J.League 2023 Matchday 3, Tactical Review: Avispa Fukuoka vs. Kashiwa Reysol
J.League 2023 Matchday 3, Tactical Review: Avispa Fukuoka vs. Kashiwa Reysol
Plus a small review of both teams so far this season!
Saturday, March 4th saw Avispa Fukuoka face off against Kashiwa Reysol at the Best Denki Stadium in Fukuoka. Avispa Fukuoka were looking to continue their good form after a close loss against Vissel Kobe and a dramatic late win against Cerezo in the first two matchdays while Kashiwa Reysol were looking for their first win after two consecutive 1-1 draws.
Let’s get started!
Avispa Fukuoka so far…
Matchday 1, vs. Vissel Kobe (Away): 0-1 Loss
This was a challenging team for Avispa to face as Vissel Kobe, without the Spanish star(s), have transformed to become more of a direct physical unit, especially with Yoshinori Muto and Yuya Osako being extremely experienced playing against tough opposition at the international level. They also added Mitsuki Saito to their meat-grinder of a midfield along side the likes of Leo Osaki and Hotaru Yamaguchi.
The move to a Back 3/5 let the Avispa Center Backs be more aggressive in challenging opponents receiving between the lines without worrying about space left behind.
I was really impressed by how quickly Konno and Yuzawa were able to gain an understanding of each other and they worked quite well combining down the Right side.
Matchday 2, vs. Cerezo Osaka (Home): 2-1 Win
Cerezo made use of the full width of the field and with Harakawa and Okuno conducting things, they forced Avispa to move a lot from side-to-side in their 5-4-1 block. While they were able to aim for the gaps between the Center Back and Wing Back, Cerezo still weren’t doing enough to truly bother Avispa with their crossing. Still, this had an effect in the 2nd Half when Avispa’s players tired and their lines couldn’t shift over to cover or challenge players in time so Cerezo players started being able to receive in the half-spaces with more frequency.
What proved to be more dangerous to Avispa was diagonal passes between the lines at the top of the box from the Cerezo Full Backs. Funaki and Maikuma both found Satoki Uejo in a pocket of space to receive and one situation resulted in Uejo’s beautifully taken goal in the 58th minute after a marvelous bit of opening his body up while receiving the ball.
Avispa also switched the field of play quite often through Nakamura and Mae especially to the Right side where Konno and Yuzawa again combined well to create threatening opportunities. Disappointingly, their end-product was poor as crosses or shots weren’t of the best quality to threaten Cerezo’s goal.
Kashiwa Reysol so far…
Matchday 1, vs. Gamba Osaka (Home): 1-1 Draw
Kashiwa Reysol stuck to their possession plan with a Back 4 throughout the game, using Tomoki Takamine as a single pivot and having their other midfielders find spaces to receive between the lines.
Reysol’s single pivot had a lot of ground to cover on the defensive side of things, especially if the players in front of him weren’t able to press and limit the opposition’s passing options. Against Gamba, Takamine looked a bit beleaguered trying to cover the entire width of the space between the defense and attack lines by himself.
Matchday 2, vs. FC Tokyo (Home): 1-1 Draw
Continued what they were doing against Gamba Osaka in the first game. Building up with 2 Center Backs and the goalkeeper gives Reysol more options further up the pitch and are able to attack in numbers.
Reysol’s pressing was far more successful in this game, although it can be said that FC Tokyo still haven’t improved at receiving pressure.
Reysol still look far more threatening in quick transitional situations with Matheus Savio and Mao Hosoya combining on the Right.
Avispa Fukuoka vs. Kashiwa Reysol
Starting Line-ups
Kazuya Konno missing due to a possible injury? In his stead came in Kanamori.
Tomoki Takamine was rotating out of the side as Keiya Shiihashi took the midfield spot next to Kota Yamada.
Unlike the line-up shown below, Reysol ended up playing in more of a 4-2-3-1 instead of a 4-3-3 with Keiya Sento playing as a #10 behind or adjacent to Mao Hosoya.
Here are the live-notes I took during the game:
1st Half
Kashiwa Reysol started off brightly as they were able to get players close to Hosoya and combine, while also being able to challenge Avispa midfielders for 2nd/loose balls. Reysol had a few chances early on through Mao Hosoya and Matheus Savio (4:50, 6:20). It was interesting to see Katayama on the Right with Kawaguchi on the Left where they’re usually the other way around. I suspect it may have been to create scenes like in the 6th minute with the Full Backs cutting inside and doing more play-making things rather than having them cross on the over/under-lap?
Unfortunately for Kashiwa (and Nelsinho), we didn’t see too much of this as Avispa Fukuoka slowly started to make their mark on the proceedings after the initial 15 or so minutes of the game.
While their formation has changed in the new season, Kashiwa’s pressing scheme from up top is still similar from previous seasons with the two players up top (whether 2 strikers or 1 striker + a #10) directing the opponent back line to wide areas and then cutting off the passing lanes to switch sides. While Avispa had their wide attackers dropping into the half-spaces, this was fairly predictable from Reysol’s point of view and they didn’t have a whole lot of trouble cutting these passes out. On the other hand, this did leave Reysol open to long balls with Lukian constantly making runs between the Reysol Full Back and Center Back.
Hiroyuki Mae would attempt to make runs down the wing in support to create numerical advantages out wide but like in 4:50, there was risk involved in this because it would leave Yosuke Ideguchi all by himself in the center of midfield if Reysol were able to transition quickly.
It was a big battle of attrition in midfield as both sides were well prepared to fight for the ball physically in the middle 3rd of the field. Reysol’s manager Nelsinho trusted in Keiya Shiihashi and Kota Yamada to go toe-to-toe with Ideguchi and Mae in midfield so as to let Keiya Sento play further forward to support Hosoya against the Avispa Center Backs.
As has been the norm this season, Avispa Fukuoka defended in their 5-4-1 mid-block. Lukian and the wide attackers worked hard to limit the Reysol Center Back’s passing options while not chasing them too far back towards Reysol’s goal unless for particular pressing triggers like a back pass or a poor touch. The forwards did the work to funnel Kashiwa’s passes to between the gaps in Avispa’s midfield.
It was then down to the Avispa defenders to close down the Reysol receivers in the half-spaces to win the ball whether via out-muscling the opponent or intercepting the pass outright. In this way Avispa Fukuoka were able to recover the ball in the middle 3rd of halfway line area and then quickly counter.
With Avispa starting to win more of the 2nd/loose balls as the game progressed, this allowed them to keep the ball in Reysol’s half a lot more but without anyway to dislodge Reysol’s defenders away from the box, they struggled to create meaningful chances and were left with simply crossing it in… (9:50, 34:50, 47:26, etc.)
When Avispa were able to break quickly the attackers didn’t have the skills to dribble past Reysol’s remaining defenders 1v1 and then were forced keep the ball and wait for support to arrive, which also meant Reysol were able to get players back to shore up the numbers inside the box as well.
On the other hand like in the 32nd minute, this patience allowed Douglas Grolli to move all the way up to the Right Wing to join the attack. Although this wasn’t a regular occurrence it was yet another attempt by Avispa to create ways to add more numbers into the opposition box (as another attacker/midfielder was then free to go inside). The wider Center Backs in a Back 3 joining the attack like this reminds me a lot of Shonan Bellmare actually…
While Avispa couldn’t really connect play from the back, what they could rely on was their long balls into the opposition half. Reysol were forced to make clearances rather than settle the ball and maintain possession from these long balls which simply let Avispa have multiple opportunities to challenge them to duels a lot, coming out on top more often than not.
While the front line hassled and harried, Yosuke Ideguchi and Hiroyuki Mae were sweeping up behind them as the duo were very active in collecting loose balls and transitioning Avispa back into attack with quick touches and crisp passes to keep the play in Kashiwa Reysol’s half.
But then as the 1st Half drew to a close…
** Sigh **
2nd Half
In the 2nd Half, Avispa’s long balls started being more effective, with Reysol unable to disrupt the Center Backs as the 4-4-2 press wasn’t quick enough to shift over and cover the wider CBs as they received the ball compared to similar situations in the 1st Half. This led to lots of unproductive labor for Hosoya on the defensive side of things, which was a problem last season and is one of the reasons why Kashiwa Reysol transformed themselves to become more of a possession-oriented team but they reverted to their old ways here to their detriment…
With the ball bouncing around deeper in Reysol’s half and Avispa being more aggressive in pressing the back line, this forced Savio and other players to drop deeper to receive the ball. However, this only proved to isolate Hosoya and made it more comfortable for Avispa to win long balls as well as collect 2nd/loose balls as there were fewer Reysol players further forward to contest them due to the fact that Reysol’s lines were stretched vertically. However, like in the 1st Half, Avispa weren’t actually creating a whole lot from any of these favorable situations even though it was clear they were trying to get more players into the box compared to the 1st Half.
Unlike in the 1st Half, instead of trying to carefully play through Avispa Fukuoka’s lines, Kashiwa Reysol took the the easy way out by playing it long behind Avispa’s defense but with a back 5 there was always a spare man available for Avispa and their midfield also tracked back quickly to help.
Reysol’s midfield starting out so far deep to help defend or to participate in building up like this meant that they couldn’t push up in time to support Hosoya in attack when they did go long. Since Reysol don’t play with a Back 3/5 anymore, it also meant at least one of their Full Backs had to stay back a lot more than in previous years to help prepare for counterattacks and not leave the Center Backs by themselves (rest defense). Kashiwa Reysol simply weren’t able to create time to maintain possession around the box, and bring more of their players into the final 3rd to devise ways of creating quality chances.
In the end, the game was decided in the 86th minute by a mistake from Kashiwa’s goalkeeper Sasaki, who admittedly had been fine sweeping behind Reysol’s high line up to that point. Lukian didn’t give up on the long ball and kept a very clear head as he feigned searching for options centrally in the box before coolly slotting into the net between Sasaki’s legs. This proved the difference between the two teams in an otherwise drab affair.
Summary
Avispa Fukuoka
Aside from a few early scares, Avispa Fukuoka were relatively comfortable defending. Kashiwa never really exposed them to the kind of movement in the final 3rd to pull their defenders out of the box like Kawasaki Frontale or Marinos are able to do so Avispa were able to suppress any incursions into their box with ease.
For long balls or through balls behind the defense, Avispa were able to mitigate a lot of the dangers from these due to their very good control of their defensive lines which resulted them being able to gain offside calls in their favor. It’s not always appropriate to single out any particular person, especially in a team effort like Avispa’s back line but I thought Douglas Grolli had an excellent game.
Avispa’s more permanent (at least so far) switch to a 5-4-1 has been alright so far. They are able to press and win the ball high up by dispossessing opponent players trying to receive the ball from their back line or simply intercepting those passes themselves as the front-line works to manipulate opponents to build-up toward easily predictable areas.
What I really like about Hiroyuki Mae is that he’s always thinking ahead and he doesn’t take too many touches. He’s extremely quick from receiving the ball to his next actions as he attempts to switch the ball to the weaker side or play an incisive pass or through ball further forward. His positioning and aggression to pick up 2nd/loose balls allows him to be the ignition for Avispa’s transitional moments.
A lot of Avispa’s possession in the final 3rd seems to be about creating time to get the Wing Backs and other attackers/midfielders involved, then making sure they have numbers in the box before attempting to cross it in. However, without the likes of John Mary or Juanma Delgado, Avispa seem to lack that physical aerial punch in the box and the idea to simply make up for it in numbers isn’t always effective.
They will want to figure out how to be more effect from the short counterattacks they produce and actually be able to get shots from those situations as they get stuck standing confused outside the box far too often. Without Kazuya Konno, they didn’t really have anybody with the dribbling skills to take players on 1v1 to get into the box quickly. I don’t imagine manager Shigetoshi Hasebe will drastically change things though as they can simply continue to rely on their defense to keep the score down so they don’t have to worry too much about having to score lots of goals themselves. Avispa will hope new signings like Kazuya Konno, Ryoga Sato, Kamekawa, among others can bring out the best from Lukian and Yamagishi, if not get involved among the goals themselves.
Kashiwa Reysol
Even when Reysol were able to get it past Avispa’s first two lines of defense, they still had to contend with their Back 5, as well as the players from midfield working hard to quickly track back. As a result, Reysol still look far more dangerous when they are able to play it quickly through Matheus Savio and Mao Hosoya on the Right and they can squeeze out decent chances in games purely on their excellent quality. I’m disappointed that Kashiwa didn’t really show the willingness to play with the ball that they’ve shown since the beginning of the season and they finished the game pretty poorly just trying to play it long or making panicked clearances. If Reysol played a lot like how Cerezo played against Avispa or even just how they themselves played in the first 2 games of the season (like I wrote up a bit in the previous section), they would’ve been much better. Stretch the field horizontally, make Avispa tire by shifting from side-to-side, exploit the gaps between the Center Back and Wing Back, etc…
With only one team getting relegated at the end of the season, this is the perfect time for Reysol to re-invent themselves but it hasn’t been smooth sailing so far. Hopefully with enough time and willingness to persevere with this possession style, despite the challenges (especially without too much of a threat of relegation), can push Kashiwa to improve in the near future. Kota Yamada went off injured which is a bit of a worry for Reysol as he’s been good for them so far, on the flip side having Diego return from injury (soon?) will help them play out the back better. Not sure why Tomoki Takamine was rested for this one and only came on late as they really could’ve used his passing to figure out ways to evade Avispa’s pressing from the start but he had been ran ragged in the past few games so maybe it was just fatigue.
Avispa Fukuoka are up against Kashima Antlers in Matchday 4 while Kashiwa Reysol play at home against Nagoya Grampus.
Thanks for reading!