The J-Talk Podcast

Happy new season to all our listeners!

JTET is back for 2026/27, and our first episode features a long-awaited return for pod favorite Sean Carroll.

After Jon briefly rounds up all of the results from J2 Round 1, he joined Sean for an in-depth chat about the main talking points from the weekend action.

There's also the usual Most Bravo Player segment, and a preview of the upcoming Round 2 games (the boys ended up focusing on the 'Kokuritsu Day' match between Yokohama FC and Jubilo Iwata).

We hope everyone enjoys the pod!

Timestamps (Runtime 45 mins)

Start to 05:40 - Jon's solo review of Round 1

05:40 to Finish - Jon in conversation with Sean

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*Join the J-Talk Podcast Patreon here: https://patreon.com/jtalkpod

*Find our JLeague Chat Discord server here: https://discord.gg/UwN2ambAwg

*Follow JTET on Bluesky here: @jtalket.bsky.social

The new J1 season kicked off with a bang over the weekend, and Jonny and Ben were joined by Dan Orlowitz to chat about the record-breaking season opener at the National Stadium on Friday night between Yokohama F.Marinos and Kashima (to 19:30), and Machida's dominant away win over 10 man FC Tokyo on Saturday night (from 19:30 to 31:30).

In Part 2 we begin our review of the other eight games with Gamba Osaka's thrilling win over 10 man Urawa, and move through the rest of the results (from 31:30 to 1:13:40), before looking ahead to the quirky Matchday 2 fixture list (to 1:19:20).

Then, in a special Part 3, Dan brings us his recollections of working at the 2026 World Cup in his home city of Philadelphia (from 1:19:20 to end).

Just in time for the start of the new J.League season, the JTET team finish off their big J2 season preview by looking at the other 10 clubs who will be taking part in the second tier in 2026/27.

James and Jon analyze 8 teams, and we are grateful to special guests Tom (Sapporo) and Leslie Mabon (Iwaki) for their contributions on their clubs.

Before the boys depart, they take a quick look at the opening weekend of J2 fixtures, and pick out the games that they are most excited about.

We hope everyone enjoys the show, and sticks with us for the season ahead!

Timestamps:

02:00 to 06:00 - Kofu

06:00 to 14:00 - Omiya

14:00 to 21:00 - Fujieda

21:00 to 31:40 - Iwata

31:40 to 37:30 - Sapporo (with special guest Tom)

37:30 to 56:00 - Iwaki (with special guest Leslie Mabon)

56:00 to 01:01:00 - Toyama

01:01:00 - 01:06:50 - Niigata

01:06:50 - 01:11:40 - Tokushima

01:11:40 - 01:20:15 - Imabari

01:20:15 - Finish - J2 Round 1 Preview

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*These are the questions that we asked Tom and Leslie to cover in their previews:

1) How would you sum up your club's performance in the 100 Year Vision League?

2) What have been the big transfers at your club (in and out) since the end of the 100 YVL?

3) How do you feel about your club's prospects for 2026/27 (head and heart)?

4) Is there anything else you'd like to mention ahead of the new season?

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*Join the J-Talk Podcast Patreon here: https://patreon.com/jtalkpod

*Find our JLeague Chat Discord server here: https://discord.gg/UwN2ambAwg

*Follow JTET on Bluesky here: @jtalket.bsky.social

With the new J.League season fast approaching, the JTET team are here to preview the upcoming J2 campaign for all 20 clubs.

In this episode (75 minutes), 10 teams come under the microscope (operated by James and Jon). However, we are also delighted to have Martin and Fin on board (to help us to preview Akita and Sendai respectively)!

Timestamps:

02:30 to 09:30 - Yokohama FC

09:30 to 13:40 - Shonan

13:40 to 20:50 - Tochigi City

20:50 to 25:30 - Hachinohe

25:30 to 31:00 - Yamagata

31:00 to 39:00 - Akita (special guest correspondent Martin)

39:00 to 50:00 - Sendai (special guest correspondent Fin)

40:00 to 59:40 - Miyazaki

59:40 to 01:05:00 - Tosu

01:05:00 to Finish - Oita

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*These are the questions that we asked Martin and Fin to cover in their previews:

1) How would you sum up your club's performance in the 100 Year Vision League?

2) What have been the big transfers at your club (in and out) since the end of the 100 YVL?

3) How do you feel about your club's prospects for 2026/27 (head and heart)?

4) Is there anything else you'd like to mention ahead of the new season?

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*Join the J-Talk Podcast Patreon here: https://patreon.com/jtalkpod

*Find our JLeague Chat Discord server here: https://discord.gg/UwN2ambAwg

*Follow JTET on Bluesky here: @jtalket.bsky.social

Jonny and Ben were joined by Fukuoka correspondent Daniel Hawkins to kick off our final batch of top flight previews, with Avispa hopefully set for a rise up the table after 'winning the window' (to 30:00).

Then we assess the remaining five clubs: Nagasaki (30:00 to 42:00), Kobe (42:00 to 52:45), Cerezo Osaka (52:45 to 1:04:30), Gamba Osaka (1:04:30 to 1:16:55) and Kyoto (1:16:55 to 1:30:25), before Jonny wraps up our preseason coverage with his picks for the five most significant transfers of the summer, and we then wrap up the episode with a game-by-game look at the opening weekend of the new J1 season.

With the J.League's first-ever August-May season about to kick off, the JTET team are on hand with some trusty preview content to help you with your preparations.

In this 35-minute episode, Jon and James take a look at the upcoming J3 season. Time prevents us from talking about all 20 clubs, but James talks Jon through a curated list of teams to watch (for good and bad) in the new campaign.

We hope everyone enjoys the show - stay tuned for J2 preview content this week!

*Join the J-Talk Podcast Patreon here: https://patreon.com/jtalkpod

*Find our JLeague Chat Discord server here: https://discord.gg/UwN2ambAwg

*Follow JTET on Bluesky here: @jtalket.bsky.social

After an extended intro to this episode in which Jonny and Ben discuss the news that Go Oiwa will take over from Hajime Moriyasu after the Asian Cup, we were thrilled to welcome Hiroshima correspondent Robert Turner back to the pod to chat about Sanfrecce's big swings in the transfer market, and how they might fare under Bartosch Gaul (to 34:00).

Then in Part 2 we move from west back east, previewing Okayama (34:05 to 45:20), Nagoya (45:20 to 55:50), FC Tokyo (55:50 to 1:08:45), Tokyo Verdy (1:08:45 to 1:20:00), Chiba (1:20:00 to 1:31:05) and Urawa (1:31:05 to end), leaving us with six more clubs to preview next week ahead of the big Friday night kickoff.

We kick off our previews of the new J1 season with seven clubs, and Seamus Johnston joined Jonny and Ben to chat about the first cab off the rank, 2025 runners-up Kashiwa (to 30:57).

Then, with a ten minute time limit per club experiment in place, we stay in Kanto, and run the rule over defending champions Kashima (to 41:15) and their promoted Ibaraki chums Mito (to 50:55), before we switch our attentions to Machida (to 1:00:45) and the two remaining Kanagawa clubs - Kawasaki (to 1:09:15) and Yokohama F.Marinos (to 1:18:20) - rounding things off with a trip down the Tokaido Line and into Shizuoka to preview Shimizu.

After a week away Jonny and Ben are back as we begin to look forward to kickoff of the new J1 season. We start the episode with some World Cup chat, and reaction to the news that Hajime Moriyasu will stay on as Japan manager through the Asian Cup before departing (to 12:30), then we move on to discuss J1 managerial musical chairs, and the players who have left the J.League for pastures new ahead of the new campaign (to 36:35). We finish with thoughts on new kit hits and misses, and the league doing a better job of promoting themselves on the back of World Cup buzz.

Jon Steele and James Taylor reconvened for the second part of their HYVL review. In this episode, they each chose one outstanding goalkeeper, defender, midfielder, attacker, and manager from the four regional groups (Jon covered the East; James the West.)

Thank you for your support of the J-Talk Podcast and J-Talk: Extra Time.

*Join the J-Talk Podcast Patreon here: https://patreon.com/jtalkpod

*Find our JLeague Chat Discord server here: https://discord.gg/UwN2ambAwg

*Follow JTET on Bluesky here: @jtalket.bsky.social