In the summer of 2019 Manchester City visited their ‘sister club’ in Japan and walked away with a 3-1 win against Yokohama F.Marinos but it was a chat between the two like-minded coaches afterwards that hints at just why the J.League club should be considered leading contenders to win this year’s AFC Champions League.
In the shadows of the stadium, long after fulltime, City boss Pep Guardiola told Ange Postecoglou that Yokohama played ‘exactly how he wants to’ and it was that free-flowing style of football that saw F.Marinos sweep to the league title six months later and set course for their first ACL crown.
They did so by playing the most exhilarating brand of football that the J.League has seen in its two decades plus of existence.
Tactically there were elements introduced that no other club was looking at: the defensive line was so high that it was often camped in the opposition half, the fullbacks tucked so deep inside that they were occupying space traditionally taken by central midfielders and the confidence and technical ability to play in small spaces so dominant that they simply overwhelmed other clubs.
Physically the club needed to be – and was – at a different level to maintain that intensity and aggression on and off the ball for 90 minutes, week in and week out.
Mentally, it was a group transformed: from an uncertain collection of local players used to following and perhaps accepting tactical transformations that limited them in previous years to a collection of artisans convinced that they were the best team in Japanese football.
This is a team built for success, a group at the height of its powers and one with those tactical, physical and mental qualities that, in my opinion, no other team in this ACL possesses.
Everywhere that Ange Postecoglou has worked, at both club and national level, the ‘project’ has taken time as playing groups were transformed into containing only those who could handle the unending demands that were placed upon them.
Almost everywhere that has led to an explosion in the second and third years of a team that is pushing things tactically and physically to their limits and completely overwhelming their opponents, regardless of size or stature.
(Photo: IG/yokohamaf.marinos)
This is football built to win trophies, the style of which is constructed to dominate their opposition and the condensed format of the ACL suits them to the ground.
Over 90 minutes, in a hectic schedule with matches every three or four days, this is the fertile ground on which Yokohama should flourish with their aggression off the ball, constant movement when on it and relentless attitude to keep playing forward they are a team in their own league compared to the rest of those in east Asia.
Amongst the J.League sides, most eyes might be on Kobe with their high-priced foreigners but it’s F.Marinos that are built to win the title.
A month prior to the team’s departure for Qatar out went Korean keeper Park Il-gyu due to visa caps in the tournament and in came young Japanese custodian Yohei Takaoka who will be charged with playing the sweeping role that Postecoglou demands of his keepers, in front of the fine central defensive pairing of Brazilian Tiago Martins (one of the best defenders in Asian football) and Japan national team contender Shinnosuke Hatanaka.
In what is a nominal 4-3-3 the fullback roles should be filled by Teerathon on the left and perhaps Ryuta Koike or Ken Matsubara on the right but it’s in midfield where the unheralded quality of the team shines: Takuya Kida and Takahiro Ogihara are the fulcrums in the middle of the pitch allowing the creativity of the J.League’s best player – Marcos Junior – and his more than capable sidekicks in fellow Brazilian Erik and Teruhito Nakagawa to shine.
With no Junior Santos due to the squad caps there’s no traditionally prolific number nine but that hasn’t stopped this side from plundering goals over the past three seasons since Postecoglou has been at the helm.
In a wild and unprecedented domestic season Yokohama saw their league crown slip into the hands of a worthy Kawasaki side but for the past several months the ACL has been the focus.
Almost 20 years ago, Yokohama won their first and only piece of continental silverware, defeating Persepolis in the final of the Asian Cup Winners Cup.
It’s the same Iranian club that lies in wait for the eastern finalist in this year’s ACL and there couldn’t be a better representative of the positivity of a football team built to dominate and overwhelm their opponents than F.Marinos.
It will take an almighty effort to stop them.
Photo: Asian Football Confederation
Listen to Episode 62 of The Asian Game podcast as Paul Williams and Michael Church discuss the resumption of the east zone of the AFC Champions League
