URAWA RED DIAMONDS

We had a good start at the Miyazaki training camp-General Manager Hashiratani  

Urawa Reds finished their first camp training in Miyazaki under the new leadership. General Manager Koichi Hashiratani commented on topics such as their first training camp, players’ contract terms, Mazola who was made an offer to play for Urawa Reds and the retiring player Tsuzuki.

(What is your impression about the team building and its direction under the new lineup with the new leadership?)
In a nutshell, I would say that our players are so cheerful. Coaches also let out their voices well and I feel the real drive among the players for self-initiative in leading a game. They are not waiting for instructions. Instead, the team tries to do things spontaneously by themselves. Naturally, we have to thank Petro’s good team management for this. I can see sharpness in their training as well. They work on physical training well. But, even when they are working on their physical training, by introducing some activities using balls, players run a lot unconsciously. During the training match the team had against the National Institute of Fitness and Sports in Kanoya, the team not only had to focus on their ball possession but also changing sides using the big space of the field as well as actively dribbling the ball in one-on-one situations. The team also worked on counter passes and long passes to feed the ball vertically across the field using short and long passes well to move forward to the goal. I was able to see the players making conscious efforts during their training.

Now, I would like to take this opportunity to say that I am truly grateful for the people in Miyazaki Prefecture. During our training in Miyazaki, the people of the prefecture faced many difficulties such as the outbreak of bird flu and the volcanic eruption of Mt Shinmoedake. Despite such difficulties, the employees of the Miyazaki Prefectural government office, the city council, our training camp facilities and hotel as well as many locals supported us with wonderful smiles. I would like to express my sincere appreciation to all of them. I really hope that they will be able to overcome the challenges they face now. We will try to do our best to have a good result as we believe that it would be the best way for us to show our gratitude and to return the favor.

(Team Manager Petrovic seems as though he has displayed his determination to win in various different ways.)
He always tries to incorporate game elements in the team’s training programs. Whether it is a mini game or scoring kick training, the ones who lose have to run etc. He says to his team players before training that he would not tolerate anyone who does not try his best because they are not playing in a real match. Team Manager Petrovic told me that it was not his character to put up with a half hearted job. He says that it is important for the team to try to win every match they play regardless of the type of the match they play. He sent the players off to the pitch with this idea clear in mind when they had the practice training match. I believe his strong obsession for a victory will rub off on our players gradually.

(We understand that the team will have one week of adjustment period after they go back to Ohara and will head off to Ibusuki for their second training camp. What do you expect for the team in terms of their future team building efforts?)
During the Miyazaki training camp, the team mainly worked on physical training programs. But from now, the team will work on their tactics by working out how eleven members of the team will play in a match by having more training matches.
Our U-22 players will go to the Middle East for their expedition. But, having the players who were with their national teams back to our team again would be good for us to formulate our fighting strategies as a team.

(When will the Japanese national team players, Kashiwagi and Nagata as well as the Australian national team’s Spiranovic come back to the team?)
I thought the national team players played fantastically. I believe that our team manager is thinking to have some recovery time for Kashiwagi and Nagata before they will be joining to our team again. I guess Spiranovic’s situation will be the same. However, considering how he was not able to play with the team due to his injury towards the end of last year, he may join the team a bit earlier than Kashiwagi and Nagata. Though three of them did not play in many of the matches while they were with their national teams, there is no doubt that they had such wonderful experiences by being a part of their national team. I really hope to see them making the most of the opportunities they had when they return to Urawa Reds.

(Now, we would like to ask you about the players’ contract terms. Many more players are now transferring to overseas teams, many of whom make their transfers without transfer fees even though they were trained by the club. What do you think about such situations?)
Last year, Abe transferred to an English club during summer transfer period and Hosogai to a German club in winter transfer period with virtually no transfer fees paid to our club. I believe it is necessary to advance a discussion to work out and determine some kind of penalty fees or transfer fees when this type of thing happens. We would like to start our contract negotiation at earlier stage to conclude multi-year contracts with our players. However, this does not mean that we are strongly opposed to the idea of our players transferring to overseas clubs. We would like to release our players in the way that they would be successful overseas. I think that introducing appropriate amount of penalty fees for each transfer period will help players achieve a tangible result for our club first by playing several years for our team. Of course, we will work out our strategies depending on each player’s situation. We also believe it is important for us to disseminate the club’s contract situations etc. so that people would be able to know our present situation correctly.

(Who exactly renewed their contract with the club?)
Naoki Yamada and Shunki Takahashi signed a multi-year contract with the club. They have extended their contract with us until the end of the 2014 season. We also introduced a realistic and appropriate amount of penalty fee for each transfer opportunity period. We set the amount of their penalty fees based on their importance to the club. If they will get some offers by other teams despite the set transfer fees, it will highlight their values as a professional soccer player. We would like them to be successful as an Urawa Reds player first and then make progress in an overseas team. For this reason, we extended their contract with us.

(The club will now acquire Mazola from Sao Paulo FC in Brazil. Could you elaborate on his acquisition and the acquisition background?)
We had been searching for several candidates since last year. He was one of our best candidates. He is able to play in several positions such as FW, lower top and mid field. He is also left footed. He is capable of making a great breakthrough and has good goal scoring ability. Since we do not have many left footed players in our team, I believe that he will be a great strength to our team.

(Ryota Tsuzuki decided to retire.)
He had been training with the youth team while looking for a club he could transfer to. While I feel that it is regrettable, I also feel that I should respect his decision. He has made a great contribution to Urawa Reds and had many accomplishments for the team.
Due to the J. League regulations, we are not able to throw him a retirement match. However, we would like to hold a retirement ceremony or something to celebrate his departure to move to another stage.

[Urawa Reds Official Media (URD:OM)]