Come to the purple side

When you look at the table, you can clearly see how this season – as many we’ve witnessed – has surprised us. Unlike 2018, the title-race is open to three teams and it might drag until the last minute of the last matchday. It’s strange FC Tokyo and Marinos in that position, but that’s the scenario we’ve been offered. Last year, another surprise challenged for the title.

Actually, we could say that Sanfrecce Hiroshima basically squandered a massive advantage – even with double digits of points – to finish as runners-up only through a difficult comeback in Sapporo: after 45 minutes of the last game against Consadole, Hiroshima slipped to fourth, only to gain back their spot in the 2019 AFC Champions League (where they honestly played pretty well).

But what about now? After 28 games, Sanfrecce have collected 47 points, scored 40 goals and allowed only 24 to be comfortably in fourth place. Yes, some points away from the title-race, but again… just one year ago, in pre-season no one would have expected Sanfrecce to be this high on the table. Yet, here we are commenting this surprising outcome (just like for Lotina’s Cerezo).

After a 6-2 home win against Vissel Kobe – and Vissel already lost at home against Sanfrecce, 4-2 that time –, a point must be made: how can a squad with a super-defensive asset and no stardom in their roster can survive in this J1? We’re not talking about Matsumoto, Shonan or Sagan, smaller teams who have always played this way during the last years. Sanfrecce used to be slightly different but went in over-correction.

The real deal is: how can Hiroshi Jofuku’s tactics survive in a league which has let experiments of spectacular brands of football run with great results? How can he be the same of years ago and still thrive? Is he doomed to be the antidote, the strange bug, the only exception in a country who has always tried to propose a certain and beautiful way of playing in the last years, both in the national league and through the national team?

We must sit down and reflect on this.

Coming from a long journey

It’s not like Hiroshi Jofuku doesn’t deserve to be here. His managerial career is tied to a miracle we’ve not seen anymore in J1 and this is already a great credit. But far before than that, Jofuku was buried into the history of Japanese pre-professional football era. Class ’61, he played for Fujitsu in the ‘80s, way before they would have been “Kawasaki Frontale” and the squad we know today.

He retired at 28 years old and he was involved in the club anyway. He was working for Fujitsu, but he started from the bottom, try to be involved with football activities as much as possible. Former Chinese football star Shen Xiangfu wanted him as an assistant coach; then, in 1995-96, Jofuku himself managed the squad in the small transition towards becoming a pro-club.

His experience at the helm didn’t last long and Jofuku was ready to go back to work in ‘97. But then Tokuhiko Suzuki held a hand to him: Suzuki just got involved with the future rivals of Kawasaki, FC Tokyo. Tokyo Gas was as well trying the move of going pro and they needed experienced people in the field: Jofuku was picked and he never looked back on those days at Fujitsu, leaving the company in ‘98.

The first job years for Jofuku weren’t specifically related to the first team, rather to youngsters and organization in general. If FC Tokyo thrived in the 2000s, Jofuku has some credit to take, alongside the staff who worked for and with him. The club didn’t feature any elementary school, everything had to be built from scratch and the then-head coach worked mainly with the U-18 and U-15 squads.

This work brought him towards JFA, where he was hired to be the head coach of Japan U-17. He won indeed the U-16 continental championship, but 2007 U-17 World Cup was a slight letdown (Japan were knocked out in the group stage). So he went back to Tokyo, where the club was ready to welcome him back, but it resulted in a mixed experience because of the results.

In a three-years tenure, Jofuku won indeed the J. League Cup for the second time in the history of the club (by defeating 2-0 rivals Kawasaki Frontale) and he helped developing several players (Nagatomo, Hirayama, Yonemoto, Ishikawa, Gonda), but at the same time FC Tokyo faced their first relegation to J2 in 2010, ending so their 11 years-tenure in J1.

The manager had to re-start somewhere else. And he found the perfect place for his brand of football: Kofu. In Yamanashi Prefecture, in a city of slightly less of 200,000 people, Jofuku found back his groove. He stayed one year out of job, but Ventforet was the right choice: a club with poorer history than others, who played in J1 just three season and they’ve been just relegated in 2011 J1 League.

His run of three years in Kofu was amazing: Jofuku held a victory-percentage comparable to the one he had in Tokyo (37,3% against 39,6%), yet Ventforet had to struggle in J1, because budget-wise Kofu was way behind other realities. 2012 J2 League was a refreshing start, since the club won promotion by a landslide, Davi revitalized his career by scoring 32 goals and their stadium was the most packed of J2.

Despite the jump to J1, their super-defensive asset and the loss of Davi (who left Kofu to join Kashima), Ventforet conquered two unexpected salvations in the first tier. And Jofuku was able to achieve such a goal despite his teams scored just 57 goals in two seasons, being the second-worst offense in 2014 (just behind Tokushima Vortis) and featuring their top-scorer at… five goals. In both seasons.

Both seasons were impressive, with the club able to win against Kashiwa Reysol (twice), Sanfrecce Hiroshima (twice), Cerezo Osaka (twice), Kawasaki Frontale. All of this happened relying on a strong defensive asset and a three-center backs formation: Ventforet was the fifth-best defense in 2013 and second-best in 2014 (tied with back then-champions Gamba Osaka).

In 2014, Ventforet Kofu wanted badly to retain Jofuku, but he refused to stay and sign an extension, probably aware that repeating those results was going to be difficult. Just like in 2011, 2015 was a year of wait: Jofuku opted to stay at the window and wait for a top-club’s offer. Which it came once Massimo Ficcadenti left Tokyo, with Jofuku coming back to his beloved club, refusing other chances.

In fact, though, this second stint at FC Tokyo – the third if you count the previous work done for the club in the early 2000s – has resulted in a massive blow. FC Tokyo were coming from a fourth place and a qualification to 2016 AFC Champions League. But the journey through that season was terrifying enough to convince the board to get rid of Jofuku way before the ending of the year.

I was at the Ajinomoto Stadium, actually. I saw the Tamagawa Clasico of April 2016, when Kawasaki Frontale crushed FC Tokyo not that much in the score, but on the pitch. You could clearly see how that derby was more than a challenge for the top of the table: it was a clash of beliefs. Jofuku against Kazama, an old-fashioned way of playing football against an over-risking, but exciting one.

Jofuku paid this attitude in the end. New signings haven’t impacted the club as everyone was hoping to (Takuma Abe is in Sendai, Yota Akimoto is back to Shonan, Kota Mizunuma thrives in Osaka with Cerezo and Yuichi Komano is playing in JFL) and results hadn’t come: out in Champions League in the Round of 16, FC Tokyo lost four out of the first games in the second stage of 2016 and Jofuku was sacked.

After such a letdown, consumed in a few months, and with the league already experimenting massive projects of a different game flow somewhere in J1, it could have been the end of Jofuku at a certain level. Instead, something happened while waiting again for another chance.

Hiroshima calling

2010s in Japanese football were owned by Sanfrecce Hiroshima. Of course, Kashima Antlers and Urawa Red Diamonds brought back a Champions League trophy to Japan after years of drought; Kawasaki Frontale might still achieve a threepeat of titles, but… it’s undeniable how Hajime Moriyasu shaped Japanese football through his work (and it’s not an accident if he’s now the manager of the national team).

Sanfrecce Hiroshima hadn’t feature such a great story. Before their first national title in 2012, they played five finals between Emperor’s Cup and J. League Cup, but lose all of them. They got relegated twice, only to come back immediately to J1. Despite all of this, the pattern installed by Mihailo Petrović – five and half season in Hiroshima, before going firstly to Saitama and Sapporo – was one of a spectacular and funny team.

This changed under Moriyasu. Not so much about the sympathy that many felt for Sanfrecce – many neutral fans of Japanese football were happy to see a new face thriving –, but on the pitch things changed a little. Sanfrecce were capable to play a nice way of football, but they looked more defensive. And in a certain why, that’s why they were able to win three titles in four years: the 3-5-1-1 (or 3-4-2-1) imposed by Moriyasu worked.

But that enchantment dropped after five seasons: after coming sixth in 2016, Sanfrecce almost risked relegation in 2017 and they sacked Moriyasu mid-season. This didn’t change the fate of the manager (who was tipped anyway to coach the JNT and was in the technical staff during 2018 World Cup), but it changed Hiroshima. No more titles, more carefulness in the way of lining up in the pitch.

And after Jan Jönsson saved Sanfrecce from an almost-certain relegation, that’s where Jofuku came into the picture. He was hired after spending a whole year again with JFA, but his return wasn’t tipped as a wise choice. It seemed a desperation move, also because Sanfrecce had lost several players – Anderson Lopes and Peter Utaka, for example – and Jönsson should have probably rewarded with a confirm.

While the Swedish managed did indeed find a new gig with S-Pulse (doing well with a young squad), Jofuku pulled off a magic trick by looking at the past. He took the old core of the Hiroshima-based club – just think of Takuto Hayashi, Hiroki Mizumoto, Toshihiro Aoyama, Kosei Shibasaki – and proceed with the 3-5-1-1. And it’s not that big of a master move, if you think about it.

Not only Sanfrecce are used to play that kind of formation, but many players who featured in their 2018 season already had an experience with Jofuku in Kofu. Patric had a blasting season, but he had already worked with the manager before going to Gamba; Sho Sasaki and Yoshifumi Kashiwa were bought by Sanfrecce from Ventforet; Sho Inagaki played his first pro-match under Jofuku.

From Match Day 5, Sanfrecce Hiroshima topped the table for 22 weeks, only to drop a few miles from the finish line. They had an extraordinary run of 14 games from the start by winning 12 of those, drawing against Iwata and losing only in Tokyo. Patric seemed capable of scoring in any way, just enough to suggest he might be on the run for a JNT-call-up.

Their final string of results – seven losses and two draws in the last nine games – might explain why there hasn’t been a single Hiroshima player in the Top XI of 2018. Last but not least, it also underlines how Jofuku mastered this result despite the absolute lack of stardom.

A bug in the system?

Scott McIntyre, a well-known guest on the J-Talk Podcast, would shout a big “no” in the middle of the Shibuya crossing, but maybe featuring such a team, such a manager – despite all these rising realities somewhere else in country – is necessary. Just like this season seems to witness, we’re not getting rid neither of Jofuku, nor of this version of Sanfrecce so fast.

In a league where almost everyone is trying to evolve to a certain direction (because Japanese players and football’s brand give this chance), Jofuku is travelling on the opposite way. We have realities evolving through mentality (Oita Trinita), pure game entertainment (Yokohama F. Marinos) or… money (Vissel Kobe), but Sanfrecce Hiroshima seem alone in this journey.

Yes, Kenta Hasegawa seem to come from a similar background, giving FC Tokyo performances in the last 18 months. But his version of Shimizu S-Pulse and Gamba Osaka were a lot more spectacular than the current capital-based club. Sure, Miguel Ángel Lotina is mastering a great season, but he comes from a different culture and country.

The final question should be this one: is normal that someone like Hiroshi Jofuku is still around in a league where Oita, Marinos or Frontale? My personal answer is… yes, because a rich tapestry is always more interesting and Hiroshima are anyway developing young players who could become crucial for the next decade of J. League football – I’m thinking of Keisuke Osako, Hayato Araki, Taishi Matsumoto and Tsukasa Morishima.

Football-wise, Hiroshi Jofuku might look as the bad guy in this league. But still, who doesn’t need a villain in a story?