What the team needs to do now is to earn points

　J1 League Sec. 9 was an away game against Oita Trinita. In the previous match against Kashiwa, we attacked rhythmically from the first half and had control of the game, but despite that, we fell into the trap of their defense and counterattacks after conceding the first goal, making it a frustrating match for both the players and the fans. In this match, we challenged with fresh members, including Danilo, who made his first start as a catalyst, and Sakoi, who made his first appearance in the J1 League in 5 years, but we couldn't break the losing streak. Since Manager Hara took over, we had a 3-game losing streak in 2002, but this is the first time we have had a 4-game losing streak. With 3 wins, 1 draw, and 4 losses, we are currently in 10th place. We have already played against Oita in the 2nd round of the Nabisco Cup (Ajinomoto Stadium), where we had a scoreless draw against them with 10 players, and we haven't won against Oita, including last season.

　Oita had a period at the beginning of the season where they couldn't win, but since April they have had 3 wins and 3 losses. In the previous match, they suffered a comeback defeat against Omiya, but before that they had 2 consecutive wins and their form has been improving since changing their system to a 4-4-2. Especially the attacking line has been in good form. With fast and skilled forward Magnu Alves at the center, new foreign forward Dodo as one of the two forwards, and in-form forward Nishino as well, these three players have scored 7 out of the team's 10 goals. In addition, Abe and Yoshida are contributing to the attack as left and right midfielders, participating in chance creation with good balance.

　 　Tokyo, on the other hand, sees the return of Kaji on the right side after being sidelined due to injury since the Iwata match. Since Kaji's absence, the team has been on a losing streak, so there are high hopes for his return as a savior-like figure. On the contrary, Kanazawa on the left side is out with a left quadriceps injury, and Suzuki Nori, who will make his first start of the season, will replace him. While there may be some concerns about the defense, on the other hand, there is an expectation for increased chances from the left side in terms of attacking play. In addition, there have been changes in the lineup since the previous match. Kurisawa has been replaced by Toda on the left side, and Miyazawa has been replaced by Asari in the defensive midfield, partnering with Konno.

　We have slipped into a four-game losing streak, but all we can do is believe in our own strength and fight. Kashima has slightly fallen behind in the title race, but the league is still in a tight situation, and although it is a difficult situation, we want to play with all our might and earn points with a strong "momentum".

　Today's Big Eye is a hot and humid condition with no wind on the pitch due to the closed roof. It started with Tokyo's kickoff at 2:03 pm aiming to break the losing streak.

Starting from the side, they launch fast attacks...

　Before leaving the locker room, Doi rallied everyone, saying "Forget about everything that happened before and let's go for the win!" The team approached the game with that mindset from the start. They aggressively pressed in the midfield, winning the ball and launching quick attacks from both sides. In the 6th minute, they had a big chance. Ishikawa and Nori Suzuki broke through on the left side and passed to Lucas in the center, who then sent the ball to Toda on the right side. Toda crossed it back to Ishikawa, who took a shot that unfortunately hit the crossbar. The team continued to attack from both sides. In the 11th minute, Toda passed to Ishikawa on the right side, who dribbled to the center and attempted a through pass to Lucas, but it didn't connect. In the 13th minute, Suzuki threw the ball in from the left side, and it was passed to Imano and then Toda in the center, but they couldn't get a shot off. Despite Tokyo having complete control of the game, they struggled to find a decisive goal.

Oita slowly circulates the ball with the defensive line and launches a monotonous attack by kicking it to the front line forwards Magnao Alves and Dodo in order to avoid Tokyo's midfield press. In the 16th minute, Dodo dribbles into the center and ultimately Magnao Alves takes a shot, but the defender cuts it off. This seems to be the only chance in the early stages.

　In the 17th minute, Toda created a chance from the left side, and in the 19th minute, Ishikawa created a chance from the right side, but Lucas and Danilo couldn't connect in front of the goal. In the 20th minute, Imamura passed through to Kaji on the right side, who crossed it directly from the end line to the center, but Toda's header shot narrowly missed the right side of the goal. In the 22nd minute, Suzuki Nori on the left side made a big side change, although it was cleared once, Kaji picked it up and broke through with a one-two with Ishikawa, but missed the goal by a wide margin from outside the penalty area. In the 30th minute, Imamura changed sides from a free kick opportunity, Kaji picked up the cleared ball and dribbled it into the box for a shot, but this time it was saved by the goalkeeper.

　In the meantime, an accident occurs. In the 36th minute, there is a collision in a heading duel and Norio Suzuki dislocates his right shoulder. He initially returns to the pitch, but it is determined that he cannot continue playing, and in the 44th minute, Komai replaces him. Towards the end of the first half, Toda and Danilo take consecutive shots but fail to score. The first half ends with a 0-0 score.

The difference in scoring ability decided the match, defeated with 2 goals conceded

　At halftime, Manager Hara's instructions were simple: "Adjust Danilo's positioning and shoot when you have the chance." Everyone tried to aggressively score goals from the start of the second half, but another accident occurred. In the 51st minute, Lucas injured his left ankle and had to leave the field. Baba came on as a substitute and the formation changed to have Danilo as the lone striker. However, Tokyo continued to attack Oita's goal without losing heart. In the 52nd minute, Baba sent an early cross to Ishikawa on the right side from a counter-attack, but it didn't reach Danilo. In the 53rd minute, Asari dribbled into the center and took a shot from around 25 meters, but it was saved by the goalkeeper. Immediately after that, Asari sent a low ball to Danilo from the right side, but he headed it back behind him and it fell in front of Toda, but he couldn't take a shot. In the 56th minute, Asari, Baba, and Danilo combined with quick direct plays in the center and Danilo took a shot, but it was saved by the goalkeeper.

　However, after 60 minutes, due to fatigue from consecutive matches and the humid conditions, the pressing from the front line became ineffective and there were more instances of losing loose balls. Still, in the 61st minute, Ishikawa aimed for a direct free kick from 30m in front of the goal, and in the 65th minute, Asari took a long shot, but both missed above the goal, and they couldn't score no matter what. Then, taking advantage of a momentary gap, Oita scored the opening goal. In the 71st minute, FW Dodo entered the penalty area with a dribble from a counterattack, and although the defense initially held him back, FW Magnol Alves picked up the loose ball and scored.

　In the 73rd minute, Tokyo replaced Danilo with Kurisawa and changed the formation to place Baba at the top. However, they were unable to launch effective attacks against Oita, who had switched to a defensive stance. Both sides were completely blocked, and even when attacking from the center, their passes were intercepted or their attempts were repelled by the final line, resulting in a continuous inability to bring the ball to the finish. Then, in the 80th minute, they were once again caught on the counterattack by the combination of FW Magnouves and Dodo, leading to the worst possible outcome of conceding an additional goal.

　Tokyo, which had no choice but to attack, took risks and launched an attack. In the 83rd minute, Kurisawa kicked a ball from a free kick on the left side and scored a goal, narrowing the gap to one point and continuing the counterattack. Jarn was brought up to the front line from the middle, and Tokyo attacked without hesitation. In stoppage time, Kurisawa and Jarn had free shots, but missed the goal, and the game ended 1-2. Tokyo attacked rhythmically throughout the game, but only scored one goal from Kurisawa's set piece. On the other hand, Oita demonstrated the difference in scoring ability by scoring two goals from two shots in the second half. In this match, Lucas and Suzuki were injured and sent off, making the situation even more difficult. However, in the next match, they will face the top-ranked Kashima. There is no doubt that this will be a very important match to determine the team's performance this season.

　[Player Comments] "I think we needed to defend a little earlier and move forward. In the latter part of the game, there was space in the midfield to move the ball. We may have needed to create such space from the first half. (Asari, you have also experienced a 7-game losing streak with a draw in 2000, right?) The situation is different now. Injuries are also a factor. It's not that the content is always bad, so we have no choice but to switch our mindset." "It has always been the case, but I think the biggest reason for the loss today is that we couldn't score when we had the chance. All the goals we conceded were on the counterattack. For the first goal, we couldn't keep up with the one-two pass. We should be able to fix that. However, we also needed to increase the time we keep possession a little more. It's a difficult time now, but it may be a test for Tokyo to become truly strong. There are always times like this. I want to fight firmly with the remaining players. I want to overcome it together and start again." "When I entered the field, I thought I would receive the ball in the midfield and then play it to the side. (For the free kick), I kicked it with the feeling of someone connecting. I think the fact that I didn't give up until the end led to the goal, but I really wanted to score the winning goal... However, I have no choice but to do it without thinking too much. I want to show my desire to win rather than my technique."

　[Summary of Manager Hara's Press Conference] "Recently, the team has lost its momentum, so we decided to not be afraid and continue to move forward by hitting the ball and following through. In the first half, we were able to create good opportunities, especially on the right side. I think there were several good chances, such as Ishikawa's shot hitting the crossbar, but our current challenge is that we are having difficulty converting those opportunities. There were many instances where we passed when we could have taken a shot, or shot when we should have passed, resulting in a lack of coordination. Suzuki dislocated his shoulder early in the first half, and although he returned to the field, it didn't work out well. The team as a whole became disorganized due to this injury. I told Danilo at halftime to get involved in the play and receive the ball in the midfield. We wanted to observe the situation for a while, but unfortunately, Lucas also got injured. It was an unexpected injury, and honestly, we were more focused on dealing with the injuries rather than making tactical changes. We thought we would have chances while defending in the second half, but we conceded the first goal because the ball fell to the opponent's feet in front of our goal, and the second goal was a result of a poor ball retention during our attack, leading to a clean counter-attack. It feels like our lack of strength or a breakdown in our coordination. We wanted to bring Baba and Kurisawa in earlier, but considering the heat and the number of injured players, as well as the fact that Kaji hasn't played for a while, we had to carefully assess the situation and couldn't make substitutions easily. However, there are still more games to come, so we must find a way to overcome this difficult period."

　[Summary of Oita Hwangbo's Press Conference] "We felt a heavy burden for today's match because we lost to Omiya in the previous away game. In these consecutive matches, the players' physical condition is really tough, so we made some changes to the lineup today, and it turned out to be a good decision. We expected Ishikawa and Kaji on the opponent's right side, but Yoshida has a higher defensive awareness than Abe, so we had Yoshida take care of Kaji. I don't think we completely shut down Tokyo's attacks, but in soccer matches, various things can happen. The key is how much we can maintain the team's tactics without breaking them. Today, everyone faithfully defended. Currently, young players like Shibakoya, Fukaya, Komorita, and Pat are performing well and staying calm. There are still mistakes, but we want to reduce them as a future challenge. Since the consecutive matches continue, we want to prepare and think carefully. The players followed the preparations, and that led to today's victory."

Late Goals Sink TOKYO

J.League started our markers when they played the one two but that's something we can fix. We need to increase the amount of time in possession a little. Things are difficult now but it's like a test of how strong we can become. This kind of thing will always happen. The players left want to fight together, ride out the slump and make a fresh start.

Kurisawa:
"When I got on the field I aimed to receive the ball in the middle and play it out to the wings. At the free kick I was just hoping somebody would get on the end of it. We fought to the end and that's why we could pull one back but we just couldn't find another goal. More than anything we need to play with desire right now".


F.C.TOKYO manager Hara: 
" The team has lost its vigor recently so I told them not to be afraid, to get the ball out to the wings and follow up. In the first half we made several good moves, particularly on the right wing. Ishikawa hit the bar and we had some chances but that's our major problem right now; we just can't take those chances. We're passing when we should shoot and shooting when we should pass. Suzuki was injured and we sent him back on but he couldn't continue and that disturbed our rhythm. Danilo couldn't really get into the game so at half time I told him to drop back to pick up the ball in midfield. We decided to stick with it and see how things developed but then Lucas was injured. We were forced to find a response to that. And then the ball just landed at the striker's feet for the first goal and the second came from a good counter attack after we had lost the ball. What with the injuries, the heat and Kaji's absence for a few games it was a very disappointing game to lose. But the games go on and we'll just have to find some way to overcome this situation ". 

Trinita manager Kwan:
"We had lost away to Ardija in our last game and felt today was extremely important. The schedule is tough so I made a few changes and that worked very well. We know all about TOKYO's right side and since Yoshida is better defensively that Abe I sent him out to deal with Kaji. I didn't think we would be able to completely hold the TOKYO attack but you never know what's going to happen during a game and the key point today was how well our tactics would hold up. The players defended very well I think. Shibakoya, Fukaya, Komorida, Patrick and the younger players were all very steady out there. We weren't mistake free but that's something we have to work on from now. There are more games coming up and we want to think about it as we prepare. The players followed our preparations to the letter today and that's how we could gain the victory ".