The J-Talk Podcast

Episode 421 - J1 Matchday 18

The summer heat was really cranked up over the weekend, and the pace that Yokohama F.Marinos set in their 4-0 win over Kashiwa that opened the Matchday 18 slate on Saturday proved too hot to handle for their main title rivals Kashima and Kawasaki, and with guest Scott McIntyre, we praise the leaders and their coach Kevin Muscat after they stretched their advantage at the top of the table to three points (to 29:30).

Then there's more positive buzz for the coaching jobs Michael Skibbe and Kenta Kawai have done at Hiroshima and Tosu respectively, while further down the table Urawa edged out of the bottom six and Shonan out of the bottom three after late drama at Kobe and Kyoto on Sunday.

JTET - Emperor’s Cup Round 3 Review

After a busy midweek of Emperor's Cup action, Jon Steele and James Taylor look back over the Round 3 ties that included J2 participants.

In Part 1, Jon reviews the games featuring Kanto-based teams (more or less), including shocks for five J1 sides.

In Part 2, James picks up the rest of the schedule, including Kanazawa's tie against Nagoya (which I believe he attended, the lucky chap).

Thanks as always for the support, & enjoy this mini-pod!

J-Talk Extra Time J2 MD22 & J3 MD 13

James Taylor and Jon Steele convened to discuss the latest J2 action, focusing on Sendai v Yokohama FC, Yamagata v Kofu and Iwate v Tokushima. James reviewed the rest of the games from the weekend and last Wednesday’s rearranged match, before previewing round 23 with Jon. Then, Mike Innes reviewed the action from J3 and previewed the upcoming league fixtures.

 

00:00-10:09 Sendai v Yokohama FC

10:10-16:08 Yamagata v Kofu

16:09-24:12 Iwate v Tokushima

24:13 to 36:04 J2 MD22 roundup (plus rearranged MD16 game)

36:05 to 42:20 J2 MD23 preview

42:21 to 1:05:09 J3 MD13 review (plus rearranged MD8 game)

1:05:10 to end J3 MD14 preview

FC Tokyo Kai-Guys Radio Episode 4 - Sensible Signings

The FC Tokyo Kai-Guys are back on the air with a keen eye on the midseason transfer window. In their latest episode Alex Bishop lists some potential targets as FC Tokyo look to bolster up their roster.

Episode 420 - J1 Matchday 17

J1 returned after the international break on Saturday with great goals and baffling officiating, and we wouldn't have it any other way.

We begin by chatting about the wins for Yokohama F.Marinos and Kashima (to 14:30), before Neil Debnam hops on board for a therapy session on the current state of Kawasaki - 5-2 winners over Sapporo on Saturday evening, but things are clearly not 'right' at the two-time defending champions (to 53:25).

From there we discuss Kashiwa and Hiroshima keeping the pressure on the top three as both won for the third straight game, then head down to the foot of the table where things tightened up after Shimizu and Shonan both claimed important home victories.

JTET - J2 Round 21 / J3 Round 12 Review

Fashionably late this week (apologies from the management!), the JTET crew look back over another absorbing weekend of J2 & J3 football.

This week, Jon Steele was joined by Stuart Smith to highlight three of the big J2 games from Round 21 (the halfway stage of the regular season). 

After a solo roundup of the rest of the second-tier action from Jon, the boys discussed the managerial changes at Ryukyu, Tokyo Verdy and Nagasaki, before previewing all of this weekend's games.

After that, Mike 'The Magic' Innes takes the controls for a review of last weekend's J3 action, plus a look ahead to all of the Round 13 matches coming up soon, in 'J-Talk: Short Corner'.

Thanks for the support as always - enjoy the show!

Episode 419 - More Moriyasu Malaise

Japan unfortunately saved the worst for last in this international break, and after celebrating Australia's streak of World Cup appearances reaching five (and commiserating with New Zealand), we launch into a post mortem of the Samurai Blue's 3-0 defeat at the hands of Tunisia on Tuesday night (to 21:10).

Next we discuss our lists of players who we think are already 'On the plane' to Qatar as locks in Hajime Moriyasu's squad (to 37:35), and then discuss some players that could be potential bolters for the World Cup, and celebrate Japan's Under 21s after they reached the semi finals of the U23 Asian Cup (to 54:40).

Finally, we chat about the Levain Cup Playoff Stage, and look ahead to the resumption of the J1 season on Saturday.

J-Talk Extra Time J2 MD20 & J3 MD 11

James Taylor was joined for a JTET debut by Victor Arroyo (@JFootballAnaly1) to take a look at Kanazawa’s pummelling at the hands of Okayama, and Victor talked in more detail about his thoughts on Kanazawa’s season so far. They also discussed Yokohama FC’s draw with Tokyo Verdy. Then James reviewed the rest of the weekend’s games, before Victor came back to preview matchday 21. Finally, Mike Innes reviewed the action from round 11 of J3 and J3 teams’ participation in the 2^nd round of the Emperor’s Cup, and previewed the upcoming league fixtures.

 

00:00-14:00 Okayama v Kanazawa

14:01-34:51 Kanazawa half-season review

34:52-43:20 Yokohama FC v Tokyo Verdy

43:21 to 53:24 J2 MD21 roundup

53:25 to 59:41 J2 MD21 preview

59:42 to 1:06:21 Emperor’s Cup 2^nd round review

1:06:22 to 1:24:30 J3 MD11 review

1:24:31 to end J3 MD12 preview

Episode 418 - J1 Team of the (Half) Season

The polls are done and dusted, the votes have been tallied, now it's time to assemble the J-Talk Best XI from the first half of the J1 season, with the one and only Jonny Nicol guesting.

We begin the episode with an extended look at Japan's friendly against Brazil played on Monday night, and also touch on the Samurai Blue's win vs Paraguay the previous Thursday (to 22:15), before diving in to our team, position by position.

We begin between the sticks, and after thrashing out our back four (to 1:02:10), we take a brief interlude to get Jonny's thoughts on Gamba Osaka's season so far and how they might look to improve in the second half of the campaign (to 1:14:55), before finishing off our team with the central midfielders and both wide and central attackers.

JTET Extra - Emperor’s Cup Round 2 Review

A little bit later than planned, Jon Steele and James Taylor take a quick look back the Emperor's Cup games from last midweek that involved J2 sides.

In the first section, Jon casts a glance over 6 of the Round 2 games that contained at least one J2 participant, with James covering 6 more ties in the second part of the show.

The games that involved J3 teams are going to be covered by Mike 'The Magic' Innes in this week's regularly-scheduled JTET, so please stay tuned for that!

Hope everyone enjoys this mini-pod!