The J.League returns for its landmark 30th season as things, hopefully, start to get back to a semblance of normality across the nation.
With four teams relegated to J2 and a pair – Jubilo Iwata and Kyoto Sanga – promoted we’re back to a familiar 18-team configuration whilst the promotion/relegation playoff also returns for the new season.
Things are starting and ending a touch earlier than usual to accommodate the FIFA World Cup later in the year and with two cups and the ACL also crammed in, it’s going to be wall-to-wall football in Japan right the way through until late October.
Although new players and coaches are still unable to enter the country due to strict immigration procedures, crowds are slowly set to return with 50% capacity likely at most venues across the nation to help provide the backbeat to another season of elite football in Asia’s best domestic competition.
On the pitch, Kawasaki Frontale are aiming to lay down a marker to join the great Kashima Antlers teams that dominated Japanese football at the turn of the century as they chase what would be a record-equalling third straight league title.
We look at their chances of doing that, as well as which clubs are likely to contend or struggle in our season preview for the 2022 J.League campaign.
CONTENDERS (Kawasaki Frontale, Vissel Kobe, Urawa Red Diamonds, Yokohama F.Marinos, Kashima Antlers, FC Tokyo)
Having won four of the past five titles – and in an exhilarating manner – it would be foolish to look past Kawasaki as once again the side to beat.
Frontale may have tripped up in losing the season opening Super Cup to Urawa and seen their ranks plundered yet again by European clubs but manager Toru Oniki has an extraordinary ability to rebuild and reshape this side year after year.
The loss of central defender Jesiel to injury is a blow but Leandro Damiao showed last season that he’s the best finisher in the country, they finally have the mercurial but injury-prone central midfielder Ryota Oshima fit and to top it all off they brought in Thai superstar Chanathip Songkrasin from Consadole Sapporo for a J.League record transfer fee.
If there is to be a serious challenge to Kawasaki’s dominance that appears to be likely to come from a Vissel Kobe side that have spent big in the past few seasons in constructing a squad that is more than ready to compete for both the domestic title and the ACL.
Global superstar Andres Iniesta remains around for one last hurrah. They’ve brought in quality J.League veterans in Tomoaki Makino and Takahiro Ogihara and the arrivals late last season of national team contenders Yuya Osako and Yoshinori Muto up front gives them the goals that they’ll need to push Frontale all the way.
It may be a season too soon for Urawa who once again have spent heavily in strengthening their squad in the off-season but they’re sure to be there or thereabouts for much of the campaign.
Bringing in a veteran midfield leader that manager Ricardo Rodriguez has worked with before in Ken Iwao is a masterstroke and they’re laden with attacking riches, led by Kasper Junker and Ataru Esaka, with depth and quality right across the squad.
F.Marinos start their first full season under Kevin Muscat having lost two key players in Daizen Maeda and Thiago Martins, but in ex-Tosu central defender Eduardo they have experienced cover at the back and have also brought in some highly exciting youngsters, led by Joel Fujita, who could see plenty of playing time as the season unfolds.
After a couple of mixed seasons, the new entertainers of the league could well be a Kashima side that have lost virtually their entire starting defence from 2021 and, oddly, opted to not strengthen there, rather focusing on bringing in even more attacking talent.
New coach Rene Weiler has promised an entertaining brand of football and with the supremely talented Yuma Suzuki – tipped to be on his way to Italy as recently as two months ago – back at his former club it could well be raining goals in Ibaraki.
Under new ownership and with an attacking coach, Albert Puig, (who helped reshape J2’s Albirex Niigata over the past few seasons) now at the helm it could be the dawn of a new era at FC Tokyo.
Likely to field a three-man Brazilian frontline and having the fine shot-stopper Jakub Slowik in goal after his move from relegated Sendai, there’s high hopes for the capital club who could also unleash one of the best young players to have come through the high school ranks in many years in 18-year-old Kuryu Matsuki.
KAWASAKI FRONTALE
COACH: Toru ONIKI
KEY PLAYERS: Leandro Damiao, Ryota Oshima
PLAYERS TO WATCH: Tatsuki Seko, Marcinho
VISSEL KOBE
COACH: Atsuhiro MIURA
KEY PLAYERS: Andres Iniesta, Yuya Osako
PLAYERS TO WATCH: Koya Yuriki, Lincoln
URAWA RED DIAMONDS
COACH: Ricardo RODRIGUEZ (ESP)
KEY PLAYERS: Ken Iwao, Hiroki Sakai
PLAYERS TO WATCH: David Moberg, Kazuaki Mawatari
YOKOHAMA F.MARINOS
COACH: Kevin MUSCAT (AUS)
KEY PLAYERS: Marcos Junior, Shinnosuke Hatanaka
PLAYERS TO WATCH: Joel Fujita, Riku Yamane
KASHIMA ANTLERS
COACH: Rene WEILER (SUI)
KEY PLAYERS: Ryotaro Araki, Yuma Suzuki
PLAYERS TO WATCH: Yuta Higuchi, Itsuki Someno
FC TOKYO
COACH: Albert PUIG (ESP)
KEY PLAYERS: Masato Morishige, Diego Oliveira
PLAYERS TO WATCH: Kuryu Matsuki, Kazuya Konno
CHALLENGERS (Nagoya Grampus, Cerezo Osaka, Gamba Osaka, Avispa Fukuoka, Shimizu S.Pulse, Hokkaido Consadole Sapporo)
There’s been plenty going on at Nagoya who have star forward Jakub Swierczok on the sidelines under, strangely, a doping cloud and with manager Massimo Ficcadenti having departed at the end of the season in equally odd circumstances.
The appointment of former FC Tokyo coach Kenta Hasegawa is less than inspiring but they’ve kept the core of the best defence the league has seen, marshalled by the best goalkeeper in the nation in Mitch Langerak, and with the dynamic Mateus also still about they’re a side that should have aspirations of a top four finish.
Cerezo Osaka are set to be bolstered by the return of former star Matej Jonjic to help shore up a defence that lost Ayumu Seko to European football and in the likes of Riki Harakawa, Takashi Inui and Hiroshi Kiyotake they have an experienced midfield core although they do look a touch thin up front.
Their city rivals, Gamba, have former coach, Tomohiro Katanosaka in charge for 2022 and although they haven’t done much in the transfer market, two foreign signings in central defender Kwon Kyung-won and the Brazilian defensive midfielder Dawhan look like quality additions to a side that’s stacked with J.League experience – they should realistically be aiming to be much higher than mid-table with that kind of squad.
It was a 2021 campaign that went beyond the wildest dreams of a promoted Fukuoka side that ended up with their highest ever points haul and who have capped a fine off-season with the capture of the lethal Brazilian striker Lukian who won the Golden Boot in J2 last year and who was being hotly pursued by a host of J1 sides.
Shimizu have been on a rollercoaster ride over the past few seasons from the all-out attack of Peter Cklamovski to the reactive, defensive, approach of Miguel Angel Lotina and now the more balanced system likely to be put in place by two-time caretaker Hiroaki Hiraoka who has quality at both ends of the pitch in Japan keeper Shuichi Gonda and Brazilian forward Thiago Santana.
It was a blow for Sapporo to lose Chanathip to Kawasaki but they’ve brought in veteran attacking threats in Shinzo Koroki and Gabriel Xavier to help compliment a solid defence and midfield in what should be a steady season for the northern club who could get dragged into the relegation scrap but seem more likely to settle in mid-table once again.
NAGOYA GRAMPUS
COACH: Kenta HASEGAWA
KEY PLAYERS: Mitch Langerak, Mateus
PLAYERS TO WATCH: Keiya Sento, Hidemasa Koda
CEREZO OSAKA
COACH: Akio KOGIKU
KEY PLAYERS: Takashi Inui, Hiroshi Kiyotake
PLAYERS TO WATCH: Satoki Uejo, Seiya Maikuma
GAMBA OSAKA
COACH: Tomohiro KATANOSAKA
KEY PLAYERS: Takashi Usami, Gen Shoji
PLAYERS TO WATCH: Hiroto Yamami, Jiro Nakamura
AVISPA FUKUOKA
COACH: Shigetoshi HASEBE
KEY PLAYERS: Hiroyuki Mae, Lukian
PLAYERS TO WATCH: Yuta Kumamoto, Yota Maejima
SHIMIZU S.PULSE
COACH: Hiroaki HIRAOKA
KEY PLAYERS: Shuichi Gonda, Thiago Santana
PLAYERS TO WATCH: Daigo Takahashi, Kanta Chiba
HOKKAIDO CONSADOLE SAPPORO
COACH: Mihailo PETROVIC (SRB)
KEY PLAYERS: Hiroki Miyazawa, Shinzo Koroki
PLAYERS TO WATCH: Riku Danzaki, Shota Nishino
STRUGGLERS (Sanfrecce Hiroshima, Sagan Tosu, Shonan Bellmare, Kashiwa Reysol, Kyoto Sanga, Jubilo Iwata)
New Hiroshima coach Michael Skibbe is still unable to enter Japan due to the border closures at an Hiroshima side that have been one of the quietest clubs in the transfer market: the squad looks ageing and perhaps not ideally suited to playing the kind of up-tempo football that can be expected under the German boss, although in youngsters Shun Ayukawa and Takumu Kawamura they do have some exciting options in attack.
Sagan Tosu, under the guidance of new coach Kenta Kawai – one of the more highly regarded young Japanese managers – face the very real prospect of being demoted to J3 if they don’t get their finances in order this year and once again that saw a fire sale of their best talent in the off-season.
No fewer than seven of the starting XI from the end of last season have departed with the club hopeful that a decent mix of established veterans and some intriguing young loan signings, led by forwards Yuki Kakita and Jun Nishikawa, might be enough to see them survive.
Shonan, in their first full season under coach Satoshi Yamaguchi, are also likely to lean heavily on youth having been unable to make any major moves in the transfer market and, oddly, having loaned out their best player, Mitsuki Saito, to Gamba – perhaps in return for the loan extension of young keeper Kosei Tani, who could be key to their survival.
For a club that has ushered some fine youngsters through their ranks this is an ageing Kashiwa squad led by a 71-year-old coach in Nelsinho who may be coming to the end of his cycle at the club: much will depend on the 33-year-old Yuki Muto and 34-year-old Douglas up front and that’s a concern.
The two promoted clubs will both fancy their chances of remaining in the top flight with Kyoto perhaps looking better placed to do so as they’re led by a man with plenty of J1 experience in Cho Kwi-jae.
If anything happens to veteran forward Peter Utaka they could be in a real trouble but they have some hugely exciting young midfield talent, led by Sota Kawasaki that might give them the creativity they need, allied with Utaka’s goals, to stay afloat.
Things are more precarious for a Jubilo side that lost the superb forward Lukian and replaced him with the less than impressive Kenyu Sugimoto and their squad looks to be thin pretty much right across the board although they do have an exciting new coach, Akira Ito, in charge who’ll hope his experience at J2 level will translate to the top flight.
SANFRECCE HIROSHIMA
COACH: Michael SKIBBE (GER)
KEY PLAYERS: Toshihiro Aoyama, Sho Sasaki
PLAYERS TO WATCH: Shun Ayukawa, Takumu Kawamura
SAGAN TOSU
COACH: Kenta KAWAI
KEY PLAYERS: Park Il-gyu, Yuki Kakita
PLAYERS TO WATCH: Shinya Nakano, Taiga Son
SHONAN BELLMARE
COACH: Satoshi YAMAGUCHI
KEY PLAYERS: Kosei Tani, Takuji Yonemoto
PLAYERS TO WATCH: Taiga Hata, Yamato Wakatsuki
KASHIWA REYSOL
COACH: NELSINHO (BRA)
KEY PLAYERS: Kim Seung-gyu, Douglas
PLAYERS TO WATCH: Mao Hosoya, Fumiya Unoki
KYOTO SANGA
COACH: CHO Kwi-jae
KEY PLAYERS: Tenma Matsuda, Peter Utaka
PLAYERS TO WATCH: Shimpei Fukuoka, Sota Kawasaki
JUBILO IWATA
COACH: Akira ITO
KEY PLAYERS: Yasuhito Endo, Yuki Otsu
PLAYERS TO WATCH: Yosuke Furukawa, Atsushi Kurokawa
Photo: J.League
Listen to our full J.League season preview on Episode 79 of The Asian Game podcast
