What kind of future will the meeting of the two, fueled by ambition and a desire to improve, create with the blue and red? They have fully integrated into the team and are stepping on the accelerator as the season opener approaches. From here on, they will carve out new moments in blue and red. What kind of beginning will they show us? More than anyone, they themselves were filled with hope in this new environment. They kept chatting happily, and before I knew it, the scheduled time had passed with just a few questions interjected. What eloquent stories did the two share?
──How do you feel looking back from the time you joined until now?
Tsuyoshi OGASHIWA How is it?
Takahiro KO I think it was pretty much the same as the image I had before joining. Even when kicking the ball together, I feel there are many strong individual players. In that sense, it was as I imagined. At first, I was thinking about how to adjust to that and how to integrate what I had been doing at Albirex Niigata, and there were times when I was somewhat confused. I believe I have adjusted now.
Kobayashi I had a slight injury, which delayed my return to team practice, but there are various reasons why I am still not fully back. I want to practice together soon, both to let others get to know me and to understand my surroundings better. I can see the practice from the outside, but there are things I won't understand unless I join in, so I still don't quite grasp the differences compared to the specific image like Yan (Takahiro KO).
──The two are in the same grade. Do you remember the first time you met?
Taka I don't remember much about the first time we met, but we probably faced each other since middle school, so maybe it was then. You were in Omiya Ardija U15 in middle school, right?
Kobayashi There you are. I wonder when the first time was.
High Is it really not a match? I played against Kawasaki Frontale U-15 and thought, "There is an amazing forward," and that was Go.
Kobayashi You were also a forward, right? (laughs).
High Hahaha.
Kobayashi I think I was serious about playing soccer, but I was the type of player who would joke around and talk to people.
High Hehe (bitter smile). Well, I was a forward.
Kobayashi No, no, the position doesn't matter, right? (laughs).
High You have to be a bit tough and enter your own world, right? That's what being a forward is about.
Kobayashi I remember a match. Yan suddenly talked to me. It was probably at the Kawasaki first team's training ground? I remember him talking to me during a match on the natural grass field. But I don't know why we are so close (laughs).
High It does seem that way when you think about it. We might be the closest.
Kobayashi Is that correct?
High That's right (laughs).
──Do you remember the content of the conversation?
Taka I don't remember at all. I might not even remember when we started talking properly.
Kobayashi What about when I was at Ichifuna (Ichikawa Funabashi High School)?
Taka I think we should be competing in the Takayama Prince League Premier EAST, but I don't think we talked that much there. However, I have memories of chatting with a lot of friendly players at Omiya, including Go.
Kobayashi When was it? By the time I entered the professional league via Meiji University, Gamba Osaka was no longer there, right?
High isn't there.
Kobayashi We met in Niigata last season after a long time and talked a bit, right? Thinking about it, even though we don't have that many connections, it feels a bit too familiar (laughs).
High No, it's mutual (wry smile).
──How did you see each other as players?
Taka It hasn't changed much. Go was on a team in Gunma when he was in elementary school...
Kobayashi Do you know since that time?
Taka was a two-top with Kanishi Okunuki, right? Since then, there has been talk about how amazing the two of them are. I heard he is a fast and powerful dribbler, and that he went to Omiya from there. I remember hearing that he seems to be commuting from Gunma.
Kobayashi Yes, I used to go there.
High It will stay like this forever. It's the same with height, face, and playing style.
Kobayashi Yan is completely different, right?
Taka You have changed. Because you were a forward.
Kobayashi It's changed. Wasn't he a physical type forward?
High No, no, that's not it. It's the peeling type (laughs).
Kobayashi was the type to break through (laughs). But he had solid physicality since middle school. For some reason, everyone called him Yan. At that time, I thought it was quite intense, but when I heard he went to Ichifuna and was playing as a defensive midfielder, I thought he would definitely become a player who breaks through, and it turned out he really did (laughs).
──Certainly, why were you converted to a defensive midfielder?
Taka After graduating, when I talked to the coach of (Ichifuna), he mentioned that there were circumstances with the team at that time, but it seems he had already decided to make me a defensive midfielder after seeing my play.
Kobayashi Hey.
Taka If you aim to become a professional, there are many foreign players in the forward position, and without outstanding speed or height like Go, to survive, you need to have your own defensive skills, ball recovery, and anticipation. I had a certain level of technique from my experience playing in the front line. I heard that the decision was made to play as a defensive midfielder because it allows involvement in both offense and defense. I started playing soccer around the first grade of elementary school and was always a forward, but when I asked my father (Takasuke / former Chinese national team midfielder), he said, "From the moment you started kicking the ball, I thought you would end up in a back position." It seems he always said that. And now that it has really happened, my father is amazing, isn't he? I wonder if it's in the genes. I think about that more as I get older.
Kobayashi When did that character of high activity start?
Taka If I was playing as a defensive midfielder, it would come naturally.
Kobayashi I really hated Ichifuna. Hara (Kiki) and Kaneko (Daiki), Sugioka (Daiki) were there too. There were a lot of players who became professionals normally. Why couldn't we win the championship?
High I wonder if it's because we couldn't score. Everyone who became a pro is a player from the defensive midfield and back, right? (laughs)
In this new environment where a diverse group gathers, they are expected to play an essential role in bringing the team together. Although they modestly say, "It's difficult to just come in suddenly," they are undoubtedly the perfect fit in terms of both age and experience. They are already actively communicating with both veterans and younger players. There is a strong possibility that they will become an indispensable part of the team before we know it.
──Let's return the conversation to Tokyo. What is the atmosphere like in the team off the pitch?
High I felt that there were many older players and younger players in terms of age balance. Including players who returned from loan, I thought there was a lack of players in the middle-aged layer like us. That's the image we entered into. Also, since I was in Kawasaki, I had a slightly scary impression of Tokyo.
Kobayashi I kind of understand what you want to say.
Taka There was a scary image from the academy to the top. You understand, right? When I told (Keigo HIGASHI) that, he said, "Everyone says that." But when I actually joined, everyone was nice (laughs).
Kobayashi The atmosphere of the team is bright, isn't it? There aren't any strange groups, and it feels like everyone is talking to everyone. I don't know yet whether each relationship is deep or not.
──Speaking of bright and in the same grade, there is also a player named Go HATANO.
Taka Seriously, it's really noisy (laughs). But I think he really creates a great atmosphere. If he weren't here, it would be quiet. Well, there are times when I'm a bit tired and wish he'd stop the music (laughs).
Kobayashi I can tell that Go is coming closer with that music (laughs).
High You can tell from quite a distance, right?
Kobayashi I remember meeting Go properly. We became friends in the J-League selection during our first year of junior high school, and we've been close since then.
I believe that mid-level players play an important role in successfully bringing the team together.
Taka I just joined, so I think it will be difficult to suddenly connect the generations. However, since I play as a defensive midfielder, I want to coordinate with those around me, and I also want to communicate off the pitch, so I plan to talk to various people. But well, I feel like I'm being underestimated by the younger players since about the second day after joining (laughs). I think it's easier to interact like that, and it made it easier to fit into the team, so I think that's a good thing.
Kobayashi I think it will be difficult for me to suddenly become a connector as a new member, but during my university days and also at Hokkaido Consadole Sapporo, I spoke normally regardless of age, so I hope to spend time as usual and naturally become a connector-like presence.
──Although he is a year older, it is exciting that players of the same generation, including Keita ENDO, can play together on the same team.
Taka I never thought we would be together in Tokyo. It's amazing that we ended up on the same team, even though we were competing with separate teams in the Kanto region.
Kobayashi Certainly. It's a strange feeling to be on a team with this group... However, personally, since I participated in practices during my university days in Tokyo and it has always been a team I admired, I don't feel out of place.
──Is the expected outcome the opening of the hotline?
Taka I want to steal the ball, make a pass, and have Go score.
Kobayashi But, since we haven't done it yet, we don't know what it's like, right? (wry smile).
Taka But he is truly an amazing player. When I was in Niigata, there was an analysis that said, "Sapporo's performance is different depending on whether Go is there or not." I really think he is a wonderful player.
Kobayashi Suddenly praising me, huh (laughs).
I think last season was the first time we actually faced each other as professionals, but what kind of analysis were you doing?
High Frequent injuries...
Kobayashi Hey, that's not the footage, for sure (wry smile).
Taka The match against Niigata was your comeback match, right? When we faced each other in the first half of the season, it was your comeback match, and in the second half, you were injured, so neither of those appeared in the scouting footage (laughs).
Kobayashi I think Yan's playing style has improved a lot compared to when he was at Ichifune.
High That's really looking down from above (wry smile).
Kobayashi You have gotten better! (laughs).
High But, that's something that is often said. It really started to be said after I went to Niigata.
Kobayashi wasn't the type to connect passes, was he?
High When I was at G Osaka, I felt like I was running, crushing, and easily connecting. Since going to Niigata, I think I've improved myself, and I've really heard that more often from third parties as well.
Kobayashi I thought he has changed a lot.
Part two is here
Text by Kohei Baba (Freelance Writer)
