League Cup final a local affair

All the colour of the Japanese Yamazaki Nabisco League Cup final will descend upon the National Stadium in Tokyo on November 3, with this year's showpiece event set to be an all-local affair.FC Tokyo have reached their first League Cup final since 2004, with Hiroshi Jofuku's team winning through on the back of some impressive displays.The capital club topped their group from 2008 finalists Shimizu S-Pulse, before confidently dispatching Nagoya Grampus in the quarter-finals.Their final four tie saw them pitted against cup specialists Shimizu, where a 3-2 aggregate win over the two legs propelled them into a final played in their home city.If FC Tokyo figured they would command the lion's share of support at a jam-packed Kokuritsu Kyogijo, their hopes were dashed when neighbours Kawasaki Frontale also won through to the final.The Kanagawa outfit took a different route to the Culture Day showdown, parachuting into the League Cup at the quarter-final stage due to their participation in the 2009 AFC Champions League

Takashi Sekizuka's side signalled their intent with an aggregate 3-1 quarter-final win over Kashima Antlers, before beating local rivals Yokohama F. Marinos by the same scoreline in the semi-finals.
With the city of Kawasaki located just twenty kilometres from downtown Tokyo, thousands of Frontale fans will make the short trip to the capital, as they look to put the memories of their 2007 final defeat to Gamba Osaka behind them.
Sekizuka's free-scoring outfit could be forgiven for having their minds on other matters, with Kawasaki currently leading the J. League table by a point from defending champions Kashima Antlers.
However, Kawasaki arguably have the upper hand going into this League Cup final clash, with FC Tokyo's talismanic midfielder Naohiro Ishikawa set to miss the rest of the season through a serious knee injury.
Ishikawa had rattled home fifteen league goals prior to his shock injury, whilst Japan defender Yuto Nagatomo is also racing against the clock to prove his fitness for this clash, as FC Tokyo brace themselves for the potential absence of their two most dynamic personnel.
They'll nevertheless be desperate to add to their solitary trophy, after FC Tokyo claimed the 2004 League Cup crown by beating Urawa Reds on penalties.
Kawasaki Frontale are equally determined to lift some silverware, with the Kanagawa side still waiting for a maiden major trophy.
Higher stakes than usual for this Tamagawa Clasico then, as two of the most popular clubs in the region do battle for the 2009 League Cup at the National Stadium in Tokyo

Spurs reveal stadium plans, but transport remains an issue

Tottenham Hotspur revealed plans for a 56,000-seat rebuilding of White Hart Lane this week. An undoubted step forward for Spurs, even if the undulating roof-line is a little unoriginal redolent of Arsenal's new gaff down the Seven Sisters road.Ashburton Grove's extra capacity means Arsenal are coining in £3million per game, a revenue stream Spurs at present can only dream of matching. But with 20,000 on a season-ticket waiting list and 70,000 members, the club is confident of filling the new seats. The new stadium will be London's third football ground of more than 50,000 seats. With the Olympic Stadium and Twickenham to boot, the capital city itself could almost hold a big tournament by itself.

Spurs' problem remains its location, possibly the worst of any of the city's dozen pro clubs, around half an hour's walk from the nearest Tube station, which for London is a real trek. The nearby overground stations only accommodate toy-town trains, certainly not enough to transport the best part of 60,000 supporters.
As with the construction of Arsenal's new stadium, no money has apparently been allocated in the planning application to improve transport links, which seems suicidal given it is hellish trying to reach WHL at the moment and 20,000 extra fans will soon be heading to this fairly grubby and isolated corner of North London.

Arsenal built a big ground despite questionable transport links. They have an overground station smack beside their new home and an underground stop five minutes walk away but perversely both remain closed on match days. The club called the local council's bluff by threatening to leave the borough unless they gave them planning permission without having to pay to upgrade the stations, and they got away with it.

In addition, nearby Finsbury Park, a transport hub for North-East London, partially closes its tube station on Arsenal match days, inconveniencing the non-supporters in the locality (most Gunners fans do not live inSo Spurs, after years of pleading for improved transport links and eying possible moves to Wembley, the Olympic stadium in Stratford or further north to a greenfield site in Enfield, have decided to redevelop WHL and grin and bear it.

But how easy it will be to reach what is already an awkward destination on time for kick-off remains to be seen.

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LIVERPOOL Vs.LYON

Clinging to the rickety banisters I walked slowly up the seemingly endless winding staircase before climbing onto the roof of the Basilique Notre-Dame de Fourviere. The guide directed us down a narrow passageway which led onto an overhanging balcony that can’t have been designed for touring parties. I was beginning to think the middle-aged tour guide, whose capacity to converse in English would rival Paul Merson’s, was not as official as he had claimed. Having seemingly made up a route around the upper echelons of this impressive eighteenth century structure, he proceeded to bombard us with the least interesting and most questionable information known to man. It was like spending an afternoon with Bryan Robson Accompanying me and the linguistically challenged but otherwise likeable pensioner was little Danny, a connoisseur of great heights and an experienced building site campaigner. The rest of the lads wisely opted to remain in the bars and leave the culture well alone. Danny laughed at my fearful shuffling across the roof, and pushed me into every dangerous surface he could see. When I eventually summoned the courage to stand on and then look out over balcony however, I was suitably impressed with the view of Lyon that stretched out below us. The guide pointed out the ground of Olympique Lyonnais, and immediately our mindset changed. We could only hope that as the events of that evening unfolded, Liverpool’s grip on their Champions League status would be as unyielding as my grip on the stone handles of the Basilique. As impressive as the building was, this tour was not the cultural experience I was expecting on arrival in France’s second city on Wednesday afternoon. It was however a far safer adventure than that experienced on my last visit to Lyon. We had stayed in the city en route to getting knocked out of the UEFA Cup in Marseille in 2003. On that occasion an unofficial stadium tour was preceded by the even less official leap off the top diving board into the open air pool in the grounds of the stadium. It was a strange decision to make on a murky March morning, and in retrospect it was an act I wish I had performed with clothes on. This time around there was to be no such embarrassing antics, and yet the painful irony that the events of match day four could see Liverpool knocked back into the UEFA Cup was not lost on any of the 3000 travelling Scousers. When news reached me of the draw for this season’s Champions League I was somewhere in the Australian outback, trying not get eaten by spiders. My arachnophobia was not matched by a concern for Liverpool’s impending season, which promised a great deal. I was suitably convinced that Fiorentina (whose solitary European success came in the 1961 European Cup Winners Cup), Lyon (who had never won a league title before 2002) and Debreceni Vasutas Sport Club (who?) would not produce a significant threat to Liverpool in the group stages. On the pitch, the sublimely talented but ultimately ineffective Xavi Alonso may have departed for Real Madrid, but with the limited Alvaro Arbeloa joining his countryman at the Bernabeu, we had acquired the cash to fund the purchase of Glen Johnson, a defender capable of crossing the halfway line, and Alberto Aquilani, a midfielder who could and indeed would score goals. Pre-season optimism in Liverpool was predictably high – and yet the quest to bring promise and practice into closer alignment so far eludes us. In European competition a lacklustre victory at home to Debrecen was followed by a deserved defeat in Fiorentina and an ill-deserved loss to Lyon at Anfield. The match-winner of the latter fixture, Cesar Delgado, had by that stage written off Liverpool’s chances of progressing to the knock-out stages of the competition. Liverpool went into the return fixture in France knowing that defeat to group leaders Lyon would leave them on the brink of elimination, with second-placed Fiorentina favourites to beat the pointless Hungarian minnows Debrecen. Delgado might as well have knocked on the away dressing room of the Stade Gerland before kick off on Wednesday and said, ‘Mr Benitez, I know you are under pressure so I have taken the liberty of writing your team talk to inspire your side’. He was quoted in an unmentionable newspaper as saying: “It won’t surprise me if we beat them again. People thought Liverpool would be a fixture in the quarter-finals but now we make sure they are left out. The problem with Liverpool is they are so inconsistent, with huge differences in the levels of their performances. We have analysed them against Manchester United and against Fulham and they are like two different teams. Nobody could doubt that Lyon are the best team in the group. We can go a very long way.” The match that followed was inevitably dominated by Liverpool, although the least balanced attack in world football proved unable to break the deadlock. The exceptional Fernando Torres looked as confused as the rest of the Liverpool faithful as his enigmatic partner Andriy Voronin exhibited an alarming tendency to squander both chances and possession. The equally frustrating Ryan Babel replaced the Ukrainian ‘footballer’ with twenty minutes remaining, yet surprisingly it took him only twelve minutes to find the net. As if to confirm the view of the ‘it’s not meant to be’ brigade, Liverpool’s deserved lead was cancelled out in stoppage time however, as the hosts forced home an equalising goal. Lyon’s qualification was confirmed in the process whilst Liverpool’s chances of avoiding relegation to the farcical Europa League were slipping away. Following a wave of unexpected defeats however, I am not about to offer a diagnosis on ‘where it has all gone wrong’ at Liverpool, like so many other journalists have insisted, somewhat prematurely, in doing. Liverpool truly are hanging on to the threads of their Champions League status, and their campaign looks on the brink of ruination. This draw may have been preceded by six defeats in seven matches, and at some clubs that would indeed leave the manager searching for alternative employment. But this is Liverpool. We will not bow to the weight of pressure from the press. We will put our faith in the man responsible for putting Liverpool back on the European map. The man who took a team without a centre forward to the European Cup final twice in three years. The man responsible for giving Igor Biscan and Djimi Traore a winner’s medal that John Terry and Frank Lampard can only dream about. Rafa has earned patience and will be given the opportunity to rectify his mistakes – and Mr Dalgado, how’s this for cockiness: I’ve just booked my flight to Madrit for May 22nd. Your team won’t get past the quarter-final.

FC TOKYO LEAGUE

FC Tokyo have been crowned 2009 Yamazaki Nabisco League Cup champions after beating Kawasaki Frontale 2-0 in the final in Tokyo on November3.
Before a sell-out crowd of 44,308 fans at a packed National Stadium, teenage midfielder Takuji Yonemoto opened the scoring with a swerving long-range drive that appeared to catch Kawasakigoalkeeper Eiji Kawashima off-guard.
Yonemoto had been honoured with the competition's "New Hero" award on the eve of the match, and he added the Man Of The Match crown for good measure thanks to a commanding midfield display.
The languid midfield anchorman kept Kawasaki playmaker Kengo Nakamura well shackled throughout, and by the time FC Tokyo added a second goal through towering striker Sota Hirayama just before the hour mark, the trophy was destined to stay in the capital.
Defeat leaves Kawasaki still searching for their first major title and marks the second time in three seasons that the Kanagawa outfit have lost the League Cup final.
Coach Takashi Sekizuka will need to rejuvenate his side ahead of a tense J. League title race, with Kawasaki just a point above defending champions Kashima Antlers with four games remaining.
The plaudits belong to FC Tokyo for the time being, as Hiroshi Jofuku's side claim a second League Cup trophy having also won the tournament back in 2004.