The 2022 season of the Japanese Professional League (hereinafter referred to as J1) ended all 34 rounds last weekend. The Yokohama Mariners sniped Kawasaki Frontale for the third time in a row and won their fifth league trophy after a gap of three years. Iwata Joy and Shimizu from the "football kingdom" of Shizuoka Prefecture agitated, unfortunately both were relegated. Kyoto Immortals and Kumamoto Crimson will compete for their final ticket to next season in the promotion play-offs.
The fourth defender MVP in J1 League history
With the end of the J1 League, awards were also awarded. In terms of individual honors, Yokohama Mariners backcourt all-rounder Tomoki Iwata won MVP. This is the fourth time in history that a defender has won the award since Pereira (Midori Kawasaki) in 1994, Yuji Nakazawa (Yokohama Mariner) in 2004 and Tanaka Doukasa (Urawa Red Diamonds) in 2006. In addition, this is the fifth MVP in Yokohama Mariners history after Shunsuke Nakamura in 2000, Yuji Nakazawa in 2004, Shunsuke Nakamura in 2013, and Keito Nakagawa in 2019. The top scorer was won by Santana, agitated by Shimizu. The best coach was Skibe of Sanfrecce Hiroshima. The best young player is Madai Hosoya, the god of Kashiwa Sunshine. The best referee was Ryuji Sato. The best goal came from Sanfrecce Hiroshima Kawamura, who scored a backcourt sling in the 28th round of Three Rececce Hiroshima against Shimizu Agitation to pay tribute to Beckham.
The number of spectators soared by 73%, with Urawa Red Diamond being the first in attendance
Due to the return to the regular 18-team system, the total number of J1 league games this year is only 306, 74 fewer than last season, but the total attendance is as high as 4.385 million, almost double last year's 2.531 million, an increase of 73%. In fact, except for the 2020 season, which was severely affected by the epidemic, the JLG has maintained a steady increase in spectatorship for nine consecutive years.
Among all teams, Urawa Red Diamonds had a total attendance of 401,500, averaging about 23,700 per game. That's 12,500 more than last season's Nagoya Whale Eight, which had the highest attendance per game. The second highest attendance was Tokyo FC's 379,000. Four other teams exceeded 300,000 total attendance: Yokohama Mariners (337,000), Nagoya Whale Hachi (320,000), Kawasaki Frontale (305,000) and Gamba Osaka (300,000). The lowest attendance was the Fukuoka Hornets at just 122,000, or an average of about 7,150 per game. Although located in Fukuoka, the largest city in the Kyushu region, the spectator population at Best Electric Stadium is very dismal, even inferior to the sparsely populated Saga Prefecture (Tosu Sandstone).
The home team's winning percentage has declined, and the average number of goals per game has increased slightly
Compared to the highly competitive 2021 season, this year's J1 League has only two relegation places, and teams like Tosu Sandstone, who completed the relegation task early, have been in paddle mode throughout the second half of the season. Because the pressure on relegation is relatively low, the home team has a record of only 121 wins, 97 draws and 88 defeats, a 3% decrease from last season, but a significant increase in the number of draws. The data shows that this year, a total of 13 teams have reached double digits in the number of draws, setting a new record in the J1 League.
In addition, a total of 771 goals have been scored in 306 games this season, an average of 2.52 per game, a slight increase from the average of 2.43 goals per game last season. But compared to the 2020 season without relegation (2.83 goals), there is still a certain gap. Combined with the actual analysis, due to the reduction of relegation places to two, many teams have long completed the goal of relegation, or there is no need to fight for relegation at all, and there are only a few teams left to win points to the end. With the pressure of relegation plummeting, the players' mentality is also more relaxed, and the goals are naturally increased.
The Yokohama Mariners rotate all the roster, and the championship is well deserved
This year's J1 and J2 champions, the Yokohama Mariners and Niigata Swans, have one thing in common: all of them are soldiers. No matter who is the main player, the whole team works well. In addition, none of the Yokohama mariners have been selected for the Japanese national team, nor have they been the main players of the second national team such as Naoki Matsuda and Yu Nakazawa during the 03-04 consecutive championships. According to coach Masquette: "I need the strength of everyone. "The data shows that apart from goalkeeper Yohei Takaoka, Yokohama Mariners played the most games for Tomoki Iwata at 32 games, and no one else played more than 30 games. In terms of the number of starters, except for Yohei Takaoka and Tomoki Iwata, the most other personnel are only 24 starts, and everyone's playing time is strictly controlled to less than 2800 minutes. It is worth mentioning that throughout the season, Yokohama Mariners have a total of 18 players who have become starters more than 10 times, and the roster is unique in the deep league.
The biggest discoveries of Yokohama sailors this year were Takuma Nishimura and Kota Mizunuma, two young men, Ryo Fujita and Ryotaro Tsunoda, who are also worth looking forward to. In fact, Takuma Nishimura and Kota Mizunuma were not the main players at the beginning of the season. Among them, Takuma Nishimura took advantage of Junior's injury to secure the starting position, and he even scored in four consecutive games between June and July. Mizunuma Kota has carved out a place in Masquette's lineup with his high-quality crosses. In addition, due to the presence of Katsuya Nagado and Kota Mizunuma, the Yokohama Mariners have a varied style of play, not only can penetrate short passes, but also can deliver shells to Anderson Lopez and Ceará through these two high-quality crossers.
Kanagawa has won the last six seasons
Looking back at history, at the beginning of the J1 League, there were two strong players, Midori Kawasaki and Yokohama Mariners. After that, Kashima Antlers and Iwata Joy rise. After that, there was the era of Urawa Red Diamond and Osaka Gamba competing for supremacy. Recently, Kawasaki Frontale and Yokohama Mariner's Kanagawa have dominated the game. Since Kashima Antlers won the championship in 2016, the J1 League championship trophy has not left Kanagawa Prefecture for 6 consecutive years. The gap between the other teams and Kawasaki Frontale and Yokohama Mariners seems to be growing. But as the saying goes: long prosperity must decline. How long can the Kanagawa Fusuo era last? It is also a topic of concern for fans.
Compared with the overwhelming 2020 and 2021 seasons, this year's Kawasaki Frontale has a clear downward trend, due to Tanaka Bi, Morita Hidemasa, flag bearer Ryo and Kaoru Mikasa and many other core players staying abroad, resulting in a decline in team control, and it has rarely been possible to play hearty victories. In addition, the replacement of Kawasaki Frontale between the old and the new is not smooth, Matsu Krasin, Sekoki, Matsui Renyuki, Miyagi Ten, etc. have basically not contributed, and veterans who have reached retirement age, such as parents Akihiro and Kobayashi Yu, are still struggling to support. The data shows that the Kawasaki Frontale has an average age of 29.29 this season, ranking second among all teams behind 29.44-year-old Iwata Joy. In fact, Onimutata also knew the problems in the team, but in order to fight for the third consecutive championship, he chose to maintain the stability of the squad as much as possible. At the end of the season, the process of Kawasaki Frontale rejuvenation will accelerate, otherwise it will be difficult to compete with the young Yokohama Mariners, whose average age is only 26.82 years old.
Yokohama Mariner President Ryoji Kurosawa will leave at the end of this month, and management may usher in changes. As a leading figure in the club, Ryoji Kurosawa always remembers that "this is a football club." "It's not about making money at the club, it's more about playing an exciting game and with the result, a lot of things will follow." When Ryoji Kurosawa took over Yokohama Mariners in July 2018, the team was in a transitional period, finishing only 12th in the league that year. Nevertheless, he chose to believe in Postkoglu, who shared his philosophy, and ultimately succeeded. Even though Postcoglu was poached by the Celtics last year, his successor, Musquette, is an offensive coach. In response, Ryoji Kurosawa said: "I am very lucky to have a manager who thinks the same way as me. "In addition, not only will Yokohama Mariners usher in a change in management, but the new training base in Yokosuka City will be completed in January 2023, and with a better training environment, defending the title will be the only goal for next season.
Urawa Gumbaha Kashima three slumped, Hiroshima rose
The J1 League's three traditional powerhouses, Urawa Red Diamonds, Gamba Osaka and Kashima Antlers, have continued to slump this season. Among them, Urawa Red Diamonds are very dynamic in the transfer market, and the ambition to compete for the title is self-evident, but they are only ranked 9th at the end of the season, and head coach Rodriguez pats his ass and leaves. Gamba Osaka welcomed Oita Sangami coach Tomohiro Katanosaka, but he was never able to grind the team into shape, and Usami Takashi also lost his backbone due to a major injury, and he barely managed to relegate after changing managers. Kashima Antlers, led by Renewel, experienced a strong start. But after the summer window, with the top scorer Ueda Kiyo, the whole team seemed to have lost its soul, and suddenly could not play football, even if the manager changed, it could not get rid of the decline. All three teams will have new coaches and new systems next season, and we are looking forward to the emergence of a team that will play against the Yokohama Mariners.
From the perspective of the team's playing style and overall strength, the only team that can wrestle with the Yokohama Mariners this season is probably Hiroshima Sanfrecce. German coach Skibe boldly used a newcomer after taking office, Toshihiro Aoyama, the core of midfielders during the Triple Crown period, was pressed dead to the bench and clarified the midfield lineup centered on Takeshi Nozuda. In addition, young people such as Tomoya Fujii, Yasushi Matsumoto, and Takumon Kawamura grew up rapidly under Skibe. On the front line, it is to tap into an attacker like Makoto Manta, a potential rookie who has just graduated from college for a year, and has handed over perfect statistics of nine goals and eight assists, and it may only be a matter of time before he stays abroad. Sanfrecce Hiroshima has been largely unsigned this season, bringing in two foreign signings, Benkarifa and Sotiriou, in the middle of the league. With the full trust of management, Skibe will be able to make a big splash this offseason, choosing the player that suits his style of play, and next season's Sanfrecce Hiroshima has a chance to become the biggest contender for the Yokohama Mariners' title defense.
The two teams in Shizuoka were relegated and the football kingdom weakened
In the final round of the league, Shimizu instigated a 3-4 away defeat to Sapporo Gonzaldo and finished in 17th place, relegating to J2 again after seven years. For the first time in the history of the J1 League, there will be no team from Shizuoka Prefecture next season due to Iwata Joy's early lockdown of the deputy squad leader's seat. In addition, Shimizu Agitation also set another J1 record, producing the top scorer from a relegated team for the first time. Of course, Santana has scored 14 goals all season, one less than the 15 goals of Junior and Keito Nakagawa of the Yokohama Mariners in 2019, and the fewest goalscorers in J1 history.
Shizuoka Prefecture is famous for its tea production and is also the "Kingdom of Soccer". Just like Brazil's place in world football, Shizuoka is recognized as a "kingdom" in Japanese football. Shimizu was one of the founding teams of the J1 League in 1993, while Iwata joined the J-League the following year and has players such as Chira Miura, Masashi Nakayama, Naotai Takahara, Hiroshi Naiba and Toshiya Fujita. In 2002, Iwata Joy was called the strongest team in the history of the J-League and ushered in an era with three dominations. However, since 2002, Iwata has not won the championship, and Shimizu has been in a slump in the last five years.
In addition, in the past six World Cups, Shizuoka Prefecture has produced a total of 26 Japanese internationals. In particular, in 1998, a total of nine people were selected for the national team that year. And this year, in the squad for the 2022 World Cup Japan team, only Ito Yoki is from Shizuoka Prefecture. Although it holds the record for Shizuoka Prefecture players to participate in seven consecutive World Cups, this statistic also shows that the situation in Shizuoka Prefecture is not optimistic compared to the rising Kanagawa Prefecture (Yokohama Mariners, Kawasaki Frontale, Shonan Marine and Yokohama FC).
2022 Team of the Season
Goalkeeper: Yohei Takaoka (Yokohama Mariner)
Defenders: Yamane (Kawasaki Frontale), Shogo Taniguchi (Kawasaki Frontale), Iwata Tomoki (Yokohama Mariner), Koike Ryuta (Yokohama Mariner)
Midfielders: Parent Akihiro (Kawasaki Frontalet), Mizunuma Kota (Yokohama Mariner), Wasaka Taito (Kawasaki Frontale)
Forwards: Elber (Yokohama Mariners), Santana (Shimizu Agitation), Marsinho (Kawasaki Frontale)