From the Levain Cup match against Avispa Fukuoka, the second match of the J1 League was against Cerezo Osaka, which was played after only three days of rest. The high press, coordinated defense, and short counters were all functioning well, constantly threatening the opponent's goal. In the first half, Kazuya KONNO scored the team's first goal of the season, and in the second half, despite being down a player for a long period of time, Jakub SLOWIK made multiple big saves to keep a clean sheet. Albert Pobor's team secured their first victory in Tokyo, even on enemy territory.
<3/6 J1 League FC Osaka Match Highlights>
With this flow, finally on March 12th (Sat), we will have the first match at Ajinomoto Stadium in Tokyo with Albert. Due to the impact of the new coronavirus infection, the team was only able to train for one day before the C Osaka match, but this time we have a four-day preparation period and will be fully prepared for the first home game.
The football that has been expressed in the past three matches was a perfect representation of the new Tokyo style that coach Albert PUIG ORTONEDA aims for. Especially in the first half of the match against C Osaka, the team's tactics were the most effective since the start of the season. They aggressively pressed from the front, quickly launched short counters after recovering the ball, and controlled the game by moving the ball without rushing when the opponent was organized.
In addition, Yasuki KIMOTO, also known as Robert, spoke about using good long balls. He said, "In the Kawasaki game, there was some criticism about not using enough through balls, so I think I was able to use short and long passes effectively.", not only connecting with short passes, but also using long feeds from the center back to quickly change the flow of the game, making it difficult for the opponent to focus on one target.
Without Takuya AOKI, who has been a key player on both offense and defense, due to a suspension, who will be used in his position and how will the starting lineup change? I want to pay attention to Coach Albert PUIG ORTONEDA's selection method and how we will stick to our style of play.
The opponent, Sanfrecce Hiroshima, has also welcomed a new coach this season and as mentioned in soccer writer Satoshi Hojo's column, they have a completely different approach to soccer compared to Tokyo. We want to carefully break through their high press without panicking and connect to a goal.
It has been 3 months since our last home game. We want everyone to experience the new Tokyo and the exciting soccer of Albert Tokyo at Ajinomoto Stadium.
