The 33rd J. League season gets underway this weekend, and two-time defending champion Vissel Kobe will be hoping three is indeed the magic number as it aims for a third consecutive title.
Vissel won its maiden J1 title in 2023 and then came up on the rails at the end of the previous campaign to pip Sanfrecce Hiroshima and Machida Zelvia to the post, providing it with the opportunity to become only the second club after Kashima Antlers to win three in a row since the move to professionalism in 1993.
With the days of big spending on European stars like Andres Iniesta seemingly behind it, however, reinforcements have been few and far between for Vissel heading into the new season, and speaking after his side’s 2-0 defeat to Hiroshima in last weekend’s Super Cup, manager Takayuki Yoshida cut a measured tone.
“We have to keep playing the same soccer we were until last year, but currently I feel we are lacking a little strength in depth,” he said.
“How we plug that gap and improve the competitiveness within the team looks like being the key to whether or not we can win a third title in a row.
“If there was only one competition then we could go with a small number of players, but next up in two days we have the ACL (Asian Champions League Elite) then in another two or three days there’s another game, so the strength of the team is really important.”
Midfielder Takahiro Ogihara insists the players can’t be making any excuses, though, and thinks he and his teammates have gained enough over the past two seasons to know how to manage their workload.
“We have to crack the whip on ourselves, be strict with ourselves, and not let ourselves become complacent,” said the 33-year-old, who also won the league with Yokohama F. Marinos in 2019.
“We really have to focus our energy even more than last season and make sure we do everything required of us thoroughly.
“I’m confident we will have a strong resolve to overcome opponents that come up against us with enthusiasm, and if we are able to outdo such opposition over the course of the year then the chance for us to win our third straight title will come into view.”
Sanfrecce will be the team most determined to stop Ogihara and Vissel from realizing that dream.
Last year’s runner-up also finished third in each of the previous two seasons, and unlike Vissel looks stronger this year as it aims to be crowned champion for the first time since 2015.
Highly-rated midfielder Satoshi Tanaka has arrived from Shonan Bellmare, and Ryo Germain joins the attack after scoring 19 times for relegated Jubilo Iwata last year, while 18-year-old Yotaro Nakajima has all the tools to become one of the next stars of Japanese soccer.
Captain Sho Sasaki knows making that final step to glory is no mean feat, though.
“The answer to that question isn’t just one thing,” he said after the Super Cup win over Vissel.
“If it was as simple as that, we would have been able to correct things last year to produce results and win the title.
“It’s in the really small details, including mental aspects and intensity of play. In every area we have to move up one level, two levels; one step, two steps.”
Machida stunned everybody last year by making a concerted push for the championship in its first-ever season in J1, and even though the surprise element is now gone for Go Kuroda’s side, goalkeeper Kosei Tani is targeting another title challenge in 2025.
“Last year nobody predicted what we would do — I didn’t predict it either — but this year the aim has become more realistic,” the Japan international said on Monday at the J. League’s kickoff event in Tokyo.
“That means other J. League clubs will naturally be taking a stronger interest in us, but if we lose in that regard it will be very difficult for us to compete at the top of the table or challenge for the title.
“Therefore, we have to keep improving and battling with team strength and good organization throughout the season to outdo the opponents that come with countermeasures to stop us.”
When it comes to top-flight experience, Kashima Antlers are at the other end of the scale to Machida, and as well as boasting the most titles — eight, including their three in a row between 2007 and 2009 — they are also one of just two clubs, along with F. Marinos, to have featured in the first division in all 32 J. League seasons to date.
The last of Antlers’ championships came way back in 2016, though, and the Ibaraki club made a huge statement of intent over the offseason by bringing in Toru Oniki as manager from Kawasaki Frontale.
Oniki oversaw the most successful period in Frontale’s history in his eight years in charge at Todoroki Stadium, claiming four J1 titles, two Emperor’s Cups, and the League Cup.
Things had grown a little stale in recent years, though, as Kawasaki steadily lost a host of its best players to European sides, and a return to the club where Oniki played for four years in the 1990s could spark both him and Antlers back into life.
“Since Oniki-san took over I think we have become an even more attacking team than last year, and I feel like we have a lot of players on the front line who express that,” Kashima right back Kimito Nono said at the J. League’s kickoff event.
"I think we will show a more attacking and powerful style of soccer.”
Twenty-two-year-old Nono burst onto the scene in his debut pro season after joining from Kwansei Gakuin University last year, scoring nine times and earning a place in the J. League Best XI, and feels everything is in place for Kashima to reassert itself as the dominant J. League force.
“We have been a long way from winning the league for several years, but we have a lot of players here with the determination to win the title and I think that feeling is flowing through the club,” he said.
“Oniki-san is also constantly talking about winning the title in meetings, and I think a sense of unity we haven’t had before has been born in terms of getting players moving in the same direction. The players have to make sure we respond to that.”
Just as last year there is also a new face in J1 in the form of Fagiano Okayama, and after Machida’s heroics in 2024 the new boys are looking to do more than just make up the numbers.
“I won’t say that our aim is ‘survival,’” new signing Ataru Esaka said at the J. League’s kickoff event.
“There are clubs like Machida and Tokyo Verdy who achieved good results after coming up last year, and we have to become a club like that.
“This year is so important if we want to establish ourselves as a J1 side, and hopefully we can maintain the momentum that was created by winning promotion.”
Top five (in order of predicted finish)
1: Sanfrecce Hiroshima: Have made solid additions to the squad while keeping in place last year’s standout performers. Should have everything needed to finally take that last step to the title.
2: Kashima Antlers: With serial trophy collector Toru Oniki taking charge and new signing Leo Ceara and loan returnee Ryotaro Araki joining Yuma Suzuki, Antlers boast the most fearsome attack in J1.
3: Vissel Kobe: Still has too much quality to drop that far off the pace, but the lack of A-grade reinforcements means Vissel will likely struggle to complete a hat-trick of titles.
4: Yokohama F. Marinos: Former England assistant coach Steve Holland is an intriguing hire as new manager, and could have what’s needed to lift Marinos back up the table.
5: Machida Zelvia: Still looks solid defensively and won’t accept defeat in any game without a fight, but perhaps a little too one dimensional in attack to match last year’s phenomenal performance.
Bottom three
18. Albirex Niigata: Have taken a risk in appointing the untested Daisuke Kimori in place of Rikizo Matsuhashi (now at FC Tokyo), and with the squad looking weaker than last year Albirex could slip through the trapdoor.
19. Fagiano Okayama: Great to see the club finally make the top flight via last year’s playoffs, but Fagiano’s safety-first approach under coach Takashi Kiyama will likely not be enough to avoid an instant return to J2.
20. Yokohama FC: Another promoted team focused more on avoiding defeat than trying to win, Yokohama’s status as a yo-yo club looks set to be enhanced with another single-season sojourn in J1.
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