Grampus Off to Solid Start

Grampus get the new season under way, with a comfortable 2-0 win over JEF United.

The game saw a nervy first half, with neither team able to take control of the game in. Indeed it was the away team that would have the better chances over the half, with Kurobe seeing Narazaki tip a glancing header onto a post, and then later failing to finish after making a break into space inside the box. These instances aside, Nagoya closed down their opponents fairly effectively, even if they were not able to exert much pressure with their own possession.

Nagoya's tentative start was exacerbated by the loss of central defender Spilar after a nasty, twisting tumble shortly before the 20-minute mark. The injury was sustained in what otherwise looked a fairly innocuous clash with JEF's Hanyu, but is expected to sideline Spilar for most of the season. Fortunately, Spilar's replacement Yoneyama proved a more than capable substitute, and quickly looked at home in the back line. Spilar's injury, however, means that the team is now short of experienced cover for the central defensive role should either Yoneyama or Masukawa sustain a knock, or suffer a loss of form.

Offensively, Grampus struggled to pose a serious threat to the JEF goal. This was partly due to Norwegian striker Johnsen spending most of the half, and much of the second, dropping back into a midfield position. This meant that the team was not able to make rapid progress forwards with balls that Johnsen could hold up or lay off to the speedy Sugimoto or Nakamura. Indeed, the team's only clear-cut chance in the half came when Nakamura made a surging run from midfield, only to see his shot ricochet off a defender. The ball fell invitingly for Sugimoto, but he wastefully blasted over the bar.

0-0 at half time, and game that either team could swing in their direction.

Both teams came out with the intention of playing at a higher pace after the break, but despite a few neat buildups by JEF, Nagoya were able to gradually assert control over the game. JEF showed some neat build-up play in the early stages of the half, which saw Hanyu fail to capitalize on a good opening, due to a poor first touch. However, Grampus gradually assumed control and Sugimoto should have done better than steer a a diving header wide of the post.

Kim was next to waste a good chance at the far post, after being picked out by a raking cross by Honda, blasting over from close range. Fortunately, he was able to make amends for his profligacy when Sugimoto dribbled into the corner of the box, then laid the ball off for him to blast low into the far corner of the JEF net.

Sugimoto almost got on the score-sheet himself when a neat through ball from Honda saw him race onto the edge of the box only to see his shot to the near post parried away by the JEF custodian. Honda wrapped up the scoring in the dying moments, when he chased down a casual back-pass, putting enough pressure on the flustered keeper to induce panic, and poke home the loose ball.

Although this could hardly be called a commanding performance, and is hardly likely to have the likes of Gamba or Urawa glancing nervously over their shoulders, it was more convincing than last season's opening game and the team was worth the two goal difference over the 90 minutes. More importantly, the team managed to keep a clean sheet despite losing a key defender with only a quarter of the game gone.

In terms of individual performances, both Kim and Sugimoto seem to have learnt some lessons from last season. Kim looked dangerous and managed to play the full 90 minutes without picking up a yellow card. It was his tendency to collect bookings that detracted from generally good play last year. Having spent most of last year getting repeatedly caught off-side, Sugimoto managed to consistently trouble the JEF defence with his pace, while not straying off-side.

Masukawa looks to be in the fine form with which he ended last season, making some good forays forward while not neglecting his defensive duties. However, the midfield in general will need to improve if the team is to create enough offense to get the team into the higher positions in the table. As was the case for most of last year, Japan U-22 Honda looked our most creative player, but should not be expected to create all the chances the team creates.

Pos.	Nagoya Grampus Eight		JEF United	Pos.
GK	Seigo Narazaki		Masahiro Okamoto	GK
DF	Masayuki Omori		Nenad Djordjevic (Park Jong Jin 84)	DF
DF	Takahiro Masukawa		Ilian Stoyanov	DF
DF	Marek Spilar (Atsushi Yoneyama 19)		Hiroki Miizumoto	DF
DF	Keisuke Honda		Yuto Sato	MF
MF	Kei Yamaguchi		Koji Nakajima	MF
MF	Toshiya Fujita		Koji Mizuno	MF
MF	Kim Jung Woo		Satoru Yamagishi (Kohei Kudo 77)	MF
FW	Naoshi Nakamura		Naotake Hanyu	MF
FW	Frode Johnsen		Seiichiro Maki	FW
FW	Keita Sugimoto (Keiji Watanabe 83)		Teruaki Kurobe (Tatsunori Arai 71)	FW
	Scorers: Kim 76, Honda 89