On August 7, Maciej Skorza Director's inauguration press conference was held at Saitama Stadium. The press conference was attended by the Maciej director and Satoshi Horinouchi sports director (SD), who answered questions from the media.

Satoshi Horinouchi SD
Hello, everyone. Thank you for taking time out of your busy schedule to come to Saitama Stadium today. First of all, I would like to explain the reason for inviting Director Maciej Skorza again.

He came to Japan yesterday and joined our team from the morning meeting today. Maciej The first thing he told the team was about spirit. Everyone here must work hard for the team's and club's victory," he said. If I remember correctly, that is exactly what the Maciej director told the team at the first meeting last year.

This is the reason why we have asked him to come back to Maciej to further develop our organized and aggressive soccer in both offense and defense, based on that spirit. That's all I have to say. I look forward to working with you.

Maciej Skorza Director
Hello, it is a pleasure to be back in this club again. It is a great honor for me to return to this club again. I would like to thank the front office of the club for trusting me again. I am very happy to be part of this great club with great ambitions. The situation is different from when I took over last year. We are in the middle of the season and there are 11 games left, so I will have to act differently than last time.

On the other hand, I think it is very positive that many of the staff I worked with before remain in the club. It is an advantageous situation for me that we know each other so well in the short time available. I would also like to thank Coach Nobuyasu Ikeda for leading the team during my arrival. I hope we can build on the same high level of cooperation this year as we did last year.

Today we had our first team meeting. Many of the players I know, but about half of them are new to me. I think it will take some time to get to know them and evaluate them as we build a relationship, but I suspect it will be a relatively quick process.

And my impression after our first meeting is that there is a very positive energy (on the team). And I can feel the determination. I saw that, and I hope that we can take that as a positive thing and become a team that can make decisions early on and fight positively on the pitch as well.

And I hope that we can change the trend of this year and move up in the standings with a win, and (that process) will help us prepare for next year's FIFA Club World Cup.


[Q&A.]
(With half of the new players, "it doesn't take that long to understand them", from what point did you get that impression?)
I have a lot of staff members who know me very well. I think they can help my players understand my soccer, and in that sense, I think they can evaluate new players for me at an early stage. That is one aspect.

The other is that I would like to interview the players and ask them about their role in the team and how they feel about what they have done so far with Reds. We conduct such interviews under any circumstances, but in the absence of this time, I expect everyone to speak openly."

(You returned to the Reds less than a year ago, but how many Reds games did you watch during that time?　If so, what was your impression of the Reds this season?)
I tried to watch as many Reds games as I could. At this point, I can say that the team is different from a year ago. The balance within the team has changed from last year, and they are a more aggressive team. I think that balance between offense and defense has changed a little bit, but I also saw them play a great game. Per-Mathias Hoegmo I would like to do this while also incorporating the philosophy left behind by the previous coach. We have done some very interesting things, especially on the offensive side.

The work I will be doing now is to balance the offense and defense. I hope to reduce the number of goals conceded while doing that work.

(I ask SD Horinouchi. Last season, Maciej director has been coaching with Rafal Janas and Wojciech Makowski coaches, are you thinking of hiring coaches to support Maciej director this season as well?)
Satoshi Horinouchi SD.
'Maciej We are in the process of working on a system to support the director. I can't give you the details because it is related to the contract, but we would like to build a system to firmly support Maciej the director."

(If the Maciej director had continued to lead the team, I don't think he would have wanted to do exactly the same thing he did last year, but what was the evolution from last year's soccer and what would you be looking for?)
'If you think of it as a continuation from last year's team, I think the next step was that we needed to develop in the attack. Last season we were able to build a team that could defend with very solid blocks. I think the next step was to develop our attack. And at the beginning of this season, Reds acquired a lot of very interesting attacking players. For example, we have more wingers than last season. In some games last season, we had to use players like Toshiki Takahashi who were originally center fwd players on the wings."

(With half of the players being replaced, some of the stronger players are leaving the team. We need to have players grow more than last season, or grow in the sense of having them meet our demands, but what do you want to do about working on individual players?)
First of all, what we want to do at this point is to give the players back their confidence and build a team that fights strongly with a team spirit. There are many aspects to this, tactical and physical, but I believe this is an essential element. At this point, I think the mental approach is the most important.

I think the first step for me is the next four matches. By the time the next international match week break comes around, I think I will have a better idea of where I need to go this season. After that, I would like to make the team more stable. And for me, I think that will be the time to evaluate the players once there.

And after that, I think we can continue to build the team with the FIFA Club World Cup in mind, and of course we want to win the J-League, so those two things are going to be demanding situations for us. In that sense, our next transfer window will be very important."

(I know you have had offers from other clubs besides Reds, but what made you decide to work with Reds?)
) "That's an easy question to answer. Last year, my head and my heart connected with Urawa Reds in a special way. And in my mind, I had the thought, 'If I were to go back to work, it would be at Urawa Reds,' but I didn't expect it to come at such an early date.

On the other hand, while I was taking a break, I was also under the impression that I would return to work in October or November, so when Reds contacted me a few weeks ago, I felt that I wanted to return to Reds even if it meant returning earlier than that."

(Looking at the Reds' current standings and points, how do you see the situation the Reds are in?)
"Considering the ambitions of Urawa Reds, I don't think our current position in the standings is good enough. We would like to move up a position in the standings as quickly as possible. We have six games left at Saitama Stadium. I think the atmosphere of Saitama Stadium will help us and create a difficult environment for our opponents.

And as I said, the first four games will be the step from now on, and we want to get a solid point from that first game. It is an important factor, and one that we have yet to fully evaluate, so if you ask me at this point in time what our goal is to finish the season in what position, I cannot give you an answer."

(In his first press conference last season, he said that it was important to maintain structure and that everyone on the team knew what they had to do. And last season you created a strong organization, and from here I think the challenge will be to integrate offensive capabilities. What kind of plan do you have to achieve this in order to create a solid structure in attack and conduct both offense and defense?)
Of course, I think structure is important in both offense and defense. And structure depends on the characteristics of the players. Last season we had a good structure, but when Tomo (Tomoaki Okubo) or Taka (Takahiro Sekine), for example, or one of the players was unavailable, it changed and our good attack did not come out. This season, we have wingers with different characteristics, such as Yusuke Matsuo and Naoki Maeda, which I think is an advantage for the team.

And as for the structure of the attack, of course I have my own ideas. You all know why I can't share all of them here (laughs).

(What do you want to ask your players to do in terms of offensive and defensive balance?)
(What do you want from your players in terms of offensive and defensive balance? It is important to have a good attack, but it is also important to be able to win the ball back in a short period of time when you lose it. I want to build a team that dominates the game. By setting some rules within the team, I think we will be able to win the ball back earlier after losing it.

(Reds has changed captains several times this season.)
(Reds have changed captains several times this season, what are your thoughts on the captaincy? We have been working in a very short period of time since we joined the team today until this press conference, so we have not yet shared this information with the team. I would like to share it with the team first, and then announce it to everyone. I have not yet had a chance to talk with the players or the team about captains and captains groups. There are several important topics that we have not yet discussed, so I would prefer not to announce the captains at this press conference."

(How do you feel about the Shinzo Koroki players announcing their retirement at the end of this season? Also, I know he was instrumental in getting you to the FIFA Club World Cup, do you have any thoughts as a coach that you might be able to help him and fight alongside him?)
'Shinzo Koroki is a very special person and a very special player. And he has a very positive personality for the team. (Koroki) I had not yet thought about Shinzo's future role. At the moment I think of him as one of the strikers in the team and how he can help us in the upcoming matches.

I think it is a very interesting idea, although I am sure that after a few weeks we will be able to consider what you mentioned earlier. Everyone in the club respects Shinzo. It could be a very good thing to develop the team, drawing on his knowledge and experience."

(What will be your goal in the first four games?)
This team needs points right now, so one of our main targets is to make sure we get some wins. At first, we may not be able to show a very beautiful game, but we will try to do it while showing the direction in which the team needs to win."

(How many points in four games is a passing score?)
(How many points in four games is a passing grade? I would like to prepare to get three points in every game.

(What are your expectations for Genki Haraguchi, who has returned to the team?)
(What do you expect from Genki Haraguchi, who has returned to the team? I am grateful that (Genki) Haraguchi was able to join this club. Our cooperation with Genki just started a few hours ago, but I have the impression that he will be a great professional. And I expect that his experience and skills will serve the team well for the rest of this season.

I knew his skills because I have known him for a while, but I have been pleasantly surprised by his character. In terms of coming back after a hiatus from the Reds, we also have a good track record, Shinzo's last season. Without Shinzo, I don't think we would have been able to beat Al Hilal in the ACL (AFC Champions League) final. I hope Genki will contribute to the team as much as Shinzo did last season."

(What kind of match do you want to make against Gamba Osaka on the 14th?)
First of all, I think Gamba Osaka is a different team from last season. There are some very interesting players there, and I think the captain, Takashi Usami, is number one among them. And there are many good wingers as well as Welton. We also have a very strong midfield with Dhawan and Tokuma Suzuki. I think we have a very tough game ahead of us, but like any team, Gamba has its weaknesses. In home games, I think they will try to push and dominate the game. I think it will be a game against a very strong opponent. And I know that if we have a good attitude (going into the game), we can beat Gamba away from home even with 10 players. I think the attitude part is very important."

(You say that you cannot show the beautiful game at first, but what is the beautiful game?)
I think the beautiful game was there the other day, when FC Barcelona beat Real Valladolid 7-0. I think it was a very great and balanced team. It was what I would call a perfect game."

[Urawa Reds Official Media (URD:OM)]