Football Season Guide

Fagiano had a pretty solid season last term but the inability to record enough wins saw them miss out on a play-off spot. Fagiano were not scoring enough goals all season, only 49 in 42 matches, but they defended well and had the most draws in the entire J2 – 19. Had only 10 league defeats during the campaign, only the top 4 sides in the standings had fewer, but the lack of cutting edge meant that Fagiano missed out on a top 6 finish by 9 points. The ineffective front line was gutted this winter, all of Sakuragawa, Alves and Sakamoto left. It is yet to be seen if the signings of the Brazilian striker Xavier and Gleyson will prove a fruitful move but with them as a duo hopes are Fagiano will be scoring more. Stefan Mauk and the key centre-back Jordy Buijs also left the team. Those were expected departures though and Fagiano have good depth in defence and midfield even without them. Iwabuchi is an interesting new arrival. He can play both as a secondary striker and as an inner midfielder, with Fagiano signing 5 other midfielders to really add depth and quality to this area. Hopes are that defensively the stability will be there again, which if the forward actions are better should make the team from Okayama a play-off contender.