Yokohama FC vs Gamba Osaka
2021 J1 Season Round 26
NHK Spring Mitsuzawa Football Stadium
Wednesday 25 August 2021
Kick Off: 19:00 (JST)
Gamba make the two hour journey east along the Tokaido Shinkansen to face J1’s bottom side Yokohama FC this Wednesday in a match that arguably has more significance for the home side, given their predicament at the foot of the table. However, Nerazzurri kantoku Masanobu Matsunami, fresh from being confirmed as boss for the rest of the season, must still have some of the fan criticism following Saturday’s stalemate at home to FC Tokyo ringing in his ears, and he will be determined for his charges to return to winning ways here.
The Ao to Kuro’s first draw in ten league outings and fifth 0-0 of the year was a fairly drab affair, save for spurts of end-to end action at the beginning and conclusion of the second half. The late arrival of Hiroto Yamami brought some much needed impetus to Gamba’s attacking play and fellow substitute Tiago Alves blew two decent chances to earn the three points. The Nerazzurri could, and should, have been made to pay by FC Tokyo replacement Kyosuke Tagawa, but he couldn’t hit the target after being presented with a golden opportunity to make himself a hero in the final minute of regular time. A contest that looked like it would end scoreless from very early on, was indeed destined to finish that way. The point didn’t do either side much good in the grand scheme of things, but shouldn’t be considered a disaster either.
Yokohama FC were also in Osaka on Saturday night, but they saw their four-game mini-revival grind to a shuddering halt against a fired-up Cerezo side who bagged their first win in twelve league outings. Despite former Gamba favourite Kazuma Watanabe firing the visitors into an early lead, YFC’s advantage was quickly extinguished as they were undone by two Tiago headers from corners within the space of four first half minutes. A flowing team move in the second half was finished off by the always impressive Tatsuhiro Sakamoto to leave no way back for the men from Kanagawa.
The Fulie come into this clash 8 points from safety with just 13 matches to save themselves from the drop. Not only are they owners of the worst overall record in J1, they are also the division’s weakest home outfit. Gamba, by contrast, perform like a top 6 side on their travels, and will be confident of grabbing the three points at Mitsuzawa Stadium. Yokohama FC have reached the do-or-die stage of their campaign, can they summon a massive performance and prove that their 2-0 win over Nagoya was more than just a mirage, or will Gamba dig deep and grind out another ugly road win?
Tale of the Tape
Yokohama FC have earned two-thirds of their points this season on home turf, while visitors Gamba seemingly prefer an away day having picked up 60% of their yearly total on the road. A lot has rightly been made of YFC’s leaky defence, which gives up a frightening 2.16 goals per game, and has conceded five times in a single match on three occasions already in 2021, granted these were all away from the Mitsuzawa (Sapporo, Marinos and Kobe). Things did look to be picking up with a run of three consecutive clean sheets, two of them coming immediately after the arrivals of, German ‘keeper Svend Brodersen and Brazilian centre-back Gabriel, but that optimism was largely swept away by Cerezo at the weekend. Gamba’s prefectural rivals appear to be in possession of the manuscript for how to defeat Yokohama FC, and do it convincingly, having routed them 7-2 on aggregate this season. The Cherry Blossoms delivered YFC’s heaviest home defeat to date with a 4-1 counter attacking masterclass back in March, how Gamba would love Wednesday’s encounter to follow a similar pattern.
Yokohama FC have kept just four clean sheets all year, but took ten points from those games, so it is clear that their backline simply must be tightened or they are going to be relegated well before the season draws to a close. The Fulie have given up under 1 xG Against on only two occasions so far in 2021, and at the other end of the field their best xG For performance came in the away game at Panasonic Stadium, though the figure presented below certainly runs slightly contrary to my memory of that contest.
Finally, let’s take a brief look at Gamba and begin by once again comparing their attacking form before and after the ACL excursion to Uzbekistan. In fifteen pre-ACL outings, their offence produced a meagre 5 xG For totals of over 1, they have since equalled that number from just ten post-ACL games. Additionally, prior to their overseas trip, the Nerazzurri’s best xG For performance was 1.6 in the Osaka Derby at Cerezo, this of course includes Patric’s penalty. Following their return to Japan, that figure has been bettered four times. So, although many supporters expressed frustration over Gamba’s inability to unlock, or really look like unlocking, the FC Tokyo defence, statistically speaking things are trending in the right direction up front for the Nerazzurri and fans should be able to look forward to more goals in upcoming matches, hopefully starting here.
Head-to-Head
Gamba faced Yokohama FC at Panasonic Stadium back in May knowing that a win, and only a win, would suffice. They got what they were looking for, a 2-0 triumph courtesy of a Leandro Pereira double, his first two J1 goals for the club, but little more. It was a satisfactory outcome for the men from Suita, but boy was it not pretty.
Twelve months earlier it was a similar story with Gamba running out victors and Yokohama FC missing their cue at vital moments. Kosuke Onose’s drive from the edge of the box deflected off Ademilson and wrong footed Fulie stopper Yuta Minami for the game’s opening goal. The Brazilian was rather fortunately given the credit, Onose wasn’t awarded with an assist and Gamba headed into the sheds one up. The Nerazzurri dominated the first half, but after the interval it was a different affair, YFC youngster Koki Saito (now at Lommel in Belgium) fired in a deserved equaliser before Yusuke Minagawa wasted a couple of great chances to turn the tie on it’s head. The side from Kanagawa were made to rue those misses as Patric flicked home Yosuke Ideguchi’s corner with almost the last touch of the game to earn a fortunate three points.
In the reverse fixture, the Nerazzurri wrapped up second spot in the standings with an ultimately comfortable 2-0 victory at a freezing Mitsuzawa Stadium in the season’s penultimate round. Shu Kurata got the ball rolling in the first minute and there were a few slightly nervy moments before Patric, once again, got the decisive goal. Later on, Christmas came early for Genta Miura and Gen Shoji, who liked like a couple of over-excited schoolboys, when they were able to fulfill a lifetime’s ambition by sharing the same field as Japanese footballing legend ‘King Kazu’ as he made a late cameo in his team’s final home outing of the year.
Gamba Osaka
I may have got all 11 starters right in my previous blog post, but that was largely thanks to Matsunami showing his hand with his ‘B’ team selection against Matsumoto. This match represents Gamba’s last midweek league outing until Culture Day on November 3 and I’m unsure how much rotation will take place ahead of the Osaka Derby on Saturday. As such, in a blog first, I’ve presented two alternatives below. It’s also quite/very possible that Matsunami will make far fewer changes than I’ve predicted.
Briefly (he says), there are two tactical points I want to make about the FC Tokyo game.
* The difference between Patric and Leandro Pereira’s playing styles was laid bare several times on Saturday night. It was particularly noticeable that down Gamba’s right flank, both Onose and Yajima would pick up the ball and immediately look towards the penalty spot in expectation of Patric being there. Instead, what they found was Leandro Pereira hovering on the D at the edge of the box looking for a pass in to his feet.
How do Gamba fix this quandary?
Use the lighter league schedule between now and December to operate with basically the same starting lineup in every game and hope a better understanding develops?
or
Continue to bumble through this season, take advantage of the fact Pereira is only on a one year deal (reportedly) and bring in a younger version of Patric in the off-season? Heck, maybe we could even scout potential replacements on Wednesday night?
* Gamba selected two ball playing midfielders, Shu Kurata and Yuki Yamamoto, against FC Tokyo on Saturday. I believe Matsunami’s thinking was that as the Gasmen prefer counter attacking football, the Nerazzurri were likely to dominate possession and would require the nous and guile of those two to unpick the well-set defence in front of them. That proved to be correct, however, at the other end Leandro floated menacingly between the defensive and midfield lines, as he did twelve months ago. Despite flashes from him, and Brazilian compatriot Adailton giving Kosuke Onose a torrid time at points, Gamba lived to tell the tale. I still think the ideal combination would see one playmaker (Kurata / Yamamoto / Yajima) paired with one ball-winner / holding midfielder (Ideguchi / Okuno / Ju Se-jong). There are so many options there and not too many more games to go, how will Matsunami shuffle his pack to try and keep everyone happy?
Team News
Patric was the headline absentee on Saturday and Matsunami made a rather vague statement about his condition not being quite right. I’ve optimistically put him in the starting lineup for Wednesday and he does enjoy a goal against Yokohama FC, so here’s hoping. Gamba fans will be praying Hiroki Fujiharu being substituted against FC Tokyo after going down clutching his left calf was nothing more than cramp, though personally I have my doubts. Ryu Takao was pictured in the stands on Saturday with strapping round his right-ankle, suggesting he won’t be back anytime soon, while Wellington Silva is still out with a groin muscle problem. Elsewhere, there’s no time-frame available for Yuya Fukuda or Dai Tsukamoto’s returns and Jun Ichimori plus Haruto Shirai are both long-term casualties. Summer vacation is winding down here in Japan and I’m unsure where that leaves designated special player Hiroto Yamami, especially with regards to away fixtures. There are now so many players to choose from that I left him out of my lineup, but, if available, expect to see him play some part.
Predicted Lineups and Stats
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Yokohama FC
After a promising 2020, which culminated in a fifteenth place finish, Yokohama FC have crashed down to earth with a thud this season. Winter losses including, wonderkid Koki Saito, loanees Kazunari Ichimi (Gamba) and Yuki Kobayashi (Kobe), plus solid starters Katsuhiro Nakayama (Shimizu) and Takaaki Shichi (Fukuoka) were not adequately replaced, and a rather scattergun approach to recruitment unsurprisingly didn’t bear much fruit. Things started poorly as they were routed 5-1 at Sapporo on the opening day with three of last season’s star turns, central midfielders Tatsuki Seko and Kohei Tezuka, plus winger Yusuke Matsuo left on the bench. Kantoku Takahiro Shimotaira was the fall guy, getting the axe after the 3-0 home loss to Hiroshima on April 7, though quite how much of the mess the club currently finds itself in can be laid at his door is very much up for debate. YFC promoted internally and former player Tomonobu Hayakawa was handed the reigns, however, little progress has be made since his appointment. A summer recruitment campaign saw Brazilians, Gabriel (Atlético Mineiro) and Saulo Mineiro (Ceará SC) join on full deals while compatriots, Felipe Vizeu (Udinese via Ceará SC) and Arthur Silva (FC Tokyo) came in on loan. Germany Olympic squad member Svend Brodersen brought those in the arrivals lounge up to five, and this was balanced out by, Masakazu Tashiro, Sho Ito, Yuta Minami and Riku Furuyado heading out on loan deals and Calvin Jong-a-pin and Ryuji Sugimoto leaving permanently. There has been a recent improvement in on-field results, but I’m sceptical if it’ll prove to be enough to keep them away from the relegation trapdoor.
Team News
Central midfielder Hideto Takahashi is suspended following his straight red against Cerezo, while promising wing-back Yota Maejima’s thigh muscle problem is expected to keep him out until next month. Kosuke Saito (shoulder) is the only other confirmed absentee I have, though fellow volante Kohei Tezuka has missed the last eight games and it’s suspected this is Covid-related. Other than that, Keijiro Ogawa, Ryo Germain, Katsuya Iwatake and Kléber haven’t been spotted for the past three league matches, I can only guess that they are currently being kept out by the new summer arrivals named above. Brazilian wing-back Maguinho, on loan from Kawasaki, is walking a suspension tightrope and a yellow card in this game would mean he misses the weekend trip to Kashiwa.
Predicted Lineups and Stats
Thanks again for reading and enjoy the game whoever you support.
Gamba Osaka blog in English 