Sakka Densetsu (The Soccer Legend)

(I hate to welch on another story, but Brazil just has too many fixtures, it was draining, so I'm going to start a story with fewer fixtures so I can get through it all. In addition, the other reason I quit that story is because I found out that I could download the Japanese league system and add it to my game.)


Hello, everyone! My name is Makoto Mizuno, and I was born on September 5, 1988, so I am 25 years old. I like to play soccer, but I'm not that good at it, or anything. I'm no Keisuke Honda. I'd say that I'm a Sunday League player, at best. However, I work hard at my game, and my friends say I'm very smart, too!

I love soccer so much. I try to play as much as I can, As a kid I had posters of my favorite players on my wall, and I would try to watch as many games as we could. My favorite moment would be getting to see my team play at the World Cup in 2002! I got to see Japan defeat Tunisia 2-0 to clinch the group victory! I was at that very stadium! One day, I would love to manage the Japanese team and develop a golden generation of Japanese players.

Anyway, I had sent out some applications to various regional teams around the country. I didn't think I would have enough on my resume to get hired, though, but then I was summoned to Sendai, where I would meet up with Kyohei Ikeda, the chairman of Sasuke FC.

Ikeda was an old man wearing a suit. He didn't have much of an expression on his face, but then he smiled at me. "I can't offer you money, or a contract, or anything, because this is an amateur club, but I am willing to offer you the chance to start as a manager for my club. I will leave you to run things as you see fit, but you need to do your very best!"

"Thank you, Ikeda! I will do my best!" I was not sure what I would do with a whole club to myself, but I knew this was the start I needed@

---

(I am taking control of Sasuke FC in the Tohoku League Division 2 South, which is in the 5th tier of the Japanese football pyramid. It's harder than the other leagues in that tier, as the other leagues have 2 promotion slots for 8-10 teams to battle over, the Tohoku League Division 2 is split into North and South, where 10 teams in each league battle for 1 promotion slot. It's win or bust.)

Good luck eb, a great start already.



Farewell Ponte Preta

This is going to be a good story. Good luck with it mate.

After taking the job, I went to meet my staff. I wasn't sure what to do with them, they were fine people but they seemed way over their heads. I made my way over to the locker room, and all I could see was a hazy morass of grey humanoid shapes. They probably had the ability to play soccer on SOME level, but definitely not the one of this league, and that's a pretty low bar to reach.

I looked at the calendar. My first friendly was March 23. Today was...January 28. I had almost two months to come up with a team for the upcoming season, and the clock was ticking. Thankfully, the staff had left behind an old Rolodex of scouting reports on one of the desks, so I looked through them, and they guided me to which players I should sign.

Of course, they were old reports, so I'd have to send my scouts out to generate new ones. But some, I didn't need them to take a look at a guy to figure out they were amazing.


It seemed like he could move circles around everyone else at this level, and he was extremely determined to win, which made him look like a guy who could score goals for fun. I could see that for myself, I did not need a scout's report to tell me that.

I approached him and asked "Would you like to join Sasuke FC? I can't offer you money or anything, because we're an amateur club, but I'll give you all the playing time you could ever want."

Oda was quiet for an uncomfortably long time, but then said, "Give me a few days, please." I was shocked to hear that the transfer story leaked, and other teams were in play to sign Oda. All I could do is hope.

*Cue musical montage of Mizuno's massive outreach project, asking many different players to join the team, some with bad results, but eventually Mizuno has a full locker room of players, except one...*

Oda walks in. "I want to play for your team." I breathed a sigh of relief. "Welcome aboard!" I told Oda.


I was staring at a team that was much younger than me. They were newborn soccer players, mostly, but I would forge them into Tohoku football legends! "Thank you everyone here, for signing up with Sasuke FC, I am excited to be your manager this season, and most of you don't know me that well, my name is Makoto Mizuno and I used to be a soccer player like you. We're going to play a 4-4-2 this season, I'll show you the details shortly after this meeting, we only have three days before our next match. Any questions?"

A 16 year old player, midfielder Fumihiro Kato raised his hand. "Thank you for introducing yourself to us, Mizuno-san. I am honored to be playing under your leadership, and I know your reputation will improve if the club does well." The others nodded in agreement.

There were three days before our first match. I still had plenty of work to do.

---

(I still need to sign another right back XD, but other than that, the roster is set.)

I really hope you stick to this. Going from the bottom to the top would be amazing to see.

With our preparations complete, we set off to play our friendlies, which only two were signed up before the season, and they will be tough matches, but at least they do not count for the season standings. I did not tell my players that, though, I wanted them focused for the challenges ahead! It wasn't that hard though, my players are determined warriors!

I managed to sign one more player, right back Kentaro Ishikawa. Now my squad is complete and I am confident!

March 23, 2013
Sendai Sasuke FC 2 - 0 NTFC Wiese

Mitsugu Oda is a revelation! His two goals shock a team that sits a level above us! It's only a friendly, but the team played very well, Wiese had some chances but missed them or last-chance defending took care of them. I was worried about losing possession too much due to playing a back four of limited defenders, but we kept possession well.
Player of the Match: Mitsugu Oda (Sendai Sasuke FC)

It was a raucous scene in the locker room after the game! The players were celebrating the victory and hailing Oda. "You guys had an amazing game today, beating a team like Wiese. Not just Oda, but the rest of you, who possessed the ball well, made risky but effective last ditch tackles in the penalty box, and distributed the ball well. Your fighting spirit is what caused us to win. Keep it up!" The players cheered and kept celebrating, despite just being involved in the rigors of a soccer game.

Still, one victory does not a legend make, and we had another friendly to contend with, another team on a similar level, as they are in the higher regional league as well.

I gave out the squad numbers today. The players didn't really have much of a preference, but I made sure Oda got the coveted number 9 shirt. As well, what the previous friendly told me is that I didn't have enough center midfielders, so I signed up Takeshi Hamada and Naoto Fujimoto for the club.

March 30, 2013
Sendai Sasuke FC 2 - 2 Cobaltore

Cobaltore had a much more deadly attack, and they proved it when they scored a goal to take the lead in the first half. We had a much better second half, with more possession. Kaoru Kaneko scored from his M (R) position when he took a through ball, cut in, and blasted the ball into the net. Kazuhiro Sakurai gave us the lead when Cobaltore's center backs gave him acres of space to break through and score. Sadly, it wasn't the winner, as Kenzo Kusunaga lobbed a header over the Sasuke goalkeeper to snatch a draw away.
Player of the Match: Kenzo Kusunaga (Cobaltore)

After the match, there were some dejected faces in the locker room, as we failed to secure the win. I had to say something reassuring. "Don't beat yourselves up too much, guys. I know how much letting in that second goal hurt you guys, but you still did a wonderful job in coming back and taking the lead. Consider this a learning experience, and hopefully in this situation we won't do it again."

Part of being a manager is directing outreach so you can contact your fans and create new ones. I used my Twitter account to create a personal connection with Sendai Sasuke's fans and hopefully get to know them better. Here is my first tweet:



Of course, that's just a picture so you can't click the link, but if you did, it'd go here:


Next week, the real season begins, and many challenges lay ahead. Please tune in!

Loving the new style eb, it's really good.

I seem to have set a trend do Twitter quotes

Great start, looking forward to more

In my time here I believe I've only ever seen one Japanese story, so this should be interesting. Good luck!

Really great updates, Eb.
Nice to see a story in a different league.
Should be an interesting story

(With an 18 game season, I'm going to try a new format. Instead of monthly updates, I'll be breaking off updates into sets of 3 matches so each update has the same amount of matches.)


In a week, the Tohoku League Division 2 season starts. Our first match will be against Nakaniida SC, a team that is also in the Miyagi Prefecture. Like us, they're an amateur team.

Unlike our previous games, this one would be at their stadium, in Kami. I reminded the players not to let the crowd get to them. "Play your game, keep things simple, don't let them get into your head. They don't matter, only the players on the field matter." As many of my squad are but teenagers, I have to be very calm with them, and not put too much pressure on them. Hopefully they'll understand.

In addition, with the season approaching, I needed to name captain and vice captain. Thankfully, I had two easy choices. With their incredible determination and great leadership qualities, the team have gravitated towards center backs Yoshito Kawai, who has been named the captain, and Kojiro Hatanaka, who has been named the vice-captain. The players seem satisfied with this decision and so I'm happy!

Kyohei Ikeda summoned me to his office. I didn't know what he wanted, or if I was in trouble. He looked at me and said "I guess I've got to give you regular updates about how you're doing. I love the positive atmosphere in the locker room! I can't say much other than that, but good luck for the season."

And, in an unfortunate bit of news, I learned that Koji Fujiwara suffered a twisted knee in one of the U18 games and will miss 4-5 weeks. I reassured him, "Don't worry, just think about recovering. I'll consider you when you come back."

Finally, the season ticket information has come out. We did as much work as we could, but we ended up only selling a few of our season tickets. Five, to be exact.

April 7, 2013
Nakaniida SC 4 - 4 Sendai Sasuke FC

This was really not what I wanted at all. We started off very well, getting to 3-1 at halftime, and then 4-1 shortly after, and then we had a complete meltdown. Our defenders kept putting the goal into their own net. Shohei Nagata's brace was undone by its evil twin, Yoshito Kawai's own goal brace. I had to remain calm and reassure my players that they were unlucky, but inside I was seething with rage.
Player of the Match: Shohei Nagata (Sendai Sasuke FC)

Here are the rest of the matchday's fixtures!

Here's a tweet from me after the match. I was still steamed! Still, I have to keep my focus. Our next match against Scheinen, who took a 7-1 beating in the first matchday. If we can recover our focus and not make dumb mistakes, we should have a definite win.



The next reserve game also had a casualty, unfortunately. Mitsunori Sawada broke his ankle and will miss 3-4 months. Of course, everyone's first priority is getting him healed, and then we'll see about him getting back on the field. It's a long road to recovery, though.

April 14, 2013
Sendai Sasuke FC 2 - 3 Scheinen

Scheinen came out with a very attacking formation, which backfired when Oda scored his first goal after a failed Scheinen free kick. They switched to a 4-4-2 in the second half after we went up 2-1 on Oda's second goal, but we blew the lead and then the game after ANOTHER OWN GOAL.
Player of the Match: Mitsugu Oda (Sendai Sasuke FC)

My comments after the game:


I don't know what I can do, other than keep reminding my players not to put it in their own net. They're amateurs, so I can't fine them. We also have fitness and tactical knowledge issues to overcome.

April 21, 2013
Marysol 0 - 2 Sendai Sasuke FC

NO OWN GOALS! Plus, Oda continued his amazing goalscoring run, he's up to 4 for the season! Marysol kept pressuring us but excellent defense and goalkeeping, and some luck from the post every now and then, got us back on the winning side!
Player of the Match: Kojiro Hatanaka (Sendai Sasuke FC)




And, here are the standings after Round 3!

Tohoku League Division 2 (South) League Table

And that's a sixth of the season down! Stay tuned for the next episode, where my journey continues!

So...many....own....goals

Lower tiers of Japan, wow, that's quite an adventure! Good luck my friend!

P.S. Score in the other goal

3 own goals in one match. -__________- Anyway, great start to your story eb, Japan seems like a fun place to manage in.

There wasn't much news to report on leading up to the game against Meli, we just focused on training. Meli are the top team in the league so we have to make sure we are extra tight defensively. I can't allow mistakes!

Actually, there is some news, at least, on the player acquisition front. We've acquired the services of goalkeeper Takashi Koshiba, who has great determination and good concentration. I'm not unsatisfied with Uchiho, he has been excellent, but depth is important.

April 28, 2013
Sendai Sasuke FC 6 - 0 Meli

There really isn't much to say, as Mitsugu Oda and Shohei Nagata combined to make life a living hell for Meli's three center backs.
Player of the Match: Shohei Nagata (Sendai Sasuke FC)

After the match, there was much celebration to be had in the locker room! Oda and Nagata were the heroes of the day! We can't celebrate for long, though, as we still have more soccer to play.

I've improved my team by signing two behemoths, the 6'5" Naoki Ishihara and the 6'7" Daiji Nishida. Both players are 16! I am already drawing up set-piece plays involving these two!

May 5, 2013
Sendai Sasuke FC 4 - 1 Parafrente

Parafrente struggled with injuries, Oda, and Nagata. They each picked up 2 goals and Parafrente ended with 9 men due to injuries. Nagata left the game due to injury but thankfully it isn't serious.
Player of the Match: Shohei Nagata (Sendai Sasuke FC)

During the week, Yasuhito Noguchi came into my office. He was the backup goalkeeper. "Mizuno-san, why don't you play me? I'm just as capable as Uchiho!" I had to lay down the law. "You're doing well as a player, but Uchiho is on fire for us right now, his goalkeeping has been excellent. Maybe if he struggles you'll get a shot, but you'll just have to be patient." He left the office with a dejected look on his face, but the pitch can only hold 11 players and only one can be a goalkeeper.

May 12, 2013
Tayuku Club 1 - 4 Sendai Sasuke FC

It was another thrashing! Shohei Nagata continued his euphoric form with two goals, while Mitsugu Oda was not to be denied and picked up a goal and the player of the match. Left midfielder Yohei Hirata got in on the goalscoring, too! Takuyu Club pulled one back, but by then it was far too late.
Player of the Match: Mitsugu Oda (Sendai Sasuke FC)

The locker room was as harmonious as ever, but quieted down when I moved to talk. "You've done great things recently, guys. 14 goals scored and 2 allowed in the past 3 matches is excellent! It's what I expected from you and it's something I knew you had in you all along. I want you to keep it up, because we have to be on our best form to earn a promotion!" That p-word caused a bit of a stir amongst the players.

And with that, here's the table after Round 6 of 18:

League Table

And with that, it's time to conclude this week's episode of Sakka Densetsu! Tune in next week!