chances but weren't able to hit the target. Late sub Kazuma Watanabe might have done better with his stoppage time header too, but planted it straight at the 'keeper. Still, an excellent recovery after going a goal down, a superb second half performance and a good point away from home.  Roll on the Classico...right?

FC Tokyo 1-2 Kawasucki Kawasaki

J1 Matchday 26 - The 20th Tamagawa Classico

Oh my god. Its four days later and I'm still angry about this game. Ten sloppy minutes at the start of the second half cost us and we've only got ourselves to blame. Sloppy in midfield for their first goal, marked a free kick terribly for the second. Edmilson's first goal for the club and a record Classico crowd of 34,822 were positives, but this game was a carbon copy of so many other home games this season - we've lost seven at home, and only been outplayed and lost by more than the odd goal once: the 2-0 loss to Niigata at the end of July.

There were two changes again with Aria returning from suspension in place of the injured Kaga, which saw Takahashi revert to centre half (Aria would've come back anyway, he always plays), while there were big cheers for Naotake Hanyu, who replaced the dropped Tanabe. I would've liked to see Nema start, but it was good to see Roswell back in the XI for the first time since early May. And then the game started and we completely bossed the first half, apart from one excellent chance that Kengo Nakamura screwed wide of the far post from a tight angle in the 14th minute.

Yonemoto drew a sprawling save in just the second minute, Lucas fired agonisingly wide in the 31st and then Captain Casual had a rasper tipped onto the bar in the 41st, but we had nothing to show for a 9-1 shots advantage at the half time whistle, and then got stung in the arse in the first minute of the second 45, when Aria was casually dispossessed in the centre circle and the ball found its way to Jumpei Kusukami, whose finish, after cutting inside the sliding Masato Morishige, was excellent to be fair.

What a bastard. And then things went from bad to shithouse eight minutes later when, after Yonemoto was crowded out and lost the ball and Morishige was booked for a foul 35 yards out, Nakamura drifted a free kick to the far post, Jeci outjumped Takahashi and headed back across Gonda and into the net. Unbelievable.

It took us a while to regain our rhythm, but then Lucas had two glorious chances in a four-minute stretch, his 70th-minute strike hit the underside of the bar but didn't go in, then he somehow missed the target with a header from Aria's cross. Both those chances came after the manager finally made some changes, and this was my big criticism on this night, you could see the instant impact Nema made in the Shimizu game after coming on just six minutes in the second half, but here he waited until the 63rd minute to bring on Tanabe for Maruyama, and the 68th to introduce Nema for Yone. The obvious guy to take off after Maruyama, who offered us a willingness to go forward but zero end product, would have been Roswell, whose legs were gone ten minutes into the second half, but he stayed on until the 75th minute, when Edmilson entered the fray.

So we poured forward but it just didn't feel like it was going to happen. Edmilson finally broke through in the 88th minute, well set-up by Nema, but I didn't even stand up and celebrate the goal. Yeah, that makes me a shit supporter I know, blah blah gotta support the team blah blah, but my frustration levels were through the roof by then and I just knew we weren't going to get a second. And we didn't. And I fumed some more. Another game we should've won handily at home ended with nothing.

This Saturday, we host fourth-placed Iwata in the first post-summer afternoon kickoff. See you there for some more torture!

FC Tokyo Update: 3 Out Of 4 Ain't Bad...

Wow, its been almost a month since my last post - apologies on that. Until last Sunday, everything had gone swimmingly for the Gasmen, two straight league wins and a narrow victory in the first leg of the Nabisco Cup semi-final, but then we were stunned by a 92nd minute winner from JFL'ers Yokogawa Musashino, ending our reign as Emperor's Cup Champions.

First things first though, and after not winning in five in the league, a formation tweak has freshened things up and contributed to us winning the last two, the first of which was a stunning upset away at then-leaders Hiroshima.

Hiroshima 0-1 FC Tokyo

J1 Matchday 23

In my last post all that time ago, I suggested a number of changes to our first-choice XI that I hoped would help us turn things around (and perhaps was the reason 'Anonymous' labelled me "A dickhead in a shitty blog"), but the manager had other ideas (thankfully) and chose to match Hiroshima's stock 3-4-2-1 formation, with Kenichi Kaga, Hideto Takahashi and Masato Morishige as the back three and Yuhei Tokunaga and Kenta Mukuhara as wingbacks. Further forward Yohei Kajiyama and Naohiro Ishikawa set up behind Lucas, with Edmilson returning to the bench.

There were teething problems with the new formation, and throughout the 90 minutes we were outshot and, if we're honest, outplayed, for most of it, but Lucas' goal four minutes into the second half, when he took a pass from Casual and fired home across the 'keeper through the legs of defender Ryota Moriwaki, proved to be the only goal of the game as we hung on for dear life in the last ten minutes.

Edmilson replaced Casual in the 68th minute, but then had to go off himself 15 minutes later after pulling his hamstring. Despite that setback it was a much-needed win, and a vindication of the manager's willingness to try and change when things just weren't working.

FC Tokyo 3-1 Yokohama

J1 Matchday 24

We backed-up the next weekend at Aji Sta against Yokohama, and went home happy after one of our best home performances of the season. After his winner against Hiroshima, Lucas' tail was clearly up, and he was the dominant player on the pitch, playing a huge role in Sotan Tanabe's opener and then scoring our other two goals.

There were two surprises when the teams were announced: Ishikawa was out through injury, with Tanabe taking his place; and we were all pleased to see Naotake Hanyu, returning to the bench for his first appearance in almost four months. After a ropey-looking first ten minutes, when Manabu Saito, Yuji Ono and Marquinhos looked dangerous, we assumed control of the midfield with Takuji Yonemoto at his disruptive best.

We scored the first goal of the game in the 35th minute, and it came about thanks to a defensive howler from Yuji Nakazawa and the persistence of Lucas. When the 'keeper played the ball out to Nakazawa there didn't seem to be any danger, but with Lucas closing him down the Yokohama no.22 mis-hit his square pass and Lucas pounced, and though his shot was saved, he was able to deflect the rebound to Tanabe, who fired home from just inside the box.

Seven minutes later it was 2-0 after Lucas' first-time shot from Tokunaga's rolled cross, and for the remainder of the first half and most of the 20 minutes of the second we looked extremely comfortable. In the 66th minute it was game on though after Shingo Hyodo's composed finish, but Lucas killed Yokohama off just five minutes later with a free kick that sailed into the net to the left of the wrongfooted Marinos 'keeper, who had started to go to his right and had no chance of getting across.

Two in a row against top half teams (well, Yokohama were in the top half at kickoff) helped to right the ship and get us back into the top half in ninth, just two points (and a lot of goal difference) behind fourth-placed Iwata.

FC Tokyo 2-1 Shimizu

Nabisco Cup Semi-Final 1st Leg

We have recent history with Shimizu in the Cracker Cup: we beat them in the semis on our way to glory in '09; they knocked us out in the quarters the following year. For the latest instalment of our cup rivalry we were able to welcome Nao back to the XI, in place of Tanabe, while with Shuichi Gonda and Hideto Takahashi away on national team duty, Hitoshi Shiota and Yuichi Maruyama (making his first Tokyo start) came into the XI.

Shimizu took the lead in the 23rd minute with a well-worked free kick routine that ended with Yuhei Tokunaga heading into his own net, and nine minutes later the manager hauled off Kenta Mukuhara for Tanabe, as we switched back to 4-2-3-1. It wasn't directly as a result of the change, but 12 minutes later we were level after a superb team goal was belted home by Captain Casual. Early in the build-up Kenichi Kaga dawdled on the ball as we played across the back and got a bollocking from the manager, then the next time the ball came to him he played it first-time to Tokunaga, who himself sent Ishikawa free down the right with another first-time ball. Nao tore down the wing, spotted Casual in the centre, and the captain brought the move to an appropriate end with a clinical finish that went in off the underside of the bar.

We enjoyed a dominant spell in the first 20 minutes of the second half, and after great chances for Lucas, Kajiyama and Aria Hasegawa we were left scratching our heads as to how we weren't ahead. And then, with ten minutes to go, not so long after Genki Omae had fired over when he looked set to give Shimizu the lead back, we were ahead, from the spot. Maruyama, who had otherwise enjoyed a fine debut, was played in on the left of the box but kicked his own heels and fell to the floor, with the ref buying it, pointing to the spot and booking the Shimizu captain Kota Sugiyama.

A mistake from the ref, a poor show from Maruyama, but after the dust cleared Lucas fired home from the spot and we played out the last ten minutes in the ascendancy, going close to adding to our lead on a couple of occasions - substitute Nemanja Vucicevic looked certain to score his first Tokyo goal in the 89th minute before a last-ditch sliding tackle saw his shot deflected out for a corner.

It finished 2-1 though, and the stage is set for a fiery 2nd leg in mid-October.

FC Tokyo 0-1 Yokogawa Musashino

Emperor's Cup 2nd Round

Well, it was fun while it lasted, but our reign as Emperor's Cup Champions is over after a shocking upset at the hands of JFL side Yokogawa Musashino on Sunday. In a game we dominated but couldn't score in, the two decisive moments came in the last five minutes, when a Kazuma Watanabe shot was blocked out for a corner by a defender's arm (no penalty), and then in the second minute of second half stoppage time a 45-yard free kick from the visitor's left sailed over the wall, a ruck of bodies in the box AND Shiota, who flailed at thin air but couldn't get a hand on the ball, giving the massive underdogs an astonishing win.

And thats all I'm going to say about that game! Hopefully just a blip on the road, and we enter the final ten league games of the season this Saturday at Shimizu. A few long-term injury victims are returning, with Hanyu coming on as a sub in the last three games I've mentioned here, and Kosuke Ota and Sota Hirayama finally back in training after lengthy lay-offs, so we should have the right personnel available for whatever formation the manager wants to utilize in the final ten games.

Up the Gas!