The J-Talk Podcast

JTET - J3 Season Preview 2023 (Part A)

With the new J3 season kicking off on March 4th, it's time to start previewing the 20 clubs that will be battling it out in Japan's third tier in 2023. 

In a 'J-Talk: Short Corner' takeover, Mike 'The Magic' Innes will be running the rule over the division in a series of 4 preview mini-pods, taking a forensic look at 5 teams in each episode.

In Part A, it's Hachinohe, Iwate, Fukushima, YSCC, & Sagamihara that find themselves under the Mike-roscope (I'm bringing this pun back for increased validation that it's actually funny and clever). 

Hope everyone enjoys the episode - the remaining 3 parts are on the way!

Timecodes:

01:00 to 04:30 - Vanraure Hachinohe

04:30 to 07:50 - Iwate Grulla Morioka

07:50 to 11:20 - Fukushima United

11:20 to 14:40 - YSCC

14:40 to 18:00 - SC Sagamihara

Episode 450 - J1 Season Previews Part 3A - Fukuoka & Tosu

The J-Talk Podcast reaches 450 episodes with first-time guest Daniel Hawkins joining the pod to chat about Fukuoka, who suffered through a pretty severe case of second season syndrome in 2022, but could their rally out of danger at the end of last season auger well for this go-round, and how much of an impact will their new signings make (to 30:20)?

Then J1's great survivors, Tosu, are on the docket, fresh from defying more pessimistic expectations, and looking to maintain their midtable status. It happens season after season, so which youngsters will come to the fore in 2023 and thrive in second year manager Kenta Kawai's system?

JTET - J2 Season Preview 2023 (Part 2)

With the new J.League season fast approaching, Jon Steele and James Taylor (plus some very special guests) continue their preview of the second tier for 2023.

In this episode, the focus is on a quartet of clubs from the Tohoku region (Akita, Yamagata, Iwaki, and Sendai), as well as a triumvirate of teams from Shizuoka (Fujieda, Iwata, and Shimizu).

Special thanks to Martin Spivey (@bantam84) for his Akita preview, and to 'new signing' Fin (@VegaltaPotter) for his thoughts on Sendai!

Part 3 of the big JTET J2 Season Preview is coming soon!

Timecodes:

02:00 to 17:45 - Blaublitz Akita (from Martin Spivey)

18:50 to 26:45 - Montedio Yamagata

26:45 to 33:30 - Iwaki FC

33:40 to 41:20 - Vegalta Sendai (from Fin)

41:20 to 49:10 - Fujieda MYFC

49:10 to 55:40 - Jubilo Iwata

55:40 to 01:02:00 - Shimizu S-Pulse

Episode 449 - J1 Season Previews Part 2B - Sapporo, Niigata & Kashiwa

Three more clubs go under the microscope in Part 2B of our J1 Season Previews with guest Jonny Nicol (though he's basically part of the furniture these days).

In Part 1 (to 27:40) we chat about one of the league's great entertainers (both for good and bad reasons), Sapporo.

In Part 2 (to 48:40) we cover the welcome return to J1 of second tier champions, Niigata.

And finally on this episode, we discuss last season's surprise packets, Kashiwa.

JTET - J2 Season Preview 2023 (Part 1)

After a short (and cold) winter break, Jon Steele & James Taylor kick off their J2 season previews with a focus on 8 clubs in the Greater Kanto area (with help from special guests)!

Timecodes:

02:00 to 09:30 - Machida Zelvia

09:50 to 16:05 - Tokyo Verdy with Lewis (@illusionofease on Twitter)

16:05 to 22:30 - JEF United Chiba

22:55 to 52:20 - Omiya Ardija with Jon & Steve Fryer (@ardija01talk on Twitter)

52:20 to 58:50 - Thespa Kusatsu Gunma

58:50 to 01:05:00 - Mito Hollyhock

01:05:00 to 01:11:35 - Tochigi with Matt Bruce (@MatthewDBruce on Twitter)

01:11:35 to Finish - Ventforet Kofu

We asked our club correspondents to keep these questions in mind when recording their segments...

1)  What do you think of the new signings that your team has made, and who will be the most important in 2023?

2)  What do you think about the departures from your team this winter, and which player departure are you most disappointed by?

3)  If your team has a new manager, are you happy with the appointment? (If your team has the same manager, are you comfortable with them?)

4)  Where do you think your team will finish this season? (Head & heart!)

5)  What are you most looking forward to in J2 overall this year (this could be related to your team, or the division in general)?

Hope everyone enjoys Part 1 - the other season preview episodes are coming up soon!

Episode 448 - J1 Season Previews Part 2A - Urawa & Kashima

This week's five club preview is split into two separate pods, with two of the league's heaviest hitters featured first.

In Part 1 Ralf Seidl guests to chat about Urawa's 2022 campaign, their ins and outs in the transfer market, and expectations for the new season under (yet another) new manager, Maciej Skorza, plus some ones to watch in 2023 (to 32:50).

Then another giant, Kashima, the most successful club in the history of the J.League, are put under the microscope. After 2022 started so promisingly, the season petered out, so what can Daiki Iwamasa do to get Antlers back in title contention (leave, according to Sam!)?

Check out Jonny's terrific J1 Predicted Lineups piece and stay tuned for three more previews coming soon in Part 2B.

Episode 447 - J1 Season Previews Part 1 - Kansai

And away we go! Jonny Nicol guests in the first of our four part series previewing all 18 top flight clubs ahead of the new season, with the four Kansai clubs the first cabs off the rank. Timestamps are your friend here if you want to skip to a specific team, for each we chatted about their 2022 performance, major transfers in and out (not necessarily in that order), the manager, players to watch, and overall expectations for the new campaign.

Kyoto (to 25:40)

Gamba Osaka (to 56:20)

Cerezo Osaka (to 1:17:10)

Kobe (to end)

Episode 446 - Back in Business

Happy new year to you all, and welcome to a new season of 'big pod'! In our first episode of 2023, we welcomed Dan Orlowitz back to the podcast to chat about some of the big changes coming to the J.League in 2023 and 2024, and the possibility of the league switching to an autumn-to-spring season in the future (to 25:10.

In Part 2 we reflected on Japan's showing at the World Cup, and the JFA's decision to extend manager Hajime Moriyasu's contract for a further four years, before teasing our season preview pods - that begin next week - with some of the biggest moves of the winter transfer window thus far (we did not have the Giakoumakīs to Urawa news at the time of recording).

JTET - J3 Season Review 2022 (Part 3)

Mike 'The Magic' Innes is back again with another 'J-Talk: Short Corner' takeover of JTET, finishing his club-by-club review of the J3 season by casting his forensic eye over six teams from Japan's southwestern region.

The sides in question this week enjoyed/endured very contrasting fortunes in 2022, making this episode a real rollercoaster - hope everyone enjoys it! 

Thanks to Mike for all of his painstaking work on these review pods, and to everyone for listening - 'J-Talk: Short Corner' will return soon!

Timecodes:

01:00 to 04:50 - Kamatamare Sanuki

04:50 to 08:50 - FC Imabari

08:50 to 12:25 - Ehime FC

12:30 to 16:00 - Giravanz Kitakyushu

16:00 to 19:25 - Tegevajaro Miyazaki

19:25 to Finish - Kagoshima United (with listener questions)

J-Talk: Extra Time J2 Season Review Part 3

James Taylor and Jon Steele got together for the final time this year to discuss how the teams finishing from 16^th to 22^nd in J2 fared. They were joined by Matt Bruce (@MatthewDBruce) to cover Tochigi, Steve Fryer (@ardija01talk) to talk about Omiya, and James Gallagher (@FLManInJapan) to review Ryukyu. James and Jon discussed Yamaguchi, Kofu, Gunma, and Iwate, before closing the episode with a question from @akakichnoeleven.

 

00:00-05:57 Renofa Yamaguchi (James and Jon)

05:58-15:42 Tochigi SC (Matt Bruce)

15:43-21:52 Ventforet Kofu (James and Jon)

21:53-54:25 Omiya Ardija (Steve Fryer in conversation with Jon)

54:26-1:00:56 Thespakusatsu Gunma (James and Jon)

1:00:57-1:21:12 FC Ryukyu (James Gallagher)

1:21:13-end Iwate Grulla Morioka and listener question (James and Jon)

 

Stats were courtesy of jleague.jp, transfermarkt.com, football-lab.jp, sporteria.jp, and @Data_Swan.

 

Thanks again to our contributors for their analysis, and to Patreon subscribers for their ongoing support. And of course, thank you to everyone who listened throughout the year. See you in pre-season!