Kashiwa
Reysol Overview
Kashiwa
Reysol got its start in 1940, as the soccer
team of Hitachi. The team was fairly successful
during the mid-1970s, winning several Emperor's
Cup and League Championships and contributing
several players to the Japan National Team.
In 1986, the team moved from its former base
in Koganei city, a western suburb of Tokyo,
to Kashiwa city, about an hour northeast of
Tokyo. In 1992, the name of the team was changed
to Kashiwa Reysol, in preparation for J.League
membership.
While this name is a thinly disguised plug for
the parent company, Hitachi, the "sun king"
became a very popular mascot with Kashiwa fans.
Unfortunately,
Reysol failed to make the first cut for the
J.League, and was forced to fight for promotion
in the JFL. The team's success in achieving
that goal owes much to the Brazilian midfielder
Careca, who joined Reysol in 1992 and almost
single-handedly carried them to the top of the
JFL. Thanks to Careca's efforts, the team was
elevated to the J.League in 1995. Unfortunately,
as Careca's age began to catch up with him,
the team's lack of talent at other positions
became more apparent. After his retirement,
Reysol struggled near the bottom of the league
for several years, though it was beginning to
develop some talented youngsters who would form
the core of the team in future years.
In
1997, the team brought in Mr. Akira Nishino,
who had led Japan's 1996 Olympic team to victory
against Brazil in Atlanta. Under the direction
of Nishino, the team began to gel, mainly around
an aggressive defence, the core of which is
provided by keeper Yuta Minami. a former U-21
and U-23 team member, and veteran Korean libero
Hong Myung-Bo, who has appeared in three World
Cups for the Korean national team. The team's
aggressive play helped Reysol advance to the
top ranks of the league in the late 1990s, and
in mid-2000, Kashiwa added Hwang Sun-Hong, a
Korean striker who led the J.League in scoring
in 1999, when he played for Cerezo Osaka. Reysol
fell just a single point shy of winning the
second stage in 2000, losing out in a year-end
match against their local nemesis, Kashima Antlers.
Though
many thought that the team was on its way to
the top of the table, Reysol performed less
well in early 2001, and apparently the folks
in the board room became restless. Halfway through
the season, the team management suddenly fired
Nishino -- who had been very popular with his
players -- and replaced him with former S-Pulse
manager Steve Perryman. The move was so abrupt
and the news was so unexpected that scenes of
bewildering confusion were suddenly flashing
around the country on national TV, with Nishino
weeping openly as he told the fans how much
he loved the team, and players tearfully saying
that "everything we do from now on will
be dedicated to the memory of Mr. Nishino".
Whatever one might believe about the strengths
of Perryman's coaching style or philosophy,
this change of leadership was clearly too abrupt
for the team to make without some serious negative
reprecussions, and Reysol finished well down
the rankings in 2001.
The 2002 season proved to be the year that Reysol
showed their true colors. Even with complete
control of the team, Perryman was unable to
implement a system of crisp passing and rapid
movement, in part because his strategy did not
match the skills of the players, and in part
because he failed to earn any trust from the
team, and was widely resented by some key individuals.
The failure of Perryman's efforts proved what
many had expected all along -- that the team
was not really that talented to begin with,
and Nishino had already been getting the best
performance possible from the personnel at hand.
Having failed to deliver on his promises of
victory, Perryman was shown to the door just
before the end of the first stage, and Reysol
went back to the drawing board, to try to rebuild
the team. Reysol managed to avoid relegation
in 2002, and in the latter stages of the season,
several young players emerged as possible core
team members for the future. However, the team
probably has a long road ahead of them before
they can regain the status of title contenders.
Depending on how quickly the team's young stars
progress, they may manage to climb into the
upper half of the table by the second stage.
However, there are serious risks that weak fan
support, a poor start to the season, and the
loss of confidence that this would inspire could
put the team in turmoil. Considering how much
the team will be depending on young, untested
players, they could face the danger of relegation.
|
|
|
Kashiwa
Reysol Info
Stadium:
Hitachi Kashiwa Stadium
Honours:
Nabisco Cup Champion:
1999
QUICK
FACT
Reysol
is a pseudo-Portuguese word taken from
the words "Rai" (king) and "Sol"
(sun).
|
|