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MATCH
Match Report
On match day, Verdy took part in their third consecutive game with just three days rest in-between. After settling for a draw in their previous outing against Avispa Fukuoka, Verdy would now complete consecutive matches at home by facing Montedio Yamagata. The squad saw some rotation, to deal with fatigue, and Shogo Hayashi was moved into the starting lineup on the right, after having appeared as a substitute and contributed to a goal in the previous match. The scorer of that goal, Carlos, also took the pitch from the start.
Early in the match, Verdy struggled to find rhythm in their passing and conceded possession to their opponents. Gradually, however, they began to build a stable base in midfield and push the opposition back. Though Yamagata had given up a succession of goals recently, conceding 11 in their first five matches, on this day they were quick to track back and began to settle into a defensive wall inside their own half, fending off the Verdy attack. Verdy moved the ball patiently as they searched for an opening but were unable to disturb the balance of their shape. The players tried continually to play long balls into the space behind Yamagata’s high back line, but their passes were repelled by the defenders or rolled harmlessly to the goal keeper who quickly cleared. It wasn’t until the 26th minute that Verdy finally managed a shot in the vital area, with Douglas heading down a feed from Naoya Tamura and Shogo Hayashi latching onto the loose ball, carrying it into the penalty area where his shot flew straight at the keeper. The highlights of the match for both teams would arrive soon after. In the 30th minute, Yuta Narawa ran at the defense and played an early cross. Douglas got to the ball and flicked a first-time pass into space on the right side of the goal, where Shogo Hayashi applied the finish. The referee at first gave the goal, but after protests from the Yamagata players, it was ruled out for off side. In the 37th minute, it was the Yamagata attack that broke down the left side of the Verdy defense and floated a cross in front of goal. Toyofumi Sakano fought for the ball with Naoto Kamifukumoto and after being charged into, the goalkeeper spilled the ball from his hands. Akira Ibayashi then looked to have cleared the rebound off the line, but once again the referee ruled it a goal. This time it was the Verdy players who protested and after consulting with his assistant, the referee once again disallowed the goal on the basis of a foul against Naoto Kamifukumoto. By half time, the crowd had already been lulled into stunned silence.
The second half was a tighter affair from start to finish. As their opponents began a clear strategy of parking the bus, Verdy were given time to move the ball but their passing was too neat and lacking in the speed necessary to upset the opposition’s balance in defense. As to be expected, Yamagata shut down space in the middle and forced the team to spend the entire 45 minutes attacking from out wide. Alan was able to win the ball from a cross and fire a shot on goal at one point, but there were no clear-cut chances. As the match wore on, the players seemed to exhaust themselves, from all their time in possession, and mistakes began to stick out, eventually granting Yamagata control of the momentum as the full-time whistle approached. While never conceding, Verdy were pushed back during a period where they wanted to get the ball forward. The players maintained their attacking intent, even as the match entered additional time, but they were never able to create opportunities for a finish as their opponents packed the area. When the whistle sounded for full time, the game was still deadlocked and ended as a scoreless draw.
Thus, Verdy ended their busy period of three matches results of 0-0, 1-1, and 0-0 -- all draws. In terms of their play, it is indisputable that the team has failed to get the goals necessary to secure a win. However, it is also true that they have created real chances in each affair. Now they must learn to take advantage of those chances when they come and build up points from their remaining matches. Their next to chance to demonstrate their growth as a team will come against Tokushima. Preparations begin now.
Post-match comments
Manager Miguel Ángel Lotina
Your thoughts on the match?
It was not a pleasant one for us. There was little space and we struggled to make chances. There’s really not a lot you can say about today. Both teams were better in defense then the other side was in attack. It was just one of those matches.
Both teams had goals disallowed and there was a lot of arguing going on in the first half. Do you have an opinion of the officiating today?
Most likely, I think they made the correct decision in both cases. However, the way the goals were disallowed was very unclear from the bench, on both sides. But with that said, I think they probably got it right.
You mentioned that there was very little space. Do you have any plans to improve the attack for future matches?
The next match will be a completely different affair with a different rival. Our opponent today played with five in the back and a high line, so there was no space to create the game. Of course, against that kind of opponent, we have to find ways to create gaps as we move into zone 3. I think we need a bit more training on being fluid as we enter their area.
Compared to last week’s match against Fukuoka, Ibayashi and Hatanaka had switched positions. Can you tell us the thinking behind that?
Depending on how we want to build up, the positions of the players will change. Either of them can play on the right or the left and I hope to continue changing their arrangement to fit with the plan.
DF 4Shinnosuke Hatanaka
Your thoughts on the match?
Both teams had goals waived off and there were a lot of long pauses, so it would have been easy for us to lose focus. However, as defenders, I think we deserve credit for keeping the clean sheet.
It seemed like the team struggled to break down an opposition with so clear a defensive approach.
They were more compact than any team we have faced this campaign and I think their plan was to let us have the ball and force us to carry the match. In the sense that we did nothing but try to pass the ball around them, we played right into their hands and I think there were more things we could have tried.
There didn’t seem to be many attempts to vary your timing and pull them out of their shape.
In the first half, we didn’t have many players making runs from the midfield or the back. As such, they only had to deal with our forwards and I think it was easy for them to defend. I think we were too basic in our attack.
(Kouta) Watanabe also seemed to be making a lot of runs in the first half.
“Had those of us in the back line kept a better eye on the movement of the midfielders, I think we probably could have used them better. That’s a problem with the way we pass the ball.
They didn’t press you much in the first half. Do you feel like there were opportunities for the players at the back to do more in attack?
There was almost no pressure on our defensive line, so I’m disappointed that we didn’t carry the ball forward ourselves, before passing it.
The period of three consecutive matches has ended with three consecutive draws. How do you feel about that?
In terms of getting three draws, we got points from all three matches, so I’d say we’ve achieved the bare minimum. With that said, we had chances to win all three matches, so I’m disappointed that we didn’t get a victory.
This was the team’s first clean sheet at home this season.
In defense, we’re communicating well and we didn’t give them many chances. In that sense, I think we did our job.
Having completed the challenge of this busy period, you now have another challenge coming up in the form of an away match against Tokushima, who are a good attacking team.
I don’t know what our plan is going to be but they’re definitely one of the top teams in J2, so our defense line has to prepare mentally to keep them in check.
MF 24Yuta Narawa
Your thoughts on the match?
When you play as many matches as we have recently, it’s common for the players who appeared in all those matches to lose a little bit of their edge. You begin the game, from the beginning, thinking about the full 90 and your energy levels drop. I, personally, wanted to avoid that and I spent the last three days trying to build up my energy and motivation for today.
It seemed like the team struggled to break down an opposition with so clear a defensive approach.
I don’t know how they prepared for today but for me, on the pitch, it felt as if they had tried to neutralize our formation by choosing one that was similar. Their marking was thorough at every position and there was always a man marker in front of me, which made things very difficult.
Throughout the match, it felt like the midfield and front players were out of synch.
I didn’t feel that stressed about whether we were in synch, but even when we had the ball, we moved it in a way that was easy for them to follow. Personally, I intended to make runs behind or diagonal runs that would stretch their vision or their markers, but we didn’t do that enough and I think we were lacking in fluidity.
In the second half, your opponents came at you with a high press and Yamada was active down the right side. How did you deal with that?
I don’t know if they started defending more from the front or we just slowed down from tiredness. Part of it was a response to how much of the ball we had in the first half, so once they did press us in the second half, we needed to be able to take advantage of that space. If we don’t learn to do that, I think we’re going to have difficulty winning from here out.
I’m sure that you would have liked to begin stretching the defense with movement before they had a chance to tighten up?
We played in front of their line of sight for the most part and while we did get some crosses in from wide, there weren’t many moments where we completely broke them down. I think that our forwards are good enough to score, even in those difficult situations, and that has helped us to win in the past. But there’s always going to be a limit to how far we can get on that alone and we have to break our opponents down more and receive the ball in dangerous positions.
How do you feel having ended this period of consecutive matches with three draws?
All three matches ended as draws, but they were each different in character and content. I don’t think we need to feel despair. To avoid getting down on ourselves and losing the next match as a result, we need to take what positives we can and address the areas where were lacking, connecting all that to more wins. If we can do that, the meaning of these past three matches will change. We have a week off now, so it’s important to train hard and prepare for a win next match.
DF 15Shogo Hayashi
Tell us about your role, individually, today.
My job was to drop back when we were in defense and push forward when we were in attack. I don’t have a lot of experience playing on the right wing and it’s something I’ve only started recently.
What were your instructions from the manager?
He told me to push toward goal in attack and to be involved in setting up the finish.
It seemed like the team struggled with the opposition’s defensive plan.
Their wing backs were dropping back constantly so even when we moved the ball out wide, it was still difficult for me to receive passes.
It looked like you had your first pro goal there.
I was told that he would look at the film later, so it can’t be helped. Had Doug (Douglas) not touched it, there would have been no offside, but he did, so it was ruled out.
How does it feel to play on the right wing?
I like to attack, so it was a position I’ve wanted to try. I can play with a positive attitude. The only problem is that I’m not used to it and toward the end of the match I got a cramp. I had thought at that time that I still had more in me, but I did too much and my leg gave out.
The team seemed out of ideas for how to break them down.
They had five at the back and they were tight in the middle. All we could do was kick in crosses from wide and they had a lot of big bodies, so they were able to repel those. I think we had to work more on attacking other than through crosses and figure out ways to break them down through the middle.
MF 27Hideo Hashimoto
What was the game plan after you entered the match?
I wanted to get involved in the attack, but I couldn’t receive the ball in high positions. Kaji (Ryota Kajikawa) was able to get up the pitch on the opposite side, but since I had Alan and Doug near me, it was inevitable that I would drop deeper. My overall impression is that I wasn’t able to add anything extra or make a difference.
What did you communicate to the players in the center, when you entered the match?
Everyone was mistiming their feeds, so I told them not to rush it and to make simple passes when they could.
That wasn’t easy to do today, was it?
I personally wasn’t able to get on the ball in open play and more than them being compact in shape, it felt like they had made judgments on which players they would allow to have the ball and which they wouldn’t. Because of that, we were never able to raise our tempo or be a bit more direct. Without more of that sort of play, it’s going to be difficult. If we can pass the ball at our normal rhythm, we’ll do well, but just having possession and kicking it back and forth will take us nowhere.
Was their plan in defense, including the system, something of a surprise?
Personally, I don’t think It would’ve been that difficult to break them down. Watching from up above, you could see their weak points or where the spaces were. We just weren’t able to take advantage. Even when moving forward, we didn’t have a good attacking shape and in the end, we settled for kicking crosses to Alan and Doug. It’s a boring way to play.