The aroma of new wine. The "selection" by Director Albert that highlighted the path to be taken
When it comes to positional play, it tends to be thought of as something incredibly difficult, but much of what Coach Albert is conveying to the players is actually quite simple. Among them, one thing he emphasized as simple as the "I" in the Japanese alphabet is for the players to take positions that are not misaligned with each other. This means ensuring that the positioning does not overlap both vertically and horizontally.
When you're not used to it, you tend to think that taking this position is difficult. You need to do it smoothly without thinking too much about it.
There will be differences in the degree of understanding or adaptation at this point. Basically, it can be said that the members who have been selected as starters are skilled in the task of taking this optimal position.
One of them is Ryoma WATANABE.
On January 29th, in the practice match against Kyoto Sanga F.C., Watanabe appeared as the left full-back in the second set. When he started as the right full-back in the FC Ryukyu match on February 2nd, our local coverage team was excited. "Coach Albert is serious," they said. It's not just a remnant of last year's emergency conversion, but he is considering it as his main position.
In this match, Kensuke NAGAI was the right winger before Watanabe. He is also a player with a high soccer IQ, so the transition on the right side was smooth.
On the other hand, the left wing at that time was Adailton. The Brazilian attacker tends to move relatively freely. It can be a weapon and there is no problem, but the surrounding players need to adjust to it. So, the left inside half at that time was Kuryu Matsuki.
Matsuki was also a second set player in the Kyoto match. The position remained the same, on the left inside. Like Watanabe, he was selected as a starter in the Ryukyu match. The same goes for the match against Hokkaido Consadole Sapporo on February 5th.
In the opening match against Kawasaki Frontale, the partner I played with was not Adailton, but Leandro, and I moved my position to the right. It may have been effective to have been familiar with the cooperation with Brazilian players since the camp. These two collaborated on the right side and made use of Leandro. In fact, the passes they made were mostly from Watanabe to Matsuki, and from Matsuki to Watanabe. And the player to whom Matsuki passed the most was Leandro.
"I communicate with Ryo during practice matches and regular training sessions. When Leandro moves inside, I move outside, and when he stays outside, I take up a position in the middle."
After the Kawasaki game, Matsuki said this. Leandro was conscious of playing in a position that made it easy for him to play soccer. The dedication of Watanabe and Matsuki is not unrelated to Leandro shooting the most shots in this game with 4.
Let's take a closer look.
At the beginning of the match, in the first minute, you can see that Nagai is making way for Ogawa, who is moving up the center (half-space) with the ball. On the other hand, on the right side, Matsuki is creating space by shifting vertically in response to Aoki's movement. The coordination between these intelligent players was smooth. If we focus on how the full-backs, midfielders, and wingers are cooperating and changing their positions, FC Tokyo becomes interesting.
In particular, at this stage, I am still a beginner in positional play, so in order to make it easy to understand practical Katakana English, the aim of the start of the movement should be easy to understand and enjoyable even for non-tactical maniacs.
In other words, it is easy to understand the movement because the footwork is immature, and you can feel the advantage of Albert soccer, which can take the initiative only by challenging the territorial battle. You can only taste the aroma of this new wine "now". The taste will change as it matures and becomes better. Let's watch the opening game repeatedly.
"Once again, the path we should pursue is the one we expressed today."
I want to chew on the meaning of the words left by Director Albert. It may be an unpaved beast path, but the course is clear.
In terms of Leandro's coordination, it starts with him moving outside in response to the number 20 who is chasing the opponent's last line, and Matsuki's consideration is always felt. At 14 minutes, Matsuki becomes like a winger for Leandro, who takes on a top position. Then, at 24 minutes, Nagai comes inside and creates a scoring opportunity by passing to Leandro with a one-two with Matsuki. The whole team is utilizing the Brazilian players.
And in the 28th minute, Nagai broke through the left side. The initial formation was spread out in the 5 lanes, but Nagai cut inside and Shuto ABE, the left inside half, responded by narrowing the middle and pulling Yasuto WAKIZAKA forward. In addition, Leandro and Diego OLIVEIRA attracted the attention of the others, and at that moment, Matsuki, who had also narrowed from the right to the middle, found an opening and took that middle shot. It can be said that it was a scene where Alberto TOKYO came into view.
Is it a strange strategy to use Watanabe, who is originally an attacking player, as a full-back?
Is it a bold strategy to start rookie Matsuki in the opening game?
What do you think?
Even though there were many players absent, it was a starting lineup that was inevitable for Coach Alberto, wasn't it?
After the Kyoto match on January 29th, Coach Alberto praised Keigo Higashi's qualities, saying, "I think he is a player who truly possesses the character and personality suitable for the number 10 inside half position."
"The inside half is a position that requires a lot of physicality, so I want to demand even more physicality from the players who play the inside half, including him."
In this regard, the expert at FC Tokyo is of course Abe, but Matsuki is not inferior. There were times during the Kawasaki match where it seemed like he was moving less, perhaps because he had overexerted himself, but he runs well and fights well. There was even a scene during a practice match in camp where he blew away the opponent with physical contact. In terms of strength in duels, he can definitely hold his own as a professional.
Is it because Alberto Tokyo can play with Watanabe and Matsuki, or is it because Watanabe and Matsuki can play because of that? In any case, it is certain that the presence of Alberto Tokyo became more prominent at the opening match of the J-League at Todoroki, where Watanabe and Matsuki played.
From now on, I will continue writing the Match Review on Akaaka 20. Please read it.
Text by Katsu GOTO (Freelance Writer)
