Football Season Guide

Had their compact defending to thank for surviving the relegation battle last season. Easily the lowest-scoring team in the division. Boss Ryotaro Tanaka recognised he couldn't do anything more with the group and thus resigned. Their new boss is Myong-hwi Kim, who was the Assistant Manager at Machida Zelvia - slightly strange appointment for a club looking to cement their place in the division. Likely to start the campaign slowly following big pre-season changes. Regulars like Douglas Grolli, Hiroyuki Mae, Daiki Miya all moved on. Some impressive replacements arrived though with Takumi Kamijima joining from Yokohama F. Marinos, Tomoya Miki from Tokyo Verdy, and Shahab Zahedi making his loan move permanent. Defence has changed massively pre-season. This will be their most vulnerable area with Grolli, Miya, and Mae all important figureheads in that regard. Their pre-season signings might be enough to pave over the cracks but it'll take time, and that's if it even works. It's difficult to envision where their goals will come from this season. Fujimoto's arrival gives them another option, and Zahedi sticking around is a positive, but they've not really addressed the issue of simply not scoring enough goals. Will need a massive season from winger Konno if they're to reach their midtable goal. With a new (and unproven) manager in the picture, a below average goal threat, and a defence requiring a substantial rebuild, getting sucked into the relegation dogfight is a very realistic possibility, especially if they start their campaign poorly.