Football Season Guide

The richest team in J2 failed to live up to their hype last year. It wasn’t a bad campaign as such but lack of consistency saw them barely made the top 6. The disaster came in the play-off semi-final when a 3:0 lead against JEF Chiba was thrown away and the season ended with a heartbreaking 3:4 loss. Had the second-best goal differential in J2 last term +21 goals. Dominated most games and at least 7 of their 11 defeats looked undeserved. During the spring opted to test their entire squad in the Vision League. This led to 10 wins and 8 defeats. Some attractive football was played. Yamamoto and Izumi scored 10 goals each, Caprini added 8 goals and 6 assists. Yet, the porous defence led to only 15th place in the final standings. Fully determined to push for a direct promotion even harder this season Omiya added further firepower in attack. Thai winger Mueanta was shining bright in the Asian Champions League just last spring and now he will be playing in J2. With him, Caprini, Yamamoto and Izumi operating in attack it will be a small surprise if Omiya don’t have the best scoring record in the division this season. Captain Gabriel missed most of 2025 injured. He is a hugely impactful centre-back and when on the pitch the defensive stability is significantly better. If he can regain his form this season Omiya should also look much better defensively. The overall feel is that the money invested in the squad make Omiya one of the most complete rosters in J2 and it won’t surprise anyone if the Red Bull Group team tops the standings at the end of the season.