Pre-season Training (Patreon)

We are officially into preseason & teams are starting training camps and playing some friendly games.

These normally start low key and with a lot of rotation of all players. There are some hints from managers in terms of tactics they want to employ.

I have put together some of the key info from a few teams. Other teams will come in future posts. I have also updated the Keeper and Injury tracker here 

I will be putting together the most important info in a summary like this on a weekly basis and I expect the most important info to come out in early February. I will also be updating the squad depths spreadsheet based on intel I gather.

I have also put links to some free posts from teams which could be of use if wanting to dig deeper on teams :D

Kawasaki Frontale

Free post can be found here

Oshima has been seen taking a leading role in the camp. He has been injury prone but still a fan favourite and if he  stays fit can challenge for a starting place.

Kobayshii injury early in camp was a setback. Miyashiro has been practicing with other first teamers like Schmidt and Yamane so I expect him to start in the opening game.

FC Tokyo

Manager spoke highly of new transfers who are expected to be starters:

Nakagawa:

― Please tell us what kind of expectations you have for each of the four players. First of all, Nakagawa, who can be said to be the centerpiece of this season's reinforcement.

“In acquiring players, we naturally raise the level of our strength, but it is also possible for individual players to come to Tokyo and acquire new powers by constantly growing with aspirations. In that sense, I saw from the outside that Teru (Nakagawa) has suffered for a few seasons with his injuries, and I thought he could still regain his brilliance, and I thought it was a waste. I wanted him to show that he still has a lot to do, just like when he won the MVP in 2019. And Tokyo has Adai Uton with speed, and players who can dribble the ball. However, looking at the actual data, there weren't many players who could get behind.Therefore, I think that (Nakagawa) will bring a new positive factor to the team.He doesn't just connect from below, but also behind. Given that the average number of times he slipped behind the forwards last season was around 4.5 to 5 times per game, he has a figure close to 10. That's plus alpha. I think it's the part that becomes"

Koizumi

―As for Koizumi, he also has a character.

“I think he has a high level of quality in everything he does. It was a necessary piece to improve the quantity and quality of the high-intensity football that Tokyo is conscious of. He averages about 12.5km per game. He's always running throughout the season. His sprint numbers are high. He has all the necessary elements, especially for inside half and anchor.

Urawa Reds

Had a preseason friendly vs Okinawa

Urawa Reds 5-1 Okinawa SV

Sadly we dont have the lineups but the below are scorers:

Scorers:
4 minutes in the first half, Takahiro Sekine:
26 minutes in the first half, David Moberg:
45 minutes in the first half, Kaito Yasui:
1 minute in the second half, Shinzo Koroki:
16 minutes in the second half, Conceded:
35 minutes in the second half, Toshiki Takahashi

Transfer News:

Matsuo is reported to be moving to the Jupiler league. This is likely to happen but at the moment he is present and training in camp.

Giorgos Giakoumakis is expected to sign in the upcoming days. If this is confirmed, it will be a huge signing for the club! Goes without saying that he has the potential to be a big scorer on Sorare.

Marius Høibråten is also reported to be close to signing and if this happens likely starts with Scholz at the back for Urawa.

Brian Linsen is also participating in training and said this:

-You had your first practice match of the season, how are your conditions?

Of course it's not great, but I think it was great for my first match, and I think I'm going to get better and better.

- What is your impression of the team, and what is your impression of the new coach?

We have a very good atmosphere. We are also training hard, but we have a new manager and coaching staff. I think it was good that we were able to train new staff like this.

-As the new director, I think it will play an important role as a front press and a high line.

I'm used to high press. We played a lot like that in the Netherlands, and I think we have the advantage of being able to steal the ball close to the opponent's goal.

-You seem to be on good terms with Schalk, who is also from the Netherlands.

It's nice to be able to use my native language in such a far place from my home country. Even in Holland, he lives 20 minutes from his house, and I'm glad to have such a teammate.

Kashima Antlers

Kashima Antlers had a 20x3 training match against Nankatsu SC in the Kanto Division 1 league. Kashima won with a score of 4-1. College graduate rookie Shuo Morooka and loanee Hiroki Kakita scored two goals, and the performance of the new players stood out.

Video can be found below

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OjaTkySxN3c 

Naomichi Ueda

Very positive praise about Ueda 

In practice , Naomichi Ueda, who returned from this season along with Shoji , gave a wonderful performance. In addition to his individual strength, his leadership for young people is outstanding. He definitely raised the quality of the team.

Note that Shoji is now injured so I expect Ueda and Sekigawa to play & Shoji to replace Sekigawa when he is back from injury

Hiroshima

Have travelled to Turkey for camp. 

In their first game were experimenting with 4 at the back with Shichi at LB. They are trying various formations to be flexible as possible in game. 

The below is the formation they used to begin with but they also changed it 3 times in game. More games coming up and one im keeping a very close eye on!

YFM

New signings getting used to the pace of things:

Eg Kamijima: ``The speed is so fast that I really don't have much time to think.'' It may take a little more time for your body to move without thinking with your head.

Hatanaka sounds motivated:

“I want to live up to everyone’s expectations, and as Miyazaki said at the ceremony, I want to win four crowns and all the titles I can win. The only way to show my worth is to get better results than last year. "I spent some time with my family and stepped away from football. I've made up my mind to let the past be the past and move on to the new season. I won't talk too much and I'll do what I have to do."

Finish

Hope you found this useful!

I will be posting about other teams and updating the squad depths. Please note that a lot of the lineups used in preseason games at this stage will likely look very different to the opening game lineups. 

I am keeping a close eye on things especially manager comments from the new managers.

If you want me to check up on an individual players, just contact me on Discord :)