Three days after last weekend’s match against Kashima Antlers in the J1 League, the 5th section of the Levain Cup group stage has arrived. The E group is a big battle with 4 teams lining up with 3 points behind. The head-to-head match with leaders Gamba Osaka has already ended, but Tokyo wants to accumulate points by winning one match in order to advance to the Prime Stage.
Three days later, the match against Vissel Kobe in the J1 League is also coming up, so the members were organized with a view to the overcrowded schedule. The goal mouse was entrusted to Taishi Brandon, who has participated in all Levain Cup games. The center-back duo has not changed since the match against Kashima, with Souma Anzai at right-back and Kafumi Vangunde at left-back. The formation of the middle stage is the same three players as the Kashima match. Perozzi replaced Teruto Nakagawa in the front line.
1stHALF—Seek the timing of the counterattack while enduring the opponent’s pace
In the early stages, Cerezo Osaka’s pace. If the ball is put in vertically at an early stage, it will be brought to the finish without being able to recover the ball. Although there was no opportunity to score a goal, Tokyo’s chance of a set piece turned around, and Kapishaba’s speed was used on the counter to bring the finish to the finish.
Tokyo wanted to push back, but an accident occurred in the 24th minute of the first half when Yoshifumi was injured. It became an expansion to cut the replacement card in the early hours.
It was difficult to create a decisive moment, but in the 39th minute of the first half, he quickly carried the ball to the opponent’s penalty area with a slight counterattack. Abe Shuto’s final pass was received by Diego Oliveira in the vital area, and the shot was reversed, but unfortunately strayed to the right of the frame.
2ndHALF—Get 1 point with Nozawa’s big save
At the start of the second half, Tokyo wanted to take control of the match, and brought in AOKI Takuya in place of HIGASHI Keigo and TAWARA SUMITA Kota in place of Diego. Trying to overcome the situation by putting fresh members in the midfield and front line.
With this substitution, the flow changed, and Tawara Tsumita broke through the left flank several times to create a scene that was approaching the Cerezo Osaka goal. In the 22nd minute of the second half, they launched a quick vertical attack, and there was also a scene where Tawara no Tsumita escaped from Watanabe Ryoma’s through ball and became one-on-one with the opposing goalkeeper.
Tokyo kept possession of the ball for a while and continued to move the ball in the opponent’s half, but in the 35th minute of the second half, Crookes dribbled the ball into the penalty area from the counter. A shot was struck from a position diagonally to the left of the goal, but Nozawa responded by catching the ball in the right corner of the goal mouse and kicking it out.
Nozawa made a big save in the 41st minute of the second half. When he broke through the right side and put a cross ball in front of the goal, he was headed by Leo Searra in front of me. Although the shot was unmarked, Nozawa did not move his body to match the trajectory of the cross ball and just barely managed to grab the ball and scrape it out.
In the final stages of the match, they introduced fresh players and continued to aim for a goal, but they were unable to break the goal. He went on to finish the match in a scoreless draw.
MATCH DETAILS
Goalkeeper Taishi Nozawa Brandon
DF Soma Anzai/Kyosei Kimoto/Masato Morishige/Kashifu Banguna Gunde (first half 24 minutes: Yuhei Tokumoto)
MF Kei Koizumi / Keigo Higashi (0 minutes in the second half: Takuya Aoki) / Shuto Abe
FW Ryoma Watanabe (44 minutes in the second half: Tsubasa Terayama) / Perocchi (29 minutes in the second half: Kouki Tsukagawa) / Diego Oliveira (0 minutes in the second half: Kota Tawara)
SUBS
Goalkeeper Go Kodama
DF Seiji Kimura
GOAL
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GK Yang Han Bin
DF Riku Matsuda (0 minutes in the second half: Leo Ceara)/Ryosuke Shindo/Sho Funaki/Ryuya Nishio
MF Yo Kida (42 minutes in the second half: Riki Harakawa)/Tokuma Suzuki/Capishaba (13 minutes in the second half: Mioya Sakata)/Teru Nakahara (29 minutes in the second half: Jordi Crooks)
FW Tomoki Kamikado/Rikuji Kato (0 minutes in the second half: Hayato Okuda)
SUBS
GK Keisuke Shimizu
DF Yamashita Tatsuya
GOAL
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[アルベル監督記者会見コメント]
Q: Please give us a general review of today’s game.
A: For those who watched the entire match, I think it was a very rewarding match. Both teams fought aggressively to win. In the first half, the opponents created more chances than us, but I don’t think they dominated the match. Our defensive press was ambiguous, and it didn’t go well in the first half. One of our characteristics is intense pressing and quick switching between offense and defense after winning the ball. But it didn’t work well in the first half. Also, I think the tempo of how to move the ball in the first half was bad.
AOKI Takuya and TAWARA SUMITA Kota were brought on at the start of the second half, and the halftime corrections worked well, and we were able to play well in the second half. In the second half, we were able to control the match for a long period of time, and I think we were able to play good football, aiming for the opponent’s goal more aggressively. However, Cerezo Osaka also has many high-quality players, including foreign players, so we created some decisive chances, but it was also important that we defended well and did not concede a goal.
And I am very satisfied with Souma Anzai’s performance today. I think that Tawara no Tsumida also proved that he is growing as the game goes on. I think Perozzi was also playing well as time went by. Nozawa Taishi Brandon, who defended the goal today, also played well. In particular, he made some decisive saves that saved the team. If they win against Kyoto Sanga FC in the final round, there is a high chance that they will finish first in the group stage. In that sense, I would like to go to win the final round.
Q, Please tell us about Yoshifumi’s injury as far as you know at the moment.
A: I’m scheduled to undergo a detailed inspection tomorrow, so I can’t say anything at this point. Of course I hope it’s a minor injury, but I can’t comment because I don’t know the situation.
Q. Today’s lineup was the same as the league match, but please tell us your intentions regarding the composition of the members.
A: I have told everyone since the beginning of the season that I want to win the Levain Cup as well. Also, the fact that the number of injured players has returned since the beginning of the qualifying league for the cup match has also had an effect. After all, in order for young players to gain experience and grow further, they must put on good matches. It is important that they support us. If you only have young players, it will be an unstable game. So, as was the case in the home match against Kyoto, I expect that the skillful fusion of experienced players with the young players will encourage the growth of the young players. In today’s home game, we used a combination of experienced players in order to get three points at the same time as using young players and to encourage the growth of the young players.
Q, what are your thoughts on why you weren’t able to press the first half?
A, today we tried to use Perozzi and Diego Oliveira at the same time. Diego was not accustomed to playing on the right side, and Perozzi was still unfamiliar with our defensive style. As a result, we weren’t able to press from the front line very well, and we often let the opposing defensive midfielders go free.
One of our weapons is the high press. I want my team to press hard and steal the ball to create chances. However, today’s first half didn’t work well because the press from the front didn’t work well. Also, there were some parts where our playing speed was slow when we had the ball. The players have gradually begun to play at a fast tempo, such as one-touch and two-touch, but it’s not like they’ve been able to do that throughout the 90 minutes, and it can be said that they’re still in the growth stage. There is no doubt that the number of hours in which it is possible is increasing, but the current situation is that I have not yet reached the level I expected. The players who are not accustomed to this play tempo are working hard every day in that part, and I am sure they are improving day by day.
[選手インタビュー]
Q: Please look back on the game.
A: I don’t think it was a bad match in terms of content, but I wanted to be more calm in the final part and bring it to the finish. After today’s match, we have another important game against Vissel Kobe this weekend. I want to recover well before the game on Saturday.
Q. The first half was tough, but which part didn’t go well?
A: We made a lot of mistakes in the first half, and there were times when we weren’t able to coordinate well. After a not-so-good first half, we made adjustments at halftime and I think we were able to dominate the match in the second half.
Q, it was a change in the time zone that was invading.
A: Of course, I would like to play as long as possible, but the coach decides who will be on the pitch, and there are times when I start and sometimes come on as a substitute. Even when I’m not a member, I try to cheer on the team and inspire them to win. Even if it’s just a minute or two, I just give my all for the team.
Q, the play to save the team was shining.
A, I’m glad that we were able to finish the match without conceding a goal as a result of the match leading to advancing to the Prime Stage.
Q. In the first half, the team as a whole was forced into a tough battle.
A: I don’t think the content was good. We made adjustments at halftime, and in the second half, we all played with the same mindset, such as pressing from the front. I think it was good that we were able to fix the problems we had in the first half during halftime.
Q. Were there any improvements in the second half other than the awareness of the press?
A. In recent games, the most shared thing as a team is to stick to the team’s style, not to lose at the ball, and to show a “fighting attitude” that runs until the end. As for the “fighting” part, we all feel that we need to show more in our play. Even watching from the tail end, everyone was working hard, and I myself had a lot of plays that helped me.
Q, the shoot save that reacted with one hand saved the team.
A: It’s not possible to defend in a perfectly set state, so I assumed that such scenes would increase from the 15th minute onwards in the second half. It was a match with a lot of ups and downs in offense and defense, so I was able to imagine that there would be gaps in defense, so I was able to play without any rush.
Q: So far, you have played in every game in the group stage. Is it also connected to proving what you have accumulated so far?
A: Today’s match ended in a draw, but I think that being able to play in a tense atmosphere until the next 6 rounds to advance to the prime stage will be an asset in my own professional life. If we had won today’s match, the tension might have loosened. I would like to see the fact that I can play with a sense of tension as a positive and go into the next match as a team.
Q, Taishi Brandon Nozawa, what kind of thoughts have you been fighting in the Levain Cup so far?
A, I’m only thinking about Tokyo winning the title. I myself go into matches with a mentality that is obsessed with winning, and I think that I am improving with each match.
Q: Advancement to the Prime Stage will be decided depending on the result of the match against Kyoto Sanga FC in Section 6. Please be enthusiastic.
A, I would like to play only thinking about winning and breaking through.
Q. It has been a long time since you participated in the event.
A. The players around me told me to think about what I want to do and actively do it because they will support me with cover and other things. I was able to play with the intention of attacking the ball before the opponent, which is one of my strengths.
Q, there was also a scene where you hit a shot. Please look back on the 45 minutes you played.
A. Since I started halfway through the tournament, I had a strong feeling that I had to do something about it. So I was very disappointed that I couldn’t make up my mind.
Q: With today’s results, we have a chance to advance to the Prime Stage in the final race.
A: I’m glad that it led to the next match. In the next match, I definitely want to win and break through.
Q. While there are many substitutes, there are also many appearances on the right side.
A: I just do what I can do in the roles and positions given by the director.
Q, please give us a challenge for the next game.
A. There are many issues to be addressed, such as the quality of the final pass, the quality of the cross, and the finishing power of the shot. I would like to overcome the challenges little by little and become a first-class player.
Q. I have a feeling that new doors will open if there are any results.
A: I think the thing I lack the most right now is results. I want to produce results and become a better player.
2023-05-24 14:04:37
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