Worst Ground Condition!?

The Yamagata City Athletics Stadium, which served as the venue for the match on this day, was far worse than we expected. The players who arrived at the venue were speechless at the "harsh environment" that spread out before their eyes and doubted playing here. About 50% of the pitch had no grass and the ground was exposed, and it was also bumpy and hard. Beyond 30cm from the touchline, there was no grass and it became a hard dirt track, and the intense play near the line was considered dangerous. "Is it okay to hold the J-League here?" Such voices were heard everywhere in this terrible stadium, which had to handle league and cup matches in an extremely tight schedule and was too "harsh" for Tokyo Eleven, who were at the peak of physical and mental fatigue. Away games are inherently disadvantageous for the away team, but the situation on this day was extraordinary and even dampened the players' "fighting spirit".

Yamagata Familiar with the Ground

The match started in a chilly weather of 22℃ with occasional strong winds. As expected, the game quickly turned into a "kick-fest". The uneven ground made it difficult to control the ball, as dribbles would bounce unexpectedly. It required more effort to stop the ball, so Tokyo's usual style of soccer, which involved connecting passes in the midfield and building attacks from full-back dribbles, was silenced. Naturally, it was impossible to play "normal soccer" on such a field, but Tokyo couldn't find a way to initiate their attacks on this terrible ground condition, which was worse than expected. On the other hand, Yamagata also struggled with the bouncing ball, as it rolled in unexpected directions, giving them a sensation of chasing a rugby ball. However, they seemed to have practiced on this ground a few times and had a well-executed "tactic(?)" in place. They completely skipped the midfield passing and simply aimed to win the ball and launch long balls into the space behind the defense. It was truly reminiscent of rugby tactics, prioritizing moving forward and aiming to exploit the opponent's mistakes in handling the bouncing ball. What impressed me even more was their awareness of kicking the ball while it was still in the air. Indeed, on this ground, it took time and effort to stop the ball, and the possibility of making mistakes was high. Therefore, kicking the ball in the air was a lower-risk option, especially for passes that didn't require high precision. It was only natural that Yamagata, who was familiar with this ground, took control of the game.

2 goals conceded

Tokyo, which understands it in its head, but can't easily switch from "usual soccer". Left back Fujiyama usually has a dribble skill that can easily pass through 2-3 people, so he consciously tries to kick forward, but when the opponent presses sharply, he reflexively dribbles. In the midfield, Almir tries to break through with his usual image and a combination with FW Amaral, but the ground pass lacks accuracy and is 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 on the front line, but it is simple and lacks ingenuity, making it easy for the opponent to read. Yamagata's defensive line is deep, and they couldn't penetrate the space behind the defenders.

On the other hand, Yamagata, who is familiar with the ground, repeated a thorough long ball strategy. Yamagata creates a base with the powerful two top players, Mutaill, who is currently the top scorer in J2, and previously played for the Nigerian national team and Kawasaki Frontale, and Hirama, who has speed and technique in the midfield and moves around in the front line. Sandro corresponds to Mutaill, Komine corresponds to Hirama, and Asari corresponds to Hirama, perfectly suppressing them. However, they occasionally invite danger by failing to catch Bautele, who jumps out from deep in the midfield to the front line. In the 16th minute, Bautele shot a powerful shot, but GK Suzuki made an amazing save and it became a corner kick for Yamagata. However, the ball kicked by Yoshida from the left corner seemed too big, but it lost speed due to the strong wind, sharply curved, and mocked GK Suzuki's desperate jump as it was sucked in just before the far post. With this, Yamagata's momentum increased even more, and the overall movement became faster, leading to a one-sided pace. In the 42nd minute, Fujiyama had his dribble cut off and a centering pass was made in a counter-attack situation, and Shimoshita pushed in Hirama's shot for the second goal. Tokyo couldn't find their rhythm and ended the first half with a score of 0-2.

The fierce comeback in the second half fell just short

In the second half, Tokyo, who replaced defensive MF Niijou with FW Kaburagi, started their counterattack. Tokyo confirmed their coach's instructions to focus on side attacks during halftime, with Kaburagi, Yukihiko, and Umeyama on the right side, and Almir and Fujiyama on the left side, creating a base. When picking up the ball in the midfield or defense, they consistently spread it to the sides, and from there, they started to break down Yamagata's defensive line with centering or dribbling towards the center. However, while chances increased with the participation of sidebacks in the attack, they also faced danger from counterattacks on the sides. Especially on the left side, Hirama created a scoring opportunity after a precise pass from Bautele. The intense back-and-forth battle continued, and in the 22nd minute of the second half, Yukihiko was fouled by a Yamagata defender while attempting a shot near the center penalty area from an attack on the right side, resulting in a free kick. Almir aimed directly for the goal from this excellent position, and the ball, shot with his left foot, curved sharply over the wall and found the top right corner of the net with a resounding "thud." Following his artful goal in the previous match against Oita (9/25), Almir once again closed the gap to one goal, and Tokyo launched a fierce attack. In the 25th minute of the second half, Yamagata was reduced to 10 players after one player was sent off, leading to Tokyo's one-sided dominance. With Tokyo in a pressing mood, they controlled the ball and repeatedly broke down the sides to create chances, but their crossing accuracy was lacking, and they couldn't convert their opportunities into goals. In the 36th minute of the second half, Enomoto was substituted for defender Umeyama, and Tokyo continued to attack with a super offensive formation of three forwards, but they were unable to score an additional goal and suffered a close defeat. They relinquished the top spot to Kawasaki Frontale, who defeated Niigata in this round, and dropped to second place.

＜Coach Okuma's Comment＞

A ground like today's doesn't suit Almir. Because he couldn't become the starting point, he couldn't build up the attack. Also, we fought with the image of a normal ground overall and ended up being defeated. Especially the second goal in the first half is a typical example of that. It's our fault that we couldn't switch easily compared to Yamagata, who came prepared for this ground. However, considering how much we were able to move in the second half, I don't think our condition is bad, so I want to quickly switch our mindset and face the Kashima game on the 6th.

"Accumulated Warning Status"

Takayuki KOMINE... (2) → (3)

Sandro... (1) → (2)