I'm beginning to understand what the great Australian football broadcaster Les Murray was getting at when he said in his autobiography "By The Balls," that analysing football for a living can be a grinding experience.

That's certainly what watching Shimizu S-Pulse's 0-0 League Cup draw against Kashiwa Reysol last Wednesday night felt like. That result means that, for the second season in a row, Shimizu S-Pulse have been knocked out at the group stage of the League Cup.

The result was arguably more interesting for the fact that Kashiwa bludgeoned their way to a draw, with any promising S-Pulse attack invariably broken up by a foul. That tactic has brought Kashiwa success in the J-League as well, but it's sure to infuriate opposition players and fans alike - and the angry scenes after Kashiwa had beaten S-Pulse in the League Cup earlier in the season, bear testament to that.

Elsewhere in the League Cup, defending champions JEF United look a good bet to progress to the quarter-finals, despite their 1-0 loss to Gamba Osaka in their most recent match. They should be joined by Oita Trinita and Ventforet Kofu, although Shimizu's group is a lot tighter, with Omiya Ardija the favourites to go through.

After the disappointment of Wednesday's result, I was hoping for better things in Shimizu's J-League blockbuster with Kawasaki Frontale on Sunday. As it was, Shimizu went down 2-1 in a pulsating encounter, but only after a terrible backpass by Arata Kodama (I think...I may have been blinded with rage at the time) gifted an equaliser to substitute Masaru Kurotsu. A shell-shocked S-Pulse immediately conceded a second, to the delight of the majority of the 21,208 fans inside a packed Todoroki Stadium.

The real match of the day was probably at the National Stadium in Tokyo, however, where 35,013 fans witnessed Urawa Reds beat the aforementioned Kashiwa Reysol 2-0. Washington and Shinji Ono scored the goals in front of a sea of Urawa fans, with Reysol's Kashiwa Stadium far too small to accommodate the Reds' travelling army.

There was a similar scenario in Yokohama, where a crowd of nearly 20,000 turned out to witness Yokohama FC go down 1-0 to an out-of-form Kashima Antlers on Saturday. Both matches were interesting in that the partisan atmospheres generated at Mitsuzawa Stadium and Kashiwa Stadium respectively were negated, by the necessity to play in a much larger stadium.

Coming full circle then, and its interesting to note that Shimizu S-Pulse have switched their derby with Jubilo Iwata from Ecopa Stadium - a 2002 World Cup venue, back to their spiritual home of Nihondaira Stadium. S-Pulse have even gone to trouble of printing t-shirts proclaiming as much, with the unpopular Ecopa a sixty minute train ride from Shimizu. Just goes to show that when it comes to generating an atmosphere, sometimes less truly is more.

Kashiwa Reysol in first? Jubilo Iwata coming last? There's nothing like the opening day of the season to expose all your shortcomings as a pundit!

Last week I suggested that FC Tokyo and Jubilo Iwata were two teams to watch out for. I was certainly watching, as both teams were smashed on the opening day of the season. With regard to FC Tokyo, it was a case of "same old, same old," as they conceded four goals to a rampant Sanfrecce Hiroshima. FC Tokyo scored two themselves, but they seem to struggle with the concept of outscoring their opponents, in order to secure all three points. It was interesting to note that one of their big-name signings from last season, Sota Hirayama, finally cracked a place in the starting line-up, while Costa Rican World Cup star Paulo Wanchope warmed the bench. I guess that means that Wanchope should expect to make his FC Tokyo debut around the year 2008 - watch this space, he could be primed for a cracking start to his Tokyo career in about twelve months time.

Jubilo Iwata, meanwhile, seemed to be suffering from shock in their match against Kashiwa Reysol. Kashiwa employed some interesting tactics, which seemed mainly to revolve around kicking wildly at any Jubilo opponent within a ten metre radius. That opened up a lot of space for Kashiwa...since Jubilo were reluctant to go anywhere near the ball, and they exploited it by scoring four goals, to Jubilo's somewhat paltry none. At one stage I thought the fourth official should have run on and handed a pair of boxing gloves to Masahiro Koga and Norihiro Nishi, especially since Nishi looked like one of the few Jubilo players who was willing to duke it out! Kashiwa travel to Sanfrecce Hiroshima this weekend, which means that Kazuyuki Toda's eyes have probably already started to glaze over. Whatever odds you can get in Vegas on Toda being sent off, I think you should take them!

All eyes this weekend will of course be on Japan's second largest city, Yokohama. It's been eight years since Yokohama Flügels were "absorbed" into the Yokohama Marinos, sparking the wrath of the Flügels' support. Instead of sitting around and pining for days gone by, the Flügels fans did what any normal, slightly-insane football fan what do - they started their own club. Fast forward to March 10, 2007 and Yokohama FC are making their top-flight home debut at Mitsuzawa Stadium. Who should be their worthy opponents? Why none other than Yokohama F. Marinos, of course! Expect a positively nuclear reaction from the Yokohama FC fans, when the F. Marinos players step onto the pitch. Keep an eye on Yokohama FC's Tatsuhiko Kubo as well - he smashed home a 35 yard piledriver against Urawa Reds last weekend, as you do, and he joined Yokohama FC from...you guessed it, F. Marinos.

I myself will be delivering my own, somewhat warbled reactions, from JEF United's brand-spanking-new Fukuda Denshi Arena in Chiba. Okay, so the stadium is a couple of years old now, but at least it was built in the last three hundred years, unlike some other stadiums in Japan. JEF United were beaten 2-0 by Nagoya last weekend (remember how I said that that match could be really interesting? It wasn't!) and now they're under a bit of pressure, as they take on Shimizu S-Pulse in their first home match of the season. While I wouldn't like to suggest that JEF United Chairman Takahiro Yodogawa is trigger happy, I certainly get the feeling that coach Amar Osim could be headed for the unemployment office sooner, rather than later, if United don't take something from this match.

So there you have it. Lots of interesting things happening in the J-League, but if you have any sense, you probably won't take my word for it!

Wow, sorry for the cryptic Raised Fist title. Who would have thought that a kid who wears glasses listens to dodgy Swedish metalcore?

But moving right along, the J-League is indeed back and just like those breakdown-crushing, bicep-rippling Swedes, it may or may not be stronger than ever. FC Tokyo and Jubilo Iwata are certainly stronger, although ironically Tokyo strengthened by signing some of Jubilo's surplus requirements for this season. In Takashi Fukunishi (and to a lesser extent, Takayuki Chano), FC Tokyo may finally find some of the leadership and experience that they lacked last season. Yet in cutting loose the aforementioned Fukunishi and Chano (as well as Toshihiro Hattori and Hiroshi Nanami), Jubilo may free up room in their squad for several of their promising youngsters to come through. It worked last season with Yoshiaki Ota, and it could reap even bigger rewards this season.

Elsewhere, Urawa are still licking their wounds from a 4-0 thrashing handed out by Gamba Osaka in the Super Cup last weekend. Urawa may have been missing a few players through injury - including 2006 J-League MVP Marcus Tulio Tanaka, but given that they've assembled a squad that is the envy of every other J-League team, one couldn't help but notice the muffled cheers of joy from fans of every other J-League club, at the spanking handed out by Gamba. Spare a thought for Urawa's cross-town rivals Omiya Ardija though - they take on a potentially rampant Gamba on Saturday evening. (Actually spare a thought for last season's J2 champions Yokohama FC. They take on a potentially vengeful Urawa in their first ever top flight match!).

Kashiwa Reysol take on Jubilo on Sunday afternoon, but I reckon a far more interesting match-up takes place between Nagoya Grampus Eight and JEF United, in a match that could be billed as "the battle of the biggest mid-table clubs." Nagoya have the explosive Frode Johnsen up front, and his duel with JEF United's new Serbian defender Nenad Dordevic could prove fascinating. Whoever losses this match could be in for a nightmare season.

Personally, I'll be at Nihondaira Stadium this weekend, and it looks like I won't be the only one. As of writing, there were just 1,000 tickets left for Shimizu S-Pulse's clash with promoted outfit Vissel Kobe. The visitors can expect a hostile atmosphere (well, as hostile as Japanese crowds get) at a packed Nihondaira, and they'll have their hands full containing the likes of Fujimoto, Hyodo and co. Not to mention new signings Akinori Nishizawa and Fernandinho.

That's right kids, the J-League is back! And I for one, couldn't be happier.