First game under the new Kuramata system! Want to regain momentum

　Sec. 18 of the J1 League was an away match against JEF United Chiba. After the previous match against Urawa, the team underwent a change in management from former coach Garo to new coach Kuramata on Oct 15 (Tue). With the new system, they aim to turn the tide in the second half of the season. Coach Kuramata has set the goals of "rebuilding the defense" and "conditioning" with a focus on "quick transition between offense and defense" as the theme. In particular, he expressed concern that the team as a whole is not in good condition, so they conducted focused training in a short amount of time this week.

　However, it cannot be denied that the limited time of 3 days from the 16th to the 18th to assess the players and coordinate plays made it difficult to adjust as desired. Regarding the team members, Coach Kuramata said, "The best team in the current condition. We have chosen "fighting players" to practice the soccer we aim for." In order to stabilize the defense, a 4-4-2 system was adopted with Fujiyama as the left fullback, Lucas and Akamine as the two forwards, and Kawaguchi and Ishikawa on the sides. Asari and Kajiyama form a double pivot in the formation.

　Chiba, on the other hand, is currently in 7th place with 8 wins, 4 draws, and 5 losses. After the break, they welcomed Amar OSIM as their new coach, but the direction of their "running well and attacking from both the defense and midfield" style has not changed. In fact, compared to the previous coach Ivica OSIM, they have become more offensive and are practicing a risk-taking style of play. In their most recent 5 matches, they have 3 wins and 2 losses. Both losses were at home, but they feel that they were defeated due to a lack of finishing despite creating many chances. Additionally, on Apr 16 (Wed), four players, Abe, Sato, Hanyu, and Maki, played for the Japanese national team in the Yemen match, which is also a concern in terms of their condition.

　The players are saying one after another, "In the new soccer "first match", winning points are more important than the content," and Coach Kuramata also continues, "We must absolutely avoid conceding goals from our own mistakes." As planned, we will prioritize defense and aim to secure chances and win points. It is a match that we want to win at the Fukuda Denshi Arena, where there is no wind and it is humid. The game started at 7:04 pm with Chiba's kickoff.

Despite conceding 2 goals early in the game, they manage to narrow the gap to just 1 point with Lucas' goal.

　From a fast press from both sides, there continues to be intense competition for the ball, but Chiba easily concedes 2 goals. In the 4th minute, the ball is stolen in the opponent's territory, and a sharp counterattack is initiated by MF Sakamoto. FW Haas -> MF Sakamoto enters the area, but Fujiyama manages to control and escape to the left corner kick. However, in the 5th minute, from this corner kick, MF Abe scores a header. In the 7th minute, Tokyo's clearance in front of the goal is weak, and taking advantage of the defensive lapse, Chiba's MF Sakamoto kicks the ball with a looping trajectory and it is sucked into the upper right corner of the goal.

　Despite an unexpected turn of events with 2 sudden goals against, Tokyo does not give up and launches a counterattack. In the 8th minute, Kajiyama passes to Ishikawa from a left free kick, who switches the play inside and takes a shot, but it is blocked by the opponent's defender. In the 11th minute, Jean intercepts the ball and brings it to Akamine, who passes it to Kajiyama. He takes a shot from the middle, but the opponent's goalkeeper saves it as a corner kick. In the 15th minute, Kawaguchi, who received a side change, takes a shot from just outside the penalty area. It narrowly misses the top right corner of the goal. After conceding the goals, Tokyo surpasses the opponent's energy and shows a competitive performance that is at least equal.

　Then, in the 16th minute, Lucas, who received a throw-in from the left side, persisted and entered the left area. He took a powerful shot that went into the bottom left corner, scoring a goal. In the 19th minute, there was a counterattack from Kajiyama to Ishikawa and then to Lucas. He dribbled into the middle and took a shot, but it went over the crossbar. After the 25th minute, Chiba started to make a comeback. They kept the ball and launched attacks from both the left and right sides, with FW Haas as the starting point. However, the defense did not allow them to take shots. Both teams played with great determination, and the game continued with fast-paced exchanges between offense and defense, making it an intense match.

　In the 29th minute, Ishikawa on the right side sprinted from Doi's throw-in. Although he didn't make a shot, he started to gain momentum. In the 35th minute, two right corner kicks. Lucas tried to head the ball from Kajiyama's kick, but it didn't hit. In the 38th minute, Lucas -> Tokunaga ran up the right side and made a minus last pass to the center. Ishikawa shot directly, but it slightly missed to the right. In the 44th minute, Akamine shot after receiving a return pass from Ishikawa -> Akamine from the post. It was saved by the opponent's goalkeeper. In the end, the first half ended with a one-point deficit, but the second half showed promising content.

Takumi ABE's goal leads to a chaotic battle victory, giving Coach Kuramata his first win!

　Even in the second half, it will be an intense battle where both teams remain focused and show their fighting spirit. In the 46th minute, Chiba passes the ball in front of the goal and gives a direct free kick. Chiba MF Abe aims for it, but misses the target. In the 53rd minute, they get a free kick from outside the left area. Akamine jumps in for Kajiyama's kick, but fails to take a shot. From the rebound, they get another free kick from outside the right area. However, they couldn't convert it into a shot. In the 55th minute, they come close to Chiba's goal from a left corner kick, but Ishikawa, who received Kajiyama's final pass, fails to finish it. They couldn't score a goal.

　57 minutes, Chiba launched a sharp counterattack, with MF Hanou flying out to the left inside the area and taking a shot. It slightly curved to the right but it was a decisive scene. Then, in the 62nd minute, Kajiyama on the left side dragged the opponent's DF and brought the ball to the end line, and made a last pass to Akamine who was in close range. Akamine turned around and took a shot despite being blocked. The ball rolled into the net and the score was tied. After that, the game became even more intense, with a rapid exchange of attacks and defenses.

　In the 69th minute, after Fujiyama's interception, he dribbled up and won a right corner kick. He did it three times in a row, and finally it rolled to Jean's feet, but he couldn't take a shot. In the 71st minute, Chiba MF Mizuno, who came on as a substitute, took a shot from just outside the area. It narrowly missed to the right. In the 72nd minute, Abe was substituted for Kawaguchi, and the attack gained even more momentum. In the 75th minute, from Kajiyama who stole the opponent's ball, he passed to Ishikawa with exquisite timing. He entered the right side of the area and took a shot! The ball pierced the net on the opposite side, and finally took the lead.

　Substitute Ozawa for Akamine immediately. We wanted to tighten up the defense and hold on to this lead, but in the 84th minute, we lost the ball in midfield and Hanyu, who received the ball from the central midfielder Rakuyama on the right side, skillfully aimed and pierced the net on the opposite side. The score is tied again. However, just one minute later, we substituted Baba for the newly replaced Ozawa. We are going for the win. In the 89th minute, Baba connects with a heel pass and Abe enters the penalty area. It looked like he was fouled by the opponent's defender, but there was no foul. And the game enters stoppage time.

　From Baba's keep at the front, Tokunaga runs up the right side and delivers a fast cross. Chiba's two defenders fail to clear it. Abe, who was behind them, pushes it in with his right foot, scoring a valuable go-ahead goal. Despite Chiba's counterattack afterwards, the referee's whistle blows to signal the end of the match. The fact that they fought until the end without giving up led to this dramatic comeback.

　【Player Comments】《Kaito ABE》"I'm happy that the team was able to achieve victory in a good manner. It was our first game under the new system, so I considered it to be very important. I'm really glad that we were able to produce results. In the situation of the shot, when Yuhei dribbled, I always anticipated the ball coming to me. It happened just as I expected, and I was able to calmly score with my right foot."《Kodai DOHI》"Coach Kuramata told us, 'Don't be afraid, keep pushing forward.' In previous matches, I might have felt disheartened after conceding two goals, but this time I was able to keep going, thinking 'Let's turn it around.' It was a significant achievement to outrun JEF, who is known for their speed. If we fail in the next match, it will be like saying, 'It's really not working.' So, we need to approach the next game with determination."

　【Summary of Manager Kuramata's Press Conference】"Honestly, I'm relieved. It's only been four days since I became the manager, but I'm grateful to the players who have done so far (What was the most emphasized approach to the players in the four days since becoming the manager?) First, it's about the team coming together. There were players who said selfish things even in practice matches, so I thought that the team had to come together first and I have been conscious of that. (What is the significance of winning away against JEF?) We had planned to take advantage of Chiba's decrease in physicality in the second half and try to win from the middle of the second half, and it actually turned out that way, so I think it went according to plan. (What instructions did you give to the players after conceding two goals at the start?) Accidental goals like that happen often, so I have always been saying that we should never give up until the end. There were no players who looked down after conceding a goal from a set piece, so I am thinking positively about that aspect. Regarding the two goals conceded, we have been consistently slow in reacting to second balls recently, so I had been talking about reacting properly to second balls, but in that situation, we hesitated for a moment. That was something we shouldn't have done in that situation. However, the attitude of not giving up and continuing to go for goals until the end, I think that has been changing."

　[Summary of Chiba Amar Osim's Press Conference] "I think today's game was a typical Japanese match. The fact that many goals were scored is one aspect, and the back-and-forth where one team takes the lead and then the other team takes the lead is another aspect. It also means that we played the game aggressively. In the end, the goal was scored in injury time and the game was decided, which I think is a typical Japanese original match in every aspect. In a game where a total of 7 goals were scored by both teams, it is wrong to talk about tactics. I think the fans enjoyed it, especially the Tokyo fans. After scoring 2 goals, Tokyo pressed from the front in a situation where they had nothing to lose, and it was successful. After it became 2-1, JEF couldn't score another goal and instead, Tokyo equalized to 2-2, gaining momentum. Then JEF equalized to 3-3 and seized the momentum, but couldn't score another goal from there and in the end, Tokyo scored one goal. JEF is actually a team that can pass the ball calmly, but it's not because Sato was sent off (due to injury), but because Tokyo didn't allow us to do so and because we couldn't do it ourselves."