Wide Margin Lead

Since no team got relegated from J1 last season, the general prediction about the J2 this season was that it was going to be a close season for many of the higher-level teams. But what do we know? Kyoto Purple Sanga have taken a huge lead over the other teams -- after 13 rounds, they have 10 wins, 2 draws and 1 loss. Like Sanfrecce Hiroshima of two years ago, and Kawasaki Frontale of last year, Kyoto have leapt ahead.

One of the main reasons for Kyoto's great results this season is none other than their great goal-getting ability. In the J2, there are almost no teams that are able to control the majority of a game. So, regardless of who is supposed to be the stronger or weaker team in any matchup, both teams have many opportunities to score. And in Kyoto's case, they have been able to make the goals consistently happen when the chance comes around because of their non-Japanese forwards like Paulinho and Alemao.

When you look at the defense, though, you don't see the same sense of strength. The basic style of Kyoto's defense has been for the back 4 and middle 4 to assert their lines properly -- they lure the opponent into their area and steal back the ball from there. They have some tall centerbacks who can defend against crosses, and the defensive midfielders (like Meta and Saito) pick up the ball from there. This has been the general policy in the team continuing from last year, and everyone involved is absolutely aware of their responsibilities. However, as a whole the team does not have a united concept of defense, and the general feeling among reviewers is that Kyoto's defense may prove too fragile if we were to put them in a J1 environment right now. If you look at the 0-3 defeat to Sagan Tosu in the 12th round, the centerbacks were unable to respond well when Sagan were able to get the ball into the area behind the sidebacks despite the fact that their defense line wasn't kept that high. But Kyoto have been able to maintain a decent amount of stability overall because they were able to add good players to their roster in the preseason -- even when their main defenders like Teshima and Okubo could not play, the defense line did not crumble. The new recruits like Washida and Ricardo have been performing well in their place.

Part of the new transfers this season included a trio who have played under coach Hashiratani during his Yamagata days. These guys quickly understood the coach's strategies making things much easier for the team as a whole. Of course all these new transfers were made possible by Kyoto's advantageous financial situation. So even if we look with a little concern to their defense, on the whole we have to acknowledge that this team certainly deserves to be way ahead in the table.

Race for Second Place

First of all, Ventforet Kofu are playing high quality football. The overall impression is that all the players have a very clear understanding of coach Ohki's strategy, what he wants from each of them. For instance, what do the other players do when one of the forwards gets the ball, who goes to support the forwards, who runs into the spaces created, etc. The same goes for the defense as well. The back 4 and the middle 4 keep disciplined lines and know exactly when and where to put pressure on the opponent. Though Kofu are currently in 5th place overall, many reviewers are looking to Kofu to put on a good fight for the top (or at least second). Particularly important in their future performance is Bare. Because the team as a unit has a very clear understanding of how to create opportunities, all they need next is someone to finish things off with a goal. Bare's got speed and physical strength and has gotten 7 goals so far. [Oops, I seem to have fallen behind the times: Bare scored a hattrick in this weekend's game so now his goal total is 10! Thanks to Furtho for pointing out my error!]

Shonan Bellmare: This team is currently in 6th place, but the overall comments have been that their games have promising content. The presense of newly acquired players seems to have shaken the rest of the team, motivating everyone to play better. One player to focus on would be Sato, who came from Cerezo Osaka. Though many think of him as a left sidehalf, his move to defensive midfield at Bellmare has proved a very smart move. Organizing the team from that position, he creates a good rhythm for the team and uses his accurate passing skills to mix long and short passes, giving the team different options on the offense. He likes to use the sides too, so if the team is stumbling against persistent pressure from the opponent Sato will use long balls to poke at the back side area for opportunities. Coach Ueda stresses a compact team, and the players seem to understand that.

With regard to Avispa Fukuoka and Montedio Yamagata, they are doing okay but have been getting too many tied games (Fukuoka have 8 draws, Yamagata 6). They should have been doing better, securely getting the three points in a number of matches they ended up tied. It is possible that this inability (by these two teams to get the wins) is the reason behind the congestion of teams vying for second place in the J2.

Sagan Tosu: I did a review of Tosu last week already, but just to touch on them in the context of the entire J2... Tosu have been able to put a better performance this year because they have made great improvements to the individual quality of players as well as the team strategy. Lots of new players with better abilities have been brought in. And there is a defensive awareness in the team that starts higher up on the pitch -- not just back at the defense line. By putting on the pressure higher up near the front line, they have been able to put together swifter offensive plays.

What about the Newbies?
A little painful to watch are the teams new to the J2 -- Thespa and Vortis. Though Thespa Kusatsu has gotten a new coach in Tetsuka, who had started off by declaring he wanted to create an attacking team, the players have not been able to either understand or put into play his wishes. At the 11th Round, they switched the formation back to 3-5-2. Though they haven't seen the results yet, the return of experienced playmaker Yamaguchi may prove to be the next piece of the puzzle. Thespa have players who can put on a solid/decent performance, so all that the team seems to need in order to make improvements is to have a clearer understanding of what the coach wants from them -- and put it into practice. As for Tokushima Vortis, they seemed to have everything lined up -- 7th year coach Tanaka and new players with experience at the J1 level. But these new players aren't fitting in well. One article said "the rest of the team is trying to fit themselves to the new players, not the other way round." By doing this, the team has basically ignored all that they have learned and built up to this year. Plus the injuries to Hayashi and Kataoka (who were key players during Tokushima's fight to the top of the JFL) have been a blow to the team.

The Season is Long...

After 13 rounds, this is just the beginning. Perhaps after another 12 rounds or so (which would put us at the midpoint of the season), we will start to see a pattern of performance that clearly separates the top 4-5 teams. As the separation becomes clearer, we will also see some teams start to pull away in the opposite direction downwards -- teams that feel like they have no chance at J1 and therefore the performance starts to slide along with the motivation. (Though last year we saw Fukuoka do just the opposite. They put on a fierce fight upwards in the second half of the season just as everyone was writing them off.)