Post-match comments from the Meiji Yasuda J1 League Round 12 match against Yokohama F･Marinos

"First of all, I would like to thank our opponent today Yokohama F･Marinos. I would also like to thank our 12th player, as well as all our fans and supporters. Your support was truly wonderful and inspired me.

I think the first half was a good game of football between two good teams. The tempo was good, and there were many good combinations. We played well in the first half of the previous match, but before today's match I told the players, "We need to maintain that for the entire 90 minutes, and maintain discipline on both offense and defense." I think we were able to display a very high level of tactics and intensity today.

I think that (Nakajima) Shoya, (Maeda) Naoki, (Tomoaki Okubo), (Alexander) Scholz and others did a very good job tactically. When we stole the ball in defense, there was running in front of the ball. And it wasn't just one player, but the first wave, second wave, third wave, all the players ran up. For example, when we scored the second goal, Tomo ran in front of (Ito) Atsuki, which created space for Atsuki to score.

In the first half, when we entered the final third, I think we were a little impatient. I think we could have played a little more calmly. It's good to see us making progress every week. Atsuki has been working hard up until now, and today he was able to reap the rewards. And top-level international teams need to be able to play two games a week. I think we saw the answer to that in today's game."

[Question-and-answer session]
(You've made progress compared to the match three days ago, but what did you focus on most in order to improve in such a short period of time?)
"Those who have been watching Reds games for a while have seen that we are beginning to demonstrate what we are trying to do and the potential we have, especially in home games. Today's players are the same players who played in our best game so far, at home against Gamba Osaka. We just fell a little short in that game.

In terms of deepening the relationships between the players, having to change the members every game is a challenge. I think the combination of Shoya and Tomo was very good in terms of deepening the relationship. I also think Naoki and Atsuki on the right were good. And I think the fullbacks are also getting better. Hiro (Hirokazu Ishihara) had a little back pain today, but he fought well even in that situation, and I think it was his best game.

And with Scholz returning, I think we were able to feel the importance of the relationship between Scholz, Samuel (Gustavsson), Marius (Højbraten) and (Nishikawa) Shusaku in the build-up play today.

It will take us some time to execute the attacking football we are trying to play, but I think we saw that in the first half against Kawasaki Frontale. Our offense was good against Kawasaki, but we conceded goals in a way that we shouldn't have accepted. It should have been 3-0, but we were at 1-1 at halftime."

(I think Atsuki Ito 's goal was significant in the sense that it was an inside half goal, but what about his potential?)
"Today, I sent Atsuki off telling him to 'go get two points.' At halftime, Atsuki held up one finger and looked like he'd scored one point, so I told him to 'go get two points' (laughs).

I think his physical condition is improving, which has led to him doing more running. And it was good to have other players running in front of him. Other players running creates space.

I think soccer is a sport of relationships. I think both of today's goals were typical of Atsuki's style. He ran out from the second row. I also think his build-up is getting better. For his future development, for example, if Atsuki had kept the ball a little longer in the play in the first half and then timed it to pass it to Naoki, I think it would have been an even better play. I think this is the next step.

He's also getting stronger physically, and he's a powerful player, so if he can play with high intensity and defend the ball, I think he'll get even better."

[Urawa Reds Official Media (URD:OM)]