As two surprise teams led the way in J1 I considered their alternative approaches to the game for The Daily Yomiuri..
Kashiwa Reysol play with boundless enthusiasm while Yokohama F. Marinos are a lot more reserved, and I discussed which, if either, was best suited to an authentic title challenge.
Shimizu S-Pulse’s Iranian-American head coach Afshin Ghotbi has had to put up with a fair amount of discrimination in his lifetime.
The constant of football has not only helped him deal with and overcome these problems, but also to try and leave a positive mark on the world around him.
First they were going to the Copa America, then they weren’t, then they were again…
Anyway, now they’re not so I thought someone should ask the JFA why it took quite so long to decide.
Speaking before last week’s charity match in Osaka, Mitsuo Ogasawara described the scenes that greeted him and his family when they travelled to Tohoku in the days after the tsunami.
These comments and how he thinks football can continue to help the region formed the basis of this month’s Back Post, for The Daily Yomiuri.
After the tragic events that took place in the Tohoku region of Japan last week, football has been placed very much in perspective.
The J.League and JFA have done well to bear this in mind, and I discussed their reactions in the aftermath of the earthquake and tsunami here.
Takeshi Okada left Japan in good shape for his successor Alberto Zaccheroni, providing him with some healthy heads and a strong heart.
I discussed the subject in more detail in my latest column for The Daily Yomiuri.
The last month or so has seen several more Japanese players head to Europe, including the 18-year-old High School player Ryo Miyaichi, who has just signed for Arsenal.
While the number of players moving abroad is increasing and can only be a good thing for the game here, the level of self-belief Japanese players have in their own abilities is still up for debate, as I discussed in today’s Daily Yomiuri.
When I first visited Japan, Urawa Red Diamonds were one of the top teams in the J.League. Things haven’t been so smooth over the past few seasons though, and the side has just implemented it’s latest change of manager.
As Volke Finke makes way for former Reds’ player Željko Petrović, I considered the team’s recent plight and whether or not the Montenegrin will be able to return them to the top of the table for my column in the Daily Yomiuri, which you can read here.
On Wednesday my column, ‘The Back Post’, started in the Daily Yomiuri.
It will appear once a month and be supplemented by match reports and other articles. The first edition, which focused on the problems currently being experienced by FC Tokyo, can be accessed here
Sakka Nihon 