On the 5th, Maciej Skorza director's press conference was held online and he talked about his enthusiasm for the MEIJI YASUDA J1 100 YEAR VISION LEAGUE Regional League Round 5 game Mito Hollyhock [MATCH PARTNER RDC] to be held on the 7th (Sat) at Saitama Stadium.

(Unfortunately, we lost the previous game against Kashima Antlers, but I think one of the issues we had last year was that bad things kept happening, for example, in the time after scoring a goal or in the next Trial after losing a game. I think this game against Mito is important to break that, but what do you see in the reaction of the players during the week leading up to that game?)
I think the reaction after this painful loss is very important and we have to show our strength here. In this week's practice, I saw the ability of the players to switch and prepare to show something different than what they showed last Trial. The whole team is motivated to fight bravely here at home with confidence, and also to continue what we have taken away from training camp this year."

(Takahiro Sekine player tried out for the sideback position last year, but I was told by him that he also wanted to start this season competing in his natural attacking position. I don't mean to imply that he is unhappy with the side back position he is playing now, but Maciej what aspects of him are suitable as a side back, or what good does he bring to the team by using him at side back that you would be willing to entrust him with?)
'Taka has been very good in pre-season and I think he is doing quite well. He has earned his starting spot in the right back position. I am pleased with his performance so far. Compared to last year, his defense has improved a lot. I think his positioning in particular has improved. He is also a good build-up player, which is very important in attack. There was also the great vertical pass to Takuro (Kaneko) for the first goal against Kashima. Yokohama F･Marinos He also has the ability to score, as he showed in the first goal against Kashima. Considering the right back position, I don't want to ask for more from him. I hope he will continue what he is doing now. But as you said, he can play both left wing and right wing, and he can be very effective there as well. He has played that position in training, so we hope to use him there as well Trial if necessary."

(Mito, our next opponent, is a team that presses aggressively in the J1 competition as a challenger and tries to play soccer with the ball in their own hands, compared to JEF United Ichihara Chiba, who are also in the promotion group. What do you want to emphasize when playing such an opponent at home?)
I think Mito is an organized team. I also think that when they have the ball, they are a team that can push in and keep the ball for a long time, as they did in the first goal against Kawasaki (Frontale). I think our attacking players, such as Chihiro Kato, Shinta Watanabe, and Yoshiki Toriumi, are skilled and fast. They are also good at switching and can press Gegen when the ball is passed to the opponent. I think we have to prepare the best we can in order to control the game from the start and make it a good Trial.

(What will be the key to winning in 90 minutes against such a Mito team?)
(What will be the key to winning in 90 minutes against such a Mito team? They play a very compact defense in Zone 2 and Zone 1, so we will need to play with speed. We need that in order to use half-spaces, spaces between lines, etc. We also need to have good switching as a team. We also have good switching as a team, so risk management when we are attacking will be important. Mito is a team that changes what they do depending on the opponent. They may try new things against us. In particular, we change our throw-ins in Zone 3 quite a bit depending on the opponent. For example, we did that against Kawasaki. For us, I think we need to be tactically disciplined against this opponent."

(How do you feel about the continuity of the first 20 minutes against Kashima, if you can keep up the fight all the way through?)
(What do you feel about continuity?) "We got off to a good start against Kashima, but our objective is to maintain that for the entire 90 minutes, and I think this match against Mito is our chance to do that.

(Regarding the loss against Kashima, I think there were some mistakes made by the young players, such as Rio Nitta player's failure to take the first chance, and Kenta Nemoto player's pass that led to a CK when the opponent's momentum was getting stronger towards the end of the game. What is the coach's approach to such things, e.g., talking to them personally Maciej)?
I think mistakes are a part of the game, and Rio, for example, is still a young player, and I think he can learn from these things. If there is a similar situation next time, I think we should not worry about anything and shoot as hard as we can with courage. What I told the whole team was that in this difficult Trial second half, when nerves were running high and we were a little nervous, we should improve our teamwork a little more. For example, (Onaiu) Ado was Trial for the first time, and he is very open to accept and adopt our way of playing, so I think he will help the team more and more.

(For example, do you change your approach to a young player who makes a mistake versus an experienced player who makes a mistake?)
'It depends on the type of mistake. For example, if the mistake is due to unresponsive play, my reaction will be stronger, whether it is a young player or an experienced player. But for a mistake like that in the penalty area by Rio, I would encourage him to keep trying. There were four occasions like that in training yesterday and he scored four goals. I think his play gets better every time he goes on Trial."

(This year's Urawa Reds has the image of running, but if you look at the data, you can see from the numbers that it is true that they ran last year, and what is different is that their sprints have been strengthened. Was that something that the Maciej director was aware of from training camp or from the end of last season?)
We were aware of that since the end of last season and have been working on it since training camp this season. Yokohama F. Marinos If you look at the number of sprints and the distance of sprints in the first round, a new record was set last year and this year combined. However, I expect the number of sprints during possession and defense to decrease in the future. For example, if we can improve our press coordination and recover more second balls, I think we can reduce the number of sprints.

(Compared to last year's average number of sprints during non-possession, this year the number of such sprints has increased by almost 30. Last year it was 69 sprints, this year it is 98. Maciej Is that what the director is talking about?)
That's right. For example, in the game against Kashima, there were times when we went to high press and when they broke through there, we had to sprint 40 or 50 meters back to the goal. This is a phenomenon that occurs because we have changed the way we defend, and if we can improve that every week, I think we can reduce it. Of course, it was risky to press high against Kashima, but it was also an opportunity to do so against the best team in Japan, so we did it that way.

(The player sprinting the most on this year's team is Takuya Ogiwara. If you take Sekine's word that he has won a regular position at right back, how do you evaluate the performance of Ogiwara, who has won a regular position on the left side and also has the record for the most sprints in the team, in this 4 Trial and as a coach?)
Ogi has played ideally and I am satisfied with his performance this season. He is good in the build-up and in the final third, and moreover, I think he is doing a good job defensively. I also think that he is playing with a lot of confidence. It is very nice for me to see Ogi playing with a smile on his face after all the hard work he put in last season back in Japan."

[Urawa Reds Official Media (URD:OM)]