Agent Orange Reports: Redneck Wonderland

Sunday marked yet another chapter in the epic battle between good and the red clad section who can only manage to take in oxygen orally and audibly* and have yet to find out about life's little treasures, like soap and mouthwash.

Ahhhh, but let's give our dimwitted red brethren credit, they managed to dust off an old classic from 2007 by bringing more signs with squirrels in trashcans. Gomi = trash, Omiya = us; combine the two and you have comedy gold!! They had about twenty of the signs and then they took them down and I thought to myself, "Oh, haha, those red scamps with their shenanigans."

Then, magically (Sigfried and Roy magically to boot), they produced a banner of a squirrel, a banner of a broken-down house that was I guess supposed to be NACK 5, and a big banner of a trash can... ohh, no you didn't! ROTFLMAO, ohh, you did! You put the squirrel in the big trash can... hahaha... YOU ARE THE BEST FANS IN THE WORLD!!

The Reds team was as petulant and cynical as always, controlling much of the possession but not really bothering to press forward. Milking the clock at every opportunity in order to disrupt any flow to the game. Crying every time an Urawa player touched grass. Taking cheap shots and holding players when they were trying to take a free kick.

The positive thing about the Saitama Derby is that Omiya usually play better than usual and today was no different. We didn't have the lion's share of possession but we did have the more dangerous chances. Let's be honest, that was a road game for us and we played well. Not a bad way to go into the break and I'm almost inspired to catch Round Two next month in the Nabisco Cup at Saista. But only if they Reds fans do that hi-hi-hi-larious Gomiya skit again.

Twats.

Game Notes

1. Mato Neretljak continued his streak of making one big mistake every game. His header to Hajime Hosogai set up the Urawa equalizer. The unfortunate part about it was he was inches away from making the game 2-0 with a strong header. If only he could swap the two.

2. We did have a good number of chances on the day. When we can get guys to calm down and finish those, we will be a very good offensive team.

3. Two plays I never want to see again are Denis Marques trying to show up defenders and killing the offensive flow and Yasuhiro Hato trying to nutmeg two defenders and tripping over the ball.

4. The Park Won Jae goal was outstanding. Having two offensive threats in the back four will help immensely and the long pass to Park streaking down the wing is a weapon we need to utilize.

5. Chikara Fujimoto had a nice sixty minutes. He stayed within the offense for the most part and kept in the flow of the game. We lost something when he was subbed.

6. The subs were a bit baffling, one sub especially. I was happy to see Shunsuke Fukuda play, but why not put him in defense and move Yosuke Kataoka up? I think that putting one of the midfielders on would have been a better choice than playing a rookie out of position.

7. Speaking of subs, is there really no place on the squad for Yoshiyuki Kobayashi? He looks good in training and would have been another threat in the last ten minutes. I'm glad to see Takuya Aoki is alive and on the bench, but we still need to win and Yoshiyuki can make plays in limited minutes.

8. I was a little sad to see Taishi Tsukamoto doing kid events and not a part of the eighteen. I hope he figures out what Jang Wae Ryong is looking for, because he is one of the most talented guys on the team. I'd also say he has the best free kick on the sqaud.

Three Stars

1. Park Won Jae - Scoring! Park Won Jae - Defending! Park Won Jae - Pushing a guy for a yellow card! He looks better every game I see him.

2. Yosuke Kataoka - The only time I noticed him was when he broke up a couple of attacks. Solid ninety minutes [has the barmaid from The Hub gone off him or something? - Ed].

3. Shin Kanazawa - Irritated the heck out of Urawa. Even got an elbow in the back from Hosogai for his troubles.

Red! Whiny!! Football!!!... Ohh, wrong one.

Orange! Happy!! Football!!!

Friends don't let friends support Teutonic crybabies.

* (Let me dumb it down for our less bright Urawa readers having problems reading this... you are mouth-breathers. Wait, who am I kidding, I'm putting "Urawa" and "reading" in the same sentence... never mind.)

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