NEWS
"It makes me think, 'I want to fight hard for this person.'" Coach Nobuyasu Ikeda (regular press conference 8/30)
On September 30, Nobuyasu Ikeda coach held a press conference online to talk about himself, the team's efforts, and his enthusiasm for the Meiji Yasuda Seimei J1 League Section 26 Albirex Niigata match to be held away from home at DENKA Big Swan Stadium on Saturday, September 2.
While the regular pre-match press conferences are generally held by the Maciej Skorza manager to answer questions from the media, the Reds are also holding irregular press conferences by the coaches as a new initiative, as Maciej manager has done in the past with his previous teams. Rafal Janas Coach, Wojciech Makowski followed by Coach Ikeda, attended the press conference this time.
(Looking at the training, I get the impression that Coach Ikeda is talking to various players and taking care of them mentally. What do you keep in mind when you talk to the players?)
I think it is one of my tasks to talk to the players, especially those who have played only a short time, or those I feel are not in good spirits or are troubled by their expressions. Players are solitary, and while they are working hard to compete in games, the time they are unable to participate is a very difficult time for them. In this situation, I want to communicate with them as much as possible, listen to their scabs and sufferings, and try to ease them. I don't just listen to them, but I also talk to them with the hope that they will be able to produce solid results when given the chance."
(Which players do you feel have grown especially in the first half year or so of this season?)
(Who do you feel has grown particularly in the first half of the season?) "I think everyone has.
Individual players can look down at any time, but now that they are training well in their daily training, the players who are playing in games are growing, and I think it is also leading to the growth of other players as individuals as well.
(For example, Yoshio Koizumi players had a troubled time, but after coming here, you can finally see smiles on their faces, and you can sense the enthusiasm to compete from Ayumu Ohata players who used to seem to be looking down, and I think Coach Ikeda feels this as well?)
As I said before, athletes are lonely, and I am sure there are times when they get tired of it, but there are also things to be gained from communication from others, and above all, both Ohata and Koizumi, whose names were mentioned, are able to organize what they have to do now on their own. I think that both Ohata and Koizumi are able to organize what they need to do now. Koizumi's facial expressions often show it, so I talk to him when he is not feeling well, but he is very humble, and when I talk to him, he always has the ability to think positively and always tries to do things. I think he is a very exciting player for the future."
(You have a tough schedule with a match against Niigata on September 2, followed by a home-and-away match against Gamba Osaka in the quarterfinals of the YBC Lewan Cup Prime Stage.)
We are in fourth place in the J1 League with nine games remaining, and both players and staff know that we have to win the game against Niigata, which is a game we cannot afford to lose. I think we will be able to proceed with a greater sense of unity against Niigata. As you all know, Niigata has the second highest ball retention rate after Kawasaki Frontale, so we must be wary of their high individual skills, ball retention, and goal scoring. However, I think one of our strong points, that everyone works hard, fights with a sense of unity both in attack and defense, and keeps the field compact, will be one of the factors for victory.
(Coach Ikeda's cheerfulness and team spirit is not the biggest change from last year, as much as I think it is, but in addition to your own personality, is it something that you are consciously doing because you think it is necessary?)
'I think it's both sides. As you all know, I am cheerful from the bottom up, and I think it is my strength to brighten up those around me. Maciej Skorza I also have a sense of mission that I have to do as a task under the supervision of the director. I was told by the club's sports director, Naofumi Tsuchida, that "Nobu should create the atmosphere of the team," so I am taking the initiative in doing so. However, since we are starting this year, many of the players are working together for the first time, and I was at a loss at first, but I have been trying to have the courage to jump into the hearts of the players since the training camp in Okinawa. Some players open up to me, while others are not very good at talking, but even with those who are not good at talking, I try to start by greeting them little by little, and every day I try to talk to them as deeply as I can.
(Rafal Janas Coach and I are told by the director Maciej Skorza that he is mainly in charge of the attack, but the fact is that the number of goals scored has not increased that much with regard to the attack. I think that is partly because of the overall standing and partly because of the aspect that if we could do a little better individually, we could break it down more. Is there anything that Coach Ikeda is coaching that you feel could be drastically changed if he could improve this area?)
I am not in a position to speak highly of myself, but in talking with Coach Raffa and other Maciej directors, I think that fighting with power in the final third and breaking down as a team have always been mentioned as issues, and they are gradually getting better. This is partly because the players are able to share what the Maciej director wants in training and aim for that goal. What we are talking about as a whole now is where we have power in the penalty area and where we put more people in the penalty area to get closer to the goal, and I think we need to sort that out a little more as a team."
(Is it a great pleasure for Coach Ikeda as a leader to see players growing when he is coaching younger players?)
) "That's a very difficult question. In my overall role, I watch players who are not on the team, and I also train with the younger players after the overall training is over, but I think there is a part of me that is happy as a coach when the players match what I tell them. I also think it is one of the most rewarding things for a coach when what we have talked about is expressed on the pitch.
(Niigata has several players who came from Reds. Was Mikiki Nagakura involved as a youth coach?)
I think Nagakura was involved in the junior and youth teams. I also know Kazuyoshi Shimabuku from when he was young. I have a lot of fond memories of Shimabuku, especially since he was involved in the selection process, and I happened to have a long talk with Nagakura when he was a student at Juntendo University. I am looking forward to having such memorable players in Niigata.
(I think Nagakura fits in the place of Ryotaro Ito, a former Reds player who moved to Sint-Troiden VV this summer, but how do you see his development from his youth days and his current abilities?)
I have always known that he is a player with high technical skills and soccer IQ. However, I think one of the reasons he was a late bloomer or why he did not make it into the J-League right out of college was his communication skills. He is a quiet boy, so even as a student he was not very good at talking, so he was a little late to the party, but I am not surprised that he is now playing in the J-League. I am not surprised that he is now playing in the J-League. I think that he has come here after all, and that he has worked on communication in his own way, placing importance on it. Otherwise, it would have been difficult for him to be on this stage, and I think it is his ability that has inspired him to work on it. I am very happy."
(I think the coaching staff has been working in a good atmosphere since training camp, how do you feel about the sense of unity among the coaching staff?)
Maciej (How do you feel about the sense of unity among the coaching staff? First of all, he had to communicate with the players to build the team, but what impressed me the most was that he first implemented what he had to do to bring a sense of unity to the coaching staff.
It must have been difficult for them because they didn't understand the language or the culture, but I think the coach first let the coaching staff know who he was and how he wanted to build the team. Maciej I think the coach put his body on the line to show us that he wanted to build the team in this way. I think he was probably working on the players at the same time, and I think he was working on the staff in the same way. I was a player, and I have coached top teams in the past, but I have never had a coach who communicates so well. It's a big frame of communication, but in terms of details, he would ask for opinions very much, like, "What about the next game, what about the players, what about this, what kind of players do you want to use?" He thinks about soccer 24 hours a day, and I think he is a coach who naturally makes the staff want to fight hard for him. He is the kind of coach that made me feel that way after the Okinawa training camp.
(I got the impression that the coaching staff was getting along well with each other, with Coach Wojciech Makowski and Coach Ikeda joking around during the Okinawa training camp stage?)
"Maciej The coach uses the word 'togetherness' a lot on a daily basis. What he always says before going out on the pitch for a match is 'togetherness. In practice, he also says 'togetherness' and 'one team,' and that is exactly what the team has become. Among the staff, including the Polish Maciej coach, Coach Rafa, Coach Mako, and Physical Coach Tek (Wojciech Ignatiuk) have been very attuned to us Japanese. I call them 'my friends,' and the camaraderie among the staff creates a very good cycle. I feel that this cycle affects both the players and the team. We get along very well, and I enjoy working with them.
(Coach Ikeda has seen a lot of players, including those in the developmental age, what do players who grow have in common in terms of personality and mindset?)
(Coach Ikeda has seen many players, including those in their developmental years. Another thing I think is that they do not dwell on their failures. They reflect on their mistakes, but they don't look down. Even if things don't go well in a game or practice, a player who can look forward to the next day and play soccer with a good expression on his face is the same for both the development and top teams. I think it is important, not only in soccer, to not drag things out, and I think having the will and awareness to always move forward is an element of growth.
(Some foreign coaches are overbearing and say, "All you have to do is listen to me," but Maciej I can sense a willingness to work together to build the team. I enjoy watching the team and the atmosphere is so good that I want to see more training. I feel that everyone, including Coach Ikeda, is building the team in this way.)
I think the atmosphere of the team is as good as everyone thinks it is. At the end of the day, I can spend every day wanting to see the players' faces and meet the staff again the next day, even at my age. Urawa Reds I think it is a great thing that the team, including the Maciej director, is able to build a team like this and keep winning. As you all know, the reason why the team atmosphere is so good is that experienced players and veteran players are giving their 100% in practice, which I think is very important. Among these players, there are some who have a hard time competing in games, but the fact that they are able to work on it without a single person complaining shows what Urawa Reds should be like. I would be offended if I called them veterans, but to see experienced veterans sweating the most, running at the front of the pack, and calling out to everyone, I think it is a time that symbolizes Urawa Reds".
(There was also mention of Niigata's Simabuku and Nagakura, but Reds also has players who were coached by Coach Ikeda in their developmental years, such as their classmates Takuya Ogiwara, Yota Horiuchi, and Jumpei Hayakawa. What kind of fight do you expect Reds, including them, to show against Niigata with players whom Coach Ikeda coached?)
As I said earlier, Niigata is a good team regardless of their position in the standings, with a high ball retention rate and individual skills. We have to win, and as I said earlier, I think we can win by being compact, being thorough on the ball and on the second ball, doing what is normal and natural, and working with a higher level of awareness. There are big parts, but it is very important to focus on those small parts, and in order to get three points in 90 minutes, we must not lose in the simple matter of fighting for the ball, even though it is tactically important.
(There was a time when it was difficult to get good results, but things have improved with three consecutive wins in official matches. Is that also due to the thoroughness of the routine that you just mentioned?)
The staff feels it is difficult, and so do the players, with the ACL (AFC Champions League), (YBC) Lewan Cup, Emperor's Cup, J1 League, and various other tournaments coming up throughout the season. We lost the Emperor's Cup, but we have won all the other tournaments, which proves that the players have grown throughout the season, game by game. I believe that the team, staff, and the whole team will grow in each game, which will lead to good results. I think the players are accepting that the transition from one game to the next will be difficult. Also, as was the case in the recent game against Shonan Bellmare, I think it is a virtuous cycle that the players who get a chance to play well and achieve good results.
[Urawa Reds Official Media (URD:OM)
While the regular pre-match press conferences are generally held by the Maciej Skorza manager to answer questions from the media, the Reds are also holding irregular press conferences by the coaches as a new initiative, as Maciej manager has done in the past with his previous teams. Rafal Janas Coach, Wojciech Makowski followed by Coach Ikeda, attended the press conference this time.
(Looking at the training, I get the impression that Coach Ikeda is talking to various players and taking care of them mentally. What do you keep in mind when you talk to the players?)
I think it is one of my tasks to talk to the players, especially those who have played only a short time, or those I feel are not in good spirits or are troubled by their expressions. Players are solitary, and while they are working hard to compete in games, the time they are unable to participate is a very difficult time for them. In this situation, I want to communicate with them as much as possible, listen to their scabs and sufferings, and try to ease them. I don't just listen to them, but I also talk to them with the hope that they will be able to produce solid results when given the chance."
(Which players do you feel have grown especially in the first half year or so of this season?)
(Who do you feel has grown particularly in the first half of the season?) "I think everyone has.
Individual players can look down at any time, but now that they are training well in their daily training, the players who are playing in games are growing, and I think it is also leading to the growth of other players as individuals as well.
(For example, Yoshio Koizumi players had a troubled time, but after coming here, you can finally see smiles on their faces, and you can sense the enthusiasm to compete from Ayumu Ohata players who used to seem to be looking down, and I think Coach Ikeda feels this as well?)
As I said before, athletes are lonely, and I am sure there are times when they get tired of it, but there are also things to be gained from communication from others, and above all, both Ohata and Koizumi, whose names were mentioned, are able to organize what they have to do now on their own. I think that both Ohata and Koizumi are able to organize what they need to do now. Koizumi's facial expressions often show it, so I talk to him when he is not feeling well, but he is very humble, and when I talk to him, he always has the ability to think positively and always tries to do things. I think he is a very exciting player for the future."
(You have a tough schedule with a match against Niigata on September 2, followed by a home-and-away match against Gamba Osaka in the quarterfinals of the YBC Lewan Cup Prime Stage.)
We are in fourth place in the J1 League with nine games remaining, and both players and staff know that we have to win the game against Niigata, which is a game we cannot afford to lose. I think we will be able to proceed with a greater sense of unity against Niigata. As you all know, Niigata has the second highest ball retention rate after Kawasaki Frontale, so we must be wary of their high individual skills, ball retention, and goal scoring. However, I think one of our strong points, that everyone works hard, fights with a sense of unity both in attack and defense, and keeps the field compact, will be one of the factors for victory.
(Coach Ikeda's cheerfulness and team spirit is not the biggest change from last year, as much as I think it is, but in addition to your own personality, is it something that you are consciously doing because you think it is necessary?)
'I think it's both sides. As you all know, I am cheerful from the bottom up, and I think it is my strength to brighten up those around me. Maciej Skorza I also have a sense of mission that I have to do as a task under the supervision of the director. I was told by the club's sports director, Naofumi Tsuchida, that "Nobu should create the atmosphere of the team," so I am taking the initiative in doing so. However, since we are starting this year, many of the players are working together for the first time, and I was at a loss at first, but I have been trying to have the courage to jump into the hearts of the players since the training camp in Okinawa. Some players open up to me, while others are not very good at talking, but even with those who are not good at talking, I try to start by greeting them little by little, and every day I try to talk to them as deeply as I can.
(Rafal Janas Coach and I are told by the director Maciej Skorza that he is mainly in charge of the attack, but the fact is that the number of goals scored has not increased that much with regard to the attack. I think that is partly because of the overall standing and partly because of the aspect that if we could do a little better individually, we could break it down more. Is there anything that Coach Ikeda is coaching that you feel could be drastically changed if he could improve this area?)
I am not in a position to speak highly of myself, but in talking with Coach Raffa and other Maciej directors, I think that fighting with power in the final third and breaking down as a team have always been mentioned as issues, and they are gradually getting better. This is partly because the players are able to share what the Maciej director wants in training and aim for that goal. What we are talking about as a whole now is where we have power in the penalty area and where we put more people in the penalty area to get closer to the goal, and I think we need to sort that out a little more as a team."
(Is it a great pleasure for Coach Ikeda as a leader to see players growing when he is coaching younger players?)
) "That's a very difficult question. In my overall role, I watch players who are not on the team, and I also train with the younger players after the overall training is over, but I think there is a part of me that is happy as a coach when the players match what I tell them. I also think it is one of the most rewarding things for a coach when what we have talked about is expressed on the pitch.
(Niigata has several players who came from Reds. Was Mikiki Nagakura involved as a youth coach?)
I think Nagakura was involved in the junior and youth teams. I also know Kazuyoshi Shimabuku from when he was young. I have a lot of fond memories of Shimabuku, especially since he was involved in the selection process, and I happened to have a long talk with Nagakura when he was a student at Juntendo University. I am looking forward to having such memorable players in Niigata.
(I think Nagakura fits in the place of Ryotaro Ito, a former Reds player who moved to Sint-Troiden VV this summer, but how do you see his development from his youth days and his current abilities?)
I have always known that he is a player with high technical skills and soccer IQ. However, I think one of the reasons he was a late bloomer or why he did not make it into the J-League right out of college was his communication skills. He is a quiet boy, so even as a student he was not very good at talking, so he was a little late to the party, but I am not surprised that he is now playing in the J-League. I am not surprised that he is now playing in the J-League. I think that he has come here after all, and that he has worked on communication in his own way, placing importance on it. Otherwise, it would have been difficult for him to be on this stage, and I think it is his ability that has inspired him to work on it. I am very happy."
(I think the coaching staff has been working in a good atmosphere since training camp, how do you feel about the sense of unity among the coaching staff?)
Maciej (How do you feel about the sense of unity among the coaching staff? First of all, he had to communicate with the players to build the team, but what impressed me the most was that he first implemented what he had to do to bring a sense of unity to the coaching staff.
It must have been difficult for them because they didn't understand the language or the culture, but I think the coach first let the coaching staff know who he was and how he wanted to build the team. Maciej I think the coach put his body on the line to show us that he wanted to build the team in this way. I think he was probably working on the players at the same time, and I think he was working on the staff in the same way. I was a player, and I have coached top teams in the past, but I have never had a coach who communicates so well. It's a big frame of communication, but in terms of details, he would ask for opinions very much, like, "What about the next game, what about the players, what about this, what kind of players do you want to use?" He thinks about soccer 24 hours a day, and I think he is a coach who naturally makes the staff want to fight hard for him. He is the kind of coach that made me feel that way after the Okinawa training camp.
(I got the impression that the coaching staff was getting along well with each other, with Coach Wojciech Makowski and Coach Ikeda joking around during the Okinawa training camp stage?)
"Maciej The coach uses the word 'togetherness' a lot on a daily basis. What he always says before going out on the pitch for a match is 'togetherness. In practice, he also says 'togetherness' and 'one team,' and that is exactly what the team has become. Among the staff, including the Polish Maciej coach, Coach Rafa, Coach Mako, and Physical Coach Tek (Wojciech Ignatiuk) have been very attuned to us Japanese. I call them 'my friends,' and the camaraderie among the staff creates a very good cycle. I feel that this cycle affects both the players and the team. We get along very well, and I enjoy working with them.
(Coach Ikeda has seen a lot of players, including those in the developmental age, what do players who grow have in common in terms of personality and mindset?)
(Coach Ikeda has seen many players, including those in their developmental years. Another thing I think is that they do not dwell on their failures. They reflect on their mistakes, but they don't look down. Even if things don't go well in a game or practice, a player who can look forward to the next day and play soccer with a good expression on his face is the same for both the development and top teams. I think it is important, not only in soccer, to not drag things out, and I think having the will and awareness to always move forward is an element of growth.
(Some foreign coaches are overbearing and say, "All you have to do is listen to me," but Maciej I can sense a willingness to work together to build the team. I enjoy watching the team and the atmosphere is so good that I want to see more training. I feel that everyone, including Coach Ikeda, is building the team in this way.)
I think the atmosphere of the team is as good as everyone thinks it is. At the end of the day, I can spend every day wanting to see the players' faces and meet the staff again the next day, even at my age. Urawa Reds I think it is a great thing that the team, including the Maciej director, is able to build a team like this and keep winning. As you all know, the reason why the team atmosphere is so good is that experienced players and veteran players are giving their 100% in practice, which I think is very important. Among these players, there are some who have a hard time competing in games, but the fact that they are able to work on it without a single person complaining shows what Urawa Reds should be like. I would be offended if I called them veterans, but to see experienced veterans sweating the most, running at the front of the pack, and calling out to everyone, I think it is a time that symbolizes Urawa Reds".
(There was also mention of Niigata's Simabuku and Nagakura, but Reds also has players who were coached by Coach Ikeda in their developmental years, such as their classmates Takuya Ogiwara, Yota Horiuchi, and Jumpei Hayakawa. What kind of fight do you expect Reds, including them, to show against Niigata with players whom Coach Ikeda coached?)
As I said earlier, Niigata is a good team regardless of their position in the standings, with a high ball retention rate and individual skills. We have to win, and as I said earlier, I think we can win by being compact, being thorough on the ball and on the second ball, doing what is normal and natural, and working with a higher level of awareness. There are big parts, but it is very important to focus on those small parts, and in order to get three points in 90 minutes, we must not lose in the simple matter of fighting for the ball, even though it is tactically important.
(There was a time when it was difficult to get good results, but things have improved with three consecutive wins in official matches. Is that also due to the thoroughness of the routine that you just mentioned?)
The staff feels it is difficult, and so do the players, with the ACL (AFC Champions League), (YBC) Lewan Cup, Emperor's Cup, J1 League, and various other tournaments coming up throughout the season. We lost the Emperor's Cup, but we have won all the other tournaments, which proves that the players have grown throughout the season, game by game. I believe that the team, staff, and the whole team will grow in each game, which will lead to good results. I think the players are accepting that the transition from one game to the next will be difficult. Also, as was the case in the recent game against Shonan Bellmare, I think it is a virtuous cycle that the players who get a chance to play well and achieve good results.
[Urawa Reds Official Media (URD:OM)
