【J League Match Report 2021】 NAGOYA GRAMPUS vs HOKKAIDO CONSADOLE SAPPORO
J League 06/03/2021 NAGOYA GRAMPUS vs HOKKAIDO CONSADOLE SAPPORO
The game was very exciting as I thought. HOKKAIDO CONSADOLE SAPPORO which scored 8 goals in last two games had no goals against NAGOYA GRAMPUS which has the best defenders in the league. But CONSADOLE kept pressure NAGOYA in the game. They threatened NAGOYA’s goal over and over.
Last Wednesday, 7 players of CONSADOLE stayed at the space between AVISPA FUKUOKA’s Defenders and Midfielders and delivered the ball behind FUKUOKA defenders. I’ve never seen such a thing happened in J1 league but they did. So I was interested if they did the same thing against NAGOYA.
Actually 4 players always stayed at the line of NAGOYA defenders and delivered the ball behind defenders or to Anderson Lopes. But most of their chances were created by Tsuyoshi OGASHIWA and Takuro KANEKO, they took on defenders and tried to dribble a ball past defenders and created the chance from side area. Their number of sprints were 20 times to OGASHIWA, and 17 times to KANEKO. Considering other players’ sprints were less than 13 times, they always reacted and chased to get the ball.
But NAGOYA defenders handled with those attacks cleverly. Shinosuke NAKATANI and Yuichi MARUYAMA headed the high ball delivered from CONSADOLE defenders and INAGAKI always cared about the vital space which CONSADOLE used a lot last 2 games. And Takuji YONEMOTO and attacking players always gave the pressure to CONSADOLE players who possessed the ball.
Especially Yutaka YOSHIDA performed well in the first half, he didn’t give any chances to KANEKO who scored 2 goals against YOKOHAMA FC. And MARUYAMA stopped OGASHIWA who tried to go inside the central space with dribble. Even if those defenders failed to stop CONSADOLE attacks, LANGERAK denied all of them with incredible saves.
Naoki MAEDA and Mateus dos Santos Castro took on defenders and dribbled past defenders and made several chances. But NAGOYA didn’t have the player who controlled the game. Actually when Gabriel XAVIER had the ball, there was a possibility to create chances. But NAGOYA didn’t make kind of situation. It also means that they needed a striker who could act as the focal point of the majority of attacking play.
the Most Valuable Player in the First Half Yuichi MARUYAMA
MARUYAMA contributed the team with his aerial ability, strength, tackling, and brought composure to defenders. He anticipated a threat from CONSADOLE and restricted the offensive play of his opponents through his positioning and marking.
MARUYAMA really excels in relying on his experience, tactical ability, positioning and timing to win the ball.
In the first half, they delivered the ball from defenders to the striker, but they used short passes in the second half, and their threat looked bigger than 1st half. The key player for CONSADOLE in the second half was Yoshiaki KOMAI. He covered wide range of spaces in defense. And in attacking situation, he sometimes dribbled the ball into the central area. Then Thai Messi, Chanathip Songkrasin who rarely touched the ball in the first half had the space to dribble. KOMAI and CHANATHIP gave NAGOYA big threat because CONSADOLE has a free kick specialist Akito FUKUMORI.
Last year, MASSIMO didn’t use substitutions but he made a move before CONSADOLE did. He sent Yoichiro KAKITANI and Yuki SOMA to create the chances. And he usually let YONEMOTO run up to YONEMOTO’s limit. But in this game, he gave the chance to Kazuki NAGASAWA from 52 mins. In addition, from 60 mins, he made NARUSE who didn’t perform well compared with usual ( his injury in the first half could affect on his perform) out. Kazuya MIYAHARA came on the pitch instead of him.
Those change strategy worked out. Combination between MIYAHARA and MAEDA created the chance and SOMA scored the goal. CONSADOLE marked them tightly but it was impossible to stop NAGOYA’s combination.
In result, the game finished 1-0 to NAGOYA. NAGOYA defenders didn’t make CONSADOLE score the goals though CONSADOLE scored 8 goals in last two games, it was awesome. They proved that NAGOYA’s defenders would be the best in the league again this year.
But speaking of their attacking tactics, they didn’t create enough chances. Their wingers took down CONSADOLE defenders and delivered crosses but only 1 or 2 players waited for them. They will need more players to score the goal when they face on defensive teams. I expect their creative attacks to win the league because I know NAGOYA has enough players to do it.
4. Overview
Both NAGOYA and CONSADOLE showed high intensity, so the game was very exciting.
They used the long passing in the first half, but I think NAGOYA didn’t feel pressure because they had good defenders. Both central-backs, NAKATANI and MARUYAMA have high aerial ability. And their wing-backs are very fast. What’s more their goal keeper LANGERAK is a world class player.
But I think their short passing, dribble and set piece which CONSADOLE showed in the second half are threats to all J1 clubs. I think their biggest strong point is that they have a free kick specialist FUKUMORI.
They proved that their defenders would performed very well. KANEKO who scored two goals against YOKOHAMA FC didn’t take any shots. And I was very excited MASSIMO changed a lot of players right after the first half while the score was 0-0 because it was the biggest change from last season.
I thought KAKITANI would played as a striker but MATEUS did. KAKITANI was positioned as an attacking Midfielder. He showed his attractive talent but didn’t score the goal again. I wanted him to play near the goal. I believe that he could be the focal point for NAGOYA’s attack.
Hiroyuki ABE has been absent since the first game. NAGOYA definitely needs his skills to create more chances. I can’t wait for seeing his combination with KAKITANI, it must be more creative. I think many fans feel the same. I’m looking forward to seeing that he’s back.
