The J-Talk Podcast

Episode 516 - J1 Matchday 8

After another terrific round of J1 action, Jonny and Ben were joined by Lewis White and Tom Pennington to get their thoughts on a Tokyo Derby that was worth the 16 year wait (to 36:55).

Then in Part 2 your co-hosts run through the other nine games from Matchday 8, beginning with Kobe knocking Machida off the summit, and Cerezo Osaka taking over at the top (to 53:10. Then its 1-0 wins for Kashima, Kashiwa and Nagoya (to 1:04:45), before Jonny recounts his day out at the Panasonic Stadium on Sunday, where Gamba Osaka downed Tosu at the death (to 1:17:20). We finish our J1 wrap with the other three draws from the round, before looing ahead to upcoming midweek and weekend action.

JTET - J2 Round 8 & Round 9 Review

After a packed week of J2 action, Jon and James are back to have their say on the big talking points from two full rounds of second-tier thrills and spills.

In Part 1, the focus is on last Wednesday's midweek fixtures. The boys discuss a tight (ahem) home victory for JEF Chiba against a hapless Tochigi (Start to 07:00), then move on to cover Nagasaki's impressive win at home to inconsistent Yamagata (07:00 to 11:55).

In Part 2, attention turns to Sunday's Round 9 action. James and Jon shared their views on Nagasaki's exciting 4-3 win at Kumamoto (11:55 to 20:50), as well as a pulsating draw between Ehime and Okayama at Ningineer Stadium (20:50 to 28:20). At listener/contributor Martin Spivey's request, the boys also took a few moments to talk about Akita's freewheeling victory away at Oita (28:20 to 32:30).

In Part 3, the JJs handed out their 'Most Bravo Player' gong for this week (32:20 to 36:45), and finished things off by looking ahead to this weekend's Round 10 slate of matches (36:45 to Finish).

We hope everyone enjoys the show!

*To get some pass notes on any of the games that we don't discuss on the pod, feel free to join our dedicated JTET/JTSC Discord server here: https://discord.gg/pngqMZ7hwD

JTET - JTSC Special (J3 Round 8 Review)

Due to some scheduling conflicts for Jon and James, the J2 segment of JTSC is coming slightly later than usual this week - but not to worry, as Mike 'The Magic' Innes is here to bring you up to speed on all the latest news from J3.

In this episode, Mike looks back at a weekend slate of J3 matches that produced stacks of goals (not least at the Go Go Curry Stadium in Kanazawa).

There are also two full rounds of J3 games coming up in the next 5 days, with Round 9 taking place on Wednesday night, & Round 10 fast approaching at the weekend. As always, Mike has you covered with a preview of both rounds at the end of this mini-pod.

Enjoy the show, and stay tuned for some J2 content later this week!

Episode 515 - J1 Matchdays 6 & 7 with Sean Carroll

Sean Carroll made a very welcome return to the pod to discuss the last two rounds of J1 action, as well as his recent trip down to Kyushu, and his book: Between the Lines.

We began our top flight round-up with the three teams that won twice in Matchdays 6 & 7 - Hiroshima, Iwata and FC Tokyo - before moving on to the two that notched first wins in the past week - Sapporo and Tokyo Verdy (to 1:02:23).

Then we run through the rest of the games from Sunday, answering some questions from patrons along the way, before finishing with a look ahead to Japan's U23 Asian Cup campaign, and the weekend's Matchday 8.

J-Talk: Extra Time – J2 & J3 Round 7

Jon Steele, James Taylor and Mike Innes are back with another action packed JTET. In part 1, Jon and James run through J2 round 7 fixtures, stopping to talk in detail about Yokohama FC v Sendai (start to 09:10), Kofu v Yamaguchi (to 15:30), and Tokushima v Gunma, along with all the off-field news from the latter two clubs (to 30:35). Then the guys pick their Most Bravo Player (to 33:30), before previewing rounds 8 and 9 (to 41:25). After that, it’s time for Mike Innes and a full review of J3 round 7 in J-Talk: Short Corner (41:25 to end).

Episode 514 - J1 Matchday 5

J1 returned with a bang after the international break, and in this episode we review all 10 top flight games, beginning with Kobe's rout of Sapporo, whose start to the season is bordering on a crisis.

Next, Nagoya's horror start might be a thing of the past after they came from behind to beat Yokohama F.Marinos, before we discuss leaders Machida going about their winning ways at home against Tosu, and work our way through the other games.

We finish off the episode with a look at the big fixtures to come in Wednesday's Matchday 6, and Matchday 7 next weekend.

JTET - J2/J3 Rounds 5 & 6 Review

After a rather hectic 7 days of fixtures in J2 and J3, the JTET team are back to round up all of the key points (and some minor ones) from the most recent games.

First of all, James and Jon look back on some of the eye-catching games from last Wednesday in J2 (Round 5), chatting about Shimizu's late breakthrough at JEF Chiba (Start to 07:50), and early leaders Okayama's fairly comfortable home win over Gunma (07:50 to 13:40).

After a quick break, the boys do similar for Sunday's Round 6 slate, focusing on Yokohama FC's victory at nine-man Kagoshima in pouring rain (13:40 to 23:45), and Tochigi's smash-and-grab home success against Oita (23:45 to 30:00).

James and Jon then reveal their Most Bravo Players of the week, taking into account both rounds of action (30:00 to 35:30), and talk about some of the interesting transfer news of the week (35:30 to 42:20). The sad, tired, middle-aged men had just enough left in the tank to preview the upcoming Round 7 fixtures before slumping into a fitful, Pedro Manzi-haunted sleep (42:20 to 49:00).

With J2 fully covered, Mike 'The Magic' Innes takes over for 'J-Talk: Short Corner' (49:00 to Finish), with all of the key Round 5 and Round 6 action from J3 forensically analyzed.

Thanks for all the support for the pod, and we hope you enjoy the episode!

Episode 513 - Japan & J1 with Scott McIntyre

It was our great pleasure to welcome Scott McIntyre back for his long-awaited return to the pod, to chat about Japan's 1-0 win over North Korea last Thursday night and the ramifications of the cancelled rematch, scheduled for Tuesday night in Pyongyang (to 21:05).

In Part 2 we discuss some of the teams that have disappointed and surprised through the first four rounds of the new J1 season, before we preview the weekend's Matchday 5.

JTET - Levain Cup Round 1 / J2 Round 4 / J3 Round 4 Review

With a full midweek round of J2 and J3 fixtures haring into view, the JTET team are back (just in time) with a look back at the latest games and talking points from the lower tiers of the J.League.

In this episode, James and Jon begin by talking about the J2-centric Levain Cup results from last Wednesday (Start to 07:15), a chastening night for the second-tier sides.

The boys then move on to discussing last weekend's J2 action (07:15 to 40:50), as well as making their regular 'Most Bravo Player (MBP)' selections (40:50 to 44:45).

There's just time for James and Jon to preview a busy few days in J2, with Wednesday's midweek games (Round 5) being followed by a full slate of fixtures in Round 6 on Sunday (44:50 to 55:15).

As ever, Mike 'The Magic' Innes brings up the rear with 'J-Talk: Short Corner' (55:15 to Finish), as he trains his forensic eye on Levain Cup (from a J3 perspective), and covers all the key action in J3.

Hope everyone enjoys the show!

Episode 512 - J1 Matchday 4

Alan Gibson from JSoccer Magazine and JSoccer.com guests in the first part of this week's episode, as we review the fourth round of the season.

We begin with surprise leaders Machida, who won for the third straight game, away at Sapporo (to 8:05), before moving on to the game of the round on paper, Hiroshima's trip to Kobe, which finished goalless but still provided levels of intrigue (to 18:40). Then we round up a positive weekend for both halves of Osaka, as Cerezo and Gamba notched comfortable wins (to 40:25), before wrapping up Part 1 with events at the Sanga Stadium on Sunday, where Yokohama F.Marinos claimed victory in a wild and woolly game against Kyoto, and Alan gives us a sneak peak at whats coming in the next issue of JSoccer Magazine (to 55:20).

Then in Part 2 we celebrate first wins of the new season for Nagoya and FC Tokyo (to 1:11:30), and round up the other three games, including the absolutely mental 4-4 draw fought out between Shonan and Urawa (to 1:34:10), before finishing the episode with thoughts on the Japan National Team squad for the two qualifiers against North Korea.