In our most recent ACL Elite 2026/27 opening match against Cong An Hanoi, we were able to start with a win at home. We were a bit cautious at the beginning, but Takashi Usami scored a superb goal, which shifted the team into a higher gear, and we were able to create many scenes that reminded us of the special season in terms of high pressing, quick transitions, and hard work. There were also many instances where we won the ball back in duels, and I think each player got that feeling of "Ah, this is it."

However, there are still areas that can be improved. We still have challenges such as connecting cleared balls properly, reliably recovering second balls, finishing chances, and using the width of the field effectively. Even if we consider true "overall strength" to be being able to play the same style of football regardless of who is on the field, I believe there is still room for improvement both individually, including myself, and as a team.
However, it's good that the players were expressing such sentiments amongst themselves immediately after the match, and above all, it's positive that we can stop the winning streak in official matches and return to the J1 League. In fact, in order to truly use the Hanoi match as a catalyst for the team to step up their game, we absolutely want to win this week's home match against Vissel Kobe.

Kobe is an opponent we absolutely cannot afford to lose to if we want to move up in the standings.
They have a lot of talent, so it's sure to be a tough match, and there are a lot of things we need to be careful about. One of the characteristics of Kobe this season is that they score a lot of goals from long throws, but I think the key is how to prevent Sako-kun (Yuya OSAKO), who is always up front and in a position to avoid being marked by the center backs and create flow in the attack, from doing his job. Sako-kun is a player who is good at scoring goals, but even more than that, he is very good at receiving the ball in the right position and helping his teammates to create 2-on-1 situations. I feel that this also helps to bring out the best in the other attackers. However, we don't need to do anything special just because it's Kobe, and in order to prevent Kobe from showing their strengths, I think we should focus on what we need to do and concentrate on taking the initiative and controlling the game.