12 without a win now, and the ground has developed the special quiet of a crowd that expects the worst. One scrappy 1-0 would cure most of it; that is the maddening part.
5 matches, no goals, and a training ground that has tried everything. It will end — droughts always do — but nobody at Ventforet Kofu can tell you which week it ends in.
Yudai Tanaka and a teammate said things this week that will take longer than a week to unsay. It was not about football, and both of them play on Saturday.
Squad20 Sep 2027
Wataru Endo falls out with a teammate over standards
The oldest argument in any dressing room and the only one that is genuinely about football: one man thinks another is not putting enough in. It is also the row a manager privately does not mind having happened.
“We were not good enough today and I am not going to dress it up.” Yuki Osako after 0‑1, in the tone of a man who knows the next question and does not intend to answer it.
The mood at Ventforet Kofu has turned into something else
Supporters who sing when it goes badly are supporters. Supporters who gather afterwards are a problem, and everybody inside the building knows which of the two this now is.
“This is not anger. I have thought about it for months, and nothing that has happened lately changed my mind.” The request is on a desk at Ventforet Kofu, and it is not being withdrawn.
“Things were said to me before I signed. I am not going to repeat them, but I remember all of them.” Ventforet Kofu have not answered, which is an answer of sorts.
4 matches, no goals, and a training ground that has tried everything. It will end — droughts always do — but nobody at Ventforet Kofu can tell you which week it ends in.
Somebody said out loud what several people thought about how hard another man trains, and Wataru Endo was in the middle of it. The one dressing-room argument that is genuinely about football.
“Some decisions take a long time. This one took ten minutes, and most of that was finding a pen.” Soki Tamura and Ventforet Kofu agree another 3 years.
The board have said in public what they had been saying in private. Results between now and the next meeting decide it, and everybody in the building knows the arithmetic.
The whole football department in one room on a weekday morning. Nothing was announced afterwards, which is what a board announces when it has run out of patience.
“This is not anger. I have thought about it for months, and nothing that has happened lately changed my mind.” The request is on a desk at Ventforet Kofu, and it is not being withdrawn.
332 appearances across 13 seasons in one shirt. Nobody builds a career like that on purpose any more; it happens to a certain kind of footballer at a certain kind of club.
Yuji Hoshi and a teammate said things this week that will take longer than a week to unsay. It was not about football, and both of them play on Saturday.
Somebody said out loud what several people thought about how hard another man trains, and Wataru Endo was in the middle of it. The one dressing-room argument that is genuinely about football.
“This is not anger. I have thought about it for months, and nothing that has happened lately changed my mind.” The request is on a desk at Ventforet Kofu, and it is not being withdrawn.
The clubs had agreed and the player had not. A snub, and a public one: São Paulo keep him, and the supporters here are left wondering what he had heard about the place.
Yudai Tanaka was at the centre of it, and by the time it was pulled apart there were three or four others involved. Training grounds are small places and long seasons make them smaller.
Squad30 Aug 2027
Wataru Endo falls out with a teammate over standards
The oldest argument in any dressing room and the only one that is genuinely about football: one man thinks another is not putting enough in. It is also the row a manager privately does not mind having happened.
0‑5 to FC Tokyo, and it was every bit as bad as the number suggests. There are defeats you argue about and defeats you apologise for; this was the second kind.
Position 17 and 13 points, and the table gets read bottom-up in this part of town. The calendar has stopped being a schedule and started being a countdown.
8 without a win now, and the ground has developed the special quiet of a crowd that expects the worst. One scrappy 1-0 would cure most of it; that is the maddening part.
“This is not anger. I have thought about it for months, and nothing that has happened lately changed my mind.” The request is on a desk at Ventforet Kofu, and it is not being withdrawn.
The deadline has passed and the squad is the squad. 29 arrived, 2 left, and everything else printed about this club last month was a rumour that stayed one.
The deal with São Paulo is done in every sense but the one that puts him on the pitch. Nothing goes wrong at this stage, except on the occasions when it does.
Yudai Tanaka and a teammate said things this week that will take longer than a week to unsay. It was not about football, and both of them play on Saturday.
Squad23 Aug 2027
Words at Ventforet Kofu training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Wataru Endo is at the centre of it, and the squad will now find out whether the standard rises or the pair of them simply stop speaking.
It has stopped being a mood in the stands and started being something organised. Boards can ignore a bad atmosphere for a long time; they cannot ignore this stage of it for very long at all.
Everything agreed with Juventude, everything agreed with the player; a doctor is the only person left to persuade. The photograph is a day or two away.
Kotatsu Kumakura and a teammate went at it, and not about football. Training grounds are small places and a long season makes them smaller.
Squad16 Aug 2027
Words at Ventforet Kofu training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Wataru Endo is at the centre of it, and the squad will now find out whether the standard rises or the pair of them simply stop speaking.
Ventforet Kofu asked and FC Augsburg said no without discussing a figure. It is the least ambiguous answer in football and the one clubs most often come back to test.
“I have nothing bad to say about this place. I just need to be somewhere else.” It is in writing now, which changes what Ventforet Kofu can pretend not to have heard.
6 without a win now, and the ground has developed the special quiet of a crowd that expects the worst. One scrappy 1-0 would cure most of it; that is the maddening part.
Everything agreed with Albirex Niigata, everything agreed with the player; a doctor is the only person left to persuade. The photograph is a day or two away.
Yuji Hoshi and a teammate said things this week that will take longer than a week to unsay. It was not about football, and both of them play on Saturday.
The fee is $89.0K, the contract is signed, and the argument about whether he is worth it can begin. Kashima Antlers drove a hard bargain; time will say who won it.
Somebody said out loud what several people thought about how hard another man trains, and Wataru Endo was in the middle of it. The one dressing-room argument that is genuinely about football.
3 matches, no goals, and a training ground that has tried everything. It will end — droughts always do — but nobody at Ventforet Kofu can tell you which week it ends in.
The board’s statement ran to three sentences and one of them mentioned results. Yuki Osako has managed long enough to translate: win soon, or the next statement is shorter.
A medical, a signature, a shirt held up in front of a sponsor’s board. Ventforet Kofu have done the hard part with Kashima Antlers, and the part that remains is the part supporters actually see.
Not now, not at any price the club was prepared to say out loud. Albirex Niigata have kept their man, and Ventforet Kofu go back to a list with one name crossed off it.
Squad2 Aug 2027
Words at Ventforet Kofu training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Wataru Endo is at the centre of it, and the squad will now find out whether the standard rises or the pair of them simply stop speaking.
Everything agreed with Nagoya Grampus, everything agreed with the player; a doctor is the only person left to persuade. The photograph is a day or two away.
4 without a win now, and the ground has developed the special quiet of a crowd that expects the worst. One scrappy 1-0 would cure most of it; that is the maddening part.
It was not about football and everybody who saw it knows that. Two men who have to play together on Saturday said things at Ventforet Kofu this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
Squad26 Jul 2027
Wataru Endo falls out with a teammate over standards
The oldest argument in any dressing room and the only one that is genuinely about football: one man thinks another is not putting enough in. It is also the row a manager privately does not mind having happened.
A bad atmosphere can be waited out. A group of people meeting afterwards to decide what to do about it cannot, and everybody in the building knows which stage this is.
“This is not anger. I have thought about it for months, and nothing that has happened lately changed my mind.” The request is on a desk at Ventforet Kofu, and it is not being withdrawn.
Yuji Hoshi was at the centre of it, and by the time it was pulled apart there were three or four others involved. Training grounds are small places and long seasons make them smaller.
The oldest argument in any dressing room and the only one that is genuinely about football: one man thinks another is not putting enough in. It is also the row a manager privately does not mind having happened.
Player ratings19 Jul 2027
Soki Tamura was on a different afternoon to everybody else
8.08. There are performances a supporter describes to somebody who was not there and cannot quite convey; this was one, and the number does not help either.
Level with 91 minutes on the clock, after an afternoon Ventforet Kofu had all but put away. Yokohama F. Marinos will call it a point earned; the home dressing room will call it two given away, and both of them are right.
It needed Soki Tamura to find the net to bring anything home at all: 1‑1 against Yokohama F. Marinos, and half the dressing room will call it a point won.
“There are things I liked and things we will be doing on Tuesday until they are right.” 1‑1, and a manager who had already decided what Tuesday looked like.
“I have nothing bad to say about this place. I just need to be somewhere else.” It is in writing now, which changes what Ventforet Kofu can pretend not to have heard.
Yuji Hoshi and a teammate said things this week that will take longer than a week to unsay. It was not about football, and both of them play on Saturday.
Somebody said out loud what several people thought about how hard another man trains, and Wataru Endo was in the middle of it. The one dressing-room argument that is genuinely about football.
The academy exists for exactly this morning. Gaku Hasebe has come through every age group the club runs and has now been handed a senior number, and the people who coached him at twelve will be the proudest in the building.
The academy exists for exactly this morning. Miki Morita has come through every age group the club runs and has now been handed a senior number, and the people who coached him at twelve will be the proudest in the building.
Clubs spend fortunes looking for players and occasionally find one down the corridor. Keisuke Suzuki is that, and the reception he gets on his first appearance will be different in kind from the one any signing receives.
The board have said in public what they had been saying in private. Results between now and the next meeting decide it, and everybody in the building knows the arithmetic.
“Things were said to me before I signed. I am not going to repeat them, but I remember all of them.” Ventforet Kofu have not answered, which is an answer of sorts.
Yuji Hoshi and a teammate went at it, and not about football. Training grounds are small places and a long season makes them smaller.
Squad5 Jul 2027
Words at Ventforet Kofu training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Wataru Endo is at the centre of it, and the squad will now find out whether the standard rises or the pair of them simply stop speaking.
None of them will be seen by anybody outside the training ground for three years, most of them will never play a senior match, and one of them might change the club. That is the whole proposition, and it is why academies exist.
A change in the dugout is not one story, it is twenty-five of them. This is Wataru Endo's: he was somebody's player, and now he has to be somebody else's, starting from nothing.
In brief
The dugoutThe manager makes an example of Kazuhiro Sato
Position 17 and 9 points, and the table gets read bottom-up in this part of town. The calendar has stopped being a schedule and started being a countdown.
Kotatsu Kumakura and a teammate said things this week that will take longer than a week to unsay. It was not about football, and both of them play on Saturday.
Somebody said out loud what several people thought about how hard another man trains, and Yuto Hiratsuka was in the middle of it. The one dressing-room argument that is genuinely about football.
A mark of 7.86, and nobody in the ground would argue with it. He was involved in everything that mattered and most of what did not.
The dugout28 Jun 2027
The view from the dugout
“We controlled it. There were spells I did not like and we will look at them, but the group showed me something.” Yuki Osako, on a 1‑0 win that he was already picking apart on the walk to the press room.
Nobody at Ventforet Kofu will say this on the record and the team sheets have been saying it for weeks. There is a small group in every squad who get picked when the fixture is difficult, and he has joined it.
21 without a win is the sort of run that changes how a town talks about its club, and Avispa Fukuoka were the afternoon it stopped. Nothing is fixed by one result and everything feels different by one.
It has stopped being a mood in the stands and started being something organised. Boards can ignore a bad atmosphere for a long time; they cannot ignore this stage of it for very long at all.
Yudai Tanaka and a teammate went at it, and not about football. Training grounds are small places and a long season makes them smaller.
Squad21 Jun 2027
Wataru Endo falls out with a teammate over standards
The oldest argument in any dressing room and the only one that is genuinely about football: one man thinks another is not putting enough in. It is also the row a manager privately does not mind having happened.
Successful dribbles: 21. He went past people as if he had been told there was a prize for it, and by the end the full-back had stopped pretending to try.
Marked 8.01 — the sort of number a correspondent writes down twice to be sure. Everything he tried came off, and what he did not try was not worth trying.
“They were honest with me, and I would rather know.” Yuto Hiratsuka has been informed he is not in the manager's thinking at Ventforet Kofu.
The dugout21 Jun 2027
The view from the dugout
“We controlled it. There were spells I did not like and we will look at them, but the group showed me something.” Yuki Osako, on a 1‑0 win that he was already picking apart on the walk to the press room.
21 without a win now, and the ground has developed the special quiet of a crowd that expects the worst. One scrappy 1-0 would cure most of it; that is the maddening part.
“This is not anger. I have thought about it for months, and nothing that has happened lately changed my mind.” The request is on a desk at Ventforet Kofu, and it is not being withdrawn.
Yuji Hoshi and a teammate said things this week that will take longer than a week to unsay. It was not about football, and both of them play on Saturday.
Squad14 Jun 2027
Wataru Endo falls out with a teammate over standards
The oldest argument in any dressing room and the only one that is genuinely about football: one man thinks another is not putting enough in. It is also the row a manager privately does not mind having happened.
Clubs spend fortunes looking for players and occasionally find one down the corridor. Shoya Yamane is that, and the reception he gets on his first appearance will be different in kind from the one any signing receives.
The academy exists for exactly this morning. Kaoru Tomiyasu has come through every age group the club runs and has now been handed a senior number, and the people who coached him at twelve will be the proudest in the building.
Half the programme played, position 18, 3 on the board. Doubling it is the sum every supporter has done and the only one nobody at the club will do out loud.
9 matches, no goals, and a training ground that has tried everything. It will end — droughts always do — but nobody at Ventforet Kofu can tell you which week it ends in.
Nobody upstairs has said anything, which is the loudest thing they could do. Results buy silence in this game; the account at Ventforet Kofu is running low.
Wataru Endo and a teammate said things this week that will take longer than a week to unsay. It was not about football, and both of them play on Saturday.
0‑2 to Kashima Antlers, and no complaints worth printing. The performance asked for nothing more than it got.
Squad7 Jun 2027
Words at Ventforet Kofu training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Yuto Hiratsuka is at the centre of it, and the squad will now find out whether the standard rises or the pair of them simply stop speaking.
“We were not good enough today and I am not going to dress it up.” Yuki Osako after 0‑2, in the tone of a man who knows the next question and does not intend to answer it.
Squad7 Jun 2027
A place in the month's best eleven for Mihiro Sato
Four or five weekends of consistency, judged against everybody in the division doing his job. Mihiro Sato has come out of that comparison in the side, and Ventforet Kofu have had the benefit of every one of those afternoons.
Position 18 and 3 points, and the table gets read bottom-up in this part of town. The calendar has stopped being a schedule and started being a countdown.
The chances are being made and something is happening between the making and the finishing. 8 matches now, and the anxiety in the ground arrives a little earlier every week.
“I have nothing bad to say about this place. I just need to be somewhere else.” It is in writing now, which changes what Ventforet Kofu can pretend not to have heard.
It was not about football and everybody who saw it knows that. Two men who have to play together on Saturday said things at Ventforet Kofu this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
Squad31 May 2027
Words at Ventforet Kofu training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Kotatsu Kumakura is at the centre of it, and the squad will now find out whether the standard rises or the pair of them simply stop speaking.
A bad atmosphere can be waited out. A group of people meeting afterwards to decide what to do about it cannot, and everybody in the building knows which stage this is.
“This is not anger. I have thought about it for months, and nothing that has happened lately changed my mind.” The request is on a desk at Ventforet Kofu, and it is not being withdrawn.
6 matches, no goals, and a training ground that has tried everything. It will end — droughts always do — but nobody at Ventforet Kofu can tell you which week it ends in.
“Things were said to me before I signed. I am not going to repeat them, but I remember all of them.” Ventforet Kofu have not answered, which is an answer of sorts.
Yuji Hoshi was at the centre of it, and by the time it was pulled apart there were three or four others involved. Training grounds are small places and long seasons make them smaller.
16 days, the scan says, and scans are kinder than reality. The fixtures in that window have just become somebody else’s job.
Squad24 May 2027
Words at Ventforet Kofu training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Kotatsu Kumakura is at the centre of it, and the squad will now find out whether the standard rises or the pair of them simply stop speaking.
“Things were said to me before I signed. I am not going to repeat them, but I remember all of them.” Ventforet Kofu have not answered, which is an answer of sorts.
The chances are being made and something is happening between the making and the finishing. 5 matches now, and the anxiety in the ground arrives a little earlier every week.
Yuji Hoshi and a teammate said things this week that will take longer than a week to unsay. It was not about football, and both of them play on Saturday.
Squad17 May 2027
Words at Ventforet Kofu training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Wataru Endo is at the centre of it, and the squad will now find out whether the standard rises or the pair of them simply stop speaking.
The words a physio says slowly. 18 days is what the club will announce and everybody who has heard this diagnosis before knows the number is the least of it: the knee comes back before the player does.
The chances are being made and something is happening between the making and the finishing. 4 matches now, and the anxiety in the ground arrives a little earlier every week.
Yudai Tanaka was at the centre of it, and by the time it was pulled apart there were three or four others involved. Training grounds are small places and long seasons make them smaller.
Squad10 May 2027
Wataru Endo falls out with a teammate over standards
The oldest argument in any dressing room and the only one that is genuinely about football: one man thinks another is not putting enough in. It is also the row a manager privately does not mind having happened.
The academy exists for exactly this morning. Maya Mitoma has come through every age group the club runs and has now been handed a senior number, and the people who coached him at twelve will be the proudest in the building.
There is no fee, no unveiling and no agent on the steps. Ritsu Doan has been at this club since he was a boy and is now, formally, one of the first-team squad — which for a local readership beats any signing of any size.
Successful dribbles: 17. Every time he got the ball somebody had to make a decision, and every time the decision was wrong.
The dugout10 May 2027
The manager’s verdict
“I am frustrated, honestly. We did enough to win and we did not win.” Yuki Osako was not hiding it after 0‑0, and nobody in the Ventforet Kofu dressing room was either.
In brief
The dugoutSomebody else is better right now than Koki Oshima
14 without a win now, and the ground has developed the special quiet of a crowd that expects the worst. One scrappy 1-0 would cure most of it; that is the maddening part.
The words a physio says slowly. 26 days is what the club will announce and everybody who has heard this diagnosis before knows the number is the least of it: the knee comes back before the player does.
Yudai Tanaka and a teammate said things this week that will take longer than a week to unsay. It was not about football, and both of them play on Saturday.
The oldest argument in any dressing room and the only one that is genuinely about football: one man thinks another is not putting enough in. It is also the row a manager privately does not mind having happened.
3 matches, no goals, and a training ground that has tried everything. It will end — droughts always do — but nobody at Ventforet Kofu can tell you which week it ends in.
A bad atmosphere can be waited out. A group of people meeting afterwards to decide what to do about it cannot, and everybody in the building knows which stage this is.
13 without a win now, and the ground has developed the special quiet of a crowd that expects the worst. One scrappy 1-0 would cure most of it; that is the maddening part.
16 days on the estimate, and a long, private, unglamorous year of a rehabilitation nobody watches. Ventforet Kofu lose a footballer; he loses considerably more than a season.
Yuji Hoshi was at the centre of it, and by the time it was pulled apart there were three or four others involved. Training grounds are small places and long seasons make them smaller.
Squad26 Apr 2027
Words at Ventforet Kofu training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Wataru Endo is at the centre of it, and the squad will now find out whether the standard rises or the pair of them simply stop speaking.
It is not much of a headline and it is the reason players believe the next promise. Ventforet Kofu told Facundo da Costa something would happen and then it happened, which in this industry passes for remarkable.
23 days on the estimate, and a long, private, unglamorous year of a rehabilitation nobody watches. Ventforet Kofu lose a footballer; he loses considerably more than a season.
Yuji Hoshi was at the centre of it, and by the time it was pulled apart there were three or four others involved. Training grounds are small places and long seasons make them smaller.
Squad19 Apr 2027
Words at Ventforet Kofu training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Wataru Endo is at the centre of it, and the squad will now find out whether the standard rises or the pair of them simply stop speaking.
It is not much of a headline and it is the reason players believe the next promise. Ventforet Kofu told Wataru Endo something would happen and then it happened, which in this industry passes for remarkable.
“The supporters are entitled to be angry. So am I. We will put it right.” 0‑1, a manager saying the necessary things, and a dressing room that heard a different version of them.
31 days on the announcement, and a year of quiet, unwatched rehabilitation behind it. Ventforet Kofu lose a player for a season; he loses something harder to name.
“This is not anger. I have thought about it for months, and nothing that has happened lately changed my mind.” The request is on a desk at Ventforet Kofu, and it is not being withdrawn.
It was not about football and everybody who saw it knows that. Two men who have to play together on Saturday said things at Ventforet Kofu this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
Somebody said out loud what several people thought about how hard another man trains, and Kotatsu Kumakura was in the middle of it. The one dressing-room argument that is genuinely about football.
There is no fee, no unveiling and no agent on the steps. Kaoru Yamane has been at this club since he was a boy and is now, formally, one of the first-team squad — which for a local readership beats any signing of any size.
Minute 94, against Jubilo Iwata, and a goal that felt like a win to everybody who had stayed. It was a draw. Nobody leaving the ground will describe it as one.
12 new signings in one window. Every one may be an upgrade and the side can still be worse for a while, which is the part of a rebuild the verdicts never mention.
The words a physio says slowly. 39 days is what the club will announce and everybody who has heard this diagnosis before knows the number is the least of it: the knee comes back before the player does.
9 matches, no goals, and a training ground that has tried everything. It will end — droughts always do — but nobody at Ventforet Kofu can tell you which week it ends in.
Yuji Hoshi and a teammate went at it, and not about football. Training grounds are small places and a long season makes them smaller.
Squad5 Apr 2027
Words at Ventforet Kofu training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Wataru Endo is at the centre of it, and the squad will now find out whether the standard rises or the pair of them simply stop speaking.
“The supporters are entitled to be angry. So am I. We will put it right.” 0‑1, a manager saying the necessary things, and a dressing room that heard a different version of them.
In brief
The dugoutWataru Endo knocks on the manager's door
The dugoutKohei Kawata has become a man the manager trusts
46 days on the announcement, and a year of quiet, unwatched rehabilitation behind it. Ventforet Kofu lose a player for a season; he loses something harder to name.
A bad atmosphere can be waited out. A group of people meeting afterwards to decide what to do about it cannot, and everybody in the building knows which stage this is.
2 kept out in the shoot-out, and a stadium that will still be describing them in twenty years. A goalkeeper only needs one of these to be remembered forever.
The chances are being made and something is happening between the making and the finishing. 8 matches now, and the anxiety in the ground arrives a little earlier every week.
The clubs had agreed and the player had not. A snub, and a public one: another club keep him, and the supporters here are left wondering what he had heard about the place.
Yuji Hoshi and a teammate said things this week that will take longer than a week to unsay. It was not about football, and both of them play on Saturday.
Squad29 Mar 2027
Wataru Endo falls out with a teammate over standards
The oldest argument in any dressing room and the only one that is genuinely about football: one man thinks another is not putting enough in. It is also the row a manager privately does not mind having happened.
The words a physio says slowly. 53 days is what the club will announce and everybody who has heard this diagnosis before knows the number is the least of it: the knee comes back before the player does.
0‑3 to Yokohama F. Marinos, and it was every bit as bad as the number suggests. There are defeats you argue about and defeats you apologise for; this was the second kind.
7 without a win now, and the ground has developed the special quiet of a crowd that expects the worst. One scrappy 1-0 would cure most of it; that is the maddening part.
6 matches, no goals, and a training ground that has tried everything. It will end — droughts always do — but nobody at Ventforet Kofu can tell you which week it ends in.
Yudai Tanaka and a teammate went at it, and not about football. Training grounds are small places and a long season makes them smaller.
Squad22 Mar 2027
Wataru Endo falls out with a teammate over standards
The oldest argument in any dressing room and the only one that is genuinely about football: one man thinks another is not putting enough in. It is also the row a manager privately does not mind having happened.
61 days on the estimate, and a long, private, unglamorous year of a rehabilitation nobody watches. Ventforet Kofu lose a footballer; he loses considerably more than a season.
5 games without scoring. Strikers stop looking up, midfielders take the extra touch, and every shot that clears the bar is followed by a groan that has been building since the last goal.
Kotatsu Kumakura and a teammate said things this week that will take longer than a week to unsay. It was not about football, and both of them play on Saturday.
Squad15 Mar 2027
Words at Ventforet Kofu training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Wataru Endo is at the centre of it, and the squad will now find out whether the standard rises or the pair of them simply stop speaking.
71 days on the announcement, and a year of quiet, unwatched rehabilitation behind it. Ventforet Kofu lose a player for a season; he loses something harder to name.
5 without a win now, and the ground has developed the special quiet of a crowd that expects the worst. One scrappy 1-0 would cure most of it; that is the maddening part.
“Some decisions take a long time. This one took ten minutes, and most of that was finding a pen.” Kohei Kawata and Ventforet Kofu agree another 2 years.
4 games without scoring. Strikers stop looking up, midfielders take the extra touch, and every shot that clears the bar is followed by a groan that has been building since the last goal.
Squad8 Mar 2027
Words at Ventforet Kofu training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Wataru Endo is at the centre of it, and the squad will now find out whether the standard rises or the pair of them simply stop speaking.
The academy exists for exactly this morning. Takefusa Furuhashi has come through every age group the club runs and has now been handed a senior number, and the people who coached him at twelve will be the proudest in the building.
The words a physio says slowly. 78 days is what the club will announce and everybody who has heard this diagnosis before knows the number is the least of it: the knee comes back before the player does.
The terraces1 Mar 2027
The mood at Ventforet Kofu has turned into something else
Supporters who sing when it goes badly are supporters. Supporters who gather afterwards are a problem, and everybody inside the building knows which of the two this now is.
“Things were said to me before I signed. I am not going to repeat them, but I remember all of them.” Ventforet Kofu have not answered, which is an answer of sorts.
The deadline has passed and the squad is the squad. 14 arrived, 0 left, and everything else printed about this club last month was a rumour that stayed one.
Yuji Hoshi and a teammate said things this week that will take longer than a week to unsay. It was not about football, and both of them play on Saturday.
Squad1 Mar 2027
Wataru Endo falls out with a teammate over standards
The oldest argument in any dressing room and the only one that is genuinely about football: one man thinks another is not putting enough in. It is also the row a manager privately does not mind having happened.
The chances are being made and something is happening between the making and the finishing. 3 matches now, and the anxiety in the ground arrives a little earlier every week.
The words a physio says slowly. 85 days is what the club will announce and everybody who has heard this diagnosis before knows the number is the least of it: the knee comes back before the player does.
“This is not anger. I have thought about it for months, and nothing that has happened lately changed my mind.” The request is on a desk at Ventforet Kofu, and it is not being withdrawn.
A medical, a signature, a shirt held up in front of a sponsor’s board. Ventforet Kofu have done the hard part with Cerro Largo, and the part that remains is the part supporters actually see.
Successful dribbles: 18. He went past people as if he had been told there was a prize for it, and by the end the full-back had stopped pretending to try.
Somebody said out loud what several people thought about how hard another man trains, and Yuto Hiratsuka was in the middle of it. The one dressing-room argument that is genuinely about football.
92 days on the estimate, and a long, private, unglamorous year of a rehabilitation nobody watches. Ventforet Kofu lose a footballer; he loses considerably more than a season.
“I have nothing bad to say about this place. I just need to be somewhere else.” It is in writing now, which changes what Ventforet Kofu can pretend not to have heard.
Everything agreed with Liverpool, everything agreed with the player; a doctor is the only person left to persuade. The photograph is a day or two away.
Kotatsu Kumakura and a teammate said things this week that will take longer than a week to unsay. It was not about football, and both of them play on Saturday.
Ventforet Kofu have made the call to Cerro Largo. No fee, a share of the wages, and a spare shirt in the position where the squad has been thinnest all season.
“I was told straight, and I would rather have it straight.” The manager at Ventforet Kofu has been clear about where Kazuhiro Sato stands, which is more than many ever get.
100 days on the announcement, and a year of quiet, unwatched rehabilitation behind it. Ventforet Kofu lose a player for a season; he loses something harder to name.
“This is not anger. I have thought about it for months, and nothing that has happened lately changed my mind.” The request is on a desk at Ventforet Kofu, and it is not being withdrawn.
It was not about football and everybody who saw it knows that. Two men who have to play together on Saturday said things at Ventforet Kofu this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
Ventforet Kofu offered $33.0K; Avispa Fukuoka said it was not close. The manager will be told the money is still there for the right player, which is what managers are told.
The academy exists for exactly this morning. Kento Nakata has come through every age group the club runs and has now been handed a senior number, and the people who coached him at twelve will be the proudest in the building.
Clubs spend fortunes looking for players and occasionally find one down the corridor. Wataru Nakamura is that, and the reception he gets on his first appearance will be different in kind from the one any signing receives.
Squad8 Feb 2027
Words at Ventforet Kofu training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Hidemasa Ueda is at the centre of it, and the squad will now find out whether the standard rises or the pair of them simply stop speaking.
“The easiest signature of my career.” Koki Matsuzawa and Ventforet Kofu agree another 1 years, and the manager can plan around him rather than about him.
The words a physio says slowly. 109 days is what the club will announce and everybody who has heard this diagnosis before knows the number is the least of it: the knee comes back before the player does.
It has stopped being a mood in the stands and started being something organised. Boards can ignore a bad atmosphere for a long time; they cannot ignore this stage of it for very long at all.
Position 16 and 6 points, and the table gets read bottom-up in this part of town. The calendar has stopped being a schedule and started being a countdown.
Ventforet Kofu and Albirex Niigata have settled on $290.0K. The rest belongs to the player and his agent, and a supporter who has watched one of these before knows not to buy the shirt yet.
The deal with Kashima Antlers is done in every sense but the one that puts him on the pitch. Nothing goes wrong at this stage, except on the occasions when it does.
Terms were offered and declined. Whether it was the wages, the role or the town, nobody at Kashima Antlers is saying, and nobody at Ventforet Kofu is enjoying the guessing.
It was not about football and everybody who saw it knows that. Two men who have to play together on Saturday said things at Ventforet Kofu this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
116 days on the announcement, and a year of quiet, unwatched rehabilitation behind it. Ventforet Kofu lose a player for a season; he loses something harder to name.
The chase for Soki Tamura ended with $620.0K changing hands and Shonan Bellmare out of reasons to say no. The supporters will judge the fee the only way that matters: on Saturdays.
Everything agreed with Vegalta Sendai, everything agreed with the player; a doctor is the only person left to persuade. The photograph is a day or two away.
The chase for Yudai Tanaka ended with $160.0K changing hands and Sanfrecce Hiroshima out of reasons to say no. The supporters will judge the fee the only way that matters: on Saturdays.
It was not about football and everybody who saw it knows that. Two men who have to play together on Saturday said things at Ventforet Kofu this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
Somebody said out loud what several people thought about how hard another man trains, and Kotatsu Kumakura was in the middle of it. The one dressing-room argument that is genuinely about football.
Ventforet Kofu asked and Kashiwa Reysol said no without discussing a figure. It is the least ambiguous answer in football and the one clubs most often come back to test.
A loan enquiry to Kashima Antlers: cover, or a look at somebody the club cannot afford to buy yet. Either way the answer will come back inside the week.
6 new signings in one window. Every one may be an upgrade and the side can still be worse for a while, which is the part of a rebuild the verdicts never mention.
123 days on the estimate, and a long, private, unglamorous year of a rehabilitation nobody watches. Ventforet Kofu lose a footballer; he loses considerably more than a season.
Ventforet Kofu and Sanfrecce Hiroshima have settled on $160.0K. The rest belongs to the player and his agent, and a supporter who has watched one of these before knows not to buy the shirt yet.
A medical, a signature, a shirt held up in front of a sponsor’s board. Ventforet Kofu have done the hard part with Gamba Osaka, and the part that remains is the part supporters actually see.
Kotatsu Kumakura and a teammate said things this week that will take longer than a week to unsay. It was not about football, and both of them play on Saturday.
The approach was made and the answer came back in a sentence. There is no number on the table because there was no number that would have been enough.
Squad18 Jan 2027
Words at Ventforet Kofu training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Keisuke Sato is at the centre of it, and the squad will now find out whether the standard rises or the pair of them simply stop speaking.
130 days on the estimate, and a long, private, unglamorous year of a rehabilitation nobody watches. Ventforet Kofu lose a footballer; he loses considerably more than a season.
Kotatsu Kumakura was at the centre of it, and by the time it was pulled apart there were three or four others involved. Training grounds are small places and long seasons make them smaller.
Clubs spend fortunes looking for players and occasionally find one down the corridor. Hotaru Tomiyasu is that, and the reception he gets on his first appearance will be different in kind from the one any signing receives.
Squad11 Jan 2027
Words at Ventforet Kofu training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Shogo Sasaki is at the centre of it, and the squad will now find out whether the standard rises or the pair of them simply stop speaking.
Kashiwa Reysol have been asked whether they would lend him. Loans are agreed quickly or not at all, and this one will be one or the other by the weekend.
A loan enquiry to Kashima Antlers: cover, or a look at somebody the club cannot afford to buy yet. Either way the answer will come back inside the week.
Ventforet Kofu have made the call to Urawa Reds. No fee, a share of the wages, and a spare shirt in the position where the squad has been thinnest all season.
Another week, another link, another denial nobody quite believes. Ventforet Kofu know the market decides these things, not the back pages — but the back pages are louder.
A bad atmosphere can be waited out. A group of people meeting afterwards to decide what to do about it cannot, and everybody in the building knows which stage this is.
Position 16 and 6 points, and the table gets read bottom-up in this part of town. The calendar has stopped being a schedule and started being a countdown.
Renato Augusto was at the centre of it, and by the time it was pulled apart there were three or four others involved. Training grounds are small places and long seasons make them smaller.
Somebody said out loud what several people thought about how hard another man trains, and Kotatsu Kumakura was in the middle of it. The one dressing-room argument that is genuinely about football.
He used to be one of the options. He is now one of the men the options are picked around, and the change happened quietly enough that only the dressing room noticed on the day.
Nothing in writing and nothing in public: a word about playing time, given face to face at Ventforet Kofu. The team sheets over the next month will show whether it was worth having.
“Thirty minutes, door closed, everything said. We shook hands after.” Whatever was in the room stayed in the room, and Koya Hayashida trained the next morning like a man with less to carry.
Kotatsu Kumakura and a teammate said things this week that will take longer than a week to unsay. It was not about football, and both of them play on Saturday.
Kotatsu Kumakura was at the centre of it, and by the time it was pulled apart there were three or four others involved. Training grounds are small places and long seasons make them smaller.
Clubs spend fortunes looking for players and occasionally find one down the corridor. Hidemasa Yamane is that, and the reception he gets on his first appearance will be different in kind from the one any signing receives.
Squad14 Dec 2026
Keisuke Sato falls out with a teammate over standards
The oldest argument in any dressing room and the only one that is genuinely about football: one man thinks another is not putting enough in. It is also the row a manager privately does not mind having happened.
Another week, another link, another denial nobody quite believes. Ventforet Kofu know the market decides these things, not the back pages — but the back pages are louder.
A bad atmosphere can be waited out. A group of people meeting afterwards to decide what to do about it cannot, and everybody in the building knows which stage this is.
Position 16 and 6 points, and the table gets read bottom-up in this part of town. The calendar has stopped being a schedule and started being a countdown.
Renato Augusto was at the centre of it, and by the time it was pulled apart there were three or four others involved. Training grounds are small places and long seasons make them smaller.
Somebody said out loud what several people thought about how hard another man trains, and Kotatsu Kumakura was in the middle of it. The one dressing-room argument that is genuinely about football.
“Thirty minutes, door closed, everything said. We shook hands after.” Whatever was in the room stayed in the room, and Kotatsu Kumakura trained the next morning like a man with less to carry.
Somebody said out loud what several people thought about how hard another man trains, and Yamato Naito was in the middle of it. The one dressing-room argument that is genuinely about football.
Kotatsu Kumakura and a teammate said things this week that will take longer than a week to unsay. It was not about football, and both of them play on Saturday.
Somebody said out loud what several people thought about how hard another man trains, and Yamato Naito was in the middle of it. The one dressing-room argument that is genuinely about football.
“Thirty minutes, door closed, everything said. We shook hands after.” Whatever was in the room stayed in the room, and Yuto Hiratsuka trained the next morning like a man with less to carry.
Nothing in writing and nothing in public: a word about playing time, given face to face at Ventforet Kofu. The team sheets over the next month will show whether it was worth having.
The standards have slipped, and in a building where everybody watches everybody it has not gone unremarked. This is how a player loses a place before he loses one.
It was not about football and everybody who saw it knows that. Two men who have to play together on Saturday said things at Ventforet Kofu this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
Somebody said out loud what several people thought about how hard another man trains, and Kotatsu Kumakura was in the middle of it. The one dressing-room argument that is genuinely about football.
Another week, another link, another denial nobody quite believes. Ventforet Kofu know the market decides these things, not the back pages — but the back pages are louder.
It is never announced and it is entirely visible: the biggest afternoons of the season keep containing him. A press box works this out long before anybody at the club confirms a word of it.
Nothing in writing and nothing in public: a word about playing time, given face to face at Ventforet Kofu. The team sheets over the next month will show whether it was worth having.
Position 16 and 6 points, and the table gets read bottom-up in this part of town. The calendar has stopped being a schedule and started being a countdown.
It was not about football and everybody who saw it knows that. Two men who have to play together on Saturday said things at Ventforet Kofu this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
In brief
SquadYamato Naito falls out with a teammate over standards
Kotatsu Kumakura and a teammate went at it, and not about football. Training grounds are small places and a long season makes them smaller.
Squad2 Nov 2026
8 new faces, and Ventforet Kofu are still learning each other
A squad rebuilt inside one window pays for it in a currency nobody budgets for. The football is not worse than the sum of the players; it is worse than the sum of the players who have played together before.
Squad2 Nov 2026
Words at Ventforet Kofu training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Yamato Naito is at the centre of it, and the squad will now find out whether the standard rises or the pair of them simply stop speaking.
Squad2 Nov 2026
A place in the month's best eleven for Hajime Hidaka
Four or five weekends of consistency, judged against everybody in the division doing his job. Hajime Hidaka has come out of that comparison in the side, and Ventforet Kofu have had the benefit of every one of those afternoons.
Takumi Tsuchiya was at the centre of it, and by the time it was pulled apart there were three or four others involved. Training grounds are small places and long seasons make them smaller.
The oldest argument in any dressing room and the only one that is genuinely about football: one man thinks another is not putting enough in. It is also the row a manager privately does not mind having happened.
It is not much of a headline and it is the reason players believe the next promise. Ventforet Kofu told Homare Tokuda something would happen and then it happened, which in this industry passes for remarkable.
“It had gone on long enough. I would rather have it out than leave it sitting there.” Ten minutes behind a closed door at Ventforet Kofu, and both men came out saying it was fine.
Nothing in writing and nothing in public: a word about playing time, given face to face at Ventforet Kofu. The team sheets over the next month will show whether it was worth having.
Kotatsu Kumakura was at the centre of it, and by the time it was pulled apart there were three or four others involved. Training grounds are small places and long seasons make them smaller.
Squad19 Oct 2026
Words at Ventforet Kofu training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Keisuke Sato is at the centre of it, and the squad will now find out whether the standard rises or the pair of them simply stop speaking.
“Thirty minutes, door closed, everything said. We shook hands after.” Whatever was in the room stayed in the room, and Kotatsu Kumakura trained the next morning like a man with less to carry.
It is not much of a headline and it is the reason players believe the next promise. Ventforet Kofu told Hajime Hidaka something would happen and then it happened, which in this industry passes for remarkable.
Another week, another link, another denial nobody quite believes. Ventforet Kofu know the market decides these things, not the back pages — but the back pages are louder.
It was not about football and everybody who saw it knows that. Two men who have to play together on Saturday said things at Ventforet Kofu this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
“We were not good enough today and I am not going to dress it up.” Yuki Osako after 0‑1, in the tone of a man who knows the next question and does not intend to answer it.
Squad12 Oct 2026
Words at Ventforet Kofu training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Shogo Sasaki is at the centre of it, and the squad will now find out whether the standard rises or the pair of them simply stop speaking.
Something was said to Damián London and then it happened. In this industry that passes for remarkable, and the dressing room noticed faster than any supporter could.
“It had gone on long enough. I would rather have it out than leave it sitting there.” Ten minutes behind a closed door at Ventforet Kofu, and both men came out saying it was fine.
It was not about football and everybody who saw it knows that. Two men who have to play together on Saturday said things at Ventforet Kofu this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
Somebody said out loud what several people thought about how hard another man trains, and Kotatsu Kumakura was in the middle of it. The one dressing-room argument that is genuinely about football.
The young player of the month award goes to a 19-year-old at Ventforet Kofu who has looked like the finished article for four weekends running. The next four are the ones that decide whether he is.
A point taken on 90 minutes is worth exactly one point and considerably more than that to a dressing room. This side does not stop, which is a reputation worth more than the result.
Squad5 Oct 2026
12 new faces, and Ventforet Kofu are still learning each other
A squad rebuilt inside one window pays for it in a currency nobody budgets for. The football is not worse than the sum of the players; it is worse than the sum of the players who have played together before.
A 1‑1 draw with Kashima Antlers leaves the dressing room somewhere between relief and regret.
The dugout5 Oct 2026
The view from the dugout
“We did not lose. Some weeks that is all you get, and I would rather have the point than not.” Yuki Osako chose the glass-half-full version of 1‑1; the supporters left with the other one.
Homare Tokuda, 19, plays like he has been here for years — 7.77
A mark of 7.77 means one thing beside a twenty-nine-year-old's name and something else entirely beside a 19-year-old's. Nobody at the ground needed telling which this was.
9 without a win is the sort of run that changes how a town talks about its club, and Nagoya Grampus were the afternoon it stopped. Nothing is fixed by one result and everything feels different by one.
Kotatsu Kumakura and a teammate said things this week that will take longer than a week to unsay. It was not about football, and both of them play on Saturday.
At 19 he is being sung about by people twice his age, which is an affection a signing has to earn over years and a local kid gets for turning up. It is also the hardest thing in football to live up to.
Successful dribbles: 18. There is a particular sort of despair on a full-back's face by the seventieth minute, and it was on display.
Squad28 Sep 2026
Words at Ventforet Kofu training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Yamato Naito is at the centre of it, and the squad will now find out whether the standard rises or the pair of them simply stop speaking.
The dugout28 Sep 2026
The manager’s verdict
“I am not going to get carried away and I will not let them either. It was a good day. There will be harder ones.” Yuki Osako kept it short after the 1‑0 win, which is what managers do when they are happy.
7.66, 1 on the scoresheet, and the specific comedy of a back-four player celebrating like somebody who does this every week. He does not, and that is exactly why the ground reacted the way it did.
Kotatsu Kumakura was at the centre of it, and by the time it was pulled apart there were three or four others involved. Training grounds are small places and long seasons make them smaller.
“If you cannot run for the shirt, somebody else will wear it.” No name was used and none was needed; every player in that room knew who it was for.
Squad21 Sep 2026
Words at Ventforet Kofu training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Yamato Naito is at the centre of it, and the squad will now find out whether the standard rises or the pair of them simply stop speaking.
“It is not the end of the world and it is not good enough. Both of those are true.” The manager, after a 1‑1 draw, said the honest thing and then went to say it again inside.
The dugout21 Sep 2026
Somebody else is better right now than Koki Oshima
The team sheet says it in public every week until it changes. The only version of being dropped a footballer cannot argue with, and the one he takes hardest.
In brief
SquadDamián London, 19, is the weekend’s best young player
Takumi Tsuchiya and a teammate went at it, and not about football. Training grounds are small places and a long season makes them smaller.
Squad14 Sep 2026
Words at Ventforet Kofu training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Kotatsu Kumakura is at the centre of it, and the squad will now find out whether the standard rises or the pair of them simply stop speaking.
Clubs spend fortunes looking for players and occasionally find one down the corridor. Maya Maeda is that, and the reception he gets on his first appearance will be different in kind from the one any signing receives.
Successful dribbles: 16. He went past people as if he had been told there was a prize for it, and by the end the full-back had stopped pretending to try.
The dugout14 Sep 2026
The manager’s verdict
“That is on me. I pick the team and I picked wrong.” Managers say that when they mean it and when they need to be seen to, and after 1‑2 Yuki Osako left the room before anybody could ask which.
There is no complaint available here and everybody involved knows it, which does not make the walk to the bench any shorter. Form is the only currency in football that cannot be borrowed against.
The chances are being made and something is happening between the making and the finishing. 4 matches now, and the anxiety in the ground arrives a little earlier every week.
Successful dribbles: 18. He went past people as if he had been told there was a prize for it, and by the end the full-back had stopped pretending to try.
11 signings in three months. Every one of them may be an upgrade and the team can still be worse for a while, which is the part of a rebuild that never appears in the transfer-window verdicts.
The dugout7 Sep 2026
The view from the dugout
“We will look at it, we will learn from it, and we go again.” The three sentences every manager keeps for a 0‑1 defeat, delivered by Yuki Osako to a room that had heard them before.
Squad7 Sep 2026
Words at Ventforet Kofu training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Yamato Naito is at the centre of it, and the squad will now find out whether the standard rises or the pair of them simply stop speaking.
Successful dribbles: 28. He went past people as if he had been told there was a prize for it, and by the end the full-back had stopped pretending to try.
6 without a win now, and the ground has developed the special quiet of a crowd that expects the worst. One scrappy 1-0 would cure most of it; that is the maddening part.
Kotatsu Kumakura and a teammate said things this week that will take longer than a week to unsay. It was not about football, and both of them play on Saturday.
The chances are being made and something is happening between the making and the finishing. 3 matches now, and the anxiety in the ground arrives a little earlier every week.
“Nobody here is above being told.” It was not said with a name attached, but the dressing room can count, and so can everybody who was listening.
The dugout31 Aug 2026
The view from the dugout
“We did not lose. Some weeks that is all you get, and I would rather have the point than not.” Yuki Osako chose the glass-half-full version of 0‑0; the supporters left with the other one.
The one version of being left out a player cannot argue with, and the one he takes worst. Somebody else has been better and the team sheet says so, in public, every week until it changes.
5 matches now without a victory, and the excuses have worn thinner than the patience. Somebody at Ventforet Kofu has to find a result from somewhere.
Boardroom24 Aug 2026
Deadline passes with 16 signed and 1 gone
That is the business done at Ventforet Kofu until the window opens again. Whether it was enough will be answered on Saturdays rather than in a column, and the first Saturday is close.
A medical, a signature, a shirt held up in front of a sponsor’s board. Ventforet Kofu have done the hard part with Kashima Antlers, and the part that remains is the part supporters actually see.
Kotatsu Kumakura was at the centre of it, and by the time it was pulled apart there were three or four others involved. Training grounds are small places and long seasons make them smaller.
Somebody said out loud what several people thought about how hard another man trains, and Yuta Koide was in the middle of it. The one dressing-room argument that is genuinely about football.
“If you cannot run for the shirt, somebody else will wear it.” No name was used and none was needed; every player in that room knew who it was for.
The dugout24 Aug 2026
The view from the dugout
“We will look at it, we will learn from it, and we go again.” The three sentences every manager keeps for a 0‑1 defeat, delivered by Yuki Osako to a room that had heard them before.
Everything agreed with Vissel Kobe, everything agreed with the player; a doctor is the only person left to persuade. The photograph is a day or two away.
It was not about football and everybody who saw it knows that. Two men who have to play together on Saturday said things at Ventforet Kofu this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
Not now, not at any price the club was prepared to say out loud. Shonan Bellmare have kept their man, and Ventforet Kofu go back to a list with one name crossed off it.
“We were not good enough today and I am not going to dress it up.” Yuki Osako after 0‑2, in the tone of a man who knows the next question and does not intend to answer it.
A loan enquiry to Kashiwa Reysol: cover, or a look at somebody the club cannot afford to buy yet. Either way the answer will come back inside the week.
Kotatsu Kumakura and a teammate said things this week that will take longer than a week to unsay. It was not about football, and both of them play on Saturday.
Ventforet Kofu asked and FC Tokyo said no without discussing a figure. It is the least ambiguous answer in football and the one clubs most often come back to test.
The academy exists for exactly this morning. Maya Tanaka has come through every age group the club runs and has now been handed a senior number, and the people who coached him at twelve will be the proudest in the building.
The academy exists for exactly this morning. Sho Mitoma has come through every age group the club runs and has now been handed a senior number, and the people who coached him at twelve will be the proudest in the building.
The academy exists for exactly this morning. Sho Furuhashi has come through every age group the club runs and has now been handed a senior number, and the people who coached him at twelve will be the proudest in the building.
Clubs spend fortunes looking for players and occasionally find one down the corridor. Junya Doan is that, and the reception he gets on his first appearance will be different in kind from the one any signing receives.
“The easiest signature of my career.” Kohei Kawata and Ventforet Kofu agree another 2 years, and the manager can plan around him rather than about him.
500 games in this shirt, through managers and relegations and everything else. Service like it is disappearing from the game and the crowd knows what it is watching.
Ventforet Kofu asked and FC Tokyo said no without discussing a figure. It is the least ambiguous answer in football and the one clubs most often come back to test.
Still no offer on the table, and Kotatsu Kumakura’s deal keeps shrinking. In boardroom language, silence this long stops being an oversight and starts being an answer.