2025 Meiji Yasuda J1 League Section 23 Avispa Fukuoka game [MATCH PARTNER Porras Group] Trial Comments after

I think the start of the game was very good. We were aggressive and pressed high, and we went to the point where it looked like we might have a chance. I feel that we could have done more at the start of the game when the early cross from (Matheus) Savio to (Takuro) Kaneko.

After that, the game became more competitive and both teams had more opportunities to play in Zone 2. The chances created by our opponents were all the result of our individual mistakes.

In the second half, we went for a high press at the start of the second half, but their goalkeeper was high in the build-up, so after the first few minutes, we set up in the middle zone and came out from there. This was to avoid exhausting the players, considering their current physical condition. We were able to recover the ball a few times, but were unable to convert them into good counters. All three of Avispa Fukuoka 's center backs were very strong today and we could not break them.

Then Trial made a change at the end of the game to press high again, and in the process Savio was brought down in the penalty area. Savio himself said 'there was contact,' but the referee checked and said there was no foul. Of course we have to respect the referee's decision.

Trial At the end of the game, (Avispa Fukuoka) put tall players up front, as they did in the previous game against Kyoto Sanga F.C.. In the Kyoto game, this is the form in which we scored two goals at the end. I had seen that, so I was a little worried about what to do with the last substitution slot.

We had not been able to break through their back three as a team until then, so I put my hopes on Shoya's individual play at the end. In fact, there was a ball from Shoya to Taka (Takahiro Sekine) on the left. But today, we could not play very effectively in the attacking third. And they tried to take advantage of that by putting taller players up front. It was not an easy situation for us.

Except for one mistake by (Danilo) Boza in the first half, (Shusaku) Nishikawa and the defensive line did a very good job today. Thanks to them, we did not concede any goals.

We felt disappointed that we could only do a little bit to close the gap between ourselves and the leaders Trial today, as we had hoped Trial to close the gap more. But it is also a point that we won through hard work while our opponents were also playing very well."

[Q&A]
(Today, you started Thiago Santana player for the first time in a long time, and I think he beat you to the ball in the first half.)
In the beginning, our game plan was to anticipate a strong press from the opponent, and when Thiago (Santana) came down to receive the ball, our top players or wingers would go out behind him. However, we were a little too far back in general to get through to the back.

After 20 minutes, we changed our approach and instructed Savio to use the space between the lines, and Thiago to move to the back and side spaces. I looked back at the footage of the first game against Fukuoka, and I think the first half was very good, and in that game, Thiago made a number of moves to get through to the back.

(I don't think Reds wanted to end 0-0, but with Fukuoka keeping the ball at the back for long periods of time, they had less time to attack. I think it was difficult to know where to win the game and get the ball?)
It was the third game of a three-game series in a short period of time. After seeing the players, in the second half I gave them the instruction to set up in the middle zone from the middle of the second half. This was because the goalkeeper was taking a high position, and when we tried to press high, the goalkeeper would be stripped off.

The opposing volantis would take up a high position, but our volantis were too wary of the opposing shadows and could not get there. Of course, it was necessary for Samuel (Gustafsson) and Kaido (Yasui) to be courageous and go out to the opponent's volunters, but I thought it would be difficult to continue doing so for the entire 90 minutes.

It may have looked like we let them have the ball and waited in the mid-zone, but in fact there were three or four times when we got the ball away from them, and that's what we were trying to do.

And when I sent (Matsumoto) Yasushi and Tomo (Tomoaki Okubo) out on the pitch, I instructed them to press high again.

(What do you think about the points you initially thought you would win and the points you actually got in the three games in a short period of time?)
Trial (What were the points you originally thought you would get in the short three-game series and how many points did you actually get? Our objective at the end of the Club World Cup was to turn the tide. Four points in 3 Trial is not what we wanted, because we have been away from winning for quite a long time.

As for the performance, we are disappointed with the second half of the FC Tokyo game, but other than that we saw the team giving their best."

(How do you think you can win more points with 14 Trial remaining, including reinforcing your players?)
'There are many aspects. What I can do as a coach is how to pick up points away from home. How can we as a team change the trend of away results we have had in the past? Without that, I don't think we will be successful this season.

I also hope that (Watanabe) Ryoma's injury will not be prolonged. He got injured two sections into this year, and we haven't been able to win much during his absence. And as for new acquisitions, we are working on it and hope it will be successful."

[Urawa Reds Official Media (URD:OM)]