Q: How confident are you about the penetration of the new style?
A, I do feel a response, and I think the time we have the ball has increased compared to last season, so I believe the situation after gaining possession of the ball is steadily improving.
Q: I think it's not easy for the entire team to adapt as the style changes, but I feel there is a sense of speed with visible changes in the opening match. How do you feel as a player?
A, I think there are wins and losses since it's a match after all, but I believe we are clearly making progress. Even when we experience a few losses in a row, there will be voices questioning "What’s going on?" but that is natural. I feel that it’s meaningless unless we keep going. I think we just have to persevere and continue.
Q: Last season you played as a double pivot, and this season you are being used as an anchor. How do you feel about the change in your role amidst the differences in style?
A, the formation and the coach have changed, but even just changing the coach can significantly alter roles, so I don't think it's simply because the formation changed. I feel like we were doing the same things last season, and if you ask why both the coach and formation changed but the players on the field haven't changed much, I think it's because once the actual match starts, everyone can quickly get a feel for it and play accordingly.
Q: I believe Aoki's position is one that involves both taking action based on what we want to do while also reacting to the opponent's moves. How do you feel about the part of controlling the team while assessing the situation?
A, there are parts where we were able to do what we prepared in practice relatively well, and there are also parts that were a little different from what we practiced. However, I think we have been able to make corrections during the game, and at this point, I believe we have grown quite a bit in carrying the ball steadily from the back. Besides that, I hope we can focus more on scoring goals.
Q: I think Matsuki and Abe moved around quite a bit, but what kind of communication did you have with them for coordination?
A, it's also about entering the match and adapting as you go. Ultimately, it's just about being in the right position, so no matter how much you move, for example, as long as someone is in that position, it's fine. The player in that position has a high work rate and plays aggressively both in attack and defense, so I focus on maintaining that balance.
Q, I think that balance is difficult.
A, I'm not sure if it's somehow working or not, but I am conscious of making the game go smoothly.
Q: As we head into the second half of the season, I believe the challenge is how much we can create finishing opportunities in the attacking zone while increasing our possession time. In terms of Aoki's position, what aspects are related to this challenge?
A, I think there are few situations where I get into the goal area and get involved in the final pass or shot, but increasing those opportunities is something that the players at the back, including myself, need to work on. I hope to increase the number of times I move forward and connect passes going forward.
Q: Is it a play where you connect to the front line and push up to recover the second ball?
A, that's right. If we can attack repeatedly when we push forward, the opponent will find it unpleasant. These details are really subtle, but not only me, including the center backs and side backs, if we continue to manage risks and create situations where we can immediately regain possession, that would be great. This applies to switching between offense and defense, the quick transitions of the forward players, and rather than just focusing on carrying the ball from the back, it would be ideal if the entire team could think that way.
Q: Do you want to reach that phase in the second half of the season?
A, of course I want to go quickly. After all, in the end, we play this soccer to win. If we don't bring it to a win, it feels like there's no point in doing it.
