Football Season Guide

Roasso Kumamoto finished 12th and full 12 points ahead of the bottom 3 last year. It wasn’t an easy campaign for the Stallions though. They never moved into the top 10 and spent 10 weeks inside the relegation zone. The 16-year-old prodigy Keito Kumashiro became the youngest ever goalscorer in Japanese professional football. He ended up with 5 league goals and now a year older many see Kumashiro as a potential breakthrough superstar. Considering Roasso’s bad financial situation and inability to sign players Kumashiro could become a regular starter at some stage. Especially, with the top goalscorer from last year Daichi Ishikawa (10 goals) now gone. Roasso’s big issues were in defence in 2024. They had the equal second-worst record in J2 with 62 goals conceded in 38 games. To make matters worse the main goalie Ryuga Tashiro and one of the few decent defenders last season Yamato Okada are no longer in the squad. The bad finances mean Roasso couldn’t sign proper reinforcements and most of their new arrivals are coming from universities or high schools. The only new signing that could realistically hope for meaningful minutes is the loanee Yutaro Hakamata. The Stallions have no choice but to rely on youth. They hope that more than a few of their bright young talents will develop fast. If this doesn’t transpire and with the finances of the team only forecasted to get worse the few players of decent value could be sold in the summer. This will likely mark a white flag being waved by Roasso for the second half of the season.