Post-match comments for the 2025 Meiji Yasuda J1 League Round 16 Trial Albirex Niigata

"For the first 20 minutes, we were able to apply high-intensity pressure as we had aimed, and I think we were able to control the game, but after that, our intensity dropped and we were broken down several times by (Albirex) Niigata's strong build-up play. During that period, individual play stood out, as if we had forgotten about teamwork. I think we lost the ball a lot for simple reasons.

In the second half, we switched the positions of (Watanabe) Ryoma and (Matsumoto) Yasushi to allow Ryoma to be more involved in the build-up play. We also tried to better utilize the space behind Niigata's defensive line. However, we were not able to play effectively enough in today's Trial. After that, we replaced three players to try to manage the game better, but we conceded a goal from a counter attack from a corner kick.

Things weren't going so well in today's Trial, but we kept trying to score until the end, which is a positive thing, and in the midst of that, Hiro (Hirokazu Ishihara)'s great cross led to (Nagakura) Miki's goal. After that, we kept trying to score, and we had some close calls where the ball almost hit the goalpost. In the end, we only managed to get one point, but I think Niigata played very well today, so I think it was Trial that deserved to be a draw. From now on, we will prepare thoroughly for the match against FC Tokyo."

[Question and Answer Session]
(Samuel Gustafson has not played in three Trial Trial, but the team's expression changes when he is not there. In such cases, I think there are some things that need to be solved with a system rather than with people. What are your thoughts on this?)
"When Samuel is not on the pitch, other players will be on the pitch, but there is no defensive midfielder with the same characteristics as Samuel, so I think it will be difficult to fill that role as it is."

(Any ideas on what to do in that case?)
"For example, we are trying to do that by having Ryoma and Yasushi switch positions while playing. Considering Samuel's skills, I think he is a player who can bring balance between offense and defense to the team. If Yasushi plays as a defensive midfielder, he will have an advantage over Samuel. Yasushi is a player who can get behind the opponent's defensive line. Yasushi, Ryoma and Samuel all have different characteristics, so as a team we are trying to make the most of each of them. However, when it comes to the flow of play, I think there are still some areas that are lacking."

(You chose the same starting lineup today despite playing consecutive games. How did you make that decision?)
"First of all, we had only four days between games, so we tried to give the players plenty of time to recover. Their fatigue levels were also fairly low. Seeing that, we went into the match with the same 11 players."

[Urawa Reds Official Media (URD:OM)]