Head Coach: "Every game we play we want to get three points from, but today was at home and we really wanted to win, but it felt like one point was a little far away. However, they also had their chances. All I can say now is that the players really stuck to the game plan and carried it out with courage. The only thing we fell short of was not scoring and getting the three points. With the support of our fans, we really wanted to win at home, so that's a little disappointing. However, I think the fact that they played with great courage and boldness on both offense and defense against FC Tokyo, who have strong individual players up front, will help us in the future."

Q: "Although we didn't win, Yuki YAMAMOTO was deployed as a defensive midfielder, and he was the link in the build-up, and I think that the match showed the ideal lineup of Gamba right now, including the movement of the ball. Is that a positive thing for the next match?"
Head Coach Matsuda: "Yes, this was the first time I used him as a starter since I took over, but every time I watch him, I think he has a really good offensive sense or idea. In addition, he was really involved in stealing the ball defensively today, so in that sense, I think he did as expected, or even exceeded my expectations, and I get the impression that he has become an indispensable member of the team."

Q: Yesterday, during the interview before the match, you mentioned that you were wary of FC Tokyo's Brazilian player, and in order to prevent the ball from being passed to him, you went on the defensive from quite some time ago, even though you knew there would be a risk of there being spaces in the DF line. Was that something you had in mind when you started the match?
Head Coach Matsuda: "That's right. You have to work backwards from winning, and just waiting can tire you out. In order to win in situations like that, you need to recover the ball quickly, and if you can recover the ball quickly and well, you're closer to scoring. The goal is to score, and one way to do that is to build up the play well, but stealing the ball in a high position is another way, and our original plan was to use a variety of methods to score goals."

Q: "You led Pereira Leandro Marcos(LEANDRO PEREIRA) for quite a long time, and I think he was a real threat in front of the goal defensively. He hasn't shown that much up until now, so why do you think he was able to attack the ball so strongly in this game?"
Head Coach: "I think he's a player who is fully capable of that kind of play, and I think it was also because he was inspired by his spirit. I really didn't want to be replaced at the end, and I could see his desire to play until the very end, but I was also quite hesitant about whether to replace Anderson PATRIC Aguiar Oliveira or Leandro (Matheus Sousa PEREIRA). In that situation, I kept Pato (Anderson PATRIC Aguiar Oliveira) because of his height and his ability to play in both offensive and defensive set pieces, but if we had kept him, we might have scored a goal. However, we had a weapon in Musashi (Suzuki), a trump card-like player on the subs, so we bet on Musashi, and I think he showed a performance that would not have been surprising if he had played until the end."

Q: "I think the only thing we lacked was goals, but what do you think was lacking in terms of offense, Head Coach Matsuda?"
Head Coach: "When there's a scramble in front of the goal, it's a matter of luck, but you can't count on that. For us, we just need to work on things like Takao's final attempt to push in the loose ball, and his trapping was a little too big. As for DAWHAN's header, we wanted him to score, but in that case, whether it was (Fukuda) Yuya's cross or DAWHAN's header, we can't really ask him to do anything more than that. So, I think the only thing we can do is increase the number of times. So, in soccer, we can win 1-0 with fewer chances, but we can't count on that. After all, there are still some small mistakes in front of the goal, and there are some things that don't line up, so I think we just need to improve our accuracy in those areas, and that's what we need to pursue."