| Emperor's Cup Draw Made |
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After having ended up on the receiving end of some of the JFA's more eccentric ideas about where to stage Emperor's Cup matches in recent seasons, in 2008 Ardija are scheduled to play at Omiya Park in the Fourth Round of the competition. The exact date has yet to be finalised, although it will be on either Sun 02 or Mon 03 November, with the most likely opposition being J2 promotion chasers Cerezo Osaka. Win that tie and the Squirrels will again be at home in the Fifth Round, the seeded fixture grid suggesting that Nagoya Grampus may well be making a return trip to Saitama.
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【2008/07/24 21:29】
2008 News In Brief
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| A Win! Against A Bunch Of College Kids |
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Friendly, Mon 21 Jul
Omiya Ardija 6-1 Meiji University
1st Omiya goal - Sakurai 13'
Meiji goal unknown
2-1 Niwa 52'
3-1 Kawanabe 54'
4-1 Imai 69'
5-1 Tsukamoto 79'
6-1 Tokita 89'
GK Shimizu (Nobuhisa Kobayashi 45')
DF Tsubouchi (Higuchi 45')
DF Kawahara
DF Niwa
DF Tsukamoto
MF Aoki
MF Kawanabe
MF Tokita
MF Kawagishi (Arai 45')
FW Sakurai (Imai 45')
FW Ichikawa
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【2008/07/22 18:52】
2008 News In Brief
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| Rampant Whales Leave Squirrels Floundering |
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Mon 21 Jul, J1 Game 18
Nagoya Grampus 4-0 Omiya Ardija
1-0 Yoshimura 16'
2-0 Magnum 28'
3-0 Johnsen 48'
4-0 Sugimoto 88'
GK Ezumi (5)
DF Murayama (5)
DF Leandro (5)
DF Tomita (5)
DF Hato (5)
MF Saeki (5)
MF Yoshiyuki Kobayashi (5)
MF Kataoka (5) (Saito 45')
MF Fujimoto (5) (Hashimoto 76')
FW Daigo Kobayashi (5) (Lavric 45')
FW Denis Marques (5)
Subs not used
GK Aratani
DF Tanaka
FW Morita
FW Yoshihara
Cards
Y Murayama 27'
Y Tomita 44'
Yasuhiro Higuchi finally rang the changes and dropped under-performing forward Kota Yoshihara for Sunday's J1 match at Nagoya Grampus, fielding Daigo Kobayashi up front with a Denis Marques returning from a bout of ill-health. But despite the modification, Omiya Ardija were well and truly hammered by an impressive Nagoya team that to all intents and purposes looked to be in a division higher than the Squirrels, such was the difference in quality on view.
Although Higuchi's side were able to create some opportunities, they as usual squandered them. The closest Ardija came to finding the net was through a long-range strike from central midfielder Yosuke Kataoka in the first half and a Denis Marques shot that hit Whales net minder Seigo Narazaki in the second, while Grampus were clinical in front of goal. Keiji Yoshimura scored the first, curling in a shot from just outside the box just after the quarter-hour mark, and key midfielder Magnum made it 2-0 after Koji Ezumi fumbled a cross.
Trailing once again at half time, the Omiya coach replace Yosuke Kataoka and Daigo with Masato Saito and Klemen Lavric respectively - but just three minutes after the re-start, Norwegian striker Frode Johnsen struck home the killer third with Ardija's defence all at sea. Keita Sugimoto rounded off the scoring near the end to highlight the disparity between the teams.
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【2008/07/21 20:55】
2008 Match Reports
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| Nagoya Preview |
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There can be few worse fixtures for Omiya Ardija to be playing than Nagoya Grampus this holiday Monday evening. Since the re-start of the J1 season at the end of June, the Squirrels have - after a Denis Marques-inspired defeat of Tokyo Verdy - lost three consecutive matches to drop six places down the standings, being to a great extent outplayed by Vissel Kobe and Jubilo Iwata. Thursday saw a gutsier display at high-flying Kashiwa, but the Squirrels' lily-livered attack could not make up for one defensive slip-up that allowed Franca in to notch the only score of the game for Reysol.
With just one goal in 270 minutes of football, then, this is hardly the time for question marks to be hanging over the future at the club of Omiya's star performer this year. Denis Marques has made by far the most significant individual contribution to the team in 2008 - certainly of the out-field players, at any rate - but mysteriously did not figure at all against the Sun Kings.
Whatever the reality of the circumstances surrounding his absence, it is definitely true to say that the 27-year-old brings to the Squirrels' play a much-needed sense of imagination, flair and unpredictability. Given the extent to which Daigo Kobayashi and, arguably to a lesser extent, Chikara Fujimoto have underperformed, these are characteristics that Omiya can ill do without.
Last year, then-coach Satoru Sakuma's Ardija were fighting for their J1 survival when they travelled to Nagoya to take on the Red Whales - and were crushed 5-0, in one of the most disastrous performances by an Omiya side since the club gained promotion in 2004. Now, new Grampus boss Dragan Stojkovic has been successful in leading his team to the fringes of the title race and it must be that Yasuhiro Higuchi is up against it, if the Squirrels are to break their losing streak.
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【2008/07/19 05:21】
2008 Match Previews
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| Losing Streak Continues As Franca Strikes |
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Thu 17 Jul, J1 Game 17
Kashiwa Reysol 1-0 Omiya Ardija
1-0 Franca 78'
GK Ezumi (6)
DF Murayama (6)
DF Leandro (7)
DF Tomita (6)
DF Hato (6)
MF Saeki (6) (Hashimoto 81')
MF Yoshiyuki Kobayashi (6)
MF Kataoka (6)
MF Fujimoto (7) (Kanazawa 73')
FW Daigo Kobayashi (6)
FW Kota Yoshihara (5) (Lavric 61') (6)
Subs not used
GK Aratani
DF Tanaka
MF Saito
FW Morita
Cards
Y Murayama 58'
Y Leandro 86'
The Mighty Squirrels suffered a monumentally disappointing result in Chiba on Thursday night - their first ever loss to Kashiwa Reysol. With Yusuke Murayama restored to right back in favour of Terukazu Tanaka and Daigo Kobayashi starting up front, Ardija dominated the majority of the possession and really should have come away with a comfortable win rather than a 1-0 defeat.
The responsibility for the fact that this happy outcome did not take place mainly rests on the shoulders of one man - those of Kota Yoshihara, who had several opportunities to score but blew them all and ultimately Omiya's chances of getting anything from the game. The former Gamba Osaka man, who has netted just twice all season despite consistently being awarded a place in the starting line-up, had two great chances near the end of the first half.
One he put wide after being set up brilliantly by Daigo and the other ended up being struck straight at Sun Kings keeper Takanori Sugeno after Yoshihara was put clean through by an interception from Yosuke Kataoka. Daigo also created a good opportunity for Naoya Saeki in the early stages of the second half, but with no-one near him in the goal area the dog-owning midfielder skewed horribly wide when it seemed easier to score what would have been Saeki's first-ever Ardija goal.
But as the missed Omiya chances came thick and fast - Chikara Fujimoto almost lobbed Sugeno in the first half and substitute Hayato Hashimoto blasted one over from a Klemen Lavric knockdown near the end - sure enough, at the other end Franca stole in to chip a flat-footed Koji Ezumi and when that went in it was all over.
Many Squirrels fans commented that it was hard to believe that Reysol are now third in the table, but even so while Yasuhiro Higuchi's team should have steadied the ship by coming away with all the points, instead they are are now looking nervously over their shoulders.
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【2008/07/17 20:55】
2008 Match Reports
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| Kashiwa Preview |
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Ardija make the short journey to Chiba on Thursday for a night game with the Sun Kings of Kashiwa Reysol. And the two teams will be approaching the fixture in contrasting form, for although Reysol went down 1-0 to Nagoya Grampus at the weekend, their recent results have been excellent: they were previously undefeated for nine matches, their last loss coming at home to Shimizu S-Pulse at the end of April.
The Squirrels, on the other hand, have been beaten in their two most recent games - against Vissel Kobe and Jubilo Iwata - a common denominator of both being a woeful first-half display. Earlier in the season Ardija proved themselves good at coming from behind to take the points, as at Gamba Osaka and Kawasaki Frontale, but constantly having to chase the game is a dangerous situation to be in for a team such as Omiya with relatively limited attacking options and a midfield that seems always to find it hard to create chances and support the strikers.
That said, new signing Klemen Lavric is the kind of figure who potentially can have a major impact upon the Squirrels' fortunes. The Slovenian international came within an ace of grabbing a somewhat undeserved point against Jubilo Iwata, as his towering header in the dying seconds was checked off for a questionable offside. Ardija have to learn how to support such a player and make the most of his characteristics, but a superbly accurate free kick delivery from Hayato Hashimoto was a step in the right direction - especially when one remembers how few chances Omiya have created this year from set pieces.
Who might step aside to make room for Lavric in the starting line-up as an interesting question. It is difficult to imagine star performer Denis Marques being dropped at present and coach Yasuhiro Higuchi persists with Kota Yoshihara up front - although many fans are now arguing that his pacy running style would better serve the team on the wing rather than occupying one of the main striker roles.
In midfield, Daigo Kobayashi has already been omitted by Higuchi as he seeks to recover the form that two years ago got him onto the fringes of the international set-up - but now, sadly for the player and for the team, seems long gone. There are currently questions being asked of the attitude of ex-skipper Chikara Fujimoto, who was booked against Vissel Kobe and has drawn the wrath of Ardija supporters as a consequence of what is perceived as an unsatisfactory explanation; Kobe fans, too, expressed their disappointment that a former Vissel hero can have behaved so poorly.
But given that the replacement of any of these players with Lavric would mean a serious modification of the Squirrels' tactical approach, Higuchi has a serious decision ahead of him. Central defender Masahiro Koga will be missing for Kashiwa, after being sent off against his former team Nagoya; will the physical threat presented by Omiya's new star be given the opportunity to exploit any uncertainty in Koga's absence?
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【2008/07/16 17:40】
2008 Match Previews
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| Pets Of The Stars, Part Whatever |
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Ardija midfielder Naoya Saeki's hound is here. What is it with footballers and absolutely ghastly-looking dogs?
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【2008/07/13 18:48】
2008 News In Brief
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