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| My manservants on the south lawn at Nerdy HQ |
2010 was great and the icing on the cake is that we will be around for 2011. To be able to simply go to or watch the game on TV next season is worth more than any Cup win, any promotion or any glamour tie. So Verdy didn`t get promoted, went out of the Cup again to non league opposition at the first hurdle, lost to the Worst Professional Team in The History Of Japanese Football, couldn`t score goals for the first half of the season and still play in a giant empty stadium. But so what??
Verdy will be alive in 2011 thanks to the mentalists at Xebio Sports who rescued the Greens in early November just 8 games before we were due to play our final game. 25,000 people turned up to the Save Our Verdy game which was more than anybody in their right mind would have ever guessed. To sit there in that atmosphere, with all those supporters all shouting for Verdy was a memory I will take to my grave. Football grounds should be full of passion, noise, and most importantly they should be FULL. I can only imagine what Ajinomoto feels or looks like when it is actually full of Verdy supporters. Sadly, the only sold out Verdy game I have ever seen was against Real Madrid but probably 80 per cent of the people were there to support Beckham, Zidane etc.
The young players have been the talk of Tokyo Verdy this season and unfortunately will be on the radar of some (probably lower end) J1 teams. Youngsters like the Takagi brothers simply MUST NOT be sold. Hopefully with Xebio on board the club will be able to hold on to their hottest properties. Yoshiaki Takagi at 17 has been an absolute revelation and currently injured Toshiyuki Takagi also hit the heights with some absolutely stonking goals. Pure Roy of the Rovers football at times. Two brothers playing up front together and scoring 3 each in 2 games. The youth team also put up a great fight in getting to the first round proper of the Emperors Cup coming a gnats chuff away from facing FC Tokyo. (The youth team also topped their group in the current J Youth Cup currently being played). The future of the club is burning bright with the stars of tomorrow currently getting plenty of playing time and not only that but performing very well. Top scorer Kazuki Hiramoto has played his socks off this season, working, working, working. 10 goals isn`t great for a striker but he was nice to me and my son on the train so he has to stay in the team. Hopefully with an on fire Toshiyuki Takagi next season and a new Deputy Goal Machine. Taira Inoue started as our number one striker and I`m sure he`s a very nice guy in real life but on the football pitch frankly he`s awful. The first thing Kawakatsu needs for next season if not a brand new expensive super striker, then a decent back up for what we`ve got as what we`ve got simply isn`t enough to get to 3rd place next season.
The Verdy back line has been unusually solid this year finishing the season as the joint 2nd best defence behind Reysol along with also promoted Fukuoka and nowhere near promoted Ehime. The words "good defence" and Verdy have never gone hand in hand, the tactics of old being to outscore allcomers. Pre-season I wrote on these pages that Tomisawa was shit and Tsuchiya was getting on a bit. However, I`m happy to say I was wrong in the end. Tomisawa emerged from his early season nightmare to form one of the best Verdy partnerships ever with Tsuchiya. Both also contributed memorable goals this season with a flying header from Tsuchiya against Giravanz and Tomisawa running the length of the field and volleying home the winner against Tosu(?) Venforet(?) can`t remember but it was a cracker...Doi has had an excellent year after replacing the dropped Shibasaki after the first couple of games. He should be back for 2011 and so will Tokyo Nerdy 1969.
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| See you next year!!! |
It`s been an absolute rollercoaster ride as always on the good ship Green and I`d like to thank all readers of Tokyo Nerdy 1969 both near and far for chipping in with comments and hope you check in next season. 2011 promises to be a cracker with Verdy looking to get in the top three. We`ve got the return of The Tokyo Derby thanks to FC Tokyo somehow managing to get relegated yesterday, dropping into the bottom three for the first time all season on the final day......can anyone think of any other team from Tokyo who did that? FC Tokyo thinking they are great by getting relegated in such dramatic fashion? Meh!! Verdy were getting relegated like that when FC Tokyo were in short trousers. Muppets!! Have to think of a new slogan for next season too now the bankruptcy has been sorted.......
