In a week, Vissel Kobe will return to the continent and resume their bid to win the AFC Champions League.
The first game is a round of 16 match against fellow countrymen Yokohama F. Marinos on August 18 and, with both East Zone knockout stages set to conclude within the next seven days, it won’t be long before let them know if they are heading to the final next February.
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Competing for continental glory is exactly the position Vissel should be in for all the star power they boast, headlined by Spanish legend Andres Iniesta and fellow ex-Barcelona players Bojan Krkic and Sergi Samper, as well as any a series of Japanese internationals who all claim European experience such as Yuya Osako, Yoshinori Muto, Hotaru Yamaguchi and Gotoku Sakai.
What is less expected – and indeed a huge shock – is that with ten games remaining in their domestic J1 League season, Vissel find themselves bottom of the table.
In 24 matches already played, Vissel managed only five wins while suffering 13 losses, a peak in the competition.
It is impossible to say whether it is more condemnable that an attack featuring Osako, Muto and Bojan while provided by Iniesta and Yamaguchi only managed 21 goals, or that a battle-hardened defense mustered by experienced campaigners as Sakai and Tomoaki Makino conceded 32.
(For comparison, the table-top Marinos lead the way in goals scored with 51, while Avispa Fukuoka – who is only in his second year in the top flight – has the best defensive record in the league. only 20 goals conceded.)
Vissel’s domestic troubles have already cost Atsuhiro Miura and Miguel Angel Lotina their jobs – the latter lasting less than two months – with the club now on the hunt for a third permanent campaign manager.
In their defence, Vissel was severely hampered by injury. Samper will likely miss the whole season with a cruciate ligament injury, Iniesta has spent spells on the sidelines, while Bojan, Muto and reliable centre-back Ryuho Kikuchi have been the most recent casualties.
Yet while that miserable luck on the selection front may have excused a club of their stature from vying for the title, it’s disastrous that they find themselves not just battling relegation – but bottom of the table. .
To their credit, Vissel was quick to say his performance fell far short of expectations.
Speaking to ESPN in April amid the team’s 11-game winless start to the season, defender Leo Osaki conceded: “We don’t just lose – we lose with quality players and I think players understand it.
“That’s where the (added) pressure comes from, but we have to deal with these situations.”
There is precedent for such falls from grace in the J1 League which should serve as stark warnings to Vissel.
In recent times, Gamba Osaka and Cerezo Osaka both suffered relegation in the seasons they qualified for the ACL Round of 16. When the Urawa Red Diamonds last reached the Continental Finals in 2019, they spent the entire season flirting with decline before finally finishing safely in 14th place.
Even Jubilo Iwata, Tokyo Verdy, Nagoya Grampus and Kashiwa Reysol weren’t safe from relegation despite their status as former champions.
2022 could still see Vissel finish with a trophy or two in his hands.
Apart from their upcoming ACL assignment, they are through to the Emperor’s Cup quarter-finals, although they were knocked out of the J.League Cup quarter-finals by Avispa on Wednesday.
But there is a feeling that even a few cup wins would be cold consolation if they do indeed find themselves playing in the J2 League next season.
All is not lost for Vissel, as they clearly have immense quality in the ranks. A quality that can certainly inspire them to embark on a recovery run for the season.
After all, when they finally claimed their first league victory of 2022 on May 29, Vissel had won seven of their next nine games (two coming in the Emperor’s Cup).
The main problem is that they quickly run out of games to jump into a similar streak, with only ten remaining. And they better start hoarding some soon.
For their opponents in the last two games of the league campaign? Defending champions Kawasaki Frontale and current league leaders Marinos, no less.
