On the 5th, after the Meiji Yasuda J1 League Round 33 match Cerezo Osaka [MATCH PARTNER J:COM], Genki Haraguchi spoke about his impressions of the match and the challenges ahead of the next match.

"The score is disappointing, but we managed to score more tries than in the previous two games. It wasn't a game where we gave up, kicked and lost, but rather we tried to make a try, so I think what we've been preparing for over the past week came out. Whether it was successful or not, I think the fact that we didn't give up and tried to play will help us in the next game."

(You were playing as an attacking midfielder in the first half and the ball didn't come to you very often.)
"I was asking for the ball, but I think I could have also chosen to pull back a little and drop to the side of the defensive midfielder. But I didn't want to isolate Thiago (Santana) and so I held back as much as possible."

(What about your role as attacking midfielder?)
"The manager said that we weren't doing well in the first 20 to 30 minutes of the last few games, so he asked us to be more of a starting point up front. But we weren't able to be much of a starting point. We were drawing the defense in with our build-up, and there was space in front of us, so if he had just put a chipped ball in there, it would have been completely different. We talked about it quite a bit in meetings, but it just didn't come out. We wanted to, but there were a lot of short passes, so I think it would have been better if he had put the ball in a little more roughly."

(What were the parts you were able to try?)
"We tried to improve our build-up. Until now, there have been many scenes where (Inoue) Reijin and Marius (Huibraten) have kicked the ball, so we tried to pass it around to a certain extent. We didn't have many successful scenes, but it's better than not doing it and giving the ball up. I don't think that passing the ball all the time is the right answer, and I think we can design our kicks, but we don't have any players who are good at post play, so we focused on build-up this week, and we were able to try that, and we were able to press forward, especially in the second half. We need to improve in the final third, but the manager has taken over and it's not possible to do everything in such a short time, so it's important to fix any points that concern us as we go along. But I don't think we need to wait until next year, because we need three points, so we need to improve right away."

(In the second half, you showed your strengths with dribbling, didn't you?)
"The opposition dropped back, and we were under pressure at times. We started to have more possession of the ball, the circling around them got better, and we made more moves behind the defense. We started to make more moves that we didn't have in the first half, and it would have been ideal if we could have started the second half like that, but our inability to do so in the first half is an issue. The set pieces were a pain.

As I've said many times before, we've been pretty much outplayed defensively in the last three games. That's why it's frustrating."

(You haven't scored a goal in three consecutive games. What does the team need at a time like this?)
"In the end, it all comes down to quality. In the end, it's all down to our own judgement and ability, so of course we need to design it a bit more, but with the break over the next two weeks, I hope we can practice how to break down the final third, and then I think things will change."

(Are there going to be any changes to the offensive approach?)
"That was the coach's idea, so it's not something we can do anything about, but one thing I can say is that it's important to be clear about what you want to do. If you're unsure, it won't work out no matter how good the players you have. I think it's good as long as there's a clear goal within the team. Today's loss is bitter, but we tried what the coach did and it worked to a certain extent, but we couldn't win, so we shouldn't think too negatively about it. We should make good use of these two weeks, show something new in the next game, and if we can get the three points, I think the scenery will change again."

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