The 2016 Meiji Yasuda Life Insurance Company J3 League Sec. 21, held since the away match against Tochigi on August 7.

The opponent in this match, Iwate Grulla Morioka, is the team that achieved their first home victory.
However, they have not lost in the last 6 league matches, and in addition, they gained momentum by defeating J1 Vegalta Sendai in the Emperor's Cup.
Tokyo sets up in a 4-4-2 formation.
The GK is Iwai. The DF line features Okaniwa, who made his first appearance and first start in J3, placed on the right, along with the young DF line of Yanagi, Okazaki, and Ogawa.
In the midfield, Mizunuma, Nozawa, Suzuki, and Koyama are positioned from the right, with Nathan BURNS and Hayashi lined up in the front.
Morioka, like in the previous match, employs a 4-4-2 formation, and is a team that engages in active play, including build-up play involving the goalkeeper and pressure from the front line.
The point difference between Tokyo and Morioka is 2, and the match that could change their rankings started with Tokyo's kickoff.

[First Half]
Morioka entered the game with momentum.
Following the recent victory against Sendai in the Emperor's Cup, we will choose to apply pressure from the front line and engage in proactive play to take control.
Tokyo is struggling to find its rhythm, and in the 11th minute, they are broken through on the right side with speed.
If you allow a cross to the near post from here, you will be clumsily jumped on and lose the opening goal.
As Coach Nakamura said at halftime, "We stepped up our game after conceding a goal," Tokyo will begin to play more aggressively from here.
In the 19th minute, Hayashi stole the ball in the center of the opponent's half and created a numerical advantage of 3 against 2 with Barnes and Suzuki.
Hayashi sends a last pass to Suzuki, who is running on the left in front of the penalty area, and finds himself one-on-one with the advancing GK, but is thwarted by the GK's excellent save.
Tokyo missed the chance, but Barnes and Hayashi are starting to become the focal point in the front line.
Especially Barnes makes a difference with his abundant movement, dropping into the midfield and getting involved in the attack.
Additionally, Hayashi leads the aggressive press from the front line, not giving Morioka any freedom.
Then, the equalizer was taken away by the involvement of that two-top.
In the 24th minute, after stealing the ball in front of our penalty area and passing it to Barnes, he skillfully evaded the opponent and surged forward alone through the center.
In the opponent's half, near the center, he passes to Hayashi, who is running down the left side. Hayashi cuts in with a dribble and takes a shot from the middle, which hits the opposing defender and goes straight into the goal.
In the 27th minute, Koyama's shot hit the post. In the following 29th minute, Barnes cut in from the right side and sent a left-footed ball to the center in front of the goal.
When Hayashi drops this with his chest, Mizunuma dives in but misses the contact.
In addition, Barnes created chances in the 35th and 36th minutes, but the equalizer was still far away.
The match, which gradually settled down, went into halftime without either side being able to take the lead.

【Halftime】
Coach Nakamura's Comments
"Let's connect the ball as a team and aim for the sides. It's important to pick up the second balls. We must continue to pick them up in the second half."
Enhancing the final system. With a spirit of helping each other, we will definitely win.

[Second Half]
Both teams will not make any substitutions in the second half.
In the 48th minute, Hayashi was fouled near the right sideline in the opponent's half, earning a free kick. Mizunuma sent it to the far side, but Hayashi, being free, couldn't make contact and missed the scoring opportunity.
The chance created from a throw-in occurred in the 52nd minute. After earning a throw-in deep on the right side, Mizunuma, who lost his marker in the penalty area, received the ball and crossed it to the near post.
Koyama closes in, but the opponent's GK is unable to catch it, resulting in no goal.
In the 57th minute, Tokyo attacks from the right side, with Mizunuma holding the ball on the right side, passing to Barnes who has made a run after a feint against the opposing defense line.
Barnes makes a vertical dribble and delivers a low cross to the near post, but it doesn't connect with Hayashi.
In the 61st minute, Yanagi intercepted the ball in front of his own penalty area and ran nearly 50 meters, passing it to Hayashi who came in from the left.
Hayashi takes a shot after a dribble, but it doesn't reach the goal. Tokyo, unable to take the lead, is losing momentum to Morioka.
Morioka, who began to hold the ball, increased their time in Tokyo's territory, and Tokyo responded with counterattacks.
The Tokyo defense continues to respond without losing focus.
Among them, the one who stood out the most was Kai. He truly stood as a guardian in front of the Tokyo goal.
In the 63rd minute, after allowing Morioka to break through from the left side and conceding a decisive shot, Kai made a save by putting his body on the line.
Furthermore, a shot was taken from the loose ball, but the defense threw themselves in to block it.
In the 67th minute, Ue punched away a powerful shot from the left side.
When the ball is picked up again on the right side inside the penalty area, Nozawa desperately jumps in to block and clears the shooting path, sending it over the near post.
In the 71st minute, they cut in from the left side to the vicinity of the goal area in the penalty area, but Yanagi and Ogawa put their bodies on the line to block it.
In the 74th minute, a strong shot from the right side of the goal was aimed at the right side of the goal after being set up free, but the goalkeeper made another big save.
The right corner kick given here was cleared by the defender at the near post, resulting in another right corner kick. Against Morioka, who employed a strategy of crowding around the GK, Iwai responded with a punch to save Tokyo from a crisis.
Tokyo also brings in Kobayashi and Hiraoka to change the flow.
In the 82nd minute, Hiraoka picked up a loose ball in midfield and launched a counterattack. He dribbled nearly 40 meters and took a shot with his left foot in a one-on-one situation, but the goalkeeper caught it.
Immediately after, the opponent's forward, who had run behind Tokyo's defense, received a counter and found himself one-on-one with Kawai, but he made a big save with a strong body block to avert the crisis.
In the 86th minute, a play was created in the center in front of the goal, and a player jumped into the open space on the left side, resulting in a one-on-one situation inside the penalty area, but the player blocked it.
Tokyo, whose physical activity decreased and struggled to pick up second balls, continued to endure Morioka's fierce attacks as a team and earned 1 point.

Thank you very much for your passionate support for FC Tokyo U-23.
We appreciate your continued warm support.

【Summary of Coach Nakamura's Press Conference】
"First of all, when I arrived here, there were fans and supporters who came from Tokyo, and we talked about winning and taking home 3 points."
First, I wanted to show the supporters where we will fight.
At the start, the opponent has been unbeaten in several matches and has overwhelmingly defeated Sendai in the Emperor's Cup, so they are a very momentum-driven team, and we wanted to approach this with our own momentum.
At the start, the opponent applied more pressure, and after about 10 minutes, I realized that Morioka's number 15 (Kenta Anraku) was a good player, but we were broken down and conceded a goal.
However, after that, I think the players were able to show the kind of football they intended, connecting the ball carefully without rushing and attacking behind the opponent to take shots from midway through the first half.
As a result, we were able to catch up during the first half.
In the second half, we tried to continue that style of football without stopping our legs, and I think we created scoring opportunities during the 20 to 25 minutes (65 to 70 minutes). However, with 15 minutes remaining, our legs stopped, and due to the opponent's effective substitutions, we were unable to create space in the front line and couldn't pick up loose balls. In the end, we were pushed back, but I believe we managed to draw thanks to GK Iwai's efforts.

【Player Comments】
《Okaniwa》
"I haven't been able to practice much with the other players, but the seniors encouraged me a lot, so I was able to approach it a bit more relaxed."
However, the first 20 minutes were quite tense.
Thanks to the encouragement from the players around me, I was able to gradually express myself. I have no regrets, but I felt that I need to raise my standards.
(What was the reason for the tension?) I think it was due to nerves or the atmosphere of the venue.
(The opposing player was the key player in the attack) I was told he was the key player from the meeting. I thought I would try not to let him do his thing, but I was a bit stiff at first. As the second half progressed, I got used to it and started to understand things like how to cut in while dribbling and the timing. As for areas of improvement, I think I let him get the better of me a bit too much at the beginning.
(What are the harvests and challenges?) I am still not able to coordinate with the defense and control the line well, and I sometimes drop back too much, which can lead to being offside.
In the attack, we were a bit stiff at first, so our movement was limited, but I hope we can increase our activity from the start and become a source of goals.
Unlike U-18, each intensity is very high, and I want to raise the standard even more.
(What is Standard?) In defense, it means not allowing one-on-one situations and coordinating the line adjustments with the seniors.
In terms of offense, there was a lot of vertical movement, and regarding the quality when moving forward, the forwards and I were not in sync, and my passing quality was poor, so I want to improve on those aspects.
(What is the difference from U-18?) The clear difference was in the speed and the intensity of one-on-one situations. Normally, I am a player who doesn't cramp much, but I ended up cramping towards the end of the second half, and I think the intensity of each moment affected me in that way.
(What about the play after the stiffness was gone?) I was caught out in defense, but I felt that if I could attack from my side, I gradually found my own pace.
I feel that when I found my own pace, I became more relaxed, and I also think I got used to the one-on-one situations.
(Did you hear the voices of the fans and supporters?) Yes, I heard them quite well. I was really happy.
(The next match will be held at Ajinomoto, but) I still don't know if I will be able to participate, but if I am called, I will prepare thoroughly and aim to improve little by little from today.
 

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