Thank you very much for your continued enthusiastic support of Urawa Reds.

This season, following a violation of match management regulations in the fourth round of the Emperor's Cup JFA 103rd All Japan Football Championship, the club lost its eligibility to participate in the tournament. We took this very seriously and made the entire club reform and anew, including establishing a Competition Management Headquarters.
As the club aims to build a team that can always be in a position to win the championship, not just for a one-year period, they set a clear goal of winning the league title for the first time in 18 seasons since 2006. To achieve this goal, the club as a whole began preparations with the belief that "we will do everything we can to win the league championship," including strengthening players and staff during the off-season and investing in facilities such as training rooms and team meeting rooms.
However, these preparations did not bear fruit, and we were unable to deliver on the expectations of our fans and supporters in terms of play. In addition, there were a number of incidents outside of play that caused anxiety and dissatisfaction, such as changes in the manager and training director, the departure of key players, and the resulting multiple changes in the captain.
We would like to apologize to all our fans and supporters for not being able to show them the "strong and attractive team" that we are striving to become as a club, or for not being able to show them a clear process for achieving this.

Needless to say, it is not a given that fans and supporters will continue to show their support for the players and team, whether the team or the club that is supposed to support it is performing well or not. We recognize that the premise is to share the good and the bad with fans and supporters, to look forward, and to always make improvements as we move forward, and that this is the responsibility of all players, team staff, and club staff.

What I was able to put into practice throughout the season and what I was not able to do.
Below, we will provide a review of the 2024 season, touching on why these events occurred, how we are trying to improve them, and what our goal is for the future, for all our fans and supporters, who are part of Urawa Reds and who we hope will be Urawa Reds greatest supporters.


Review of the 2024 season
As mentioned above, the 2024 season saw the club lose its right to participate in the Emperor's Cup and also fail to qualify for the AFC Champions League the previous year, meaning that the club's participation in the season was limited to two competitions: the J1 League and the YBC Levain Cup.
In addition, it was decided that the number of official matches in the 2023 season, which was the highest number ever, would be significantly reduced (to 40 matches in the end), although the number of YBC Levain Cup matches would increase or decrease depending on the results of the matches. Therefore, unlike the previous year, when we were busy recovering from fatigue and adjusting our condition, this season will be one in which we can strategically plan our training schedule. By conducting high-level training in both quality and quantity, we believe that we can work on building the team and accumulating points in parallel, and we have set our goal as winning the J1 League.
However, since the start of the J1 League, the team has never been able to join the race for the championship, and at one point they were close to the relegation zone of the J2 League in terms of points, finishing in 13th place (12 wins, 12 draws, 14 losses), and they were also eliminated in the third round of the first round of the YBC Levain Cup.

The team's main policy for strengthening the team for the 2024 season was to "add improvements to the offensive side of the game to the strong defense built in the 2023 season."
While we understand that defense and offense are inseparable in football and that it is not possible to mechanically achieve the combination of "defense in the 2023 season + offense in the 2024 season," we believe that achieving this will lead to the creation of a team that is always in a position to aim for the championship, not just in a single year, and furthermore, to the creation of a team that can compete with the world's best clubs at the FIFA Club World Cup to be held in the 2025 season.We have also determined that now, with the training schedule having been improved, is the best time to take on this difficult challenge, and have therefore decided on this policy.

Based on this policy, we have appointed Per-Mathias Hoegmo as the new manager, with whom we have agreed on the concept of improving our offense - specifically, "improving our scoring ability without neglecting our defense."
As he often used the phrase "training culture," he required all players, young and old, to train with 100% or more of their mental and physical strength, using high-stress training menus every day. This mental attitude is not something that should be criticized, and it was something the whole club worked on, but the downside was that there were many players who were sidelined due to injury or chronic physical fatigue, and the team as a whole was unable to adjust its condition as desired.
Furthermore, due to these reasons, the team was unable to play with a fixed lineup, which meant that the number of games played was increasing without the team being able to improve its playing style. As a result, the team's goals and losses increased at the same time, resulting in a stagnant number of points. The team was unable to escape from a situation in which there was a trade-off between defense in the 2023 season and offense in the 2024 season, and this was a major factor in the team's poor performance.

Furthermore, the Football Headquarters, which should have supported the team in such a state, believes that they were unable to provide sufficient support, as the change in organizational structure, which involved replacing the person in charge of strengthening and organizing the team, occurred mid-season, causing confusion among the players and team staff. Even in the team organization during the season, including the summer window, which was approached under the new organizational structure, multiple key players who played important roles left the club, while players who joined mid-season did not get enough playing time, making it impossible to effectively strengthen the team, and we believe this was another factor in the poor performance.

In response to these two major issues, we made a change of manager mid-season and strengthened our football headquarters.

Regarding the change of manager
We will continue with the policy of "adding offensive improvements to the strong defense we built in the 2023 season," and we have evaluated Maciej Skorza, who is also the manager for the 2023 season and has strong team management skills, as the manager most likely to be able to build a team based on this policy, and have therefore appointed him as the successor manager from among several candidates.
Furthermore, even after leaving his position, Mr. Uchida has continued to follow information about Urawa Reds, and coupled with his keen research personality, he has continued to keep up with relevant team and player information, including players who were not on the team last season. This is one of the reasons why we decided that he would be the ideal person to continue the direction of growth that the Football Headquarters is aiming for and increase the rate of growth.

Strengthening the Football Headquarters
Several staff members have joined the team to support Sports Director Satoshi Horinouchi who took up his post in April, and we have been able to expand our network both domestically and internationally. The team is led by SD Horinouchi and the staff are working as one team to continue utilizing what has been built up based on the team concept, and when things do not go as expected, instead of resetting, we go back to where we need to be and try to build up again from there.
In addition, the transfer market is moving very quickly these days, and the situation is changing every moment. In order for the Football Headquarters to remain in a position to respond quickly and flexibly to changes in the market, we are constantly scouting not only players but also the training staff, and will continue to aim to grow and deepen as an organization, not afraid of change, while also developing and deepening the current staff.

Below, I would like to provide a more detailed review in line with the Football Headquarters' concepts of "team," "individual," and "attitude."

Concept-Based Retrospective
Team: Seamless offense and defense, never letting the opponent rest
Based on the policy of "adding offensive improvements to the strong defense we built for the 2023 season," we spent a lot of time on high-pressure training during the Okinawa camp before the start of the season. We focused on building an offensive defense that takes advantage of the high pressure to steal the ball in higher positions, and on increasing the speed of negative transitions (switching from attack to defense) so that if the ball is stolen during an attack, it can be quickly regained and used to attack again and again.
There were moments during the match when these efforts were apparent, such as the third goal in the 21st J1 League match against Jubilo Iwata Iwata on Sunday, June 30th, but there was no match in which they were able to repeatedly demonstrate these efforts throughout the entire match. On the other hand, they lost many points due to repeated goals conceded by the opposition getting caught behind the high line that they had set up to increase opportunities for high pressure.
Also, as the number of points we won stagnated, the fear of conceding goals increased more than necessary, creating a negative chain reaction in which the team's center of gravity dropped. This made it difficult to coordinate the high press and high line well, leading to a drawn-out game, or many of the front line players being absorbed into the defensive line, resulting in a lower recovery rate for second balls, and forcing the team to spend more time playing further back than they would have liked.
The match against FC Tokyo in the 31st J1 League held on Saturday, September 21st was the only match that manager Maciej Skorza managed to lose by multiple goals, but the two goals conceded in that match were from an own goal and a penalty kick due to a handball, and could be considered accidental in terms of the direct events. However, these issues were involved in the foreshadowing, and I believe that these conceded goals should never be treated as accidents. Similarly, in the match against Sanfrecce Hiroshima in the 36th J1 League held on Sunday, November 10th, although the score was 3-0, we were forced to play in our own zone 1 (defensive third) for most of the first half. In the J1 League, where the teams are evenly matched, it is difficult to eliminate the time when we are at a disadvantage during a match, but of course the longer such time is, the higher the risk of conceding goals, and the possibility of conceding accidental goals increases proportionally. Therefore, we believe that how to shorten such times, or how to push back the playing area closer to zone 2 (middle third) during such times, is necessary not only to reduce the risk of conceding goals, but also to improve positive transitions (switching from defense to offense) after winning the ball, in other words, to realize seamless play on both offense and defense. Looking ahead to next season, we believe it is essential to improve the quality and quantity of transitions on both the offensive and defensive sides, and we will focus on training to achieve this.
However, the match against Hiroshima also contained other important elements.
For about 10 minutes after the start of the second half, they took the initiative with a high press, and even when they lost the ball during attacks, they quickly regained it, and their transitions on both offense and defense worked at a high level. They also played with a very compact formation, and not only did they create many scenes with multiple players in the penalty area, including the scene of the second goal, but each player's arrows continued to point forward for a long time. Given the difference in condition between the two teams and the fact that they were unable to convert many of the scoring opportunities they created during the same period into goals, it is by no means possible to give an unconditional positive evaluation, but we will continue to aim to show this kind of performance for a longer period and throughout the season.

・Individual: Maximizing individual capabilities
It is a universal idea that if everyone on the team continues to focus on improving their individual abilities and maximizes their abilities, it will lead to a stronger team. Therefore, as the Football Headquarters, we have supported the growth of everyone on the team, not just the players. For example, starting this season, we have started working on the IDP (Individual Development Plan), which focuses on individual growth, and we have seen growth in players who did not have opportunities to play last season or at the start of this season, such as joining the battle for positions.
However, on the other hand, several key players left the team during the summer window, and we were unable to effectively reinforce the team midway through the season, which led to a lack of competition within the team, and we were unable to maintain an environment throughout the year in which players with comparable abilities could grow by competing with each other under an appropriate sense of tension. We at the Football Headquarters consider this to be a major matter of reflection.
In addition to directly working with players and staff to define their individual issues and provide support in resolving them, how to make the team function and lead to victory while maintaining and improving the environment that promotes an increase in the rate of growth is a universal challenge that the Football Headquarters must address, and we will continue to face this challenge sincerely.

Attitude: Positive, aggressive, passionate play
The players played their best in every match. However, we feel that there were not many matches in which they were able to fully express their attitude of "running, fighting, and persevering until the end" through positive, aggressive, and passionate play. In regards to this, we are just as sorry, if not more so, for not being able to deliver the results that you all expected, to the fans and supporters who gave great energy to the team and players with their voices and applause, both at home and away, and to all those who cared about Urawa Reds even if they were not at the stadium.
The environment and atmosphere, both tangible and intangible, both inside and outside the stadium that is created by those who care about Urawa Reds is extremely special, and no matter how strongly the players and the club wish for it, or how much time and money they invest, it is something that they could never create on their own.
Those who are given such a special environment and atmosphere can show their determination to fight for victory, regardless of the presence of an opponent, even though victory cannot be guaranteed in a sport like football, where there is an opponent.
As mentioned above, the lack of progress in points led to an increased fear of conceding goals, which resulted in the team being unable to demonstrate an appropriate rebound mentality, especially after conceding a goal. In addition, while the team has made improvements to its defense since the summer and has seen numerical results, it cannot be denied that it has weakened the team's positive, aggressive attitude. It is true that such phenomena on the competitive side have had an impact on the psychology of the players and team staff, but we still strongly feel that it is necessary for all involved in the team to understand, with the same vector and high resolution, the attitude that we should show to those who care about Urawa Reds, and to act based on that understanding. As a club, we will once again reconsider medium- to long-term measures to achieve this and begin implementing them as soon as possible.

Towards the 2025 season
In building our team, we believe it is imperative to strengthen both our offensive and defensive capabilities.
On the offensive side, we aim to acquire players who can play high-level offensive defense in addition to plays that directly lead to victory, such as goals and assists. At the same time, we believe that acquiring players who have the ability to break through situations with their individual strength, such as dribbling, is necessary to realize an attack that is in line with our concept.
On the defensive side, the team needs players who can not only lead the defensive line, but also have strong leadership skills that can inspire the entire team, and who can literally act as a "wall" when playing, and the acquisition of such players is an important theme for strengthening the team in preparation for the 2025 season.

The style of football that we at Urawa Reds aim to play will remain unchanged in the 2025 season.
We will continue to pursue a style of play that creates numerical, qualitative and positional superiority in both offense and defense, and aims for the goal while taking the initiative in an organized and aggressive manner. Furthermore, even if we lose the ball, we will immediately play aggressive defense, and once we have regained the ball, we will launch repeated attacks.
In order to put these strategies into practice, as mentioned above, it is essential to improve the quality and quantity of transitions on both the offensive and defensive sides, and this requires a high level of dedication from the players.
We believe that this dedication cannot be left solely to the players' own understanding, efforts, and awareness, but that there is still room for improvement through proper management of both technical and mental aspects by team staff, and through proper management of team staff by club staff.
Urawa Reds' player philosophy states, "Perform soccer to the fullest and pursue victory," but this is not the responsibility of the players alone; it is something that all Reds, united in the desire to work for the team and the club, must put into practice as one team.
With this understanding, regardless of changes in players, coaches, team staff, etc., the club will continue to lead the way by continuing to utilize what has been built up based on the concept, and when things do not go as expected, rather than resetting, we will go back to where we need to be and continue building from there.

lastly
In the 2024 season, a total of 712,852 people attended Urawa Reds home games, and the average attendance for all home games, including games held at Urawa Komaba Stadium, was 37,519 people.
We would like to once again express our deepest gratitude to all of you who encouraged the team and players and fought alongside them throughout the season, including those who sent their support at away games and through DAZN, even though these records do not reflect this.

This is the fifth time in 15 seasons since the 2009 season that annual attendance has exceeded 700,000, and the average attendance of 37,519 will surpass the record set in the 2016 season, when the team recorded the most points in the season.
We at Urawa Reds understand the records listed here not as numbers, but as people, and the expectations that each individual has placed on the team and players.
And we are extremely sorry that we were unable to meet the expectations of each and every one of you.

We will continue to manage the club with sincerity, without losing sight of the expectations that those who support Urawa Reds have for the players, the team and the club, and with a strong desire to live up to those expectations.
Thank you very much for your enthusiastic support until the end of this season.
We appreciate your continued support in the 2025 season.

Urawa Red Diamonds