Sleeping giants Urawa Reds have the firepower to once again reach the summit of the domestic game,

if Mihailo Petrovic can restore defensive order to a creaking backline. Football statisticians have a unique ability to induce narcolepsy in even the most obsessive fans of the beautiful game, but figures occasionally emerge to jolt the senses and help explain the outcome of matches, and sometimes, entire competitions. Urawa Red Diamonds !"#$ figures merit discussion for the simple reason that a similar return in !"#% will surely prevent any serious challenge for honours. &et s start by stating the obvious ' Urawa conceded a lot of goals last season. (he final tally in the goals against column was )* + a staggering number for a club with championship aspirations, and the sixth highest tally in the league. (itle winners ,anfrecce -iroshima lost only !. and F /arinos, $#. 0ven 1ubilo 2wata, in the midst of a disastrous season which culminated in relegation, conceded fewer goals than the ,aitama giants. (hese figures spea3 to a fatal, underlying problem, a defensive corrosion so deep that it completely undermined their quest for honours. ,o what exactly went wrong 4 Unforced individual errors 5 cursory glance over the goals conceded last year evidence an alarming capacity for self harm. 5ny reasonable analysis would conclude that at least ten of the concessions were entirely avoidable, including obvious goal3eeping errors from both 6ato and 7amagishi, own goals and various other defensive calamities which allowed opponents to capitalise. 2ndividual errors seemed to undermine their title credentials every other wee3. Inability to defend cross balls from deep Urawa conceded #% headers in the !"#$ campaign and while a few came directly from corners, the majority were the result of crosses from wide areas, around %" yards from goal. 2nvariably, these goals arose from a lac3 of pressure on the player delivering the ball and attac3ers being afforded freedom to attac3 crossed into the box, the best example of this being the $+! reverse to F8 (o3yo in round !). 9hile these are not insurmountable problems, :etrovic will surely be emphasising the importance of concentration and tighter mar3ing this season. Late collapses (he history boo3s will record that 7o3ohama F /arinos cho3ed within touching distance of the title in !"#$, but the Reds collapse was equally spectacular. 9ith four matches remaining they were second, two points off the top, but pic3ed up only one point from a possible twelve in the run in, ultimately finishing in sixth. &ate concessions in matches were a constant feature of their season; they conceded thirteen goals in the last ten minutes, nine of these arriving in injury time. (here was an increasing vulnerability about the Urawa bac3line the longer games progressed, though often, they were architects of their own downfall and the $+$ draw against <egalta ,endai in Round $! perfectly illustrated their inability to close games out when necessary. 5 title challenge this year will require some of the pragmatic game intelligence displayed by ,anfrecce -iroshima in the closing stages of the campaign. Formation failures and indecision

9hile the three man defence deployed by :etrovic has certain advantages + most notably opportunities for players to step into midfield and augment the attac3 + there are fundamental drawbac3s with the formation. 2n a standard two man central defence, one player tends to attac3 the ball and pic3 up the central attac3er, while the other drops off to sweep and cover deep runs from midfield. Urawa s three man bac3line seemed indecisive throughout the season, often expecting a defensive counterpart to ma3e the clearance or close down attac3ers . 2n addition, the defence was easily pulled out of position at times, most notably when the wing bac3s moved upfield, leaving the three man defence vulnerable to the counter, the best example of this being the %+" defeat to 6awasa3i Frontale. :erhaps the signing of =miya 5rdija s deep lying midfielder 5o3i is designed to provide an additional layer of protection, assuming he can find a place in the team. 2014 prospects (he #+" away victory over >amba =sa3a in matchday one represents an encouraging start to the new campaign for Urawa, who won by the same scoreline only three times in the whole of !"#$. 2t s li3ely :etrovic will perservere with the same personnel and formation in the forthcoming season, and /a3ino demonstrated again on ,aturday the teams capability to score from a variety of sources. (he acquisition of goal3eeper ?ishi3awa from ,anfrecce was an unexpected coup which should improve defensive organisation and stability. (adanari &ee will undoubtedly bolster their vast attac3ing armoury which already includes the li3es of -araguchi, 6oro3i, 6ashiwagi and Richardes. =n top form, Urawa Reds are a credit to the game and capable of dismantling the best teams in the division, and should :etrovic succeed in imposing a greater level of tactical order on his team then their chances of a first 1# title victory since !""* will be greatly enhanced. 2f not, Urawa Reds pre+eminent status in the domestic game will be in danger of being consigned to memory. Chris Collins @chriscoll10