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MATCH

2019 MEIJI YASUDA J2 LEAGUE 20th Sec - FC Gifu vs Tokyo Verdy

Match Report

After consecutive matches against two of the league’s top teams, Verdy came away with a record of one win, one draw and two clean sheets as they approached the last away match of the season’s first half. While maintaining the same core squad from the previous week, Verdy did make a small number of changes by pairing Rihito Yamamoto with Shion Inoue in holding midfield and placing Jin Hanato on the right wing to resume his old partnership with Yuhei Sato. Lastly, Leandro returned from injury to take a place on the substitute’s bench.

 

This was Gifu’s second match since changing managers, after a run of bad form, and they began the first half with a defensive approach. As Verdy moved the ball at the back line and built with patience, their opponents chose not to press and instead sat their forwards at the halfway line to maintain a compact shape, eliminating space in their area. When Verdy did move into the attacking third, Sato and Hanato were unable to turn with the ball and the two holding midfielders were unable to make effective passes through the lines of the defense. Verdy were being truly frustrated. Even though they were able to press high and win the ball back quickly when it was lost in the opposition half, there were no avenues for an effective move as their opponents remained set. Before long, Verdy found themselves under threat from the counter attack and in the 29th minute, loose defending inside the penalty area allowed the opposition to find the net. Giving up an early advantage to the team at the bottom of the league table was not necessarily a cause for despair. As if hoping to push back quickly, Verdy began trying to work the ball forward with greater pace and the precision of their pass work dropped noticeably. It was the holding midfield duo who then stepped forward to calm things down. By maintaining possession between the two of them, they were able to buy time for the team to move without rushing and once again begin probing the defense for gaps. The match finally moved again in the 44th minute, just before the end of the half. From the left side, Sato played a forward ball into space for Tatsuya Nagata to run onto. Instead of a cross, Nagata elected to lay the ball off to the feet of Hanato. The Verdy attacker received the pass with his back to goal and then made a sharp turn. As he did so, he was brought down by the outstretched leg of a defender for a penalty. It was Inoue who grabbed the ball first and carried it to the spot. Though not usually the type to step into the spotlight, he chose to be the kicker at a very important time for the team. The end of the first half was only moments away. With the pressure on, Inoue took the kick and found the top right corner of the net.

 

Hoping to break the deadlock in attack, the team emerged in the second half once again moving the ball, but still unable to create chances. In the wide areas, Junki Koike and Nagata could not find space for runs and in the middle, players tried to run at the defense and play one-twos as their markers followed them, only to run into a thick wall of defenders inside the penalty box. In the 53rd minute, Nagata broke through on the left side and played a lateral pass into the area for Sato. However, he had little angle for a shot and his effort repelled off the post. Looking for a change in their approach, the manager brought on Leandro in the 56th minute and Kanya Fujimoto in the 85th, both with the intent of helping the team break down the defense. Time after time, initial balls into the box were repelled, until the 90th minute, when the cloud of frustration would finally lift. Sato passed the ball to Fujimoto in the right corner of the penalty area and the latter then played a one-two with Hanato, creating space to move into. With the eyes of the opposition all on him, Fujimoto hit an in-swinging cross to the far post. Leandro lunged forward and reached the ball just ahead of his marker with a first-time volley that found the back of the net. The move had traveled to both posts and then to the middle, but it was Leandro anticipating the cross and shifting his run to the far side when Fujimoto took the ball that led to the goal. It was a dramatic winner, but considering the constant pressure that Verdy had put on the opposition goal, it was also somewhat inevitable.

 

Verdy are now approaching one of the season’s major milestones as they play their final matches of the first leg. As expected, given Gifu’s table position, this ended up being a difficult encounter against an opponent with an extremely defensive approach. Despite being made to suffer, the way the team were able to break through at the very end is sure to give them confidence. Next week, Verdy return home hoping to close out the first leg with consecutive wins. There is still a long road ahead before the team reach their goals. However, the players must keep their eyes on the match at hand. Every match is now a must win as Verdy seek to begin the second leg with positive momentum.

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Post-match comments

Manager Gary John WHITE

Your thoughts on the match?
It was a difficult game. We had control for the majority of the match, but we just couldn’t find a goal and that made things even harder. Against an opponent who park themselves in defense, the more you try to break them down, the more vulnerable you are on the counter, so I think that fear was always there, as well. However, I think we also learned that we need more variation in attack against that kind of opponent. To achieve that, I believe that we still have more and more areas where we must grow as a team.

Did you give the order for Shion Inoue to take the penalty?
As you all know, the last two times I ordered someone to take the penalty, they were both missed. This time, as everyone saw, Shion Inoue grabbed the ball right away and my job was to evaluate, in terms of how the match had progressed, who was the most confident, so I signaled for him to go ahead. It was a bit of a gamble, because he’d never scored a goal as a pro, but he already had the ball in his hands and I could see his determination, so I figured that a player like that was never going to miss. I had a lot to consider, but ultimately, because the players I had named had missed twice in a row, I decided to let him have a go.

Were you surprised that they played with a back line of six defenders?
I knew that their current manager had played with 4-4-2, 3-4-3, and 3-5-2 in the past, so I formulated our strategy expecting that they might try something different. With that said, playing against a team with that many players in defense, it’s always going to be difficult to attack. In the first half, especially, their number 5 dropped back a lot and they were defending Junki Koike on the right of our attack with two markers. In the second half, their number 5 was substituted and given that anything could have happened at that point, I’m happy that our attack grew more energized as a result. In addition, our staff did an excellent job and we were well informed of everything that Gifu had done in previous matches, as well as what their new manager Kitano was likely to throw at us. I think we owe the result to their preparation.

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Post-match comments

MF 6Shion Inoue

Your thought on today’s match?
We had some good moments and bad moments, but the important thing is that we won in the end. The difference between three points and one point is huge, so bringing back three points is a major plus for us.

Tell us about your goal.
Jin (Hanato) and Ryohei (Hayashi) also wanted to take the penalty, so I asked them first and they told me to go ahead. After that, I just kicked it as hard as I could. Rather than being nervous, it was more that I didn’t want to hold back. Once I decided to have no regrets, there was no tension and I’m glad that I was able to score. After the ball found the net, I went behind the goal and saw the crowd celebrating, which made me even happier. The more goals I score, the more we will win and then I get to see the joy on everyone’s faces. I think that’s what I wanted all along.

Did the team share ideas about how to break them down once they tightened their defense?
Things already felt stagnant by the midpoint of the second half, so I had it in mind that one of the holding midfielders needed to participate in the attack more, but it was difficult, in terms of stamina, for us to get forward. In the midst of that, Kanya (Fujimoto) came on and helped us with his play. I think we need that kind of play and I’m glad Kanya provided it for us, today.

Tell us about your motivation for next week.
We’re still in the middle of the table and if we don’t win the next match, I don’t think we’ll be able to improve our standing. We’ll do our best preparations again for next week and we ask that everyone join us for the fight once again. We look forward to seeing you there.

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FW 10Leandro

Your thoughts on today’s match?
When I came on, I immediately felt how difficult things were for everyone on the pitch. They were packing numbers in defense to eliminate space in the middle. To deal with that, I kept working to open avenues for passes inside or to the front line. However, I also knew that if I dropped too far back or drifted to the wings, I would be occupying the spaces that Jin (Hanato) or Yuhei (Sato) operate in, so I tried to stay close to goal, in the middle, and continued trying to create chances. It was very difficult.

Tell us about your goal, today.
At the time, I of course probed the first course and the middle, but I also know the qualities of the players who were on the ball and I know that when Kanya (Fujimoto) moves the ball like that onto his left foot, he’s not going to make a run to his right. Rather, he will put the ball into the box with that timing. With so many players in the area, I figured he would aim for the open space and so, I made my run into the second course and the goal happened just as I planned.

Tell us about your motivation for the next match.
First of all, I’d like to thank the supporters. Whether we’re at home or away, they always show up in good numbers and cheer us on, for which we’re really grateful. Each match gets more and more difficult and while the next game is also at home, I’m sure it will be a tough one too. I hope we can all come together as a team and fight to get the win we need.

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FW 18Jin Hanato

Your thoughts on today’s match?
When the opponent drops back that far, it’s hard for us to create chances, even though we have possession of the ball. Instead, it becomes easier for them to hit us on the counter, which happened with the goal they scored, and I think that was their game plan. However, we also continued moving the ball with poise and though we did rush things and lose the ball at some points, everyone showed the determination to reclaim the lead and fought until the end to earn this result. It’s not that easy to defeat a team that is on a bad losing streak, so I think this was a big three points for us.

Tell us about earning the penalty.
I made the turn just as I expected. I was able to stop the ball and turn with one move, which didn’t give them time to react. I then told Shion (Inoue) that he should take the kick. During the match, I was able to create chances every time I faced forward with the ball and I also think that if I can do a better job of beating my man in those situations, I’ll be able to put in more shots and be more of a threat. I think that’s something I need to work on more if I’m to reach the next level as a player.

How do you look back on the first half of the season?
We started on a losing streak, so that prevented us from getting out of the gate and we have to work hard as a team to make up for that. At tenth place, I don’t think ourselves or any of the supporters are satisfied, so we need to work even harder in training and concentrate on each match, one at a time, without looking too far forward.

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