Tokyo Calling – Life of a J1 analyst

J. League isn’t still among the most famous championships in the world, but there’s a potential there. And there’s one thing that’s more fascinating than being in that rank: getting there. The development hides more beauty than the actual status, the journey is always more important than the final destination.

Surely someone can relate to this state of mind if he has lived it in the first place. And Sam Robson, analyst for Football Radar, can definitely tell his side of the story in approaching the Japanese world of sakka. A story started in England and which made him one of the most recognizable voices about Japanese football outside of the Land of the Rising Sun (ask Copa90).

We asked Sam some questions about how he got closer to J. League, which elements he prefers and how the league might grow in the upcoming years. Enjoy!

First of all, Sam: how did you discover J. League in the first place? And how it became a job for you?

I hadn’t really had any experience of the J.League and Japanese football before starting at Football Radar. I had enjoyed watching Japan at various World Cups and knew a lot of the European based players, but the J.League had not received a lot of media attention in the UK.

Events of that 2015 season? After winning the J3 title the year before, Zweigen Kanazawa faced their maiden campaign in J2.

I started at Football Radar just after the 2014 FIFA World Cup, and worked as a Match Analyst where I would watch football from around the World, from the J.League in the morning to Brazil’s Serie A in the evening. Eventually, just before the start of the 2015 season, a space opened up as a League Analyst for J2, and after really getting into the final few months of the 2014 season, I knew it was a league I wanted to get involved with.

Which elements of the league and/or of the Japanese football movement conquered your interest?

I think it really helped that the situation in both J1 and J2 in 2014 towards the end of the season was really exciting. In J1 there was the incredible final day, where five teams had a chance of winning the league, and eventually Gamba Osaka did so with a draw against bottom of the league Tokushima Vortis.

Then in J2 there was that famous Jubilo Iwata v. Montedio Yamagata playoff game when Yamagata ‘keeper Norihiro Yamagishi produced an incredible header to win it for his side on their way to J1. Besides that though, I just loved the overall package of Japanese football.

It combines exciting football and technically gifted footballers with the ridiculousness of some of the goalkeeping, the mascots and the magnificent and unique fanbases.

Did you have the chance of maybe going backwards, discovering some elements and stories from the past?

I cannot pretend to be any sort of J.League historian, but I have enjoyed delving into more of the origins of football in Japan before the formation of the League. I had the pleasure of visiting the Kobe Regatta and Athletic Club with Alan Gibson on a visit to Japan a few years back, with that club involved in the first ever competitive game in Japan in 1888.

Also the links with the UK have been very interesting to look into. The likes of Gary Lineker and Arsene Wenger’s involvement in the early stages of the J.League are well known, but the crossover began with English sailors helping to bring the game to Japan, the English FA presented the original Emperor’s Cup trophy, we now just need a few more British players in the leagues!

Are there some players you fell in love with during your time covering J. League?

There are lots of players that I have fallen in love with over the years, but you have to be careful as they break your heart and leave for Europe too soon.

I think the first player that I really got behind was Genki Omae then at Shimizu S-Pulse. He doesn’t necessarily look as if he should be a great player, but he was, and still is. He scores an incredible range of goals, delivery is great and always played with a smile on his face that endeared him to both me and many supporters.

Most recently, Jay Bothroyd thriving in Sapporo.

Of the current players that I watch each week in J1, it would have to be Ryota Oshima at Kawasaki Frontale. For me he is the best Japanese midfielder in the league and an incredible talent. If he wasn’t so injury prone, he’d be a guaranteed starter for Japan and playing regularly in Europe. He has the ability to play any number of roles in midfield. He can do the dirty work, winning the ball back, one moment and the next moment he’s setting up goals with sublime through passes.

How much difference you still feel between J. League and European leagues? It seems like the gap with South American leagues isn’t there anymore, but will there be a time where the Japanese championship will be able to fight with the best ones in the world?

It is always difficult to really compare the J.League with its European counterparts as there aren’t many occasions when we get to see Japanese teams take on European sides. The friendlies this Summer came while the European sides were not up to speed, so while Kawasaki’s win over Chelsea was a great occasion, in reality it didn’t really mean a lot.

Similarly in the FIFA Club World Cup, where recently Kashima Antlers have met and fared pretty well against Real Madrid, Kashima in both games were coming off the back of a long season, so won’t have been at their best level.

The league is definitely improving though, more and more J.League players seem to be heading to Europe, and seem to be playing regularly in places like the Netherlands and Belgium, so I do think that the league is comparable to that second tier of European Leagues.

In terms of whether Japan will ever be able to compete with the likes of the English Premier League and Spanish LaLiga, I’d say that in the future it’s possible, but it is going to take a long time. Even with the DAZN TV deal, the resources in Japanese football pale into insignificance when compared to the major leagues in Europe.

I would encourage the league to continue to build slowly on the path which it has set out in the ‘100 Year Plan’, continue to build the foundations, while also sprinkling in some of the world class talents that it has in recent years, to help build exposure to the league. Those players though have to buy into the project of helping to build the league.

I feel Andres Iniesta is an ideal example of this. A top class player and professional who still performs on the pitch, but also gets involved with training youngsters in the local area as well as helping his younger teammates on and off the pitch.

Thanks again to Sam for his time, he was very kind and available. He has the same attitude on Twitter, where you can find him @FRsoccerSam, where he carefully keeps following Japanese football matchday by matchday. Give him a following and let’s enjoy the remaining of this long season!