The J-Talk Podcast

Episode 471 - J1 Team of the (Half) Season

Its that time of year again, after a week's worth of polls, Jonny Nicol made a triumphant return to the pod to help us construct the J-Talk J1 Team of the (Half) Season.

We begin with a brief review of Japan's cruise over El Salvador (to 10:00), and a check on the Levain Cup quarter finalists (to 18:15), before discussing the managerial change at FC Tokyo (to 30:35) and the revival at Gamba Osaka plus some of the other first half of the season surprises (to 49:30).

Then we run through the poll results and pick our best XI through Matchday 17.

JTET - J2 Round 20 / J3 Round 13 Review

After another hectic J.League week (and a bit later than scheduled), a new JTET episode is turned loose on an unsuspecting and ill-prepared populace!

In Parts 1 and 2, James Taylor and Jon Steele take turns to review all of last weekend's J2 action (Round 20 of the season) - you'll hear James from 01:45 to 05:30 with 5 of the Round 20 matches, and Jon from 05:30 to 17:00 with the rest.

Then in Part 3, Jon sat down with special guest (and Omiya supporter) Steve Fryer (@ardija01talk on Twitter) for a deep dive into how the season has been going for the orange side of Saitama in 2023 (spoilers: not that well so far!). 

Jon and Steve talked all things Omiya from 17:15 to 49:00, then worked together to preview the upcoming weekend's J2 fixtures (Round 21) from 49:00 to 01:05:00.

In serious danger of J2 overkill, Part 4 sees the ever-reliable Mike 'The Magic' Innes switch things up with the 'J-Talk: Short Corner' mini-pod. 

Mike covers all of last weekend's J3 action (Round 13), and previews the upcoming Round 14, from 01:05:00 to the end of the show.

Thanks to everyone for the support, and your patience with the slow upload this week (real life got a bit too real for everyone this week)!

Episode 470 - J1 Matchday 17

The 2023 J1 season reached its halfway point on the weekend, and it was all change at the top, as defending champions Yokohama F.Marinos returned to the summit for the first time since Matchday 2 after they won an all-timer at home against Kashiwa, and long time leaders Kobe slipped to third after losing in ridiculous fashion at the death to Cerezo Osaka. Those games, plus Nagoya moving back up to second with their win over Fukuoka, lead off the episode (to 34:05).

Then we cover 1-0 home wins for Kawasaki and Kashima, 3-1 triumphs for Kyoto and Gamba Osaka, and the two draws to round out the podcast.

JTET - Emperor’s Cup Round 2 Review

After a hectic midweek of Emperor's Cup action, the JTET team are back for a special mini-pod to review the matches that had J2 and J3 participants involved.

In Part 1 (Start to 06:00), Jon Steele looks at a pair of ties that pitted a J2 side against JFL opposition (with contrasting fortunes), and a trio of all-J2 clashes.

In Part 2 (06:00 to 09:00), James Taylor has 5 more J2-on-J2 matches in review, including a 5-goal thriller for Kanazawa in their tie against high-flying Machida. 

James also runs you through all of this weekend's J2 fixtures (Round 20 of the season).

Part 3 (09:00 to Finish) is a J-Talk: Short Corner special, with Mike 'The Magic' Innes reporting on 8 fixtures that involved a J3 side on Wednesday night. 

Mike also has a full preview of this weekend's J3 slate (Round 13 of the season).

Hope everyone enjoys the show!

JTET - J2 Round 19 / J3 Round 12 Review

With one eye on this midweek's Emperor's Cup action, the JTET crew are back to run you through all of the important business from last weekend in J2 and J3.

In Part 1, James Taylor covers six of the J2 matches from Round 19 (Start to 05:35), while Jon Steele covers the remaining six games in Part 2 (05:35 to 12:50) - there's also a preview of all of the Emperor's Cup Round 2 matches that have a J2 element in this section (12:50 to 15:20).

After that, Mike 'The Magic' Innes has his regular J3 reportage in the 'J-Talk: Short Corner' segment (15:20 to Finish), covering all of the third-tier action from the weekend, and looking ahead to all of the midweek Emperor's Cup ties that have a J3 participant involved.

Hope everyone enjoys the stripped-down pod this week - we are aiming to put out a bonus Emperor's Cup review episode before the weekend as well!

Episode 469 - Kashiwa 4-5 Sapporo Lights Up J1 Matchday 16

We lead this episode with a modern day J.League classic under the lights at Hitachidai on Saturday night, when visiting Sapporo triumphed 5-4 over Kashiwa (to 16:20), before welcoming Sean Galbraith back to the pod to discuss Yokohama F.Marinos winning away at FC Tokyo earlier on Saturday (to 45:00) and Ange Postecoglou's move to Tottenham - will the Australian take any of his Celtic Japanese contingent with him to London, and what does the move mean for other Japanese players eyeing a move to Scotland (to 1:02:05)?

Finally in Part 3 we review the rest of the weekend's top flight action, and look ahead to the weekend when we'll wrap up the first half of the season.

JTET - J2 Round 18 / J3 Round 11 Review

After another bustling weekend of lower-league J-football action, the JTET crew are back to review all of the big talking points (and some of the minor ones).

In Part 1 (Start to 13:15), Jon Steele looks back at the recent Levain Cup games involving J2 representatives Iwata and Shimizu, and some of the J2 Round 18 action from last weekend.

In Part 2 (13:25 to 16:30), James Taylor is on the mic to cover all of the other J2 games from Round 18.

Then in Part 3, Jon and James chatted about some of the big games from the J2 matchday, including Kofu 5-1 Omiya (16:30 to 26:00), Tokushima v Machida (26:00 to 36:10), and Nagasaki v Iwata (36:10 to 47:00). 

The boys (who are actually grown men in their late thirties) then previewed all of the upcoming Round 19 action for this weekend (47:00 to 56:50).

Bringing up the rear, Part 4 sees Mike 'The Magic' Innes take control for the 'J-Talk: Short Corner' mini-pod (56:50 to Finish) - Mike has all of the news from a jam-packed Round 11 in J3, plus a look ahead to Round 12 coming up this weekend.

Thanks for all of the support for JTET and The J-Talk Podcast - enjoy the show!

Episode 468 - J1 Matchday 15 with Sean Carroll

We had the great pleasure of welcoming Sean Carroll back to the pod for his first appearance of the 2023 J1 season, to chat about the Japan squad for upcoming friendlies against El Salvador and Peru, all of the games from J1 Matchday 15, and some bigger picture topics in the top flight.

Our J1 review begins at the top this week with convincing wins for Kobe and Yokohama F.Marinos, and runs through to Gamba Osaka and Kawasaki perhaps turning a corner with victories as they look to push up the table.

J-Talk: Extra Time J2 Round 17 & J-Talk: Short Corner

The well-oiled machine that is the JTET team of James Taylor, Jon Steele and Mike Innes are back to review the latest action in J2 and the Emperor’s Cup. In part 1, James goes through 5 J2 games from round 17 (start to 05:40), and in part 2 Jon covers the other 6 (05:40 to 17:55). In part 3, James and Jon discussed 4 games in detail: Machida v Shimizu (17:55 to 26:45), Okayama v Gunma (26:45 to 34:00), Yamaguchi v Tokyo Verdy (34:00 to 41:15), and Mito v Kumamoto (41:15 to 51:00). They also took a quick look ahead to the round 18 fixtures (51:00 to 59:05). In J-Talk: Short Corner, Mike Innes takes a look at the fortunes of J3 teams in the first round of the Emperor’s Cup (59:05 to end).

Episode 467 - J1 Matchday 14

We begin our review of the weekend's top flight action at the foot of the table, as defending champions Yokohama F.Marinos (and the officials) piled on the agony for cellar dwellers Gamba Osaka, who now find themselves four points adrift at the bottom after a 2-0 home defeat (to 18:40), then its happier times for Yokohama FC, and Manny Padovan returns following the Fulie's third win in four, Saturday's 2-1 Kanagawa derby win over Kawasaki their first ever against Frontale (to 39:50).

Then we run through the other games from J1 Matchday 14, including Shonan's struggles and Sapporo's surge continuing against Cerezo and Kyoto respectively, and some more comedy own goals, before we finish with some picks from the coming round of games.