NEWS
"The overall attitude is very good" -Per-Mathias Hoegmo (regular press conference 5/20)
On the 20th, a press conference was held online with manager Per-Mathias Hoegmo, where he spoke about his enthusiasm for the J.League YBC Levain Cup 1st Round 3rd Round match against V-Varen Nagasaki, which will be held at Transcosmos Stadium Nagasaki on Wednesday the 22nd.
(It was unfortunate that you couldn't win the match against Jubilo Iwata on the 19th, but what would you like to see from your players as coach Matthias, such as courageous wedge passes to break down a defensive opponent?)
"Is it a matter of courage, or a matter of reading the game? It's about reading the game and launching an attack at the right time. I think we've made a lot of progress on the offensive side of the game. I think there will be more games in the future where we have possession of the ball and the opponent sits back and defends, like yesterday's game. For example, we also aim for vertical plays when possible. However, we need to play in ways that clearly lead to chances, rather than risky, forced plays. Before the Iwata game, I told the players that they had scored seven goals in the two games prior to that, and that the reason they were creating other chances is because the offensive side of the game was working well. In the second half, the game became more open, and when the opponents began to open up space, chances came for Thiago (Santana) and (Maeda) Naoki.
I gave the players a challenge today. One of them was that if we keep the ball when the opponent is getting tired, we can tire them out even more when we are 1-0 up. It is important not to give the ball to the opponent easily. The opponent also needs to score, so I hope we can get them to go forward and score a second or third goal. I also talked about individual tactical skills. There were several times in yesterday's game when our shots were blocked. Why was it blocked? I also talked about whether we were making that decision too early. We have to read the situation and make a choice. When we are blocked, two or three players are usually approaching us. At times like that, other players are free. However, the fact that such situations are increasing also means that we are able to get to the opponent's goal with more players. I think this is an important skill to develop in the future.
(The Levain Cup match against Nagasaki will be held in two days and the opponents will be forced to play defensively. What are your thoughts on this?)
"I think Nagasaki is a very good team, with the second highest scoring ability in the (J2) League. They have many high-quality players, even when viewed individually. They also beat Iwata in the Levain Cup. However, if I were to predict what kind of game it will be, as you said, I think we will have to keep the ball for a long time. However, they also have powerful counterattacks. Risk management when attacking will be important."
(Are you considering changing players for the Nagasaki match?)
"First of all, I think the attitude of the whole group is very good. Even players who are not in the starting lineup are doing very high-quality practice on the day of the match. Coach Ikeda (Nobuyasu) and physical coach Ishiguri (Takeru) are doing very good training. Today, players other than the starting lineup trained, and the training was of very high quality. I think the attitude of regaining the ball, pressing, closing in on the opponent, etc. has improved greatly. I think the whole team is now able to play with a shared image. This gives them confidence. (Yasui) Kaito has played as number 6, and players who had not played before have played well when they have taken to the pitch. (Ekanit Panya) Book has also been on the pitch a few times, and I think he has shown good performances. (Sakai) Hiroki is back, and we are seeing sharp play. I think there is an opportunity to rotate some positions. That is important, but I think it is also important to maintain continuity."
(When considering whether to substitute a player, I think it is very important to determine how tired the player is. Some coaches look at the results of blood tests, while others place more importance on the player's motivation and instincts. How do you make your decisions, Coach Matthias?)
"I think there are various aspects to it. For example, there is the risk of injury. There is also the accumulation of stress up to that point, but we are trying to develop players who can play two games a week. They have to be prepared for that both mentally and physically. This club is a club that tries to play a lot of games. That is the basic idea, but before each game we observe each player individually. We look at that very individually. For example, we may consider resting a player who has not had much experience of playing consecutive games in the past. However, I think the best training for actually getting them used to playing consecutive games is to have them play in matches."
(I think seven or eight players who could easily have been in the starting line-up for this match are out with injuries, but after this they will face top-ranked teams such as FC Machida Zelvia and Vissel Kobe in the J1 League. If they cannot take to the pitch once against Nagasaki, I think it will be difficult to trust them and send them out to such a close game, so what is the situation with these players?)
"As you will be able to see on Wednesday, injured players are gradually returning to training. For example, Ola (Solbakken) is doing high-quality training. Nori (Iwao) and Samuel (Gustafsson) have also joined practice. Regarding Wednesday's match, I am discussing with the medical staff and physical coaches what to do. However, I would like to prepare for each match one at a time without thinking too much about what will happen after that. First of all, I would like to make the best preparations possible for Wednesday."
(After the match against Iwata, Ryoma Watanabe said, "A strong team is one that can explain why they won a match," and "Now, everyone can clearly explain why we won, and everyone has a clear idea of what is good and bad about the team." This was impressive, but is it the result of daily meetings and other efforts? Or have the players become able to put Coach Matthias's football into words?)
"We have daily meetings, and in today's meeting, I told the players and staff that we are getting results because we play with confidence in what we are doing, and that victory follows as a result. I think it's okay to make increasingly higher demands of each other. If everyone can see the direction, I think they can do so with confidence and a sense of security. From the beginning, I have been talking to the media about wanting to create a culture of hunger here and wanting to play with high motivation, and I think that is happening, so I think we are creating an environment where we can make good demands of each other. I think it's always important to have a clear identity. It's also important that each person acts with a sense of ownership and responsibility toward that identity. And that identity is not something that is shared and implemented only by the players and coaching staff, but the entire Ohara (soccer field) needs to be aware of what kind of identity this team has and what kind of demands there are, including, for example, nutritionist Ishikawa (Michi) and the groundskeepers."
(I think that the players have more freedom in terms of positioning compared to the beginning of the season, but at the beginning of the season, was the idea of clearly presenting a pattern to the players, having them stick to it, and gradually increasing their freedom to build a team? Or did Coach Matthias see the players now and think that giving them more freedom would work better, and so he made a change?)
"There are words like freedom and creativity, but I wonder if they are synonymous. I think it is important to first create a solid structure. If the structure is solid, the players' creativity will emerge and relationships will also emerge. If you give too much freedom before the structure is in place, it will become chaos. And I think what you are saying is correct. We are working on the structure in daily training, and in the process, the relationships between the players are developing rapidly. And then there is the ownership, which I mentioned earlier. When the players have a sense of ownership and start to participate in discussions, creativity will emerge more and more. If the team only does what the coach tells them to do, the coach's ability will be the limit of the team. And I think it will take some time to give the team the structure of attacking football, but I think we are heading in the right direction. We need to develop in an increasingly complex direction. The more complex our team becomes, the more difficult it will be for our opponents to play against us."
(What experience did Coach Matthias have that led to the idea of building from structure and then developing creativity? Is this a tactical theory that is shared as a basis in Europe?)
"From the beginning, I have stolen various things from the identities of various coaches. Structure is important in Norwegian football. In the 1990s, we were ranked second in the FIFA rankings after Brazil. Norway played a well-structured defense, launched counterattacks, and took few risks. My last coach was Tommy Svensson, who came in third in the 1994 FIFA World Cup in the United States. He changed the team, which played directly, to a possession-oriented team and came in second in the league. As a coach, I have always valued the structure not only on the pitch but also in the organization, for example, the structure of the staff. I believe that if you create a solid structure, creativity will develop on top of that. It's a balance between structure and creativity, and there is a lot of research that shows that structure is necessary to be creative. When you look at artists in various fields around the world, many of the successful ones value structure and work hard."
(I think the answer is given in the first question, but in the match against Iwata, there were several times when you could have passed the ball but you ended up taking shots. It would be a problem if you became a player who never took shots, but how do you expect your players to balance their ego with playing with others, and how do you intend to develop them?)
"As I mentioned briefly at the beginning, if you're in front of the goal and it's clearly a chance to shoot, I think it's fine to take it. But if you make a hasty decision and it gets blocked, it's better to use those around you. For example, in the scene where Ryoma was shooting, if we hadn't taken the shot but had used (Ohata) Ayumu who was coming up from the left, it might have been a bigger opportunity. It's a situation that comes about because you're in front of the goal, but it's a judgement call on which choice will give you the greatest chance of scoring."
(The match against Iwata was tough, but looking at the three consecutive wins before that, I think the players' relationships have improved and they now have more options for how to play. In that case, it must be more difficult to decide what to do, so how does coach Matthias organize the priorities and communicate them to the players?)
"If you always play with two or three options, I think it will be very difficult for the opponent to play. This is also about relationships, so for example, if you have the ball on the side, it will be easier to play if you know that the fullback is coming up. It was the same with Naoki's chance. The previous chance, he chose to pass to Naoki instead of shooting, leaving him in a wide open position in front of the goal, and Naoki should have scored it. I think it's a very interesting point. As part of our identity, we want to create two-on-ones anywhere on the pitch, and that includes inside the penalty area. We can create them if there is running in front of the ball holder or on the side. One of the goals that Atsuki (Ito) scored at home was when Tomo (Tomoaki Okubo) ran across in front of Atsuki, taking a center back with him, opening up a shooting lane. If you have a strong relationship, you can play knowing that the fullback is running there, rather than looking around."
[Urawa Reds Official Media (URD:OM)]
(It was unfortunate that you couldn't win the match against Jubilo Iwata on the 19th, but what would you like to see from your players as coach Matthias, such as courageous wedge passes to break down a defensive opponent?)
"Is it a matter of courage, or a matter of reading the game? It's about reading the game and launching an attack at the right time. I think we've made a lot of progress on the offensive side of the game. I think there will be more games in the future where we have possession of the ball and the opponent sits back and defends, like yesterday's game. For example, we also aim for vertical plays when possible. However, we need to play in ways that clearly lead to chances, rather than risky, forced plays. Before the Iwata game, I told the players that they had scored seven goals in the two games prior to that, and that the reason they were creating other chances is because the offensive side of the game was working well. In the second half, the game became more open, and when the opponents began to open up space, chances came for Thiago (Santana) and (Maeda) Naoki.
I gave the players a challenge today. One of them was that if we keep the ball when the opponent is getting tired, we can tire them out even more when we are 1-0 up. It is important not to give the ball to the opponent easily. The opponent also needs to score, so I hope we can get them to go forward and score a second or third goal. I also talked about individual tactical skills. There were several times in yesterday's game when our shots were blocked. Why was it blocked? I also talked about whether we were making that decision too early. We have to read the situation and make a choice. When we are blocked, two or three players are usually approaching us. At times like that, other players are free. However, the fact that such situations are increasing also means that we are able to get to the opponent's goal with more players. I think this is an important skill to develop in the future.
(The Levain Cup match against Nagasaki will be held in two days and the opponents will be forced to play defensively. What are your thoughts on this?)
"I think Nagasaki is a very good team, with the second highest scoring ability in the (J2) League. They have many high-quality players, even when viewed individually. They also beat Iwata in the Levain Cup. However, if I were to predict what kind of game it will be, as you said, I think we will have to keep the ball for a long time. However, they also have powerful counterattacks. Risk management when attacking will be important."
(Are you considering changing players for the Nagasaki match?)
"First of all, I think the attitude of the whole group is very good. Even players who are not in the starting lineup are doing very high-quality practice on the day of the match. Coach Ikeda (Nobuyasu) and physical coach Ishiguri (Takeru) are doing very good training. Today, players other than the starting lineup trained, and the training was of very high quality. I think the attitude of regaining the ball, pressing, closing in on the opponent, etc. has improved greatly. I think the whole team is now able to play with a shared image. This gives them confidence. (Yasui) Kaito has played as number 6, and players who had not played before have played well when they have taken to the pitch. (Ekanit Panya) Book has also been on the pitch a few times, and I think he has shown good performances. (Sakai) Hiroki is back, and we are seeing sharp play. I think there is an opportunity to rotate some positions. That is important, but I think it is also important to maintain continuity."
(When considering whether to substitute a player, I think it is very important to determine how tired the player is. Some coaches look at the results of blood tests, while others place more importance on the player's motivation and instincts. How do you make your decisions, Coach Matthias?)
"I think there are various aspects to it. For example, there is the risk of injury. There is also the accumulation of stress up to that point, but we are trying to develop players who can play two games a week. They have to be prepared for that both mentally and physically. This club is a club that tries to play a lot of games. That is the basic idea, but before each game we observe each player individually. We look at that very individually. For example, we may consider resting a player who has not had much experience of playing consecutive games in the past. However, I think the best training for actually getting them used to playing consecutive games is to have them play in matches."
(I think seven or eight players who could easily have been in the starting line-up for this match are out with injuries, but after this they will face top-ranked teams such as FC Machida Zelvia and Vissel Kobe in the J1 League. If they cannot take to the pitch once against Nagasaki, I think it will be difficult to trust them and send them out to such a close game, so what is the situation with these players?)
"As you will be able to see on Wednesday, injured players are gradually returning to training. For example, Ola (Solbakken) is doing high-quality training. Nori (Iwao) and Samuel (Gustafsson) have also joined practice. Regarding Wednesday's match, I am discussing with the medical staff and physical coaches what to do. However, I would like to prepare for each match one at a time without thinking too much about what will happen after that. First of all, I would like to make the best preparations possible for Wednesday."
(After the match against Iwata, Ryoma Watanabe said, "A strong team is one that can explain why they won a match," and "Now, everyone can clearly explain why we won, and everyone has a clear idea of what is good and bad about the team." This was impressive, but is it the result of daily meetings and other efforts? Or have the players become able to put Coach Matthias's football into words?)
"We have daily meetings, and in today's meeting, I told the players and staff that we are getting results because we play with confidence in what we are doing, and that victory follows as a result. I think it's okay to make increasingly higher demands of each other. If everyone can see the direction, I think they can do so with confidence and a sense of security. From the beginning, I have been talking to the media about wanting to create a culture of hunger here and wanting to play with high motivation, and I think that is happening, so I think we are creating an environment where we can make good demands of each other. I think it's always important to have a clear identity. It's also important that each person acts with a sense of ownership and responsibility toward that identity. And that identity is not something that is shared and implemented only by the players and coaching staff, but the entire Ohara (soccer field) needs to be aware of what kind of identity this team has and what kind of demands there are, including, for example, nutritionist Ishikawa (Michi) and the groundskeepers."
(I think that the players have more freedom in terms of positioning compared to the beginning of the season, but at the beginning of the season, was the idea of clearly presenting a pattern to the players, having them stick to it, and gradually increasing their freedom to build a team? Or did Coach Matthias see the players now and think that giving them more freedom would work better, and so he made a change?)
"There are words like freedom and creativity, but I wonder if they are synonymous. I think it is important to first create a solid structure. If the structure is solid, the players' creativity will emerge and relationships will also emerge. If you give too much freedom before the structure is in place, it will become chaos. And I think what you are saying is correct. We are working on the structure in daily training, and in the process, the relationships between the players are developing rapidly. And then there is the ownership, which I mentioned earlier. When the players have a sense of ownership and start to participate in discussions, creativity will emerge more and more. If the team only does what the coach tells them to do, the coach's ability will be the limit of the team. And I think it will take some time to give the team the structure of attacking football, but I think we are heading in the right direction. We need to develop in an increasingly complex direction. The more complex our team becomes, the more difficult it will be for our opponents to play against us."
(What experience did Coach Matthias have that led to the idea of building from structure and then developing creativity? Is this a tactical theory that is shared as a basis in Europe?)
"From the beginning, I have stolen various things from the identities of various coaches. Structure is important in Norwegian football. In the 1990s, we were ranked second in the FIFA rankings after Brazil. Norway played a well-structured defense, launched counterattacks, and took few risks. My last coach was Tommy Svensson, who came in third in the 1994 FIFA World Cup in the United States. He changed the team, which played directly, to a possession-oriented team and came in second in the league. As a coach, I have always valued the structure not only on the pitch but also in the organization, for example, the structure of the staff. I believe that if you create a solid structure, creativity will develop on top of that. It's a balance between structure and creativity, and there is a lot of research that shows that structure is necessary to be creative. When you look at artists in various fields around the world, many of the successful ones value structure and work hard."
(I think the answer is given in the first question, but in the match against Iwata, there were several times when you could have passed the ball but you ended up taking shots. It would be a problem if you became a player who never took shots, but how do you expect your players to balance their ego with playing with others, and how do you intend to develop them?)
"As I mentioned briefly at the beginning, if you're in front of the goal and it's clearly a chance to shoot, I think it's fine to take it. But if you make a hasty decision and it gets blocked, it's better to use those around you. For example, in the scene where Ryoma was shooting, if we hadn't taken the shot but had used (Ohata) Ayumu who was coming up from the left, it might have been a bigger opportunity. It's a situation that comes about because you're in front of the goal, but it's a judgement call on which choice will give you the greatest chance of scoring."
(The match against Iwata was tough, but looking at the three consecutive wins before that, I think the players' relationships have improved and they now have more options for how to play. In that case, it must be more difficult to decide what to do, so how does coach Matthias organize the priorities and communicate them to the players?)
"If you always play with two or three options, I think it will be very difficult for the opponent to play. This is also about relationships, so for example, if you have the ball on the side, it will be easier to play if you know that the fullback is coming up. It was the same with Naoki's chance. The previous chance, he chose to pass to Naoki instead of shooting, leaving him in a wide open position in front of the goal, and Naoki should have scored it. I think it's a very interesting point. As part of our identity, we want to create two-on-ones anywhere on the pitch, and that includes inside the penalty area. We can create them if there is running in front of the ball holder or on the side. One of the goals that Atsuki (Ito) scored at home was when Tomo (Tomoaki Okubo) ran across in front of Atsuki, taking a center back with him, opening up a shooting lane. If you have a strong relationship, you can play knowing that the fullback is running there, rather than looking around."
[Urawa Reds Official Media (URD:OM)]
