The match began with Verdy dominating possession of the ball and pushing into opposition territory. The players maintained tight spacing as they passed the ball and searched for avenues to break down the defense. In the 8^th minute, an entry pass found its way to Leandro, who responded with a backheel ball into space that was picked up by Fujimoto. The latter looked to have broken free with a good chance to finish, but his shot was blocked and the threat ended. Until that point, the match had been fairly uneventful, with few shots on goal for either side, so the positive move seemed a glimmer of hope, but unfortunately, Fujimoto picked up an injury and could not continue, leaving Verdy without their young general and newly appointed captain. The setback forced an early change of direction and the manager addressed the overall balance by changing the formation, moving Yamamoto to anchor and Inoue to the wide attacking role. Moments later, the rain began to intensify, and the ball became difficult to control, allowing for play to breach the defense but no crosses that could be met in front of goal. In the end, the first half came to a close with the team unable to fill the void in attack.

The second half again began at Verdy’s pace. In the 48^th minute, Kondo missed a near opportunity from a set piece and in the 53^rd minute, Yamamoto played a one-two with Inoue that freed him in the final third for a mid-range shot that threatened the goal. It would be the other side, however, that claimed the advantage first. It was the 57^th minute and Verdy’s attempts to pass at the back were cut out, allowing the opposition to bare down on goal from the short counter and score from an unmarked shot. After that, Verdy kept possession once again and moved the ball in the opposition area, probing for a weak point. However, Verdy would concede again in the 74th minute and leave themselves down two goals with only 20 minutes remaining. The player chosen to come on and change the momentum was Hiroki Kawano. Slotting in on the right as a wide attacker, Kawano ran at the defense and pulled markers away, allowing the attack to develop rhythm. In the 85th minute, Kawano stretched the defense on the left and received a pass from Inoue before dribbling into the penalty area. After cutting inside from the byline, the Verdy attacker hit a final pass across the face of goal that Leandro turned in first time. The Verdy resurgence didn’t stop there. Moments later, in the 87th minute, the ball was played from Kondo at the back line to Koike on the right and finally to Yuhei Sato. The latter ran with the ball to the left and then cut back, hitting a low shot from mid-range that had plenty of power and stung the hands of the goalkeeper before finding the net. Verdy had thus returned from the brink to bring the match back to parity. Still the momentum did not slow. The referee signaled four minutes of additional time and after the first minute, Kajikawa played a through pass from the center, behind the right side of the defense, where Koike broke free and found himself in on goal. The Verdy forward tried a strong pass into the middle but the effort was blocked and eventually fell in front of Kawano. As the ball descended, Kawano hit the ball with a first-time volley that found the net and succeeded in giving Verdy the lead.

Oh, but the gods of football are nothing but fickle. In the 93^rd minute, Leandro tried to keep the ball on the front line but was brought down with what looked like a foul, allowing the opposition to play the ball in front of goal and score. The shock was clear on the faces of the Verdy players and their legs grew heavy, leading to them conceding a penalty on the final play of the match. It was an incredible pinch. However, the final penalty kick that would decide the result failed to find the target and the match was brought to a close at 3-3.

Over the last two matches, Tokyo Verdy have had few shots on goal and struggled to find ways to attack. On this day, the team managed to connect their passes and manipulate the defense. It was the patient continuation of that action that led to the goal rush at the end of the match. As the manager and players each spoke about at the end of the match, closing out the game after taking the lead is a difficult task. However, their ability to finish on this day, and the way they continued moving the ball until the end, eventually claiming several goals in quick succession, was a big step forward. It goes without saying that such steps forward are not the same as defending a lead and earning the full three points. Still, the fevered attempts to develop their new style since the change in manager have clearly gained speed. Watching the team earn the lead in such dramatic fashion and then lose it so quickly definitely hurts, but the players cannot hang their heads. They have shown that they can earn goals by playing with their style. Now they must prepare to win while doing that.

Your thoughts on the match?
We learned the other day that Chairman Kano of Yell Create, who had once saved this team from being dissolved, had died. To mourn the loss, all of the players approached today’s game with a high level of passion. We’re all aware that this year is the club’s fiftieth anniversary and that there are so many people from previous generations who contributed to our history, enabling us to be here today. I told the players to express their respects by wearing these new uniforms and by giving everything they had on the pitch. There are many things to be said about the game itself, but the most important thing for me is that we were able to finally break them down like that in the end. The way the goals finally came is an indication of how hard the players have worked over these past three weeks and I am grateful to them. With that said, we still have much to learn about the way we need to play, including in terms of game design. Once you are in a position to win, like we were today, it’s important to think about what kind of football we need to play. Finishing the match off is also part of game design, so I take responsibility for our inability to do that, today.

Can you give us your opinions on how the team were able to bounce back from losing key players and their continued difficulty to make the right decisions on the pitch?
It goes without saying that in trying to get the players to play my style of football, we are in the process of incorporating many new elements. Among those, the one I continue to emphasize the most is for the players to “observe” their opponents. It’s clear that they are still having trouble seeing the game and engaging in a back and forth. I believe that the only thing we can do is continue working on that until we improve. At the same time, I have no plans for us to shrink away from the difficult y of the task by playing easy, conservative football. I want us to improve in every area, including observing our opponents. This may sound like a platitude, but my goal is to create a team that can maintain the same level of performance no matter who is on the pitch. So in terms of Kota (Watanabe) leaving, Kanya (Fujimoto) picking up an injury, and then Rihito (Yamamoto) as well, if we think about it in positive terms, it means finding three new players or developing three new players, so that’s something I’d like us to be excited about.

Since taking over as manager, you have chosen players from the youth team as captain and vice-captain. Can you tell us about that?
Of course, there are many ways to think about this, but in my mind, creating a new Verdy means injecting something new into the mix. However, I also understand, more than anyone, that J2 is not a league that you can win with young players alone. Before selecting our new captains, I gathered the veterans together in a meeting and told them my thoughts. I expressed that without the fresh strength of the young players, we wouldn’t be able to create a new chapter in the club’s history or secure our future. Despite that, I still believe that the stabilizing presence of the veterans and more experienced players is important for us to win. I hope to continue working on that balance in the future.

Kang Soo Il made his debut today. In what way did you aim to use his strengths as a player?
Actually, the player at whom I was most angry at half time was Kang Soo Il. Of course, that is also a reflection of how high my expectations are for him and I told him that his performance in the first half was not acceptable. I realize that part of this is that I haven’t successfully communicated to him what I want the team to do or his role in that, so in that sense, I think he did well for us, today. However, my expectations for him are much higher and he is someone that I am excited to see develop in the future.

Can you tell us why you made such major changes to the formation after Fujimoto’s injury?
To push our wide attackers high up the pitch, I felt that we need Rihito (Yamamoto)’s passing range and while it was only for a short time, another important decision was that I felt Shion (Inoue) was not seeing the whole pitch while playing in the center. I decided to push him into a wide striker role and try to develop the game from there. I told him to create space for Junki (Koike) to make runs.