Restart of the Nabisco Cup, with a new feeling

　The league matches are temporarily suspended, and the Nabisco Cup will resume after about two months. FC Tokyo, which belongs to Group C of the qualifiers, has already played two matches and is in third place with one draw and one loss. They are tied on points with Oita in fourth place. Due to the absence of Dohi and Kaji for the Japan national team match, they will be competing under challenging circumstances, but as the reigning champions, they cannot afford to be eliminated in the qualifiers easily. In Group C of the qualifiers, Kashiwa is leading with six points, but a comeback is still possible. They need to create a good momentum and aim for victory in the upcoming four matches. Above all, Chiba is the opponent that caused them to suffer a bitter defeat in last week's league match. Today, with the support of their home crowd, they want to achieve revenge.

　Although they will be missing Lucas, who has re-injured himself, Fujita, Miura, and Kanazawa are back. The starting lineup includes GK Shiota, with the DF line from the right being Fujita, Jaan, Moniwa, and Kanazawa. Konno returns to the defensive midfield to partner with Kurizawa, with Ishikawa on the right MF and Kobayashi on the left MF. The formation features two forwards, Danilo and Yusuke KONDO. Coach Hara stated, "In last week's league match, we conceded the first goal and immediately tried to equalize, which led to a second goal against us due to a counterattack. We are too anxious in our attack. When we can't execute a quick attack, we want to keep the ball and use the width of the field to break through." He expressed hope for the starting roles of Danilo, who has a strong awareness of ball contests and going forward, and Kobayashi, who has good ball retention.

　Chiba currently has 3 points and is in 2nd place in the group. Today, FW Haas and DF Saito are absent, with FW Hayashi starting and MF Posek making his season debut. The lineup shows 3 DF, but in reality, DF Stoyanov and Abe form the center backs, with Mizumoto on the right and MF Sakamoto on the left in a 4-back formation. The match started at 15:03 at Ajinomoto Stadium in early summer weather, with Chiba kicking off.

Allowed the opening goal, but a patient first half

　After analyzing last week's league match, we chose to play in a compact formation with a deeper defensive line, not pressing the ball from the front in the first half today. It was a cautious start. Even so, in the 7th minute, Danilo cut into the area from the right, receiving a return pass from Ishikawa who moved to the center. Kurizawa connected with a middle shot after it was played back, showing good coordination, but the shot went over the bar. In the 17th minute, Kanazawa picked up a loose ball from Fujita's cross, connecting with Konno in the center and then Kobayashi on the left. In the end, Kanazawa, who had pushed up, delivered a left cross, but Danilo in the front line was offside.

　Although Tokyo had many chances, they allowed ball possession, yet they did not let Chiba create any decisive opportunities. However, in the 20th minute, Chiba attempted to attack with a pass sequence in the defensive line, where midfielder Popescu received the ball near the center circle and made a penetrating pass to the front line. Forward Lins flicked it on, and the advancing Popescu received the return pass, entered the area, and shot. Taking advantage of Tokyo's weak marking, they allowed Popescu, making his debut, to score the opening goal.

　After that, Chiba completely dominated the match. By taking the lead, they played it safe, patiently passing the ball around the defense line while looking for opportunities. In contrast, Tokyo was unable to go after the ball at all. Coach Hara also mentioned after the match, "I think it felt like a disappointing performance," but if you think about it calmly, it can also be said that they did not concede a second goal and the game unfolded as intended. The strategy was to let them attack in the first half and then, with the introduction of Toda and Miura in the second half, to go for the win and aim for a comeback.

Launched a fierce attack and created several chances, but...

　As planned, the rhythm changed dramatically with the introduction of Toda in the second half. Tokyo aggressively attacked, chasing from the front and stealing the ball. In the 46th minute, Yusuke KONDO boldly made a move from the left side and took a shot. The rebound went to Ishikawa, who was free in the right area, and he trapped it and took a volley shot, but unfortunately it went over the bar.

　In the 49th minute, Chiba's MF Popescu evaded the offside line and picked up the ball near the end line, delivering a left cross. FW Maki at the far post headed the ball towards MF Sato in the center, but it went over the bar. In the 53rd minute, Sato broke into the area and, while being blocked by a defender, turned and shot. It narrowly missed to the right. The match progressed, and Chiba also created similar chances, but no additional goals were allowed.

　In the 55th minute, a decisive scene for Tokyo. Kanazawa's big switch finds Ishikawa perfectly on the right. Ishikawa makes a move, and Kurizawa picks up the loose ball from the defender and delivers a floating cross into the center. Toda heads it but just goes over the bar. Immediately after, Miura is brought in for Kobayashi as a defensive midfielder, with Kurizawa moving to the left. With Miura's introduction, Konno also shows aggressive forward play, closing in on the Chiba goal.

　In the 65th minute, Ishikawa passes to Fujita, who runs into the right space. Fujita catches up near the end line and sends a short cross to the right of the area. As the goalkeeper comes out, Toda connects, and Yusuke KONDO takes a shot, but it goes over the bar. Once again, they are unable to capitalize on a big chance.

　In the 70th minute, Toda was substituted, and Fujita, who advanced on the right side, took a shot. It had power but went over the goal. In the 76th minute, Kanazawa and Konno combined to take the ball, and Konno dashed into the left area. A last pass was delivered to Yusuke KONDO, but he couldn't take a shot. Tokyo completely picked up the loose ball and continued the attack. However, they couldn't bring it to a finish. In the 81st minute, Baba was brought in as a forward to replace the visibly tired Yusuke KONDO. In the 84th minute, Ishikawa, who drifted to the left, won a corner kick, and Baba took the kick, but the goalkeeper caught it. In the 87th minute, there was a right corner kick. Konno headed a shot in response to Ishikawa's kick, but it bounced and went over the goal. They continued to launch a fierce attack with a burst of speed, but once again, they were far from scoring. Clearly, they grasped the pace and counterattacked, but the issue of lack of finishing ability could not be resolved, and they ultimately lost without scoring.

　【Player Comments】《Toda》 "We endured so much in the first half, so in the second half, we aimed to press from the front and close down spaces to attack. It’s not just because I wasn’t on the field; the match is a contest over 90 minutes. I thought I should work hard for Danilo, who was substituted. We conceded first, but I was thinking we could turn it around. We lost, but we were able to share the common goal of 'let's go with this game plan today.' If we had scored in the second half, it would have gone exactly as planned..." 《Miura》 "What the team needs right now is to deliver results. It’s frustrating that we couldn’t achieve that. Changing the flow is my role. If I can’t be useful during tough times, it’s meaningless. I feel a sense of responsibility. However, the goal is definitely getting closer. We had chances to score two goals. There’s no point in looking down, so we just have to keep fighting." 《Kanazawa》 "In the first half, the problem was conceding a goal. If that goal hadn’t happened, it would have gone according to plan. I want to continue the style of play from the second half and win by scoring. For that, sometimes we don’t have enough players during quick counterattacks. I want to grasp our rhythm during slow attacks. I want to resolve those issues."

　[Summary of Coach Hara's Press Conference] "We lost to Jeff in the league match a week ago, but they threw the ball in quite early against our defense and picked up the loose balls. Therefore, today we aimed to let the opponent circulate the ball without rushing and target from the halfway line. I brought in Danilo as a forward, hoping for his ball retention ability, but the defensive approach was unclear, and as a team, we didn't know where to press... that was how the first half went. I understood the players were frustrated, and there was a sense of regret, but if we forced the issue from the front while the back line was pulled back, it would create the most favorable situation for Jeff. I wanted to avoid changing our approach and having the team become disjointed. In the second half, we pressed forward with Toda and Yusuke KONDO, aiming to change the rhythm and utilize the flanks. There was probably a reason that Jeff was leading and not pushing too hard, but in the second half, we had good patterns with Konno and Ishikawa breaking forward, and Fujita delivering crosses... but the issue was not being able to score. The first half was disappointing, but if we don't control the source of the ball, we can't execute our organized defense. We didn't change our approach drastically; it was just that Toda seriously went to win the ball back that made the difference. Our foundation is indeed in these areas. I want to pursue scoring goals with the players in the style we showed in the second half."

　[Summary of Coach Osim's Press Conference] "There were two completely different halves. I think today's match was a good opportunity for both the coach and the spectators. This is because players who usually do not get to play were given a chance, and everyone watching could see what they could do. Unfortunately, today turned out to be such a match. What we tried to do was going well as long as the players' stamina lasted. However, Tokyo targeted our technically inferior players who could not maintain their stamina and came to take the ball. That was the content of the second half. We were pressured in that situation. Rather than being broken down, we gave the opponent chances due to our own mistakes, and there were shots that could have easily resulted in goals. We ultimately won, but it is really difficult to win against the same team twice in one week. One takeaway is that today we played without a libero for the first time, and Abe and Stoyanov played very well. Regarding the midfield, I can't say anything as there were issues on the sides."