What kind of future will be born from the meeting of two people who burn with ambition and ambition? Completely familiar with the team, they step on the accelerator towards the opening. From here on, they will carve out new moments in blue and red. What kind of beginning will they show from now on? They were filled with hope for their new home more than anyone else. They kept talking happily, so the scheduled time passed in no time with just a few questions inserted. What did the two of them talk so loquaciously about?
──How do you feel looking back from joining until now?
Tsuyoshi OGASHIWA How is it?
Takahiro KO The image I had before joining was pretty much the same. Even when kicking the ball together, I feel that there are many strong players individually. In that sense, it was just as I imagined. At first, I was thinking about how to fit in with that and how to integrate what I have been doing at Albirex Niigata so far, so there were some doubts. But now I think I have adjusted.
Tsuyoshi OGASHIWA I had a little injury and was late to join the team practice, but there are various reasons and I haven't fully recovered yet. I want to practice together as soon as possible to get to know myself and the people around me. I've been watching the practice from the outside, but there are some things that I can't understand until I get in, so I still don't know the difference between the concrete image and Jan (Takahiro KO).
──They are the same grade. Do you remember when you first met?
Takashi I don't remember much about when we first met, but I think it was around middle school when we started playing against each other. You were on the Omiya Ardija U15 team back then, right?
Tsuyoshi OGASHIWA Itaita. When was the first time?
High Isn't it a game after all? Playing against Kawasaki Frontale U-15, I thought "there's an amazing forward", and it was Thales.
Tsuyoshi OGASHIWA You were also a forward (lol).
High Hahaha.
Tsuyoshi OGASHIWA I think I was a serious soccer player, but I was the type of player who would talk to people with a smile on my face.
High Hehehe (bitter smile). Well, I was a forward, so.
Tsuyoshi OGASHIWA No, no, position doesn't matter (lol).
High Just have to be a little strong and enter your own world. Forward.
Tsuyoshi OGASHIWA I remember a game. I was suddenly talked to by Yan. Probably at Kawasaki's top team training ground? I remember being talked to during a game on a natural grass field. But I don't know why we get along so well (laughs).
High Indeed, now that you mention it. Might be the closest.
Tsuyoshi OGASHIWA Is that right?
High It's correct (lol).
──Do you remember the conversation?
High I don't remember at all. I don't even remember when I started speaking properly.
Tsuyoshi OGASHIWA When he was at Ichifune (Ichifune High School)?
High In the Prince League Premier EAST, which should be playing against each other, I don't think we talked that much there. But there were a lot of players in Omiya who were pretty close, so I remember talking with Takeshi and everyone together.
Tsuyoshi When was it? When I turned pro through Meiji University, you weren't in Gamba Osaka anymore, right?
High isn't it?
Tsuyoshi OGASHIWA Last season, we met for the first time in a while in Niigata and talked a little. When I think about it, we don't have much connection, but it feels strangely familiar (bitter smile).
High No, it's mutual (bitter smile).
──How did you see each other as players?
High It's not that different. When I was in elementary school, Gou was on a team in Gunma...
Tsuyoshi OGASHIWA Do you know him since then?
Takashi Okunuki was a top player with a strong presence. From that time, there was a lot of talk about the two amazing players. They were fast and powerful dribblers, and I heard they went to Omiya. I remember hearing that they were commuting from Gunma.
Tsuyoshi OGASHIWA used to come here often.
Tall Just like this. Height, face, playing style.
Tsuyoshi OGASHIWA YAN is completely different, right?
High Changed. Because he was a forward.
Tsuyoshi OGASHIWA changed. Weren't you a physical forward?
High No, no, it's different. Peeling type (bitter smile).
Tsuyoshi OGASHIWA was a player who was good at taking off (bitter smile). But, he had a strong physicality since junior high school. For some reason, he was called "Yan" by those around him. At that time, I thought he was quite intense, but when I heard that he was playing as a defensive midfielder at Ichifune, I thought he would definitely become a player who crushes others, and that's exactly what happened (laughs).
──Certainly, why were you converted to a midfielder?
High After graduating, when I talked to the coach of (Ichifune), there were also team circumstances at the time, but it seems that he had decided to make me a midfielder since he saw me play.
Tsuyoshi OGASHIWA Hey.
Tall If you aim to be a professional, there are many foreign players in the forward position, and I don't have the speed or height like Tsuyoshi, so in order to survive, I had to have some defensive skills, ball retrieval, prediction, and experience playing in the front line. I heard that it was a decision to play as a defensive midfielder, which means being involved in both offense and defense. I started playing soccer in first grade of elementary school, and I was always a forward, but when I asked my father (Takamasu/former Chinese national team midfielder), he said, "I thought you would play in the back position since you started kicking the ball." So, it's amazing that my father was right. Maybe it's in my genes. I think about that more and more as I get older.
Tsuyoshi OGASHIWA When did that energetic character start?
High Naturally when I was playing as a defensive midfielder.
Tsuyoshi OGASHIWA Shifune was really annoying. There were also Hara (Kiki), Kaneko (Daiki), and Sugio (Daiki). There were a lot of players who became professionals normally. Why couldn't we win the championship?
High Maybe it's because I couldn't score. Everyone became a professional from a defensive midfielder (bitter smile).
In the new world where many talented players gather, they are expected to play a crucial role in leading the team. Both of them humbly say, "It's difficult to come in suddenly," but they are nothing less than perfect in terms of age and experience. They are already actively communicating with both veterans and young players. There is a high possibility that they will become indispensable members of the team before we know it.
──Returning the conversation to Tokyo. How is the atmosphere of the team off the pitch?
High In terms of age balance, I felt that there were many older players and young players. Including players who returned from a loan, I thought there were few players in the middle layer like us. That's the image we have entered. Also, since I was in Kawasaki, I had a slightly scary impression of Tokyo.
Tsuyoshi OGASHIWA I kind of understand what you want to say.
Takashi There was a scary image from the academy to the top. You know, right? When I told (Keigo) Higashi-kun about it, he said, "Everyone says that." But when I actually joined, everyone was nice (laughs).
Tsuyoshi The atmosphere of the team is bright, isn't it? There is no weird group, and everyone seems to be talking to each other. I'm not sure if each relationship is deep yet.
──There is also a player named Go HATANO who is bright and in the same grade.
High It's really noisy (bitter smile). But I think they're really creating a good atmosphere. If that guy wasn't here, it would be quiet. Well, when I'm a little tired, I think they should stop the music (bitter smile).
Tsuyoshi OGASHIWA That music, I can tell that Gou is getting closer (lol).
High It can be seen from quite far away, right?
Tsuyoshi OGASHIWA I remember meeting him properly in Australia. We were together in the J-League selection for first year junior high school students, and we have been good friends since then.
──In order to successfully bring a team together, I believe that mid-level players will play an important role.
High I just joined, so I think it's difficult to suddenly connect generations. However, as a midfielder, I want to work together with those around me and communicate off the pitch, so I want to talk to various people. But well, I'm being underestimated by younger players on my second day of joining (laughs). It's easier to get along with them and it was easy to join the team, so I think it's fine.
OGASHIWA I think it's difficult to suddenly become a leader as a new member, but even in my university days at Hokkaido Consadole Sapporo, I spoke normally regardless of age. So I hope to just be myself and naturally become a leader-like presence.
──The grade is one year above, but it's exciting to play on the same team with players of the same generation, including Keita ENDO.
Takashi I never thought we would end up together in Tokyo. We were playing against each other in different teams in the Kanto region, so it's amazing that we ended up on the same team.
Tsuyoshi OGASHIWA Definitely. It's a strange feeling to be on the same team as these members... But personally, I've had the opportunity to participate in training with Tokyo even during my university days, so there's no sense of discomfort.
Is the hotline opening expected?
High I want to take the ball, pass it, and have Tsuyoshi score.
Tsuyoshi OGASHIWA But I haven't done it yet, so I don't know what it is like (bitter smile).
Takashi Although, he is truly an amazing player. Since my time in Niigata, there has been an analysis that "Sapporo's performance is different depending on whether or not Tsuyoshi is there." I really think he is a wonderful player.
Tsuyoshi OGASHIWA Suddenly praising (laughs).
──I think last season was the first time we actually played against each other professionally, but what kind of analysis were you doing?
High Many injuries...
Tsuyoshi OGASHIWA Hey, that's not a video, definitely (bitter laugh).
High Niigata match was a comeback match, right? When we played in the first half of the season, it was a comeback match, but in the second half of the season, I was injured, so I didn't appear in the scouting footage for either match (bitter laugh).
Tsuyoshi OGASHIWA Yam's playing style has improved tremendously compared to his time at Ichifune.
High So high (bitter smile).
Tsuyoshi OGASHIWA You've gotten better (lol).
High But, it is often said. It started to be said after going to Niigata.
Tsuyoshi OGASHIWA wasn't the type to make passes and connect with others, right?
High When I was at G Osaka, I ran, crushed, and scored easily. Since I went to Niigata, I think I have become better myself, and I have really been told that by third parties.
Tsuyoshi OGASHIWA I thought it was really strange.
Here is the second part
Text by Kohei Baba (Freelance Writer)
