2nd round - Tokyo Verdy vs HOSEI UNIVERSITY

Match Report

In the interval between league matches this week, Tokyo Verdy played their first Emperor’s Cup tie on Wednesday. The match occurred against Hosei University at the stadium in Nishigaoka. Last season, Verdy used their performance in the Emperor’s Cup to recover lost momentum and improve their league play. Given their loss in the previous weekend’s league fixture, there was all the more reason from the team to focus on results against their University-level opponents and recharge for their next league game.

The starting lineup featured changes at every position. Kojic was installed as lone striker with Hiroyuki Kawano and Walmerson as shadows strikers on the right and left. In midfield, Tatsuya Anzai slotted in at right wing, while Ryota Kajikawa played on the left, along with Kanya Fujimoto and Koki Morita at holding midfield. Lastly, the back line consisted of Naoya Tamura, Tatsuya Uchida, and Naoya Kondo protecting Takahiro Shibasaki.

As the match began, it was Hosei University who were on the front foot. Their aggressive high pressing upset Verdy’s pass work and pushed the team into their own area, preventing the wingbacks from taking positions high up the pitch and pinning them on the back line. Even when they won the ball, Verdy were forced to build from deep positions and dodge the opposition’s pressing with multiple long balls, leading to a cycle in which they were unable to secure possession on the front line and got hit repeatedly on the counter. In defense, Takahiro Shibasaki made a series of fine saves to prevent a complete collapse, but the formation was stretched too far and pockets of space were found all over the pitch. The opposition did well to exploit those pockets and put themselves on the ball with their heads up in a good position to finish. However, they were unable to completely break Verdy down or even take a shot as the first half came to a close without a goal.

Verdy emerged for the second half with a change in system and in the early minutes, their pass work in midfield gave them the edge as they pinned their opponents to their own area. However, the opposition took advantage of Verdy’s high line to hit them on the counter once again. Still, the team had no choice but to continue pursuing a goal and with each player concentrating on maintaining a compact shape, they gradually increased the frequency of their forays into the final third. Even so, the players on the front line were slow to receive support and could not hang on to the ball. With their attacking stifled, Verdy allowed the opposition to put a cross in from the left wing in the 57^th minute and Matsuzawa found himself unmarked at the far post, where he headed the ball into the left corner and gave Hosei the lead. Further, in the 79^th minute, a mistake on the right near the halfway line led Verdy to lose the ball, leaving a gaping hole behind their high back line for the opponent to use. With no one there to stop the momentum of the opposition run, the ball holder played a cross from the right that made its way to the far post and was tapped in for a second goal. Verdy were now desperate to attack, but avenues failed to open up and moves were limited to combinations between a few players, rather than the entire team. Time thus expired with Verdy earning only two shots on goal, a fifth of what the opposition produced, and no decisive opportunities.

Despite playing in a one-match elimination tournament and facing the difficulty prospect, unique to the Emperor’s Cup, of playing against a university team, the truth is that Verdy went 90 minutes on this day without showing any of their qualities, in attack and defense. Only three days remain before their next league match, against Zweigen Kanazawa, and rather than entering with momentum after a win, the team now find themselves with more issues to address than ever. The shock of an early tournament exit is impossible to measure, but Verdy cannot afford to let that effect their league play now. Even as they unconsciously hang their heads, the players must force themselves to look to the future and try to pull the team in a positive direction. They have only three days to improve their mood and prepare to fight once again.

Manager Gary John WHITE

Your thoughts on the match?
We made a slow start to the first half and allowed them to control the rhythm early on. We started with a back three and I thought that would help us build rhythm of our own, but their pressing forced us into a back five and we were gradually on the back foot for longer periods. In the second half, we changed our formation and I thought we could play with a slightly different style, but we ended up conceding two goals. Obviously, the other side were playing with higher motivation and will to win. I had been looking at this match as a way to give good chances to players who hadn’t played much so far, but we went all the way to the second half without showing our qualities and in the end, that applied to the full 90 minutes as well.

Was the fact that you couldn’t display your best qualities a problem with organization?
We’ve played with largely the same squad until now, rather than the 11 who played today, so it was difficult to build mutual understanding as a team. It’s always difficult to play your best in cup games like this. That’s true not just in Japan, but all over the world, and there is a special variety of difficulty that comes with playing against a team from a lower league. For us, J2 is the top priority, so I wanted to give to the players who will be appearing in the next league match a rest.

Do you think the loss today will affect your league campaign?
The league is our priority, but honestly, I wanted us to win today as preparation to play Kanazawa. I had thought that giving a chance to players who hadn’t appeared much would contribute to the overall growth of the team, but to be blunt, I don’t think we accomplished that today. However, I don’t think it will affect our league play and we need to treat each coming match with the utmost importance.

GK 1Takahiro Shibasaki

Your thoughts on the match?
We knew that the first match of the Emperor’s cup is always a tough one and we talked about going hard from the opening whistle, but we ended up spending long periods in defense and losing the ball too easily whenever we did win it, so the first half ended before we could really develop a rhythm. We managed to keep the match goalless up to that point and had a decent start to the second half. If we had gotten a goal during that period, I think the result would have been different, but in the end I have to admit that they were simply a good team. It’s not like we took them lightly during preparation and with so many players who hadn’t received regular game time in the match, everyone wanted to show the manager and coaching staff what they could do. And of course, we all wanted to get a good result and show the supporters what kind of players they have on hand, as well. We didn’t take things easy and despite having limited information, the coaching staff did their best to scout the opposition and let us know what kind of team we were facing, but I think it came down to precision and in that category, their squad played well as a unit and did all the things they set out to do. For us, on the other hand, things just didn’t go well and we weren’t able to make the necessary corrections before the end of the 90 minutes.

Do you think the problem was that today’s squad were not all on the same page?
We knew they were a good team and that we stood to lose if we didn’t play well. Despite making a bad start to the match, we didn’t concede, so I thought we stood a chance if we were to take it up a gear. I also thought that since we ended the first half goalless, their levels would drop in the second, but they continued to play well. In the midst of that, we gave up two soft goals and that led to the final result.

What adjustments did you want the team to make
We had problems securing the ball on the front line and when they had the ball, we were tentative in our defensive approach. I think we needed to press harder from the front and though we were talking to each other, I wonder if we could have done more to get everyone on the same page. As you saw, our opponents had possession with space much of the time, but we still managed to hold them to zero in the first half despite struggling. In that sense, things weren’t too bad for us, but then the second half played out as it did. They clearly had more corner kicks than us and I don’t think we can win if we continue playing like that. They were not a weak team and we have much to reflect on. With that said, we can’t let our disappointment affect our league performance. I would like to apologize to our supporters who showed up in good numbers today, despite it being a weekday match. For me personally, this was my first full 90 minutes since last year’s Emperor’s Cup match against Urawa Reds. That includes training camp, so I wanted to make a good impression on the manager with my official appearance today, but the result is everything and that means I have to train harder.

MF 8Tatsuya Uchida

Your thoughts on the match?
I think we were all inadequate today. The opposition played better than us for the full 90 minutes. Honestly it was a total defeat.

It was a tough game in terms of the play.
It was. It wasn’t just the first half. They were better than us for the full 90 minutes. Today’s squad has played together in training regularly and personally, I thought we had been gelling well together. I entered the match hoping to show that to everyone. However, none of us were able to display our strengths. That we couldn’t play well when we had to is a responsibility that everyone has to bear. I thought we would play a lot better than this but that didn’t happen for the full 90 minutes. It’s very frustrating.

Were they a stronger team than you expected?
That’s definitely true, but I think the main problem was with ourselves. We had played them in the past and we knew how aggressive the university teams play, so all of us have to reflect on the fact that we couldn’t perform better today.

It looked like the squad were not all on the same page.
That’s something we definitely had to do a better job of. It’s frustrating that it didn’t happen today and we all realize that we were lacking. They put a lot of pressure on us and we made mistakes without correcting them as the match went on. Those of us at the back were talking to the other players, but it wasn’t enough and we all needed to feel the direction the game was going and make the necessary improvements. Instead, we were a bit complacent.

What elements caused the team’s struggle to build from the back?
Usually, we have players on the pitch who can receive the ball with more fluidity, but today, we tried simply to absorb the pressure from markers and were lacking movement. We still wanted to play the ball to feet, but we made some mistakes and the players at the back wanted to be more conservative and play long balls. That’s not something we do very often, so the forward players may have been a little confused as to how to secure the ball.

Did you think they would have as much possession as they did?
That’s not something we were expecting at all. We entered the match with a plan to dominate the ball and it’s something we had to do. All of us need to consider why that didn’t happen and improve as players on an individual level. We didn’t make anything happen for us today, in attack or in defense. In that way, we made the match more difficult for ourselves.

MF 16Koki Morita

Your thoughts on the match?
We weren’t on the same page in our approach throughout the squad. The players at the back wanted us to play with short passing, but the forward players wanted to play direct passes and try to get behind them on the counter. Because of that, we ended up with a large gap between attack and defense and when the midfielders got the ball, there was no one there in support. That led to us being attacked frequently on the short counter. In the second half, they put less pressure on us and we changed our formation, enabling us to move the ball better. However, we were lacking in defensive toughness and the goals we gave up were soft.

In attack, it seemed like you were unsure of how to finish off moves.
It’s not only about the last player to touch the ball having the will to make the shot, but also about players making runs off the ball. We were able to carry the ball near the penalty area but were lacking in ideas from there.

What was your initial game plan?
Basically, we wanted to have possession of the ball, but instead, I think we ended up playing at the opposition’s pace.

It was a tough match, throughout.
Our play in the first half was especially disappointing. I just think we weren’t on the same page.

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