Nagoya Already Two Points Up on Last Season

Today's opening game 3-2 win against Oita Trinita sees Grampus two-pomints ahead of least seasons pace. Of course, we have only played one game but it is a good start to the season. Two goals by Davi, interspersed by one from Tamada were enough to earn all three points.

This game appears to highlight the flexibility that Grampus has at the back. Akira Takeuchi, nominally a centre back who spent most of last year on the right, started on the left in place of the injured Shohei Abe. Whether this flexibility will result in stability remains to be seen, but it will allow Stojkovic to rotate players fairly easily when injuries and suspensions start to become a factor later in the season.

Grampus
Seigo Narazaki
Hayuma Tanaka, Milos Bajalica, Takahiro Masukawa, Akira Takeuchi (Maya Yoshida 87)
Magnum (Kei Yamaguchi 81), Naoshi Nakamura, Keiji Yoshimura, Yoshizumi Ogawa
Keiji Tamada, Davi (Keita Sugimoto 84)
Scorers: Davi 54, 82, Tamada 75

Oita Trinita
Shusaku Nishikawa
Taikai Uemoto, Masato Morishige, Hiroyuki Kobayashi (Yasuhito Morishima 86)
Robert, Yoshiaki Fujita, Daisuke Takahashi, Mu Kanazaki, Singo Suzuki
Ueslei, Daiki Takamatsu (Akihiro Ienaga 83)
Scorers: Kanazaki 10, Ueslei 84

Update: Highlights of this game can be found on the EuroSport website.

Wenger Analogy Looms Large at FIFA

In their preview of the new J-League season that begins this weekend FIFA could not resist drawing comparisons with Stojkovic's former manager...
It is not as if 4-4-2 is a revolutionary formation introduced by the Frenchman. :-)

FIFA.com J-League season looms large

Stojkovic Upbeat on Grampus Prospects

In an interview with the Japan Times, the Grampus boss says he is not worried about the team's increased schedule this season. Although the Gramaplogue is a bit concerned, since we have the addition of ACL games while having a thinner squad. (There are three less players registered than last year, even if the core team should be slightly stronger.)

It also sounds as though the team will be playing the same attractive football we saw at the start of last season. This proved very successful, but the manager was unable to pursue the same approach in the latter half of the season as injury and suspension meant that the team was without its creative playmakers in some crucial games. This season should see youngster Sho Hanai help relieve this problem, as the second-year midfielder has bee doing well in the pre-season games.

Davi Bags Hat-trick in Grampus Pre-season Warm-up

New signings Davi and Hayuma Tanaka made their presence felt in the team's final day of spring camp. Davi scored three goals in the first half, one from an assist by Hayuma, as the team coasted to a 6-1 victory over J2 outfit Roasso Kumamoto in a practice game in Kagoshima.

First Half Lineup:
GK: Nishimura
DF: Tanaka, Bajalica, Masukawa, Hiraki
MF: Ogawa, Nakamura, Yoshimura, Magnum
FW: Sugimoto, Davi
Scorers: Davi 25, 28, 40

Second Half Lineup:
GK: Nishimura (Hirono 74)
DF: Tanaka, Bajalica, Masukawa, Hiraki
MF: Ogawa (Hashimoto 58), Hanai, Yoshimura, Magnum (Tsuda 58)
FW: Sugimoto (a trainee 68), Maki
Scorers: Hanai, Tsuda, Hashimoto

Grampus Off to Winning Start...

OK, so Sunday's game was only a practice match, but Nagoya got off to a 3-0 win against the National Institute of Fitness and Sports in Kanoya.

This saw Hayuma Tanaka and Davi make their first appearances in a Grampus shirt, although both only played for the opening 45 minutes.

First Half Lineup:
GK: Nishimura
DF: Tanaka, Bajalica, Yoshida, Abe
MF: Tsuda, Yamaguchi, Yoshimura, Magnum
FW: Sugimoto, Davi
Scorers: Sugimoto, Yoshida

Second Half Lineup:
GK: Hirono
DF: Takeuchi, Masukawa, Yoshida, Sato
MF: Ogawa, Hanai, Yata (U-18), Niigawa
FW: Maki, a trainee
Scorer: The trainee :-(
Rookies Matsuo and Hashimoto also saw playing time in the second half when they replaced Yoshida and Yata.

This gives us a clue as to how the team will use some of the players. In particular, it is good to see that Sato may have developed enough to be considered as a sub for Abe.

Grampus to Host Gifu at Toyota Stadium, 22 Feb

Nagoya are to host FC Gifu at Toyota Stadium on February 22nd. This will be one the few pre-season matches that will be open to the public. (Although, it will not be free.)
Official Grampus Press release (Japanese)

This is likely to be our best chance to judge how the team will do this year, before the season starts. Since Grampus will be playing two ACL games in March, in addition to two Nabisco Cup games and a handful of league games, I do not expect the team to have an arduous pre-season, so we are unlikely to see many other warm-up games.