Away day treats for promoted duo
March 10, 2009: Fed-up fans of Jubilo and Marinos might not agree at the moment, but there were a couple of big wins for the J.League on Saturday.
Big in more ways than one; not just the scoreline but because they were achieved by promoted teams against established J1 clubs.
This suggests there is no massive chasm between J1 and J2 -- although there is still a long way to go, and promoted teams usually retain that winning mentality from the presvious season's successful campaigns.
The Emperor's Cup at the back end of last season gave me a chance to watch both Sanfrecce and Montedio, and of the two I thought Montedio looked better equipped to survive J1 than Sanfrecce.
They looked bigger and more robust, and managed to keep their best forward in the close season: Hasegawa, not Toyoda -- although this was the opinion of a rabid Reysol supporter who still admired the tall, lanky striker.
At Iwata, Hasegawa scored two of Yamagata's six -- a sensational J1 debut for Montedio.
Jubilo were lucky to survive in J1 last term, and their fans must be bracing for another season of mediocrity -- at best.
Sanfrecce eliminated Verdy in the Emperor's Cup at Nishigaoka last season, a match best remembered for Diego's red card just before half time for assaulting the mischievous Stoyanov and contributing to a four-match ban, ruling him out of Verdy's relegation struggle.
Four of that Sanfrecce team scored in the 4-2 win at Yokohama, with Makino, Sato, Kashiwagi and Stoyanov all on the scoresheet.
Makino is a leader, a communicator, alongside the elegant Bulgarian at the back, and with a season of J2 behind him returns a more experienced and authoritative figure.
Although they were able to put four past the bigger, more physical Marinos defence, I still think Sanfrecce look a bit lightweight in midfield and attack, despite their mobility and trickery.
Time will tell, but there is no denying the two special away days for the two promoted teams. Good results for the J.League in general, but depressing for the two former champions.
ends
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Comments
Hi there Jeremy,
Long-time reader of your blog and was wondering whether you would be able to help me out with a little bit of information on Kazuyuki Toda, who enjoyed - or more accurately endured - a year at Tottenham in 2003.
I am in the process of putting together a blog post on him as part of a series on obscure Spurs signings, and wondered if you could tell me how he is rated in Japan, whether he was really ever up to the Premiership, and any strange little anecdotes you may have.
I see he's transferred to a Korean side for 2009 - what were the reasons for this?
Any information at all would be greatly appreciated.
Thanks
Nick
Posted by: NickD | 03/15/2009 at 03:41 AM
@Nick
Unlike Junichi Inamoto, his compatriot at Fulham, Kazuyuki Toda never seemed to settle at Spurs. At any rate, Toda was originally set to sign for Sunderland - he had tryout with them and liked him - it seems that Tottenham stole him at the last minute. At the time the stock of Japanese footballers was quite high, no doubt because of their marketing ability, but also helped by their 2002 World Cup success. However, manager Glenn Hoddle departed not long after Toda's arrival in London, which didn't help the matter. The result was just four league appearance.
After his uneventful life at White Hart Lane, Toda spent an equally unsuccessful stint at a Denmark side ADO Den Haag in 2004, only to return to his J League club Shimizu S Pulse the same year. He went on to play for two more clubs (Tokyo Verdy, Sanfrecce Hiroshima) and was loaned to JEF Utd last year, now managed by former Liverpool assistant coach Alex Miller. However, the Scot found Toda a surplus at the end of the season, and was promptly offloaded. With no top flight J League club wanting his service, Toda joined the K League side Gyeongnam in 2009, perhaps helped by the introduction of the new "3+1" rule (three foreigners + one AFC player allowed). Though Toda was an integral part of Japan's 2002 WC campaign, at international level, Toda was never called up by Troussier's successors. Toda is perhaps best known for his red Mohawk he had memorably sported during 2002 WC. An aggressive defensive midfielder by trade, when Tokyo Verdy played a friendly with Real Madrid in 2005, the Spaniards were said to be so infuriated by Toda's dirty tackles, not least by David Beckham himself.
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