Worst Ground Conditions!?

The Yamagata City Athletics Stadium, which served as the venue for the match on this day, was far worse than we expected. When the players arrived at the venue, they were speechless at the "harsh environment" that spread out in front of them, and doubted whether they could play here. About 50% of the pitch had no grass and was exposed to the ground, and it was also bumpy and hard. Beyond 30cm from the touchline, there was no grass and it became a hard dirt track, making it dangerous to play near the line. "Is it okay to hold the J-League here?" Such a terrible stadium, where such voices were heard everywhere, was too "harsh" for Tokyo Eleven, who were already physically and mentally exhausted from playing league and cup matches in an overcrowded schedule. Away games are already disadvantageous for the away team, but the situation on this day was extraordinary and even lowered the players' "fighting spirit".

Yamagata, who knows the ground well

The match started in a chilly 22℃ with occasional strong winds. As expected, the match quickly turned into a "kick battle". The rough surface made it difficult to control the ball and even stopping it required twice the usual effort. As a result, Tokyo's usual style of patiently passing the ball in midfield and building attacks from the full-back's dribbles was silenced. Of course, it was impossible to play "normal football" on this kind of ground, but Tokyo struggled to find a way to attack on this unexpectedly terrible ground condition. On the other hand, Yamagata also had a hard time dealing with the unpredictable bounces of the ball, but they seemed to have practiced on this ground a few times and had a "tactic" in place. They completely skipped passing in midfield and just focused on winning the ball and sending long balls into the space behind the defenders. It was like a rugby tactic, prioritizing moving forward and hoping for the opponent to make a mistake in dealing with the bouncing ball. What impressed me even more was that they were conscious of kicking the ball while it was still in the air. It was certainly risky to try to stop the ball on this ground, as it could easily result in mistakes. Therefore, kicking the ball while it was still in the air was a lower risk option and effective for passes that didn't require precision. It was only natural that Yamagata, who knew this ground well, took control of the match.

2 goals conceded

Tokyo, who understands it in their head, but can't switch from "usual soccer" easily. Left back Fujiyama has a dribbling skill that can easily pass through 2-3 people, but when the opponent presses hard, he reflexively dribbles. In the midfield, Almir tries to break through with his usual image and combination with FW Amaral, but his ground passes lack accuracy and are easily cut off by the opponent. Tokyo is frustrated by not being able to create a rhythm, and tries to pass to Amaral and Okamoto who are pushing forward, but it is too simple and predictable for the opponent. Yamagata's defensive line is deep, and they couldn't exploit the space behind the defenders.

On the other hand, Yamagata, who knows the ground well, repeated a thorough long ball strategy. Yamagata's front line was made up of the powerful two top players, the current J2 top scorer Shita, former Nigerian representative and former Kawasaki F player Mutairu, and the speedy and technical midfielder Hirama, who moved around and created a base. Shita was perfectly held by Sandro, Mutairu by Komine, and Hirama by Asari, but they couldn't catch Bautele, who occasionally caused trouble by jumping out from deep in the midfield to the front line. In the 16th minute, goalkeeper Suzuki made a super fine save to deflect Bautele's powerful shot, and it resulted in a corner kick for Yamagata. However, the ball kicked by Yoshida from the left corner seemed too big, but it lost speed due to strong winds, sharply curved, and mocked goalkeeper Suzuki's desperate jump as it was sucked in just barely at the far post. With this, Yamagata gained even more momentum and their overall movement became faster, dominating the pace. In the 42nd minute, Fujiyama was cut off during a dribble and a counter attack resulted in Hirama's shot being pushed in by Shita for the second goal. Tokyo couldn't find their rhythm and ended the first half with a 0-2 score.

The fierce comeback in the second half fell just short.

In the second half, Tokyo, who had replaced defensive MF Niijou with FW Kaburagi, began their counterattack. Following the coach's instructions during halftime to focus on side attacks, Tokyo started to create a base with Kaburagi, Yukihiko, and Umeyama on the right side, and Almir and Fujiyama on the left side. When picking up the ball in the midfield or defense, they would consistently spread out to the sides and then cross or dribble into the center, causing Yamagata's defense line to crumble. However, while chances increased with the participation of side backs in the attack, they also faced danger from counterattacks. In particular, on the left side, Hiramatsu created a scoring opportunity from a perfect pass by Bautele. The intense back-and-forth battle continued, and in the 22nd minute of the second half, Yukihiko was fouled by a Yamagata defender just outside the center penalty area while attempting a shot from an attack on the right side. Almir took the resulting free kick from a perfect position and his left-footed shot curved sharply over the wall and into the top right corner of the goal. Following his artful goal in the previous match against Oita (9/25), Almir once again closed the gap to one goal, and Tokyo began a fierce attack. In the 25th minute of the second half, Yamagata was reduced to 10 men, and Tokyo dominated the game. With Tokyo in a pressing mood, they controlled the ball and created numerous chances by breaking down the sides, but their crosses lacked accuracy and they were unable to convert their opportunities. In the 36th minute of the second half, they substituted FW Enomoto for DF Umeyama and continued to attack with a three-forward formation, but they were unable to score an equalizer and suffered a close defeat. They relinquished the top spot to Kawasaki Frontale, who defeated Niigata in this round, and fell to second place.

<Coach Okuma's Comment>

A ground like today's doesn't suit Almir. Since he couldn't be the starting point, we couldn't build up our attack. Also, we played with the image of a normal ground overall and ended up being defeated. Especially the second goal in the first half was a typical example of that. It was our fault that we couldn't switch gears against Yamagata, who had adapted to this ground. However, since we were able to move that much in the second half, I don't think our condition was bad. So, I want to quickly switch our mindset and face the Kashima game on the 6th.

"Accumulated Warning Status"

Komine... (2) → (3) <Next match (10/11 vs Tosu) suspended>

Sandro... (1) → (2)