So, wow, that was a long month. Much longer than I’d hoped for it to be.
August was, to be frank, a trying time for FC Tokyo fans. The boys lost to Urawa 1-0 in a game which they easily could have won but just couldn’t pull it off. Yet, this was a respectable effort marred slightly by improperly unsportsmanlike displays by the Reds supporters.
What followed that, unfortunately, was a loss to Verdy under the rain at Kokuritsu. Not just a loss, but a fall-from-ahead loss that perfectly mirrored their win against Verdy in April. So, there was a sick kind of symmetry to the whole thing, but that interesting tidbit did not undue the fact that this was (and still may be) a team in crisis. When I got home from the match, I saw a mailer from FC Tokyo that included an announcement of the 10th Anniversary Commemorative Wine (red, naturally). How appropriate that the team offer its fans a way to drown their collective sorrows. I’ll bet sales shot up after that disaster of a Derby.
FC Tokyo’s roster includes one National Team rep (Konno), two Olympic Team reps (Nagatomo and Kajiyama) and several players who have at one point or another been considered in contention for both (Akamine, Hirayama, Hanyu), yet for a long stretch of time (a VERY long stretch of time) the team was unable to pull off more than one goal in a league match. FCT’s absolute inability to put points on the board is at once maddening, frustrating, and heartbreaking, for this is a team that was at the time of the recess in June as high as second place in the league standings. In protest I decided not to attend the away match at Kashiwa - this would prove to be a prudent decision as it rained throughout, but FCT also stole 3 points from the yellow apes w/ a 1-0 victory. Yes, we would like to see more than 1-0 on the board, but a win’s a win and after two heartbreaking losses it did much to soothe the home fans.
I was unable to view the following match against Omiya as I was in America at the time, but it would seem that Tokyo has finally figured out how to score again, posting a 3-2 victory at Ajinomoto where the Squirrels more often than not triumph. In their first win at home since the Oita match in late April, Akamine knocked home two goals and Otake nailed the winner on a free kick. The match also featured the first appearance of striker Tatsuya Suzuki, formerly of Kashiwa Reysol and aquired during the WC Qualifier break in early September. I dunno much about him but he seems to have had a bit of an impact late in the game so I assume having a Japanese striker who’s willing to Shoot The Goddamned Ball will turn out to be a good thing.
The next match for the blue + red boys is tomorrow at Todoroki Stadium against 5th-place Frontale. I… will not be there, mainly because a BIG FRICKIN’ TYPHOON is bearing down upon us which may cause the game to be postponed altogether. And I have a concert in Yokohama but that’s incidental. I will likely attend the next home match - an afternoon fixture against Jubilo Iwata on Tuesday the 23rd. While It’s been a long time since I’ve seen them win a league match (I believe the last such event was away @ Omiya during the Golden Week Sprint), two successive wins and a rise to 6th place in the league standings (a scant 9 points out from league leaders Nagoya). Given that Kawasaki is 5 points up on FCT, two wins and two Kawasaki losses could put the boys back in 5th place and if the other top teams (Nagoya, Kashima, Urawa, and a shockingly resurgent Oita, which along with Shimizu made it to the finals of the Nabisco Cup) are stagnant, first place could be well within reach.
These are trying times for any football fan, but even as frustrating as FCT has been, they are yet in 6th place and may prove to have a top finish in the league - even if they should stagnate in 6th for the rest of the season, they are far above where they were in 2007 and may yet continue to prove a threat in 2009.
Trying times indead, but fun times nonetheless.