《Daiki NIWA》
This is the first time partnering with Hyun-soo as a center-back. I felt like the first half was a bit of a "feeling out" period.
The sense of distance between each other, the passing of marks, and the raising and lowering of lines were all tentative, and there were times when we were caught from behind by Kashiwa's second line breaking through.
However, I think the coordination has improved over time.
Especially in the second half, we hardly let Kashiwa do anything...

The reason for the defeat was not being able to score when we should have, and conversely, conceding a goal. However, I am more frustrated about not being able to score, including myself, than the fact that we conceded one goal.
It's defense, but I'm conscious of ensuring that the attacking players can attack smoothly, and the offense in the second half was impressive even from the back.
A difference of 30cm. It's really frustrating not being able to do that.

(There was also a header shot from a corner kick for myself?)
It would have been great if I could have slammed that down and twisted it into the goal.
If he had struck it down another 10 to 20 cm, it would have been a goal.
In a closely contested match, set plays will be the key.
I want to do my best to contribute to the team in that area as well.

A difficult away match against Sapporo is coming up in three days.
Three consecutive losses are absolutely unacceptable.

I want to switch mentally and prepare to earn 3 points.

《Rei HIRAKAWA》
"(Was it your first appearance at Ajinomoto in the J1 League?)
Indeed, J1 is exceptional. The atmosphere in the stands was great, and I was able to play in the best environment, but... I wanted to seize victory.
In the second half, it was a shame that we conceded a goal while we were solidly regrouping as a team and creating many chances ourselves.

(Regarding standing on the pitch?)
Since we were in a behind situation, I was first focused on catching up to equalize.
I wanted to assess the flow of the match and create goals while maintaining balance.
The instructions from the coach were to 'play as far forward as possible and work towards scoring goals.'
I was able to play without feeling nervous, but I am left with regret for not being able to contribute to the team's victory.

I see it as an opportunity for myself, given the injured players and various situations.
However, I always try to give more than 100 percent in practice, and my performance was probably good as well.
Above all, if we have the ability to win in this situation, there should be more opportunities to play in matches.
I want to continue to approach practice with more than full effort and use today's appearance as a stepping stone to keep working hard from now on.

《Tokyo - Summary of the Press Conference by Coach Kenta HASEGAWA》

"Since it was the last home game of the summer vacation, it was a match we absolutely wanted to win.
I think the players did their best until the end, but it is very frustrating that we lost due to our lack of strength.

We created chances in the second half, but I feel we need to improve our final accuracy even more. However, since we have capable players, I want to continue to hope that once we find our rhythm, we will score again.
Today, Morishige suddenly developed a fever and couldn't participate, and since Muroya also had a sudden fever and couldn't play in the previous match against Kashiwa, I thought there were various things happening before the Kashiwa match, and we started.
In the first half, the build-up was shaky. Hyun Soo JANG seemed to struggle as the scenery changed significantly from right to left, but after discussing it at halftime, we were able to move the ball forward in a good shape in the second half.
Although Niwa performed well defensively, there were some unsatisfactory aspects in the buildup during the first half.
The halftime was focused on that kind of talk for the first time in a while.
We had been able to move the ball smoothly until now, so it felt like we were at the final stage, but today we had some knockbacks in the ball movement, and it continued to be difficult to get good balls to the forwards. In that situation, we created a few dangerous scenes due to mistakes. However, I think the defense did a great job responding well at the crucial moments.

In the second half, the rhythm gradually improved, and chances increased, but we have had two consecutive matches where we couldn't score in that flow.
We have no choice but to endure and keep going.
There is no magic cure for this issue. I believe every team goes through such times, so I want us to overcome it with everyone's strength and move into a better state.

《Q&A》
Q=What words were spoken in the locker room?
"We talked about how we should switch gears and move forward. There are times like this. Most of the players were downcast, so I had that conversation."

Q=What is the reason for bringing in player Hirakawa?
"Ogawa's switch to the right side was aimed at delivering a good cross with an inswing. I was considering bringing Maeda in if the situation allowed for more crosses, but it didn't have much effect. Before the match, I talked to Ogawa about expecting such plays and possibly using him, but it was a last-minute decision. I think he did his best, but he couldn't execute the intended plays."
So, the aim was to break through from the middle rather than the sides, so I chose Hirakawa to build up properly with Takahagi and to develop the play to score.

《Press Conference Summary of Kashiwa Coach Nozomu KATO》

"Despite being away, many supporters gave us tremendous cheers.
That was conveyed to the players, and they fought well.

While keeping the defense at zero, we wanted to manage the game, and since we were solid in defense and able to create good shapes in attack, we wanted to continue that.
The players fulfilled their respective roles, worked hard to provide that extra something, and fought until the end.

Q=What is the reason for keeping player Segawa?
"The defense was certainly in good shape, but we continued to make runs behind the defense."
I wanted to leave that for the team, and I wanted Cristiano to exploit the gap left by Muroya.

Q=Wasn't the timing of the substitutions slower than usual?
"Although we were pushed back, the midfield was stable, so I wasn't too worried about it."
However, I conveyed to the players that we should not lose our balance and that we should endure where we can, so the players accepted this and continued without substitutions.