1 Sep 2008(Mon)

August 30, 2008: Urawa Reds are playing a dangerous game with the fitness of their 2007 J.League MVP, Robson Ponte.

German coach Gert Engels is determined to get Ponte fit by playing him in first-team matches, but against Tokyo Verdy the other night he looked well below his best and off the pace.

After the game, Engels admitted it was a risk to play Ponte for the full 90 minutes, but said the player was always capable of a moment of genius.

"I needed him to play 90 minutes," Engels said. "Now we have two and half weeks before our next match to work with him some more."

On Wednesday they got away with it and drew 1-1 thanks to Abe's thumping header in the third of five minutes of time added on, but even then they nearly lost it when Diego and Oguro between them could not put the ball over the line with the goal at their mercy.

That late Verdy chance came from a free kick conceded by Ponte, who was forced to deliberately handle the ball after failing to control it -- clearly a result of fatigue.

Going back a bit further in the match, I also thought Engels gambled by taking off both Takahara and Tatsuya Tanaka at halftime, and replacing them with Edmilson and Nagai.

In the first half, the front two had hardly received the best of service, especially from out wide as Reds looked to be conserving their energy for a second-half onslaught.

But when Diego scored his superb goal just four minutes into the second half to give Verdy the lead, Reds were really up against it, and Engels could make only one more change.

When he eventually lost patience with Hirakawa, the coach replaced him with Yamada, a decision, Engels said, based on the veteran's composure.

There were several candidates to come off, among them Ponte, and I would like to have seen Umesaki or Escudero given a run to freshen up the attack, but neither of these talented youngsters would see any action.

Edmilson remains a disappointment, and it would not surprise me at all to see him back at Albirex Niigata next season.

I thought he was a good signing for Reds as he always impressed with Albirex, finding positions out wide, running smoothly with the ball and leading the line with a touch of class and with goals to match.

But for Reds he just hasn't got going yet; he looks nervous and, like Ponte, not fit.

There was one occasion in the second half when he had the chance to accelerate down the right flank; he would have done without hesitation in his Niigata days, but he did not seem interested and quickly passed the ball inside.

Despite all these attacking concerns involving Ponte, Edmilson and Takahara, Reds are still only one point off the pace -- a worrying sign for their title rivals with 11 games remaining and surely more goals to come from their forwards before the season is out.