On the 28th, the U-15 J-League selection held practice the day before the first match of the J-League International Series 2025 Academy Match against Liverpool U15. Coach Kawai Kenta said, “This isn't the end, so what's going forward is really important, so I'll keep an eye on what happens after that, 'I won, lost, played well, played badly', and I think this game will be a good opportunity in that sense.”
The second day of activity, the U-15 J-League selection began training with two touch passes divided into three vertical rows. After switching to one-touch pass, they connected the final line to the front line and launched an attack while also leaving the creativity of each player.
After that, they were divided into 10-10 and practiced in a game format. Coach Kawai stopped playing after seeing the timing, and while practicing set pieces, he checked his movements and connections. Finally, the game-style menu was held in a narrower range than the half court, and each player also practiced penalty kicks, finishing the training the day before. It was about an hour and a half training session.
Game-style practice too
Goalkeeper Oya Minato Ryo (Kashiwa U-15) recalled, “In the first day of practice, everyone had no idea what their names were, so communication was difficult,” and said, “Everyone communicated at dinner and after that, and they both remembered their names.” Thanks to this, he smiled and said, “Everyone was able to communicate well and we had a really good training for the match against Liverpool.”
Luxurious staff
Coach Kawai responded to an interview before practice, and said, “As with the J League, even in the world, players are now appearing in the top teams, 16 or 17, so I hope they can have that kind of awareness from the age of 15.” He then said, “I would rather than get results as a team, I would like them to identify what they can do,” and expressed his hopes, “They are currently U-15, but there are also representatives from higher ages, and of course there are representatives from the same age. I think our short-term goal is to get into that, so I hope it will be a good opportunity.”
Coach Kawai served as manager of Ehime FC U-18 in 2018, but in May of the same year he became the manager of the first team. From 2012 until last year, he led Sagan Tosu, and was the manager of the first team. In this situation, he was interested in the situation of the development age, and this story revolved around.
“The age range of professionals is declining. I was also a coach for the top teams of professionals, and I was very interested in seeing players of that age, and I wanted to experience what level the players of that age in Japan are at now and how they will grow from there. At that point, I was given this kind of job at a time.”
During the training on the 27th, the first day of the formation, Coach Kawai said, taking into account his own experiences, “When I looked back from a professional, I somehow managed to imagine how players like this will probably turn out like this.” “I feel like I've added something a little more thoughtful,” he said with enthusiasm, saying, “I want the players to play a game that is in a good environment and gives them good stimulation, and we need to grow. That's why we need to become someone who can inspire us, and I would like to make it that kind of activity.”
Challenge in two consecutive matches against Liverpool
(Interview and text by Kato Naoki)
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