Ange Postecoglou’s J-League team Yokohama F Marinos has made a winning start to its 2019 J-League campaign, its second under the former Socceroo’s boss.
Marinos has won its two opening league games of the season, 3-2 away to Gamba Osaka and 2-1 at home to Vegalta Sendal, and sits in second place on the table.
It was last season’s 8-2 win against Vegalta Sendal when the Yokohama’s attacking style under Postecoglou, turned heads in the J-League.
Despite that remarkable result, last season was a mixed one for Yokohama in Postecoglou’s first year in charge. The team managed to reach the Levain Cup final which it lost. In the league, its season tally of 56 goals was the second highest but it also conceded the third most goals, eventually finishing 12th just above the relegation-promotion play-offs.
This season, the coach is aiming for more consistent results. Speaking to the Japanese media on the eve of the new season, Postecoglou said: “Wherever I’ve been the first year is always challenging because we’re turning things upside down. This year we’ve got a bigger squad of players who can play our kind of football, and hopefully with that we get more consistency.
“Last year our best was very good and our worst was terrible, and now we’re bridging that gap to be more consistent and make our best even better.”
“I don’t look at it as a defensive problem; a lot of the time we gave up goals after butchering 10 chances we had (on the attack).
“It’s not about focusing on one part of the field, it’s about progressing what we’re doing as a whole. The challenge this year is to show we’ve taken that to another level.”
“Last year our best was very good and our worst was terrible” – Ange Postecoglou
He’s made a handful of additions to the squad including two Brazilian forwards and a Thai defender.
Edigar Junio and Marcos Junior are the two Brazilian forwards, whilst experienced Thai international defender Theerathon Bunmathan also joins.
This season could be a crucial one in the club coaching career of the former Socceroos boss. If he can coach the Marinos to a successful year with silverware, it could open up the door to a move to one of the stronger European Leagues, under the aegis of the City Football Group, which holds a minority stake in the Marinos as well as a majority stake in Manchester City.
Later in the year, the City Football Group executives will have a good chance to review Postecoglou’s achievements in Japan when Manchester City visit Yokohama to play a friendly against the Marinos on 27 July.