Kashiwa’s latest ranking. New players are in red. (C) SOCCER DIGEST
The J1 Centenary League will finally begin on February 6th. What kind of lineup will each club have in the special tournament before the start of the season? In this article, we will introduce Kashiwa Reysol’s latest ranking and the current status of the team.
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Last season, Kashiwa hired coach Ricardo Rodriguez and reinforced players to suit the coach’s style. They played an attractive and linked style of possession soccer while changing their positions in detail. Although they made a big leap forward from the 2024 season, where they fought to stay until the final round, they finished runners-up in both the J1 League and the Levain Cup.
This season, Kashiwa, who are eager to win the title, have acquired Tomoaki Okubo and Yasuya Okubo, who were trained by coach Ricardo during his time with the Urawa Reds. The team will aim to increase its strength by welcoming “Ricardo’s children” who have the advantage of tactical penetration, like Kaho Koizumi and Riki Watai from last season. Furthermore, they have added personnel in both offense and defense, including Hinata Yamauchi, who joined from Kawasaki Frontale on a permanent transfer, and Takumi Tsuchiya, who returned from a loan transfer to Ventforet Kofu.
In addition, college graduate rookies have also succeeded in acquiring “first-place draft picks.” Yusei Yamanouchi, who played an active role last season by being included in the starting lineup in the Levain Cup final despite being a specially designated player; Rei Shimano, who uses his high physical ability to defend and jump out at opportunistic points, and Megumi Tsunoda, a game maker whose weapon is kicking with both left and right feet; all of them are raw materials that could be in the running for the main team in their first year. With the addition of promising young players to the reinforcement of ready-to-play players, the team’s momentum toward winning the league is increasing.
However, a major point of concern is who will replace Tomoya Koyamatsu and Diego, who left left wing. New recruits Taiki and Yamauchi are expected to be appointed, but at this point Yamanouchi, who was with the team last season, seems to be the first choice. Last season, due to team circumstances, he played as right WB, but No. 32’s main job is on the left side. He is likely to be the first choice in Kashiwa, where coordination between players is important in the offensive and defensive process.
Furthermore, regarding the right wing position where Tojiro Kubo has a prominent presence, Shun Nakajima, who is in his second year of college, has been loaned to Iwaki FC, so it is possible that the current team will be used as backup. In the expected formation, he was placed in the shadows, but candidates include new forces such as Okubo and Yamauchi, whose main battlefields are on the sides. Furthermore, some players, such as Yota Omi and Shupei Naruse, may change their positions from last season and take on the challenge.
There is expected to be a fierce battle for the top spot between Masahiro Hosoya and Hiroki Kakita. Hosoya took some time to settle into his new team, but he showed his scoring ability in the final games. This season, I want to be a regular and start producing goals from the start. That said, Hiroki Kakita’s dedication and inspiration in front of goal are of course the team’s weapons. We also have high hopes for the rise of Nabel Jiu Furusawa, a forward who is in his second year of college and is known for his physicality and speed. If he can be involved in the competition for the squad, he will be a new option and will be a headache for coach Ricciardo in a good way.
The team has a team that can fulfill the coach’s goal of “soccer with a high level of perfection in both offense and defense,” and the team’s morale is high as they aim to win the title they missed out on last season and even participate in the Asian Champions League, which will begin in the summer.
Text: Kei Fujii (soccer writer)
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