Football Season Guide

Roasso Kumamoto had a very strange season in 2023. Early on things were going great but then come the summer the form in the league disappeared. At the same time, Roasso were doing great in the cups and they nearly became the first J2 team to reach the Emperor’s Cup final in 24 years. In the end, Roasso got eliminated in the semifinals. This deep run in the cup affected their focus and form in the league. Roasso finished 14th and 10 points away from the relegation zone but they had the equal third most defeats in the league with 19 losses in 42 matches. That said the run in the cup and the few wins against the top teams showed that if more consistency was to be found Roasso could easily have been challenging for promotion. The team’s captain and most important midfielder Rei Hirakawa left the squad this winter. This is yet to be addressed and so far this winter Roasso had been quiet on the transfer market. It seems the manager is banking on the facts that both Shohei Mishima and star striker Daichi Ishikawa will be fully fit after injury-ravaged 2023. If they stay healthy Roasso should do much better. Fit to play in only 17 league games last season Ishikawa had 9 goals and 4 assists in those.