Post-match comments from the 2025 Meiji Yasuda J1 League Round 27 Trial against Kashiwa Reysol

"We went into the second half with a 2-0 lead, but the opponents were able to get into our territory quite freely, so we decided to defend more firmly in the middle zone.

Today, we tried to apply high pressure early on, but against a high-level team like Kashiwa, the pressure needs to be extremely intense, and we weren't able to do that today.

We conceded four goals in the second half, which was not good. We wanted to manage the game, but we weren't able to do that on the pitch."

[Question and Answer Session]
(They were also being pushed back in the first half, but after scoring two goals, it seemed like they were unable to go forward any further. To what extent were they able to carry out instructions to stay in the middle zone or play a low block?)
"Today's Trial was one in which we were unable to defend as we wanted. We were pushed back not only when we were applying high pressure, but also when we were blocking from the middle."

(I think the game was similar to the FIFA Club World Cup against Inter Milan, where you were completely dominated by the opponents. What do you need to do to get out of that situation?)
"We need to push the opponent back, but today we weren't able to do that even with the timing of their back passes."

Why wasn't it strong enough?
"Of course, we want to use high intensity in any high-pressure system, but today we practiced a slightly different type of high-pressure than usual. Perhaps our instructions were not clear enough and we were unable to execute them.

However, there may also be a physical element to it. I would like to analyze this week, including the flow of practice over the past two weeks. I can't remember Trial where I was in such poor physical condition."

[Urawa Reds Official Media (URD:OM)]