On the 22nd, after the third round match against V-Varen Nagasaki the 1st round of the 2024 J.League YBC Levain Cup, captain Hiroki Sakai shared his thoughts on the match and his feelings about the J1 League, the only tournament of the season.

"We knew it wouldn't be an easy game because it was at their home ground and they were a strong team. However, their well-organized defense meant that we struggled to get the ball forward, just like in the match against Jubilo Iwata."

(It seemed like the first half was dominated by attacks on that side.)
"The other side was pretty open, and although we had talked about that, it didn't work out that well. It's difficult when they're so tightly packed, so we wanted to use the inside as much as possible instead of the outside, but we ended up using the outside a lot. There isn't much space on the outside, so it was difficult."

(Alexander Scholz often tried to pass the ball through the middle.)
"When he came on, we had a positive player and it was a chance, but what bothered me more was the defense. There were a lot of risks and spreads during counterattacks. He hasn't started recently, but the space beside the anchor in our 4-1-4-1 system has been studied and used a lot, and when they create a 1-on-2 from there, the distance to the dribbler is inevitably farther. It's very difficult when they get up to speed and it's 1-on-1 on the halfway line, so that was the end of it today, but if we aim for the Club World Cup, there will be even more attacks than this, so I think it's important how we can share that as a team."

(Which way will Kaito Yasui go? He will be targeted in between.)
"It's not about who did it, it's just structure of the game, so the coach made some adjustments at halftime, but the other team made some adjustments in response, so if we make some more adjustments now, I think we'll have to play around with the team again. I want to be able to adjust to that."

(You were in the starting lineup today?)
"Today, it felt like it was about 45 minutes, or maybe a maximum of 60 minutes, but there was nothing we could do about the team's situation, and when things play out like that, it becomes difficult for the team to make decisions. It's important to improve our condition so that we can deal with that, and there's still a long way to go."

(Is this the only league left this season?)
"What's done is done, so of course we feel responsible for disappointing the fans. It's important for us to create an environment where people naturally support us, so we want to show that at the stadium. We haven't given up at all, and as a team, from here on out, it's going to be important, so we want to do our best both as individuals and as a unit. At times like these, it's easy to look for the negative, but I think we need to stay positive, so we want to keep doing our best together."

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[Urawa Reds Official Media (URD:OM)]