That, my friends, is a Classic. One small problem, it’s only available in Hokkaido. That’s a long way to go for a beer. Not to fear, though, because other things are classics. Those 3 goons over there, they’re on the way to making something classic (although the bloke in the middle has yet to pull his finger out due to sofa reasons but he’ll be looking to contribute early doors next week).
What in God’s name are they making that will be such a fine vintage? Will it be as quality as the legendary Kick Off F-Marinos? Of course not. Nothing will ever surpass the brilliance of 7 old fellas in front of a shabby Marinos flag with one chanting “Ready, steady, go” before they all limply raise their fists and give a cry of “F-Marinos.” Take it from MOIST even the lovely lady who co-presents the show is aware of the comedy value of a gang of old fellas giving it some. How does MOIST know this? Well, we had the good fortune of being near her on the train to Omiya. Curse our foolish selves that we didn’t get some photos.
Back on track, though. WimmoTranslationsInc and HolderGraphicsCorp in association with MOISTPublishingAndAllAroundGeneralBrilliance are proud to present Tricolore Pride.
All the news from the official website in English. When the whole thing is up and running (ie when MOIST pulls its finger out) the site will contain everything you need to know about the Marinos from how to buy tickets and how to get to the stadium to the name of the Chairman’s favourite brandy. Not only that but you will get a full whack of information about every other J-League team.
Now, obviously MOIST is the place to come for ranting and ill-informed views but when you need cold hard facts, Tricolore Pride is the only place to go.
Famous TV star, MOIST just realised today we’ve been a little forgetful with the pictures from the last two games. In all the excitement of comedy “Wiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiin” photos we completely forgot about what you, the punter, wants.
MOIST are no mathologists, as you very well know, but we know tee lovers when we see them and we humbly apologise for leaving you out in the cold recently. To your left and your right are the tees from the Oita game (Aria – a nice little number using the ANA logo) and the Omiya game (Komiyama – small shrine on a mountain ahoy).
Ah, the tees. Good times, I think you will all agree but, in news that may shock the sporting world to its core, there may only be two more MOIST tees. Yes, Kashima away and FC Tokyo at home will be the last two matches MOIST attend for a number of months.
On April 6th, MOIST is relocating to Singapore for between 3 to 6 months due to getting a real job.
Fear not, though, MOISTettes, you will not be completely in the dark. MOIST will battle bravely against time and space to keep you upto date with all the opinions of the Marinos faithful thanks partly to P2P but mostly to WimmoTranslationsInc and HolderGraphicsCorp.
The news of MOIST’s departure has, of course, rocked the foundations of the Yokohama F-Marinos but the players have pledged to remain strong in the face of such upheaval and MOIST would have it any other way.
Kuwahara: “Obviously, this is a huge blow to our campaign this season. We have started the season so well, bouyed mostly by some great artwork, and hope that we can really do well this season for MOIST. The players are keeping their fingers crossed for a speedy return but we all know these are dark days and we have to buckle down and fight hard.”
Kawai: “When the gaffer told us the news I have to admit I wept slightly. I was fortunate enough to meet MOIST at the fan festa and, although he was 3 foot taller than me, I could really feel his passion and commitment to the club. I truly believe I was touched by an Angel that day. Although there are some rumours a fairy touched my bum.
Lopes: “Bono estente. On a gremos escouta et meeeng! E coco a coupa yich yah wich. Na tandra milio Patagonia. Ak nopo dopro filla whisakas. Full-a-meaty goodness. Regardo tip, I say Foghorn Leghorn. Nutra bend testicular pss-shit la grado pik mit la fumbo, Chris Waddle. Hethethetheth methethetheth, Richard and Judy. Boutros, boutros gali”
Shimizu: “I’m glad he’s leaving. Maybe now people will stop asking how much I charge.”
No offence, Lopes.
Famous TV star, MOIST, will be holding a charity tee sale on April 2nd before the FC Tokyo game at Mitsuzawa for those of you who are in Japan and would like to get your hands on classic memorabilia. Pay as little or as much as you want for such classics as Lopes, Suzuki, Kawai, Fushitsu and many, many more.
Colonel Bogey rears his ugly head again, folks, but at least we didn’t lose. We almost did, mind you, when Omiya’s one decent shot of the game bounced back of the post and crossbar and into Tetsuya’s hands. That was the 89th minute of thereabouts and would have been an absolute sickener.
We’re not trying to brag when we say we ran the show. Roni could have had 4 goals and Sakata came close on a couple of occassions. We just couldn’t get the ball in the net, though.
The game wasn’t inspired but we did play some lovely stuff out to the wings and the team looked they were getting even more in synch with each other. Roni was looking sharp up front and getting into some great positions and, in midfield, Hyodo had a great debut whilst Aria, wasted in defensive midfield according to his dad, looked strong and healthy. It is true that it is a shame we can’t see him pushing forward but, at the same time, it is wonderful to see that he can play anywhere in that central area with ease and composure.
Kuwahara again rotated the team and brought in Shimizu, Sakata and Hyodo in place of Komiyama, Oshima and Mizunuma. What was great about this was that it didn’t really effect the play of the team. The new players slotted in well and had no problems fitting in with the style of play. Beyond that, they all played very well.
We have to remember that we were without Koji and that will always make a big difference but the fact that we created chances was great. It was just a shame we couldn’t convert. To his credit, though, Roni was looking very good and a solid save from the keeper, a shot cleared off the line and a free-kick that just cleared the bar could all have gone in against any other team except from Bogey Ardija, the Jinx of Saitama.
Man of the Match: Roni – he didn’t score but he looked sharp and full of running. Hopefully once that first goal goes in the floodgates will open.
Kuwahara: ‘It was one of those games that could have gone either way. We used the young players again today and this time I feel they certainly played for the entire game without losing focus at any point. I think todays performance has set us up well for our trip to Kashima. In the last game, I paired up Mizunuma with Aria which showed promise but this time I decided to give Hyodo Shingo a place in the starting line-up in order to familiarize him with the strict physicality of playing in the J-League as these kind of games are ideal for allowing the younger players to gain some experience. As for Hyodo’s play, well he seemed a little nervous in the first half which was to be expected but in the second half he was more tactically aware and very conscious of our defence, dropping back when necessary and making an impact on the game overall. I paired up Sakata with Roni up front today. There are many games scheduled for April and there is a good chance that I will use Sakata, Roni and Oshima all together in the future.
Over the past two games I have been watching Roni closely. He had 3 decisive chances which I would have liked to have seen him score so first I will evaluate his ability in finding space and assess the situation. Essentially, all we need is our strikers to score their first to open the floodgates and start them off in the right direction.
Sakata moved well on and off the ball and I am pleased with his shots on goal too.’
Hyodo Shingo: ‘At the start of the game I was extremely nervous. 15 minutes into the game Matsuda started calling out to me giving me some guidance which was a huge help in enabling me to focus. I felt that perhaps I may have held back at times during todays game as I didn’t penetrate forward as much as I could of have. I envisioned having Aria dropping back and me pushing forward and played the best I could to maintain this formation. In the second half I dropped back too much and ended up becoming part of the defence. I wish I had pushed forward more. Next time I play, I really want to show what I am capable of doing and be more attack minded.’
Hasegawa Aria Jasuru: ‘I am glad we didn’t lose today. I feel that I have brought my game up a notch since our last game. Today I played with Hyodo dropping back and myself pushing forward. We usually play like this in training and the coach instructed us to play likewise today. On the attack front, I successfully made some tight passes which I am happy about. It would have been great if we could have scored in the first half but…
In the second half we matched our opponents flow of play which may have been a little monotonous to watch. In my two games, a win and a draw certainly isn’t bad at all and I will be making a big effort to get a chance to play in the upcoming Kashima tie.”
Matsuda Naoki: “As it was an away game Its good to have taken a point back with us. Not losing today was important. As for the younger players, I would have liked to have seen them play with a little more fire in their bellies and show what they can really do. When playing for the Marinos, standard play is not good enough. Whether Koji is with us or not we have to play hard and not be too dependent on individuals. I am confident we can straighten ourselves up in time for our game against Kashima.”
It’s always been obvious to MOIST that this blog is read in higher circles than you, our esteemed but hoi-polloi readers, mix in. Thursday saw the proof of this when Kuwahara elected to start the Oita game with Aria and Mizunuma in midfield. There were, of course, 2 major reasons for the change in the starting XI – Koji and Yuji are over in Bahrain getting ready for the Japan game – but MOIST gets the feeling that Kuwahara is much more in tune with squad rotation that Hayano will ever be.
And the kids? Now, didn’t they do well? For those of you that weren’t there the answer is yes, by the way.
In absolutely shocking conditions, including some snow flurries, the Marinos held an Oita team who have started the season in fine form to one decent shot on goal. That, though, was a belter. A Christiano Ronaldo-esque free kick from 25 yards by Edmilson that dipped and swerved and was destined for the bottom corner before Tetsuya dived low to push it away.
The threat of Ueslie was nullified well by the back three and, although there were times when it almost worked for Oita, they never really threatened too much. In the end it got too much for the chubby Brazilian and, after 74 minutes, he got his marching orders. He went down in a heap on the edge of the box under a challenge from Naoki. A clear professional foul, although from MOIST’s seat it looked like a clear dive. The ref gave Naoki a yellow not a red and Oita a free kick. Not so bad, MOIST thought.
Suddenly, though, the ref’s attention was brought to his flagging linesman and, after brief chat, Ronaldo’s body double was being booked for diving and heading to the showers.
That killed off any real threat that Oita may have offered, although, truth be known the second half had belonged to the Marinos. Yes, it wasn’t the prettiest of games and we didn’t really offer so much up front but without Koji we basically had 4 new players out of the midfield 3 and forward 2.
Of those 4, Mizunuma was starting a game for the first time, Aria was playing for the first time in a year and Lopes and Roni are slowly but surely fitting into the team. Indeed, it was Roni that unlocked the Oita door and set up the goal. He escaped down the right and cut into the box before pulling the ball back to the penalty spot. Added by a couple of deflections the ball fell to Hayuma and, from 12 yards, he smashed it into the back of the net.
Game over. Now it’s off to play Bogey Ardija in the hope of laying another hoodoo to rest.
Man of the Match: Aria – after a year out with injuries it was great to see him back and completing a full 90 minutes. Did nothing special but kept Oita quiet all game. The more fitness he gets the better he will be.
Kuwahara: “As I expected, the cold, wet conditions made the pitch very slippery which in turn made for a difficult game but, in spite of the conditions, the players remained focused until the end.
As for using the two young volante, I realised that I was lacking in options for those positions and so decided to give these two a chance to step up and contribute to the team. During the first half, they both done well in playing to their strengths. I feel these two have also shown us they have a lot potential for use in the future and I feel very fortunate to have these two at my disposal.
In the first half we played too many one touch, two touch plays so I asked the players to hold on to the ball and dribble a little more which they did throughout the second half.
Todays win was due to the efforts of the entire team. Winning games consecutively since the start of the season has resulted in the players knowing how good it feels to win games and the overall mood at the club and around the players is a very good one. We are looking now at continuing our run at Omiya on sunday. We will go there to win.
Matsuda was very efficient in solidifying our defence, dispossessing their players of the ball on a number of occasions. This was very important because fortifying our defence and not conceding any goals today was one of our priorities. Moving Matsuda back into defence enabled the younger players to make use of his experience and in turn help foster their own potential.”
Hasegawa Aria Jasuru: “At first I was nervous, but little by little my confidence began to grow and I soon felt comfortable. In order to win todays game to coach was very thorough in tightening up our defence. Todays victory was not only big for the team but it was also a big deal for me personally too. Next time I play, I want to ensure we get a result and also for me to show my strengths and continue to improve.”
Mizunuma Kota: “Todays game was the first that I had been chosen as a starting member. Until now, just playing for the full 90 mins would have been more than satisfying. Today those feelings come to an end. As from tomorrow, I will start to aim for a higher level within my game. The corner kicks today were heavily influenced by the wind so even the better balls in couldn’t get much lift which was a shame because everyone had to bunch together in the box which limited our chances to score.”
Tanaka Yusuke: “Towards the end they were reduced to 10 men and we were playing with the wind coming from behind us so I wanted to use that to our advantage. Ueslei is a very strong player physically and so I was careful not to get too close to him and defended from a distance. Aria and Mizunuma both played very well in front of me and were a huge help. Playing every game going against our opponents key strikers is giving me invaluable experience.”
One of the charges that MOIST often levelled at Hayano was the fact he would start the same XI over and over again. Now, that’s fine for some players but others need a rest. Mini Me had a bit of a burn out mid-season last year but he was part of Hayano’s XI and kept his place. When something was finally done to ease the burden we all found out that Shimizu was in fine form. Imagine if we’d rotated? MOIST aren’t advocating Rafa Benitez style weekly culls but Hayano could have learned something, anything, from him.
With back-to-back Nabisco Cup games in the space of 4 days coming up we’re about to find out what Kuwahara’s policy is going to be. In the two games so far he has stuck with the same XI (bar Roni for suspension reasons) and the same subs bench (except for a change in reserve goalie). This would make sense. The starting team for the first game of the season will always be your strongest and having a week to recover before the second game gives the players ample opportunity to rest and recuperate.
The next four days, though, are different. Oita, who have started the season well, at home followed by Omiya, the bogey team, away. Can the same XI play both games? Surely not. On paper we should be able to beat both Oita and Omiya and the fact of the matter is our bench warmers should be able to perform well against them. If they can’t then they have no business being at a club who has aspirations for glory let alone anywhere near the bench.
In the first two games Aria, Hyodo, Mizunuma and Ogura have been on the bench and not started whilst Sakata, Shimizu and Mini Me have been used. In theory that is complete midfield and forward lines ready to go.
MOIST aren’t suggesting that all 7 should start but if we want to compete on two fronts we need the reserves to have the ability to slot in and get the job done. We also need the manager to have the confidence to give the youngsters a chance, something Hayano seemed loath to do.
So, Mr Kuwahara, what’s it to be? Are the kids alright?
Topsy-turvy would be an understatement if MOIST used it to describe last Saturday’s game at the magnificent Sapporo Dome. It truly was a rollercoaster of emotion. Before the start of the game we were treated to the ballboys dancing like the cheerleaders as well as a brass band. Let them have their fun, MOIST thought, it’s going to be a long 90 minutes for them.
It was clear from the outset that we were going to stuff poor old Consadole. Koji, playing against a former team for the second week in a row, was imperious in midfield whilst Sakata, in for the suspended Roni, was out to make his mark and retain his place. Once the first goal went in the others would flow like alcohol at an Irish wedding (or baptism, or funeral, or PTA meeting, or kindergarten graduation, or…well, you get the point). We just needed the first goal.
It never came. After 20 minutes it was still 0-0 and a case of “Dear God, I didn’t pay all this money and come all this way for it to be one of those days.” After 44 minutes God was well and truly forsaken as the referee gave Consadole a dubious penalty. The replays clearly show, oh wait, this is Japan, there are no replays. So, take it from MOIST, it was clearly a dubious penalty.
Up stepped Claiton to fire it home and send Sapporo in at the break one up against the run of play and leaving MOIST with a long night to not look forward to.
Except he didn’t.
The ball smacked sweetly against the bar and flew harmlessly into orbit. God was back on the agenda and if fortune wasn’t on our side then MOIST were a monkey’s uncle. Consadole would go in at the break shattered by the miss and never recover. The second half would be a breeze and the goals would fly in right in front of us, the travelling faithful.
7 minutes into the second half MOIST stuggled into a cheap gorilla costume and started snacking down on bananas and assorted fleas. Sapporo had scored. A nothing ball into the box was nicely chested down and Davi, the diving little bugger, was all alone to place the ball in the bottom corner.
30 minutes later they were still one up and God was being asked kindly if a point would be alright and if it wasn’t too much bother for the Almighty could he just run along and deal with that now, his son appearing in ketchup on a hamburger could wait.
And then from nowhere, well, not entirely nowhere but after Sapporo scored they defended very, very well and we didn’t look like we were ever going to break them down. So, then from somewhere, Oshima appeared. Two minutes later we were 2-1 up and it was smiles all round.
Long way home to Yokohama, lads, but we didn’t mind.
Man of the Match: Oshima – Two priceless goals to send us into the Nabisco break in high spirits. Was a tad anonymous at times but MOIST feels Kuwahara might be able to play to his strengths more than Hayano could.
Kuwahara: “Todays game was of critical importance. I suspected that it would be a difficult game and duly conveyed my concerns to the players before the game. Evidently my suspicions turned out to be correct. If only we could have capitalized on some of our chances early in the game then we wouldn’t have had such a tough hill to climb…
Nevertheless, I would like to extend my gratitude to the players for refusing to give-up and for single-mindedly focusing on the task in hand until the very last minute.
Sapporo’s defence exceeded our expectations as they defended their goal tenaciously and made it difficult for us to find the net.
Komiyama was beginning to look tired and having trouble making his mark on the game so I brought him off for Shimizu. Tanaka Hayuma too, was having similar problems so I replaced him with Yamase Yukihiro in the hope of making use of his left foot.
There was little time remaining on the clock and we were having no success in our attacks from the flanks that I decided upon an ‘all or nothing’ style approach. Despite his height advantage, Oshima was being nullified and having trouble getting on the end of the balls he was played so I made a change in tactics so that we could get the ball to him. Oshima was our top scorer last season and although he likes to make use of his height, he has also been working diligently on his footwork in training and has really started to show improvement which I can confidently say he has shown us today.
2 wins in a row is great but its still too early to go overboard about it in terms of comments. Coming from behind in tough games like this and going on to win is a confidence builder for the players and great for the overall team atmosphere. From this point on, I want us to continue our winning run so we can get a head start over our opponents in the table.”
Oshima: “Regarding the 2nd goal, Koji made a powerful shot on goal and I knew that the Goalkeeper would have trouble holding on to it so I anticipated a fumble, read the play and took my chance. Being preempted by the opponent is what I hate the most so I just wanted to do whatever I could to score our first goal.
If we had lost today, I feel it would have rendered last weeks victory meaningless. I want to face the Kashima game next week with a strong challenging spirit.”
Koji: “Sapporo had a strong formation and a tight defence in front of goal. We played a strong formation but just couldn’t snatch a goal when needed. However, throughout the 90 mins we played we didn’t lose our balance and remained firm so I feel we can attribute our victory to our resilience more than anything.”
Matsuda: “Following on from last weeks game, the coach had some interesting views on this weeks game. He said “We could be unlucky and concede a goal but, if we score 2 goals, we will win” so I was really surprised that his forecast came true!. This is the one game that we definitely had to win – a loss would have been unacceptable. Winning this game was a big deal for us.”
Frosted Lucky Charms, so said the advert, were magically delicious. I don’t know about delicious but MOIST enterained our own Frosted Lucky Charms during the Reds game and they proved to be magically something.
In the interests of disclosure for ‘Frosted’ read drunk and for ‘something’ read drunk.
Firstly, I’m pretty sure all you loyal MOISTheads are thinking, “Hey, where’s the tee?” Apologies for the delay in it’s appearance and apologies for me using an old idea but it seemed perfect for the day.
The old Naoki Swoosh, good times.
As you all know there were 62,000 in the Nissan for the game and a hell of a lot of them were in blue. It was nice to see so many turn out and, hopefully, it won’t just be opening day fun and a lot of them will come back. The Nissan is a quiet place with 17,000 kicking around in it. Here’s wishing we can make every game a 25,000+ attendance.
As is the tradition with the Marinos at the end of a good win the umbrellas come out. Loved by Marinos fans and hated, apparently, by fools with no sense who support second rate opposition, like the Reds, it’s always a good feeling to have a quick twirl at the end of the game. And, as MOIST proved today, the umbrellas double as handy rain blockers.
One thing you can say about the Reds, actually I could say a lot of things about the Reds but right now I mean nice things, is that they do have a great support. Oh, to have 55,000 a game at the Nissan. If you look at the photos you’ll see big gaps amongst the Reds fans. Don’t let that fool you. They were out in force for 90 minutes but, sadly for them, they lost and quickly skuttled home, tails between their legs. Long train ride home to Saitama (or Chiba, or Tokyo, or Osaka, or wherever their “loyal” fans come from), lads.
Now, MOIST has a confession to make. When MOIST started it was a hardcore two. In essence it is still a hardcore two but in reality half of the hardcore two is in a different country and MOIST now wanders a lonely path of isolation, lifted only by fleeting moments of companionship with fellow travellers beating the Marinos path. Either that of drinking heavily. Maybe it is time for MOIST to expand beyond two? Perhaps make business cards and lamenate them? A secret handshake? And, most importantly, a 20 pound memebership fee. Please contact MOIST for bank details.
Notable potential MOIST members are Nick, far left of the photo, who is MOIST’s graphic designer and Brendan, not in any of the Reds photos but in the Lopes and Kawai ones, who is my translator in chief. The tubby little chap in the middle on the left and in the photo on the right is one of MOIST’s Frosted Lucky Charms. Cheers for the help, Phil.
And, finally, who could forget Sheva, the bar of bars. One of its star attractions is the man who passed out 25 minutes into the 8-1 game and woke up with 10 minutes left, conveniently missing all 9 goals. Ishi, we salute you:
I’m the only thing holding him up, you realise, because his legs certainly aren’t.
Spelling be damned, a good slogan is a good slogan and the boys from Shonan Bellmare have that licked. Sadly, for us, they had the Marinos licked midweek, too.
Now, MOISTettes, before you go Brian Blessed shouty screamy crackers crazy, it was only a reserve game, at least for the Marinos. We have no word on the Shonan line-up so it’s hard to know if this was a good result or not.
Anyway, the match finished 2-1 to Shonan. An own goal in the 10th minute and a 30th minute strike was enough to render Furube’s 16th minute goal meaningless. As we said, though, if this was a strong Shonan side containing members of the team that beat Sendai last weekend then it is a promising results for our youngsters. However, if Shonan sent out a bunch of rag-tag nobodies then, well, most people probably would have thought it was their first team anyway.
Anothing thing that makes this result easier to stomach is the fact that the starting XI only seemed to have one defender, Tashiro, and more midfielders than you can shake a stick at. Honestly, I can’t begin to imagine how they lined up. 1-2-4-1-2 anyone?
As a new service to the MOIST faithful, MOIST courtesy of WimmoTranslatingInc, for all your language needs, will be posting the post-match comments of Kuwahara and the players for all the non-Japanese speaking folks to see.
So, here for the first time in English, the Reds post-match comments.
Kuwahara: “The players played for the win for the whole 90mins and remained singlemindedly focused on achieving their goal. This in itself can be very tiring. I didn’t give any special instructions or guidance from the bench today so the outcome of today’s match was very much down to the players themselves, for which I am grateful.
Lopes put in a good performance but keeping his condition in mind, I opted to bring on Sakata as we were down to 10 men and I thought his counterattacking and dribbling skills would prove useful in holding up the flow of play and see out the final quarter of game time.
Hayuma’s role was to penetrate with a certain degree of frequency but not so much as to bring our opponents attention to their back line. Being able to launch an attack from the wings is a distinctive characteristic that both Hayuma and Komiyama share, so I guess its only natural that we saw them perform well in those positions today.”
Komiyama: “Regarding the shot, I could see that Lopes was to the side of me and he wanted to take the shot at goal but I thought I would have a go. I wasn’t sure whether I had a clear path or not so I just imagined where I wanted the ball to go and struck it. I have never scored like that before – not even in training. Seeing as my onfield position is not actually fixed I want continue training hard in training and play appealing football.”
Oshima: “Considering it was the opening game of season, I wouldn’t say we froze up but we were perhaps a little over prudent at times. We created many chances and made some good plays and I would like to see us continue playing in this way. Roni has great skill, and is strong too. Lopes combined with Koji wonderfully too so, as a forward, I will be looking to make the most of their partnership and score as many goals as I can.”
Tetsuya: “It was a good first half. We fought valiantly even though we were reduced to 10 men. It’s been a while since we’ve had this much fun playing. To win our opening game, to defeat Urawa and see such an excellent turn out from our supporters was amazing. However, we have only won one game and the next is important too. I want to go out and ensure we don’t give our opponents a chance in the next game and secure another three points.”
Nice to see Kuwahara give credit to the players and not, in true Hayano style, take it all for himself. Let’s hope he has the balls to blame himself for mistakes and not pick on the team, too.
Oh, where to begin, where to begin? The deja vu? The hoodoo? The fact we just played the Champions of the Milky Way and Lesser Known Universes of the the pitch? The Bottlers came back to the Nissan and left exactly like last time, empty handed.
A glorious start to the season on a glorious day in Yokohama. The sun was out, as were almost 62,000 fans, with over half of them in blue, and when the 90 minutes were done we finally remembered what it is like to beat the Reds.
Way back in 2003 was the last time we’d beaten them in the J-League and given the visitors new signings and our less than impressive pre-season the odds were in favour of the Marinos stretching their winless streak to 9. Thankfully, it wasn’t to be.
Kuwahara opted for a 3-5-2 formation that he’d been experimenting with in pre-season and it worked a treat. Yusuke slotting in at centre-back was far more impressive than his previous outing in that position last season and Naoki was Kawai-esque in midfield. MOIST have had issues with Naoki being used as a defensive midfielder but against the Reds he was all heart and class. Indeed, the combination of Yusuke, Naoki and Komiyama was a joy to watch. Each playing off against the other and being in the right position to cover their teammates forays to other parts of the field.
The Reds new boys, so highly touted, failed to show up. No, that is a bit harsh. A bit harsh on Yuji and Yuzo who just didn’t give them a chance to show what they could do. 2007’s top two defensive teams combined to stifle each other with the Reds being reduced to pot shots from the edge of the box that troubled only the ball boys. And when they did actually manage to keep it on target, twice perhaps, Tetsuya was there to stop it. His save from Yamada a beauty, holding the ball with Edmilson storming in for any loose change.
Our new boys had a mixed day. Lopes was strong in midfield, if slightly off the pace on occassion. That said, his hard work proved a great foil to Naoki in thwarting the Reds attack and his vision, though about 5 yards too much on most balls, bodes well when he settles into the team. Finally, perhaps, it’s not all up to Koji. As for Roni, well, let’s just hope it isn’t Suzuki Part 2. Yes, it was a bizarre case of deja vu with the new signing coming close to opening his account on his debut (a wonderul move down the right that carved the Reds open) before being sent off for kicking the ball away. The 69 minutes he did put in looked a step up from the pre-season, though. Again, it is too early to judge a player who has only been with the team for a month but the flashes were there and, as D-Ream said, things can only get better.
All-in-all, it was a great perfomance for every last one of them. It was never going to be a goal fest against the Reds but the chances were there and against lesser teams they might become goals. Solid at the back, strong in midfield, dangerous up front – it’s nice to say that and mean the other team in a Reds game. Let’s hope this is the form we show in every home game.
4 stars in 2008? It’s not in the bag yet but it’s 3 points closer.
Man of the Match: Komiyama – His first goal for the club is enough to give him the prize. To be honest, it could have been half a dozen of them after the performance but without Komiyama maybe we’d be writing about another draw.
That, my friends, is a Classic. One small problem, it’s only available in Hokkaido. That’s a long way to go for a beer. Not to fear, though, because other things are classics. Those 3 goons over there, they’re on the way 
to making something classic (although the bloke in the middle has yet to pull his finger out due to sofa reasons but he’ll be looking to contribute early doors next week).
not. Nothing will ever surpass the brilliance of 7 old fellas in front of a shabby Marinos flag with one chanti
ng “Ready, steady, go” before they all limply raise their fists and give a cry of “F-Marinos.” Take it from MOIST even the lovely lady who co-presents the show is aware of the comedy value of a gang of old fellas giving it some. How does MOIST know this? Well, we had the good fortune of being near her on the train to Omiya. Curse our foolish selves that we didn’t get some photos.
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M.O.I.S.T. 
