Iniesta’s Japan move turns sour
TOKYO: Andres Iniesta won pretty much everything with Barcelona and Spain but the legendary midfielder risks seeing out the tail end of his glittering career in the mire of a relegation dogfight. The 37-year-old joined big-spending Vissel Kobe in Japan in 2018 after making more than 600 appearances for Barcelona, where he won the Champions League four times and scooped nine La Liga titles. But the 2010 World Cup winner is now facing the possibility that he could become embroiled in a relegation battle for the first time in his storied career unless his side can quickly turn their season around. Vissel have made a disastrous start to the J-League campaign and sit one spot off the foot of the table after failing to win in 10 games so far. Iniesta has looked badly off the pace at times and suffered the indignity of being nutmegged in the build-up to an FC Tokyo goal last week as Vissel threw away a 1-0 lead to lose 3-1. They fired manager Atsuhiro Miura last month and replaced him with Spanish veteran Miguel Angel Lotina, a man whose CV includes relegations with five different clubs in his home country. "Where we've been coming up short is that we haven't been making the most of our chances and we haven't been able to see games out defensively either," Iniesta, who lifted 32 major trophies with Barcelona, said earlier this season. "All we can do is keep looking for a win and keep trying to improve," said the midfielder, who turns 38 next month. It was not supposed to be like this when he moved to the port city of Kobe in 2018 from Barcelona on a three-year deal worth a reported $30 million a year.
In May last year he signed a two-year extension for what will surely be his final contract as a player.
Vissel are Japan's richest club and are owned by tech billionaire Hiroshi Mikitani, the head of e-commerce giant Rakuten.
Iniesta has lined up at Vissel alongside German World Cup-winner Lukas Podolski and former Spain teammate David Villa, and now plays with ex-Barcelona pair Bojan Krkic and Sergi Samper.
But Iniesta has found success hard to come by in Japan, with an Emperor's Cup win in 2019 the only trophy he has managed to add to his massive collection.
Lotina, who took charge for the first time in Vissel's 1-0 defeat to Cerezo Osaka on Sunday, is aware he has a big job on his hands.
"We are getting information from people at the club to find out what has happened to put us in this situation," Lotina said after his new job was unveiled last week.
"When this happens it's usually not for one reason, but several reasons."
Iniesta and Vissel will hope to spark their dismal season to life when they head to Thailand to play in the group stage of the AFC Champions League, with their first game on Tuesday against Hong Kong's Kitchee.
They will also face the host country's Chiangrai United, but not Shanghai Port, who withdrew this week because of a tough lockdown imposed on the Chinese city to fight a coronavirus surge.
Lotina believes Vissel "still have time" to haul their season back from the brink of disaster and it would be a shock if they fail to top their Champions League group.
"We haven't had much time and I wasn't able to do everything that I wanted to, but today's game has been very useful for me to see how we can improve from now on," Lotina said after Sunday's defeat.
相关推荐
- 最近发表
-
- 提前谋划部署准备秋季开学
- YouTuber Nat's What I Reckon threw jar sauce in the bin to empower people
- Apple unveils the most popular iPhone apps of 2019
- 雅女喻佳丽 今晚争夺全国9强席位
- Michael Cohen fights Donald Trump at the Supreme Court.
- North Korean delegation inspects concert venues in Seoul
- Seoul trying to arrange North Korea
- Katy Perry's Met Gala look has a mysterious message
- Understanding Relational vs. Non
- South Korean delegation to visit North on Tuesday
- 随机阅读
-
- From Prairie Grasslands to Man
- 江海区碧道“变形记”:从有效治水、顺势治城到融合治产
- White House: Joint Olympics march to give North Koreans 'taste of freedom'
- North Korea to send high
- CPUs Don't Matter For 4K Gaming... Wrong!
- [Election 2017] [Herald Inteview] No pre
- Twitter forgets dead people, suspends plan to delete inactive accounts
- Ngonge double keeps 10
- Webb telescope discovers 6 rogue worlds. They didn't form the way you'd expect.
- Seoul trying to arrange North Korea
- YouTuber Nat's What I Reckon threw jar sauce in the bin to empower people
- US strategic assets scramble to Korean Peninsula
- Scientists discover where the huge dinosaur
- Key joins Alfa Romeo F1 team
- The "Birds Aren't Real" guy trolled a Chicago news station and fake puked on live TV
- Kind strangers keep feeding Mark Zuckerberg
- 9 Planetariums to Get Lost in the Cosmos
- Elon Musk says we're only 2 years from being able to nap in self
- North Korea to send high
- Finally! BTS open individual Instagram accounts
- 搜索
-
- 友情链接
-