On the 5th, Per-Mathias Hoegmo held an online press conference where he spoke about his enthusiasm for the Meiji Yasuda J1 League Kashiwa Reysol, which will be held at Saitama Stadium on Wednesday, August 7th, as part of the Meiji Yasuda vs J.League Partnership 10th Anniversary Match.

"Yesterday and the day before, we did high-intensity training. Today, we reduced the load. Everyone is participating in practice. Only Brian (Linssen) has recovered from an injury and is gradually increasing the load, so I think he will be able to train fully this week. (Ohata) Ayumu returned yesterday. He came to Ohara and was checked. Today, he will train separately in the afternoon at Ohara. I spoke to him, and he seems to be in good condition. I told him, 'You can be proud of having competed in the Olympics representing Japan.'"

(Yoichi Naganuma, whose permanent transfer was announced the other day, is a player who can play in a variety of positions. What are the strengths of him that you want to utilize?)
"We will get to know him better in training, but this season we have him mainly as a full-back. He also scored 10 goals in a different position last season. He is a player with those qualities, but we will be watching him closely in training. He is a player who can play on both the wing and as a full-back."

(I think the quality of the first half of the Newcastle United match was high, but the second half was a bit chaotic overall, partly because there were a lot of substitutions. I think we were able to see the good points of the first half, the differences with the second half, and what we should aim for.)
"I think part of the answer was in the question, but many players who had been out for a long time due to injury played in the second half. What we can improve in the remaining 14 games is stability. We need to be more stable not only in attack but also in defense. We had some difficult moments in the second half of the Newcastle match, but I think the reason for this was that the relationships between the players were not yet strong enough. As a result, we were not able to play consistently for the entire 90 minutes. I would like to make improving these areas a priority."

(In the recent training session that was made public, Coach Matias and Coach Mario Eduardo Chavez were instructing the team on zone defense. I think many coaches first focus on defense and then start working on offense, but Coach Matias first instructed a lot on offense and is now working on defense. How do you think about team building and proceed in this way?)
"Basically, no matter which team I go to, I always start with defense. I build a solid platform there. However, when I came to the Reds, the thing I wanted most as a club was to develop our offense. So, from the start, I tried to spend more time on offense. I think we can debate whether that order was right or wrong, but I think the reason we conceded goals was because we kept changing members. If we had been able to keep that more consistent, I think we could have prevented the number of goals we conceded. I think there were periods when our defense was good, but we just couldn't stabilize it."

How much of an improvement can there be in defense?
"I think we'll see the answer on Wednesday. There is individual one-on-one defense, and there is also team defense based on relationships. Ability also comes into play. For example, if you want to apply high pressure, you need physical ability. Looking at the players' abilities, I think there are still areas that can be improved. For example, there are players who have high attacking ability, but still need to improve their defensive skills. We would like to prioritize these in our daily training."

(When you played against Kashiwa away, you seemed to control the game well. What does Coach Matthias think about this?)
"It was a game in which something that has been happening this season occurred. We played a really good game in the previous game, but (Iwao) Nori got injured. I think that caused us to lose defensive stability in that game. However, we were able to keep possession to a certain extent, and I think there were many instances where we could have had chances if we had played a little sharper in the final third. Breaking through the back line can lead to chances, so we want to do that, and our creative players are gradually returning from injury. I have the impression that Kashiwa has been fighting together for a long time. I think they are a team that is playing well. We want to prepare well and take on this opponent."

(The last time you played against Kashiwa, you had played a very good game against Sagan Tosu. My impression at the time was that you were strong against teams that tried to take the ball from you, but struggled when they were waiting for you to wait. How has the team changed in that regard?)
"Samuel (Gustavsson), Tomo (Tomoaki Okubo) and Taka (Takahiro Sekine) have returned from injury and are now improving physically. The same can be said for (Nakajima) Shoya. I would like to deepen the relationships between the players on both offense and defense. This season has been up and down and it has been frustrating for everyone, but now that the players are here, the level of training itself is also improving. It has been four months since our last match against Kashiwa, and some players have grown during that time. As we deepen the relationships between the players, I think we will see the phenomenon of 2 + 2 becoming 5. The new players are also gaining experience playing for the Reds. For example, if you look at the defensive line, we have many new players such as (Hirokazu Ishihara), (Watanabe) Ryoma, (Inoue) Reihito and (Sato) Yota. I think it is important for them to play many games."

(Probably since you became captain, Atsuki Ito has been the penalty taker recently. I don't have the impression that he is an active kicker or good at it, so what was the intention behind selecting him?)
"After (Alexander) Scholz left, I spoke with Atsuki and asked him, 'How about a penalty kicker?' He said, 'I want to do that,' so either Atsuki or Thiago (Santana) would be the choice."

(What do you think of Ito's qualities as a penalty taker?)
"He took a penalty in our last home game. We'll always evaluate him, but I think he can be a good kicker. I think it's great that he takes responsibility not just in penalties, but in all aspects of the game. However, his shot against Newcastle was not good."

(What do you think of Ohata's performance and behavior at the Olympics?)
"He is one of the players who has grown significantly, and I thought he performed very well as a member of the Olympic team. I thought he was able to play with high intensity in a high-level international match. His build-up was good, and he is also able to use his speed to get past opponents in one-on-one situations. He also joined attacks in the final third and created numerical superiority. I'm glad we were able to see not only good plays but also a strong mentality at the Olympics. I also feel that his one-on-one defense in all parts of the pitch is improving."

(Coach Matthias has also been a coach at the Olympics. What did you think of Japan's performance this time?)
"I was able to see a very stable performance. They were united. I think they had clear objectives in both offense and defense. Although they lost the match against Spain, I think they created some difficult situations for Spain. Also, looking at individual players, there were some who were playing at an extremely high level. For example, the two players from Kashiwa. I think we were able to see that the development of Japanese players is going very well."

(What is your impression of Masahiro Hosoya, who you may face next?)
"I think he caused problems for the two Spanish centre-backs. He's got the energy, he's got the skills. He's a very interesting player."

(Shinzo Koroki has announced his retirement. How do you feel about his decision? What impact has he had on the team?)
"As I said in the team meeting after Shinzo announced his retirement, he has had an incredible career. What I told everyone at that time was how much of talent is genetic, and how much of it is influenced by hard work. Shinzo has incredible tactical knowledge. Not many players have the knowledge to be successful at the international level. He knows how to find space in front of the goal and the movements to use that, so it's no coincidence that he has scored so many goals. In recent years he has struggled a bit with injuries, but I think he should be proud of what he has achieved in the J.League. In terms of personality, I think he has a good mix too. He has a great sense of humor, but I think he is very sharp when he's on the pitch."

(Do you think Koroki would make a good manager?)
"He has an eye for football, so I'm sure he can achieve that. I've been telling him it might be a good idea for him to take various football courses. If he invests in himself like that, I think he'll be someone who can teach a lot to the next generation."

[Urawa Reds Official Media (URD:OM)]