Seven Into One Does Go
Joint top Japanese scores in the J-Leagye, top if penalties aren't counted, yet Oshima doesn't figure in the highs of the season. Confused? You won't be. Consider this, if it hadn't been for a woeful YFC performance that day at the Nissan, Oshi would have just been another Japanese striker in the pack around 10 goals a la J-League Fair Play King Sakata. Now, that isn't to say that he doesn't have any skill or potential. His goals against YFC showed his obvious ability with his feet, whilst headers against JEF, Kofu and Kashima, in particular, and a poacher's goal against Kawasaki showed he has the aerial ability and a striker's instinct. The problem is simply the consistency, unless Yoshida is on the wing when the problem is generally delivery.
Oshima was meant to be the new and improved Kubo; ie a player that didn't hang around slightly offside and not bother running, a Kubo trademark in 2006. Sadly, though, Oshima has had too many games this season when he hasn't been able to get into them or make his mark on them and if he is going to lead the line he needs to be able to do that. Of course, it is not all his fault as the midfield has had it's poor moments and some of the crosses into the box have been, at best, atrocious but what frustrates the most is that Oshima misses far too much and often chances that are far easier compared to some of the goals the has scored. He just doesn't take enough chances when they come to him and, really, he needs to or we need to find someone else who can.Iranian Poses Credible Threat
It's not often George W. Bush gets it right but his assessment of Aria Jasuru Hasegawa was spot on. The tall midfielder only played two games before succumbing to
a succession of ankle injuries that kept him out all season and limited his appearances to being a member of Mitsuzawa Embarassed Welcome Committee Inc but, obviously, George had been watching closely. His touch in the build up for Koji's goal against Kofu on the opening day of the season was masterful considering he was an 18 year old making his first start. His movement and positioning was also of the highest quality and, with a calmer head, he would have had his first goal in his second game, against YFC, and saved us some serious blushes. Sadly, that was the last we got to see of him in action but if, when he returns to full fitness, he can pick up where he left off then he clearly has the potential to make it big.The Nabisco Cup Runneth Over
One more win and this would have been a high for the season but, unfortunately, a combination of quality
opposition (don't tell them I said that) and par for the course blunders by Hayano meant that a semi-final appearance was as good as it got. Not that it wasn't a good ride whilst it lasted. Even being thumped 3-0 away at Kashiwa was fun because the results went the right way and we ended up qualifying for the next stage at their expense. Ha! Obviously the highlight of the whole thing was beating FC Tokyo 4-2 away after the had won the first leg 1-0 with a soft, soft goal. Driving rain, Eltinho playing, Marques scoring (the only goal scored by a foreign player all season) and terrific defending all made it a great day out. One better next year, please, boss.A League of Their Own
7th. Not a great position to finish in but for a period of the season some of us were worried about still being in J1 next season. 2007 was an improvement on 2006 and 2005 both in terms of position and in points gained. The previous two seasons has seen us gain 45 and 41 points, respectively, and finish both campaigns in 9th position. 2007 saw us gain 50 points and finish 7th. An improvement then on the past two seasons and, although we were still 22 points off Kashima, perhaps the club is heading in the right direction. That said, in order to challenge next season we'll need to win around 7 of the games we lost this season and, though it seems like, and may prove to be, a tall order, there is an obvious place to look to see where this deficiency can be made up.
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