On the 9th, manager Maciej Skorza held an online press conference where he spoke about his enthusiasm for the Meiji Yasuda J1 League Round 16 match against Albirex Niigata, which will be held at Denka Big Swan Stadium on Sunday, May 11th.

(What is the current status of Shusaku Nishikawa, who was substituted due to injury in the previous match against Gamba Osaka?)
"What I can say right now is that Shusaku has not been able to train fully, but the medical staff are preparing him for Trial."

(Does this mean that they are considering him as a valuable player in the FIFA Club World Cup in about a month?)
"I don't think it's too far off until we see Shusaku on the pitch again."

(Samuel Gustafson has not played in the last two Trial. What is his status? What does Gustafsson mean to you, Coach Maciej?)
"We have a situation where Samuel and Thiago (Santana) are not Trial. And if you look back at the recent Trial where Samuel has played, we have seen our build-up improve with each game, so he has been out at a very bad time for the team."

(This might lead to a discussion about what we can learn from the match against Gamba OSAKA. During our winning streak, our opponents came to take the ball, so I think we were able to make progress by reacting to their press. On the other hand, a team that waits like Gamba OSAKA is an opponent that you can't advance against unless you start from scratch and do something. When we play against such a team, we may still be lacking in something. It might be different if we had Gustavsson. What are your thoughts on that?)
"When the opponent is playing low defense or waiting in the middle block, you need creative players. In that sense, Samuel is one of the best players on the team. We need to learn from the match against Gamba OSAKA. We especially need to improve our performance in zone 3. I don't think the connection between the defensive line and the players up front was our strength in the match against Gamba OSAKA. We need to get that timing right. However, Gamba OSAKA had shown signs of being defensive in their previous home game, so we could have predicted this. There were only a few days between Trial, so if we had had a little more time, we might have been able to train countermeasures and it might have been easier for the players."

(The Japanese summer is hot, and as the season draws to a close, there are more teams that need even one point, so I think there will be more teams that will wait rather than trying to grab points than at the beginning of the season. Responding to that could be the key to moving up in the league, but how do you feel about that?)
"I think that's an area we need to improve on, and after the result against Gamba OSAKA, I can predict that we'll see more teams coming to Saitama Stadium with that kind of approach."

(What is your impression of Niigata and what do you think are the key points to victory?)
"I think Niigata is a well-organized team. They try to pass the ball around without getting impatient. Their full-backs are very aggressive. I also think that strikers like Hasegawa (Motoki) have a high conversion rate. Of course, their build-up is great, but I think Niigata's strengths lie in the team's overall teamwork and cooperation."

(It's been a while since you last played an away game after five consecutive home games. Is there anything you need to be careful of because you're playing away?)
"The flow of the game can change a little in away games, so for example, I thought it would be necessary for the Niigata match today, so I did some training on low defense in zone 1. We won't be playing in a stadium with 40,000 or 50,000 Reds fans and supporters. I think the atmosphere in the stadium will be different compared to the last five Trial."

(The five consecutive games at Saitama Stadium must have been special. How do you feel now that they're over?)
"It was a wonderful five-game series. I'm sorry about the result against Gamba OSAKA. Looking back at these five Trial, it was a time when I felt that if everyone involved with the Reds, the fans, supporters, players, and staff, fought as one, we could accomplish something this season."

(The goal conceded in the match against Gamba OSAKA was created when the opposition was free right after the start of the second half. I think it was an easy cross from the left wing, but Yoichi Naganuma was unable to swing his head and the ball was put in. What do you think about this scene?)
"It wasn't some brilliant or particularly good combination by the opponent, but it was a typical play. The biggest mistake was in the penalty area. However, I think Usami (Takashi) could have managed the ball better when he had it on the side. We shouldn't have allowed him to drop the ball. In the end, it was a situation where we weren't able to effectively contain the opponent in the penalty area."

(Regarding player substitutions, although they didn't score any goals in the match against Gamba OSAKA, there were some interesting changes, such as three substitutions. However, what is the position of experienced veteran players such as Takahiro Sekine Sekine, who can play multiple positions, or Genki Haraguchi, who is used in difficult situations, when the team is winning, and when the team is losing, for the manager and the team?)
"The aim of this substitution was to score a goal. We created some great chances not long after the substitutions. We had some moments that could be described as our best plays and best attacks of Trial. (Yusuke) Matsuo made some good movement to the side, and (Matheus) Savio passed it to (Nakajima) Shoya, who then cut it back, which came very close to scoring. Our substitute players also worked hard and played well, but we were unable to break down a very united Gamba OSAKA.

As for Taka (Sekine) and Genki, first of all, today is Genki's birthday, so I want to say "Congratulations." They come in as substitutes and play very important roles. However, we had to substitute Shusaku in the match against Gamba OSAKA, so we were not able to make all the substitutions according to plan. Two years ago, Taka came in as a left winger and played well, so I'm putting him in with the expectation that he will play like that. For me, it's a good situation to have a player who can play three positions: left winger, right winger, and right fullback.

Genki has both skill and experience, and is a player who can remain calm and play well in the opposition's half even under pressure from the other side, but perhaps that was lacking in the match against Gamba OSAKA."

When is Thiago likely to return?
"That's a very difficult question. There was a time when it seemed like I was getting better, but it was still too early. So it's very difficult to answer the question of when I'll be back. I hope I can return around the time of the match against FC Tokyo (on May 17)."

[Urawa Reds Official Media (URD:OM)]