The true nature of excitement and the interior of him
When I finished watching the debut of "Alberto Tokyo" who overwhelmed the J1 champion Kawasaki Frontale, I suddenly felt a nostalgic sensation.
Huh? I remember feeling this kind of excitement before, during the new coach's debut match.
What I remembered was an event that happened exactly 20 years ago. In the opening match of the 2002 season, "Haratokyo" led by Hiromi Hara, the new coach, astonishingly defeated the championship contender with a score of 4-2.
However, to express it more accurately, the contents of excitement are different.
The excitement of "Harato Tokyo" was a mysterious excitement of "I wonder how this team will turn out?", but in the case of "Alberto Tokyo", it is a sense of exhilaration that comes from being able to envision the future of the team as "I wonder how this team will become like".
The team is designed based on a clear blueprint, so the finished form can be imagined. That blueprint is none other than the positional play promoted by Coach Albert.
Take the appropriate position while observing the opponent, and dominate the ball and the game with an advantage in both offense and defense.
If center back Henrique TREVISAN repeatedly takes advantage of gaps in the opponent's defensive block to carry the ball, both Ryoma WATANABE and Ryoya OGAWA, the side backs, will infiltrate the spaces that open up inside the opponent's defensive block and become the focal points of the attack. In the second half, it was the impression that Tokyo had been dominating the game.
Love the ball.
This is the slogan that Director Albert holds up. "Handle the ball gently like a lover."
If you love someone, you must treat them with care. That means trapping the ball carefully and delivering it accurately to your teammate's feet.
Of course, loving the ball is not only during the attack, but also in situations where the ball is not possessed. Is there a man who, having his beloved taken away, just stands by and watches? If you love it, take it back immediately!
The mechanism for efficient ball recovery has already been implemented. The positioning when holding the ball directly leads to the positioning when immediately regaining possession - that is also the advantage of positional play. The awareness of quick recovery has already been instilled in the previous system. Despite some noticeable mistakes in "stopping and kicking," the reason Tokyo pushed Kawasaki back lies here.
If there was a player who felt the great potential in this match where we could have won big if Leandro had scored, it would be him, the interior player.
18-year-old rookie, Kuryu MATSUKI? No, no, it's Shuto ABE.
Always being in the right place and showing up where you are wanted. Although there is a tendency to move a little too much due to past habits, you have just started to learn positional play. It seems that you are already able to play soccer while observing the opponent and grasping the key points of your position.
The scene at 40 minutes was impressive, taking advantage of the opponent's defensive line and drawing out Diego OLIVEIRA's through pass, but even more spectacular was the attack at 72 minutes.
This scene started with goalkeeper Jakub SLOWIK's goal kick. Ogawa -> Henrique TREVISAN -> SLOWIK -> Leandro -> Hirotaka MITA -> Abe -> Takuya AOKI -> Ogawa -> Kensuke NAGAI -> Diego OLIVEIRA -> Abe, and they skillfully connected to conquer the opponent's penalty area pocket.
In the sequence of events, Abe readjusted his position while maintaining his field of vision with a backstep and called for a pass. This time, he sprinted into the half-space and darted into the area.
Of course, the positioning and judgment of players like Ogawa and Nagai around cannot be overlooked. In the scene where Abe was brought down at the end, it appears that the opponent's defender Taniguchi Shogo had a hand in it, but there is no point in complaining about what has already happened.
Scene where the opponent's penalty area pocket was conquered in the 77th minute
Pocket attack from the half space is a tactic that Kawasaki, Yokohama F.Marinos, and even Manchester City excel at. It can be said to be the ideal attack that Alberto Tokyo aims for.
It's not just about the team, but also about envisioning the near future and getting excited.
Some fans and supporters may have imagined while watching the Kawasaki match. As Abe, who learned to play soccer by watching the opponents, interrupts and joins the national team's interior players, Hidemasa Morita and Aoi Tanaka.
The unfortunate thing is that despite playing such a good game, the result did not come with it. For example, looking back on the record collection 10 years later, this match is nothing but a 0-1 loss. That's why I want to keep the excitement I felt that night at Todoroki firmly in my heart.
It was a night where it was evident that the players were playing energetically and enjoying themselves.
Text by Atsushi Iio (Sports Writer)
