On the 13th, a press conference was held online with manager Per-Mathias Hoegmo, where he spoke about his enthusiasm for the Meiji Yasuda J1 League Round 18 match against Cerezo Osaka which will be held at Yodoko Sakura Stadium on Saturday, June 15th.

(Genki Haraguchi participated in the Reds' training as part of his own voluntary training, and was able to blend in with the training with his own standards. What do you think about the significance of players knowing the standards of others?)
"It's been a great pleasure getting to know Genki and getting to know him both as a person and as a player. He's played in Germany for 10 years and I think he has a very high level of skill."

(The athletes were able to undergo high-intensity training by providing different stimuli, but do these stimuli have any effect?)
"Firstly, there was a short break after the (Vissel) Kobe match, so the players came back in good shape and were able to do high-quality training, trying to carry over what was good from the Kobe match to the next match. And when a player like Genki comes into training, you can see two sides to it. You can see the high quality of Genki, and you can feel that the Reds players are also improving based on Genki."

(What bothered me about the two days of open training was the large number of injured players who were unable to take part in practice. With Shoya Nakajima who played in the Kobe match, also absent, the team was in a situation similar to that of a consecutive match. How many of the absent players are likely to be able to play in the matches against Cerezo OSAKA and Kashima Antlers? What is the condition of Samuel Gustafson?)
"I can't say too much about the specifics, but if everything goes smoothly, there is a possibility that about five players will be back by the time of the Kashima match. It would be even better if some players could return earlier, but there is a possibility that some players will be returning from injury by the time of the Kashima match. As for the Cerezo OSAKA match, I would like to decide on the members and starting line-up after seeing the condition of the players tomorrow."

(I think that the break gave you a chance to look back on your progress since the start of the season. How do you feel about where the team is now after playing around 20 official matches?)
"There were a lot of things going on with our performance, but I feel that we have been getting a lot better over the past few weeks. We should have gotten six points in the last two games. We were unlucky with some injuries. I think we could have gotten a few more points. We played very well in the second half of the Kobe match, and there were periods when we were able to see what we are trying to do. We also recorded very good physical data. I think that our culture of training is starting to pay off, not just in terms of our performance as a team, but also as individual players."

(After this, the transfer window will open in Japan. It may be difficult to have a big European transfer season in the middle of the season, but what do you think is necessary for your current club and team during this transfer period?)
"First of all, we are hoping that our injured players will return. There are various situations, some with short-term and some long-term absences, but we have some very good players out. As you said, this will be a difficult window for Japan. The difficulty lies in the fact that the timing is different to Europe and other countries. We are in good communication with Sports Director Horinouchi (Masayoshi) on a daily basis. Of course, there is a possibility that there will be changes during this window."

(I think the break was a necessary time to improve the team's performance, but how do you feel about it?)
"In our meeting this morning, I told the players that they are practicing with very high quality. The staff is creating a very good environment, and I think they are working on the details. They are very focused, and I hope to see them continue to grow in the future. We are practicing various aspects, but what I particularly want to increase now is going forward with more direct play in the early stages. When the game opens up, we are seeing dangerous plays for our opponents. We need to continue to develop tactically on both offense and defense. At the same time, I also want to further improve our ability to play with high intensity for the entire 90 minutes. I think that was seen in the second half of the Kobe match. I think that kind of quality was there. I want to further stabilize it."

(In the two days of training that were made public, we were able to see how numerical superiority can be brought to the front line by building up attacks from the rear, and also how 2 + 2 equals 5.)
"I used that as an analogy, but in the meeting before practice that day, I talked to the players about what aspects we analyze and evaluate, and how we look at each player individually. For example, what positive aspects of defense and offense do we evaluate? A mistake in a pass can be a tactical mistake or a technical mistake. That will count as a negative. I also told them that these defensive mistakes will count as a negative. I also told them that although we evaluate the players individually, it is a team sport. When we were talking about the relationships between players when they are on the pitch, I mentioned that 2 + 2 can become 5."

(I think the next match against Cerezo OSAKA will be the time to show the results of your efforts, but how do you feel about Cerezo OSAKA and what do you want to pay attention to?)
"We will be playing at their stadium away from home, and they have four foreign players up front. I think there will be spaces in the midfield and behind the defense, so I hope we can keep a close eye on them and exploit those spaces. I think our inside halves and wingers will be key players in this match. I also hope that our full-backs will be able to get involved offensively there."

[Urawa Reds Official Media (URD:OM)]