The match began with changes in formation compared to the previous game. Lining up as a back four, Yuta Narawa was chosen to plan on the right and Rihito Yamamoto on the left, along with center backs Tomohiro Taira and Lee Yong Jick, the latter returning from having served a match ban. In midfield, Kota Watanabe slotted in at anchor, behind inside-halves Shion Inoue and Yuhei Sato. Finally, the front line consisted of Leandro at center striker, with Junki Koike and Ryota Kajikawa wide on either side.

The match was billed as a battle between teams who play with the same possession-heavy style, but with Verdy having played only four games under new management and Kyoto having built over the past year, it was the latter who had the early advantage. Kyoto also pressed hard from the front and won the ball quickly when Verdy gained possession, launch rapid counter attacks in the process. Although Verdy struggled to maintain possession, they soon found themselves in on goal from the counter attack. It was the fifth minute and having caught the defense slow in tracking back, Leandro played a ball into space on the right where Koike burst forward and played a final ball into the penalty area. However, his teammates were unable to make contact. Moments later, Verdy were pinned back in their own third and forced to defend. Kamifukumoto made a save in the 7^th minute, off a big chance for the opposition, and once again the team were quick to push back. In the 9^th minute, the counter was on again. Kajikawa ran with the ball at full speed, and similar to the chance in the fifth minute, he played a through pass to Koike. With defenders turning their backs to the attack as they squandered to track back, Leandro snuck into the box and was fed by Koike with a pass, only for his finish to somehow miss the target. Having passed up a gilded opportunity, the momentum would now swing Kyoto’s way. Verdy’s pass work and attempts at fluidity failed to gain ground against the opposition’s fierce high press and in the 16^th minute, a missed clearance was retrieved in the box and Ichimi showed no hesitation shooting into a crowed penalty area. The ball came off the foot of a Verdy defender and flew over the head of Kamifukumoto into the back of the net. With Verdy now looking to hit back, careful protection of the ball was needed more than ever, but just one minute later, Kamifukumoto attempted to pass the ball wide at the back and the ball was cut out, eventually falling to the feet of Juninho, who quickly found the net with a left- footed strike. Once again, Verdy hoped to answer immediately and the back line began to push up, only for Kyoto to exploit the space behind them and set up Ichimi. The Kyoto striker finished in style and burdened Verdy with a three-goal deficit. Just before the close of the first half, a chance fell to Sato, but he couldn’t put it away and the players went into the locker room with their eyes looking to the heavens in frustration.

Having seen too many mistakes made by the back line, the manager was quick to make changes, bringing on Uchida for Taira and Sawai for Lee. However, any hope of a come back was spoiled early on. In the 48^th minute, Verdy once again conceded the ball from a mistake and found their back line breached by Miyayoshi for a fourth goal. The damage was clear and though the players still tried to press from the front, their efforts were evaded and they gradually found themselves pinned in their own half. As time passed, Verdy eventually did begin to maintain possession more, but they couldn’t carry the ball into dangerous areas, even as the minutes ticked away. Hanato was brought on in a final attempt to open the play and while he was able to secure the ball in front of goal, Verdy were unable to create chances to finish and held scoreless until the final whistle for the second match in a row.

After two wins and a draw to start the Nagai era, this important encounter with one of the league’s top teams ended as a reality check for Verdy.  Even so, there is no time for the team to abandon pursuit of the manager’s style now. Instead, they must confront the issues that revealed themselves, address them, and improve. Starting next week, the team will have consecutive matches at home. Standing on their home ground, the players will once again need to put their best foot forward.

Your thoughts on the match?
First off, to the fans who came all the way to Kyoto and made their voices heard, cheering us on until the very end, I’d like to apologize for the fact that we displayed so little of our football, today. In terms of today’s match, we knew that both teams had the same style and that the battle for possession would be key, so I had really been looking forward to it. Despite that, we began the match seemingly lacking confidence in our ability to keep the ball. That was extremely disappointing. If we start the match making mistakes and conceding three goals, the rest of the game will be difficult. My impression is that we were extremely wasteful.

Tell us what is needed to strengthen defensive intensity. Every time Kyoto played a forward pass, Ichimi was able to receive the ball with the right stance. On the other hand, the positioning of the responding Verdy players seemed poor. How do you plan to address that?
Of course, it’s true that my preferred style of football is one where the attacking aspects stand out, but I actually believe that attack and defense are one and the same. It’s not the case that we neglect defense and we had prepared in training to deal with the way Kyoto constantly play tentative balls forward. With that said, I think you’re right that we have to strengthen our defensive intensity, as well as our ability to see the game unfold and the speed of our decision making.

Did you expect your opponents to have more of the ball today?
In general, the team that dominates possession will dominate the game, so I felt that if we didn’t win that battle, it would be a very difficult match. While those periods were few and far between today, over the course of 90 minutes, there were times when we did manage to care of the ball and whenever that happened, we were able to create chances. We need to make that a focus… Or rather, before we focus on it, we need to have confidence. Today, we lacked the courage necessary to tell ourselves we would keep the ball and control the game. That was unfortunate.

At half time, you substituted Taira and Lee, leaving the back line without any true central defenders. Can you tell us about your reasoning?
Taira picked up an injury, so I had no choice. Lee looked like he lacked confidence at the start of the match and in fact, he spent most of the time looking backwards. If we’re to have the determination to keep the ball, then everyone on the pitch, including the goalkeeper, needs to be confident on the ball. If they can’t hand it off to the next player or hit it into space, our game plan will collapse. That’s why I made the substitutions.