Meiji Yasuda J1 League Round 10 match Nagoya Grampus Post-match comments

"We faced a strong team with five wins under their belt. When the opponent marks us man-to-man, it's important to move the ball around early on. Make them run and tire them out. We combined connecting plays in the build-up with long balls to target the space behind the defense, and I think that we got better as time went on.

Thiago (Santana) did a good job up front. (Ito) Atsuki was also making runs behind the defense and creating chances. Also, (Yasui) Kaito was able to score a goal as an inside half, which I think was great. And just like the other day in the YBC Levain Cup, (Maeda) Naoki again induced a penalty kick, which became Thiago's goal.

Even after we were down 2-0, I think we had the potential to create chances, but we needed to be a bit more composed in the penalty area. We were able to play in quite a large amount of open space.
It was a very physical match, but I think we were able to win in the fight for the ball and in the second ball. It was a match where we could see the players' great attitude."

[Question-and-answer session]
(I think your defense started off poorly, but it got better midway through. How did you fix that?)
"After two consecutive games without scoring, we faced a confident team with five wins in the league. I think that difference was evident early on. However, as time went on, we started to use the forms we had practiced, for example, (Nakajima) Shoya acting as the trigger, followed by Thiago pressing, and Atsuki going out to press. However, it can be tough to keep pressing, so I think it was good that we were able to reduce ball losses to avoid that today."

(I think Shoya Nakajima is the player on this team who can move positions the most freely. What are the benefits of using him, and what do we need to be careful of?)
"For example, on the wing, Matsuo (Yusuke) is good at speed and getting behind the defense, while Shoya is more skilled at using technique to throw the opponent off balance. With Shoya on the field, we can make changes by having Shoya go inside, Samuel (Gustafsson) drop back to the defensive line, and (Watanabe) Ryoma go up. Not only that, but today the intensity of the press was also very high. The level of their physical condition has also reached a very high level, so I think they are able to play with confidence.

At the beginning of the season, we had a fixed set of players, but we've been developing from there. For example, we've made some changes, such as having the full-backs more on the inside or outside, and we've given Shoya the freedom to move inside. He plays in a position like an attacking midfielder, but it all depends on the characteristics of the player and their relationship with the others. If Shoya goes inside, Ryoma can move up.

And because of this movement, Kaito, the left inside half, has to be more balanced. But of course, he doesn't just stay behind, as we saw in today's game, Kaito also makes moves to get behind the defense."

(You didn't score a goal in the two league games, but you scored five goals in the YBC Levain Cup, with an inside-half player also scoring a goal. What changes have you seen in the team since playing in the cup?)
"I think that playing matches helps deepen the relationships between players. In the last league match, we had seven new players compared to last year. Thiago scored a goal in the cup match, and Shoya scored two goals, and the fact that they were able to do so in good form gave the players confidence.

Moreover, we were able to score in the way we had practiced. For the first goal, Naoki Maeda received the ball, Hirokazu Ishihara ran around, and crossed it to the near post, where Hidetoshi Takeda came in. I think the players have a better understanding of how to behave in their respective positions."

[Urawa Reds Official Media (URD:OM)]