Q. "You changed the members, but what was your game plan? And Endo was left out of the team for the first time in a league match. Please tell us the reason behind that."

Head Coach Miyamoto: "As for the game plan, since it was an away game, we played a solid defense, and one of our game plans was to utilize the combination and speed of the two strikers. As for Endo, he is originally a defensive midfielder, or a central player, but he has been playing as an attacking midfielder recently, and I communicated that he felt he suited that role well, and told him that I would use him in the second half when the game was at a crucial point, or when we wanted to change the rhythm. We decided to start with two strikers today, so that's the option we chose."

Q. "Did you take into consideration the fact that you would be fighting consecutive games?"

Head Coach Miyamoto: "I didn't think about it because we were going to play consecutive games, but I made the decision after thinking about how to make the most of Endo, given the way Levain plays and the rhythm of the game not being quite right."

Q. "Please tell us your strategy against Sendai's four-back formation, and how it went and what was unexpected about it?"

Head Coach said, "I thought Sendai would come in with the same four-back formation they had changed to from Levain, but in the first half we kept kicking the ball too easily, which led to us being too conscious of the two-top attack, and I think that's what led to this. As for the opponent's attacks, we had to be careful of the speed of RAMON LOPES De Freitas and the height of Nagasawa."

Q. "It seemed like the two strikers were a little isolated, but did that mean that you strayed a little too far from your goal of maintaining a block and leaving the forwards in front?"

Head Coach: "Yes, I think we spent a lot of time in the first half in a high position. I communicated that to them at halftime, and we did confirm that we needed to be a bit more compact in defence."