I think the players really did a great job getting the three points at home. We had two home games against Niigata and Matsumoto, and I told the players that these two games were very important in terms of predicting the first stage, and of course, both games were difficult, but I think the fact that we were able to get three points each is the result of the players really fighting hard until the end, and as for the league, we only had these two games during Golden Week, so I'm glad that we were able to give our supporters a win at home.
If we had scored the second goal, I think we could have ended the game in an easier way today, but we couldn't score any additional points. That gave Matsumoto a ray of hope until the end, and I felt that they kept their motivation up and played a typical Yamaga attack until the end. Once, they broke through to the back and created a dangerous scene if Higashi hadn't stopped it. After all, Yamaga is a team that really believes in their own football and fights for 90 minutes, and that's how they accumulate points. I told the players that they would play that kind of game for 90 minutes in today's game, and I think the players fought without losing their concentration until the end. In the first half, they played a quiet football that was not typical of Yamaga, so I was wondering what was going on in that sense, but in the second half, they played a very aggressive football that was typical of Yamaga, so I told Sorimachi-san about that after the game (laughs). I'm really happy that we were able to win against Sorimachi-senpai (laughs).

Q: Konno was removed from the starting line-up and Ideguchi was put in instead. What was the reason for this and what do you think of Ideguchi?
A: The reason is that seven games is too much (laughs). "I would like to give him a little rest if possible," he is a very important player, so of course there are some things that can't be left out, but I think Yosuke did a really good job. 45 minutes plus 15 minutes, 60 minutes. Last time, he made his Expo debut in the Nabisco Cup match against Kashima last year, but compared to when he was completely blank and couldn't do anything, I think he played really strong after a year. It's not that Imachan has a physical condition problem, I just wanted to give those two a little rest, but Yamaga wouldn't let me rest Yatto as well.

Q: It was a similar game to the away game against Buriram, where we held on until the end, but I think the experience of fighting in the ACL is showing. How is Yonekura's injury?
A: As for the injury, the doctor, there are always 4-5 excellent doctors here, and according to his current opinion, the knee seems to be fine. The ankle may be a little damaged, but after the race, he was walking around saying "I'm fine," so we'll see how he is tomorrow. I thought he may have damaged his anterior cruciate ligament, but that's the opinion of the excellent doctors so far, so I think he's fine.

Q: You played against Yamaga two years ago, and you played against them again this time, but when you played against Matsumoto two years ago, you were troubled by their set plays. Since then, the members have changed, but the main points have not changed much, so what were you wary of when you played against them?
A: Yes. I think having Obina is a big factor for Matsumoto Yamaga right now. He is good at holding the ball, and being the starting point, I think he has expanded the width of the team.
It was a shame that Kiyama wasn't in the defensive midfield today, and I think we would have played more aggressive football if he had been there. In that sense, I think we were a little lucky, but the good thing about Yamaga is that they never change, which is great. I'm not sure how to put it, but I told the players that we would "stick to our own style of football" and we can finish the opponent off in one shot or hit a weak spot, so while many teams would give up if they missed the target 19 times out of 20, Yamaga continues to do that and is able to take advantage of that one shot to get the points, so I don't think that aspect has changed at all from two years ago, and I think that this aspect has become even more refined.

Q: Usami has scored goals in six consecutive games. He has played in tough conditions with a tough schedule, so what is your assessment of him?
A: I think he's doing a really good job. Today was a difficult game, but Takashi's goal really turned the tide, and I think scoring goals is the most difficult job in soccer, so the fact that he's been doing that for six games in a row shows that he's doing a great job as a FW.