On the 26th, Maciej Skorza director's press conference was held online, where he talked about his enthusiasm for the MEIJI YASUDA J1 100 YEAR VISION LEAGUE Regional League Round 4 match against Kashima Antlers [MATCH PARTNER Porras Group] at Saitama Stadium on the 28th (Sat).

(I think the big news for Urawa Reds this week is that Ado Onaiwu players have joined and joined us. First of all, how do you feel about the addition of Onaiu? What are your expectations for him?)
First of all, for Ado, it is his return to Reds, and I think that is one of the most important events. Since the season has started and he is playing 3 Trial now, I think his acclimatization process should be accelerated. He has always been a Reds player, and there are many people around him who know him, so I think the acclimatization period will be short. Considering his skills and potential, I think he will be a great help to the team, especially now that Matsuo (Yusuke) and Komori (Tobiyo) are out.

(What are your expectations for Onaiu in terms of his play, and although it has only been a few days, what are his strengths, what do you expect him to make the most of in the team, and what are you telling him?)
'What I demand of him is the same as I demand of any other player in the Reds. I talked with him on the pitch after training today, and I told him what the style of this team is like, what the role of a striker is in that style, and I also told him that Reds now requires a very high level of intensity. But I have also seen him play in France and Germany, and I don't think he is a player who has problems with hard work, so I think he can be a great help to this team and can do it within this style.

(Next up is the Kashima Antlers match, and Onaiu will probably be available to play on the registration. In the past Maciej directors have, for example, used Marius Hoibraten players for Trial within a week of joining the team. Are you thinking about that kind of thing regarding Onaiu player?)
'I won't say that it can't happen. But I can't say any more about it."

(After three away games in a row in good form, you will open the season at home.)
I think we can say that we are satisfied with the result. 3 Trial only conceded one goal, but it was a very painful loss for us, so we are disappointed about that. Our next opponent is last year's champion, and we hope to press high with the same high intensity as we have here 3 Trial. I think it will be even more difficult Trial than the last 3 Trial, but we will not back down and defend just because our opponent is strong, but will go with the same aggressive style as we did in the last 3 Trial. We are at home, and our opponent may be the best team in Japan, but I believe we can play that style against them.

(I think the key will be to prevent the ball from going to Leo Ceara and Yuma Suzuki, who have scoring ability.)
(What about the key point?) "I think it is important to keep them at bay in the way you mentioned, and Eubel is also a player with offensive ability. However, they also suffer when defending, so I think one way to do that is to push them into a defensive position.

(I think you trained at Saitama Stadium before the home opener. How was the pitch condition?)
(How were the pitch conditions? The condition of the pitch at Saitama Stadium was perfect. It rained quite a bit yesterday, but we were able to practice on a really perfect pitch.

(What do you feel was the reason why you were able to get 7 points after 3 Trial matches away from home, which you were not so good at last year?)
I think the attitude of the players has changed. Comparing last year's away games and this year's opening three games, I think the attitude during difficult times was different. In the last 3 Trial games, there were difficult times, but I think the players continued to fight without giving up even once. Of course, it is thanks to all the players, but among them, Ryoma (Watanabe), Miya (Yuta Miyamoto), Shusaku (Nishikawa), and Takuro (Kaneko), who belong to the captain group, are doing a really good job.

(I don't mean to say that the players who played last year were not good, but I got the impression that they have changed this year, for example, their attitude of trying to defend as high as possible even in difficult times. I know it is difficult to compare the two because of the characteristics of the players, but Maciej how does the director feel about that?)
I think the fact that we have changed the way we defend a bit has also had an impact. Since preseason, we have been training to defend in a way that we collect the ball closer to the opponent's goal, and I think that is why we are defending while going forward. I think there are still some situations where we take too many risks, or where we don't do well when switching from one situation to another. Trial If we are in a situation where we can achieve a high level of intensity in the game, I would like to move in this direction, and the players like this way of doing things.

(Do you feel that the change in the way the team plays has had an impact on the players in that they are choosing to play with courage?)
Certainly this way of defending requires more courage from the players. I think that is one influence. However, I think the state of mind of each player is important. Everything starts in the head first, so I think the attitude before Trial is important, and I think the players are prepared for that every Trial. However, the Urawa Reds I am showing you now is not the final version. We are still in the process of building the team. For example, I think we had a good start in the opening game, but we struggled in the next FC Tokyo game. We improved on that and I think we improved against (Yokohama F.) Marinos compared to the FC Tokyo game, but it is still not what we want to show in the final version.

(More than 54,000 tickets have been sold, and I think Trial will be heated up with fans and supporters of each other, but are there any things to keep in mind because of the special Trial nature of the game, such as not being able to hear each other's voices? Are there things that need to be in the state of mind as the players are naturally motivated, heated up, nervous about judgments, and intense Trial)?
"As I talked to the players in the locker room right after the Trial end of the Yokohama F. Marinos game, I don't think there is any need for motivation from my side because the next opponent is Kashima and everyone already knows how important Trial this is for Reds. I think the content of the two matches against Kashima last year was both good, and we even created some chances in the most recent 0-1 loss Trial, so I believe the players will compete at a high level in the same way.

(The Centennial League will be a short season, how many points do you hope to win on average per Trial?)
(This is a very difficult question because there is a special rule that if you win the penalty shootout, you get an extra point. However, if we can get 1 Trial average of 2 points, I think it is possible to be in the top 3. But I don't know if that would be enough to win the championship."

(Looking back at the games so far, I believe that the 2026 Urawa Reds is an upgraded version of the 2025 model, is this a mistake?)
'That is correct, yes.'

(The reason I ask that is because I think we are seeing some very interesting results with respect to the areas that the Maciej director has mentioned as the reflection and challenges of last season. First of all, in the last Yokohama F. Marinos game, the right back scored a goal from a cross by the left back, and the team used the pitch widely and many players were involved in the play. What do you think about that part of the game :)
'It was one of those situations where we saw some good reactions in zone 3. I have no problem with both backs going up to the penalty area. What is needed is for the volantis to manage the risk better. Coaches Nobuyasu Ikeda and Masato Maesako have been working on this since preseason. Another thing I emphasize is the quick attack during the changeover. Immediately after taking a goal, for example, in the last Trial, (Danilo) Boza ran up and made a great cross to (Mateusz) Savio at the far post, and I want to increase such situations.

(One more thing, regarding last year's issue where not many goals were scored, I think it was the penalty area invasion by the volleyball players. In this regard Kai Shibato player has become a dangerous player for the opponent. There are some plays that make me think he will score more goals, what are your thoughts on that? Of course, I can imagine that when Samuel Gustafson player comes back, there will be more penetration into the penalty area?)
'That's right. We are working on improvements where the volunters are involved in zone 3 play. At the end of last season, for example, there was a situation where Samuel ran up front when we scored against Kawasaki (Frontale). Whoever plays as a volante, one of his tasks is to run up towards the penalty area and get involved in the play in zone 3.

(Although this year's Urawa Reds is very interesting, as the Renji Hidano player who was replaced in the middle of the game has the highest number of sprints in the league?)
) "If you look at the number of sprints, for example, I think the last section had the most of all Trial last year and of all Trial this year. I think that number represents the hard work the players put in throughout the 90 minutes, and there was some great work from the players off the bench. Rio (Futa) and Isaac (Kiesetelin), who came in from the middle of the game, and others, really put in a huge amount of hard work, and I think we got the three points as a result of that."

[Urawa Reds Official Media (URD:OM)]