Japan’s Attempt to Curb Arsenal-itis

Some clubs bring the full cavalry to their cup matches because it’s the only competition they have a chance at making a decent showing. Other clubs have more important things to worry about. Like fatigue, injuries, other competitions, and how the owner’s going to feel about losing a superduperstar to injury for the year up against Shittastic FC, and how said injury may result in an impending search for a new manager.

Well Japan’s having none of that. Play your best players, or else….

Chiba boss Alex Miller rested seven players because his squad are fighting the drop and Oita made wholesale changes, sitting 10 starters with just two points to climb to the top of the table. Well J. League’s Powers That Be aren’t big fans of this move at all…

The clubs could be banned from playing in next season’s tournament or have their seeds to join the competition from the fourth-round revoked.

“We want to make sure this kind of thing does not happen again,” said J. League chairman Kenji Onitake.

Japan bans “resting players” in the league, but has no parameters in place for cup competitions, where sitting valued starters is pretty much standard operating procedure up until the late rounds in the rest of the world.

This seems rather ridiculous to me, and it’s really simple as to why: How is this going to benefit Japanese football when their best, most marketable players are suffering from season-end fatigue in Week 7? And how’s it going to benefit the development of their youngsters and second-stringers if they can never play?

For a team I hold zero allegiances to, I can’t remember any cup games I’ve enjoyed more than Arsene Wenger’s Pre-Pubescent Reserve Team submission laying waste to teams featuring players who can grow a proper mustache. The J. League would be lucky to have such a young squad being run out for cup competitions.

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Category: Asia, World Football