What kind of future will be born from the meeting of two people who burn with ambition and ambition? Completely familiar with the team, they step on the accelerator towards the opening. From here on, they will carve out new moments in blue and red. What kind of beginning will they show from now on? They were filled with hope for their new home more than anyone else. They kept talking happily, so the scheduled time passed in no time with just a few questions inserted. What did the two of them talk about so loquaciously?
──How do you look back on your time since joining?
Tsuyoshi OGASHIWA How is it?
Takahiro KO The image I had before joining was pretty much the same. Even when kicking the ball together, I feel that there are many strong individual players. In that sense, it was just as I imagined. At first, I was thinking about how to fit in with that and how to integrate what I have been doing at Albirex Niigata so far, so there were some doubts. But now I think I have adjusted.
Kobayashi I had a little injury and was late to join the team practice, but there are various reasons and I haven't fully recovered yet. I want to practice together as soon as possible to get to know myself and the people around me. I've been watching the practice from the outside, but there are some things that I won't understand until I join in, so I still don't know the difference between the concrete image and Yan (Takahiro KO).
──They are the same grade. Do you remember when you first met?
Takashi I don't remember much about when we first met, but I think it was probably around middle school when we started playing against each other. You were on Omiya Ardija U15 at that time, right?
Kogashiwa Itaita. When was the first time?
High Isn't it a game after all? Playing against Kawasaki Frontale U-15, I thought "there's an amazing forward" and it turned out to be Thales.
Kogashiwa You were also a forward (lol).
High Hahaha.
Kogashiwa I think I was playing soccer seriously, but I was the type of player who would talk to people with a silly smile on my face.
High Hehehe (bitter smile). Well, I was a forward, so.
Kashiwa No, no, position doesn't matter (lol).
High You have to be a little strong and enter your own world. Forward.
Kashiwa I remember a game. Yan suddenly talked to me. Probably at Kawasaki's top team training ground? I remember being talked to during a game on a natural turf field. But I don't know why we're so close (laughs).
High Certainly, now that you mention it. Maybe we are the closest.
Kashiwa Is that right?
High That's right (lol).
──Do you remember the conversation?
High I don't remember at all. I don't even remember when we started talking properly.
Kogashiwa When was it at Funabashi (Funabashi High School)?
High In the Kanto Prince League Premier EAST, we were supposed to play against each other, but I don't think we talked that much there. However, there were a lot of players in Omiya who were good friends, so I have memories of talking with Tsuyoshi and everyone together.
Kogashiwa When was it? When I turned pro through Meiji University, you weren't in Gamba Osaka anymore, right?
High isn't it?
Kashiwa Last season, we met for the first time in a while in Niigata and talked a little. When I think about it, even though we don't have much connection, it feels strangely familiar (bitter smile).
High No, it's mutual (bitter smile).
──How did you see each other as players?
High It's not that different. Gou was on a Gunma team when he was in elementary school...
Kogashiwa Do you know him since then?
Takashi Okunuki was a top two player. Since then, there has been a lot of talk about the two of them. Fast, powerful dribblers, and I heard they went to Omiya. I remember talking about how they were coming from Gunma.
Kashiwa I used to go there often.
Tall Just like this. My height, my face, and my playing style.
Kashiwa Yann is completely different, right?
High Changed, right? Because he used to be a forward.
Kashiwa changed. Weren't you a physical forward?
High No, that's not it. It's more like peeling off (bitter smile).
Kogashiwa was a peeler (bitter smile). But, he had a solid physicality since junior high school. For some reason, he was called "Yan" by those around him. At that time, I thought he was quite intense, but when I heard that he was playing as a defensive midfielder at Ichifune, I thought he would definitely become a player who crushes others, and that's exactly what happened (laughs).
──Certainly, why were you converted to a midfielder?
After talking to the (Ichifune) coach after graduation, it seems that he had decided to make me a defensive midfielder since he saw me play, even though there were circumstances with the team at the time.
Kashiwa Hey.
Tall If you aim to become a professional, there are many foreign players in the forward position, and I don't have the speed or height like Tsuyoshi, so in order to survive, I had to have some defensive skills, ball retrieval, prediction, and experience playing in the front line. I heard that it was a decision to play as a defensive midfielder, which means being involved in both offense and defense. I started playing soccer in first grade of elementary school, and I was always a forward, but when I asked my father (Takamasu/former Chinese national team midfielder), he said, "I've always thought you would play in the back position since you started kicking the ball." So my father is amazing too. Maybe it's in my genes. I think about that more and more as I get older.
Kashiwa When did that energetic character start?
High Naturally when I was playing as a defensive midfielder.
Kogashiwa Shisen was really annoying. There were players like Hara (Kiki), Kaneko (Daiki), and Sugioka (Daiki). There were a lot of players who became professionals normally. Why couldn't we win the championship?
High Maybe it's because I couldn't score. Everyone became a professional player from behind the midfielder (bitter smile).
In the new world where many talented players gather, they are expected to play a crucial role in leading the team. Both of them humbly say, "It's difficult to come in suddenly," but they are nothing less than perfect in terms of age and experience. They are already actively communicating with both veterans and young players. There is a high possibility that they will become indispensable members of the team before we know it.
──Bringing the conversation back to Tokyo. How is the atmosphere of the team off the pitch?
High In terms of age balance, I felt that there were many older players and young players. Including players who returned from a loan, I thought there were not many players in our mid-level layer. That's the image we have entered. Also, since I was in Kawasaki, I had a slightly scary impression of Tokyo.
Kogashiwa I kind of understand what you want to say.
High There was a scary image from the academy to the top. You know, right? When I told (Keigo) HIGASHI about it, he said, "Everyone says that." But when I actually joined, everyone was nice (laughs).
Kashiwa The atmosphere of the team is bright, isn't it? There is no weird group, and everyone seems to be talking to each other. I'm not sure if each relationship is deep yet.
──There is also a player named Go HATANO who is bright and in the same grade.
High It's really noisy (bitter smile). But I think they're really creating a good atmosphere. If that person wasn't here, it would become quiet. Well, when I'm a little tired, I think they should stop the music (bitter smile).
Kogashiwa That music, I can tell that Gou is getting closer (lol).
High It's pretty easy to see even from a distance.
Kogashiwa I remember meeting Gou properly. We were together in the J-League selection for first year middle school students, and we've been good friends since then.
I think that mid-level players play an important role in bringing the team together.
High I think it's difficult to suddenly connect generations because I just joined. However, as a midfielder, I want to work with those around me and communicate off the pitch, so I want to talk to various people. But well, I'm being underestimated by younger players on my second day of joining (laughs). It's easier to get along with them and it was easier to join the team, so I think it's fine.
Kobayashi I think it's difficult to suddenly become a leader as a new member, but even in my university days at Hokkaido Consadole Sapporo, I talked normally regardless of age. So I hope to just be myself and naturally become a leader-like presence.
──The grade is one year above, but it's exciting to play on the same team with players of the same generation, including Keita ENDO.
Takashi I never thought we would end up together in Tokyo. We were playing against each other in different teams in the Kanto region, so it's amazing that we are now on the same team.
Kashiwa Definitely. It's a strange feeling to be on the same team as this group... But personally, I've had the opportunity to participate in training with Tokyo even during my university days, so there's no sense of discomfort.
──Is the opening of the hotline expected?
High I want to take the ball, pass it, and have Tsuyoshi score.
Kashiwa But, I haven't done it yet, so I don't know what it is like (bitter smile).
Takashi But he is truly an amazing player. Since I was in Niigata, there was also an analysis that "Sapporo's performance is different depending on whether or not Tsuyoshi is there." I really think he is a wonderful player.
Kogashiwa Suddenly praising (laughs).
──I think last season was the first time we actually played against each other as professionals, but what kind of analysis were you doing?
High Many injuries...
Kashiwa Hey, that's not a video, definitely (bitter laugh).
High Niigata match was a comeback match, right? When we played in the first half of the season, it was a comeback match, but in the second half, I was injured, so I didn't appear in the scouting footage for either match (bitter laugh).
Kogashiwa Yan's playing style has improved significantly since his days at Ichifune.
High From the top, lol.
Kogashiwa You've gotten better (lol).
High But, that is often said. It really started being said after going to Niigata.
Kashiwa wasn't a character who connected passes, right?
High When I was with G Osaka, I ran, crushed, and scored easily. Since I moved to Niigata, I think I have improved myself and have been told by others that I have really improved.
Kashiwa I thought it was really different.
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Text by Yohhei Baba (Freelance Writer)
