Last Update 8/6/2009 11:30AM JST (latest updates in italics)
Current Record: 32 points (10 wins 2 draws, 8 losses), +4 goal differential
Current Standing: 6th place (after 19 games played)
Current Injuries:
Next Match: 8/16/2009 J1 Round 20 vs. Yokohama F.Marinos, 6:30 PM at Ajinomoto Stadium (Chofu, Tokyo)
With the uploading of goalkeepers, 2009′s player preview is complete! I’ve moved all of the entries over to pages for the sake of trying to organize our content, but you can access them here:
Meet the Players 2009 – Goalkeepers
Meet the Players 2009 – Defenders
Meet the Players 2009 – Midfielders
Meet the Players 2009 – Forwards
In site news if you’re visiting this site the old-fashioned way instead of reading the RSS feed you may notice that we’ve updated our layout! Free from the tyranny of two columns, Aishiteru Tokyo can now present info on *both* sides of the main article! Truly this is only the beginning of a revolution. Some stuff isn’t quite the way I want it to be (you’ll notice the lack of a ‘Home’ button anywhere for some strange reason. I’m hoping to fix up navigation and get content a bit more organized, so stay tuned!
Tomorrow, our first Match Preview of 2009!
It’s been a bad month for FCT’s starting GK Hitoshi Shiota. After a poor showing during the Guam training camp, he returned to Japan suffering heatstroke, then underwent an emergency appendectomy. And now a postoperative intestinal blockage has him out until at least the middle of March, meaning the first several matches of the season, assuming he’s in playing shape when he leaves the hospital.
It’s now up to one of the other three keepers on the roster (Shuichi Gonda, Nobuyuki Abe, or Ryotaro Hironaga) to man the sticks and keep FCT’s hopes alive. All three are products of FCT’s U-18 team, but Gonda has been getting the nod in most of the preseason friendlies, so expect to see him open the season wearing the gloves. If he struggles, though, he could find himself riding pine in favor of the other preseason choice, Abe. Hironaga hasn’t seen much field time in the preseason, so he’ll probably be the desperation choice of last resort only if the two ahead of him crash and burn.
CORRECTION: Due to my (Lantis) poor kanji reading, this was originally posted as having Shiota being out for three months, rather than until mid-March. I apologize for the mistake.
FCT announced today that due to inflammation in his left knee, MF Naohiro Ishikawa (石川直宏) will be out for the next two weeks, meaning he’s likely to miss the J-League season opener.
FCT announced today that last year’s second-leading scorer, FW Cabore (full name Everaldo de Jesus Pereira) would be returning temporarily to Brazil, due to a sudden illness in the family. No date has been set for his return, though we at Aishiteru Tokyo wish his family member a speedy recovery and Cabore a swift return.
Following a diagnosis of appendicitis, FC Tokyo goalkeeper Hitoshi Shiota recieved an emergency appendectomy today. He will need 3-4 weeks to recover from the surgery, which means that backup goalkeepers Shuichi Gonda (a representive of Japan’s U-15, U-16, U-17, and U-18 national teams) and Nobuyuki Abe will have a chance to show off their skills between the posts during FCT’s training camp in Miyazaki Prefecture and, depending on Shiota’s condition, against Albirex Niigata in the opening day match on March 7th.
Following his early return to Japan from Guam camp for medical reasons, starting GK Hitoshi Shiota has been hospitalized. No further details of his condition have been released beyond the heatstroke and resulting glandular swelling announced on Jan. 31, and no date has been established yet for his departure from the hospital.
First the bad news: because of poor performance in the Guam training camp, starting GK Hitoshi Shiota returned on Friday to Japan for a medical examination, which was conducted in Saitama on Saturday. The examination diagnosed heatstroke and glandular swelling, and a second examination has been scheduled for a few days from now.
Now the good news. Two FC Tokyo players have been named to the team for the 2/4 Kirin Challenge Cup match against Finland and the World Cup qualifier against Australia on 2/11. DF Yuto Nagamoto and MF Yasuyuki Konno will be wearing NT blue on both dates.
IN
FW Suzuki Tatsuya (extension of loan from Kashiwa Reysol)
OUT
MF Kurisawa Ryoichi (extension of loan to Kashiwa Reysol)
FW Kozawa Ryuki (loan to Gainare Tottori (JFL) becomes full transfer)
Practice, practice.
FC Tokyo’s training camp opens on January 24th, and their top-3rd finish in J1 has apparently earned them the right to practice in sunny Guam. They’ll be there until February 2nd and will return to Tokyo soon after, at which point their Kodaira Ground schedule will be finalized. Beginning on the 13th, their usual preseason camp in Miyazaki Prefecture will take place for 10 days. I assume the season schedule will be released within the next couple of weeks, and all that leaves fans to do is to stay tune for announcements of arriving and departing players. I plan on doing a detailed post on new players when the season draws closer, but for now here’s the list:
IN
Position – Name – Most Recent Team – Transfer Condition
MF – Hokuto Nakamura – Avispa Fukuoka – Full Transfer
DF – Daishi Hiramatsu – Mito Hollyhock – Full Transfer
GK – Ryotaro Hironaga – Yokogawa Musashino – Return From Rental
MF – Takuji Yonemoto – Itami High School (Hyogo Prefecture) – New Signing
MF – Soutan Tanabe – Some important-sounding school with a very big name – New Signing
OUT
Position – Name – New Team – Transfer Condition
DF – Tatsuya Masushima – Kyoto Sanga FC – Rental to Full Transfer
MF – Reichi Ikegami – FC Kariya – Full Transfer
MF – Kenji Suzuki – Gainare Tottori – Rental to Full Transfer
MF – Kota Monimura – Mito Hollyhock – Rental
GK – Kota Ogi – Ventfore Kofu – Rental Period End
FW – Nobuo Kawaguchi – Undetermined – Released
MF – Rychely – FC Balia (Brazil) – Full Transfer
FW – Ryoki Kozawa – Gainare Tottori – Undetermined (mid-Rental)