The J-Talk Podcast

Episode 380 - J1 Matchday 24

The weather wasn't great, but the football definitely was over an extended J1 weekend, and Alan Gibson made a very welcome return to the pod to help us review the Matchday 24 action.

We begin with a quick chat on Kobe, who were off over the weekend after their game in Hiroshima was postponed, and then move on to talk about a big win for Yokohama F.Marinos over Oita that, coupled with Kawasaki's draw at Kashiwa, means we can properly start talking about a Title Race. Kashima are up to 3rd, and their win over Tokushima rounds out Part 1 (to 33:39).

Part 2 includes important wins for Nagoya, Fukuoka and Gamba Osaka amongst others, as we take stock of the league with roughly one-third of the season remaining.

J-Talk: Extra Time - J2 Round 24

Absence makes the heart grow fonder apparently, and Jon Steele & Stuart Smith were both VERY glad to see the return of J2 last Monday - after the Olympic break - and what a dramatic Monday it was. With injury time goals a plenty, outstanding volleys, bad pitches, and more drama than you can shake a stick at, the gents take you through what you need to know from the return of J2 including:

- Kyoto going clear at the top
- Kofu & Jubilo share the spoils
- Crazy ending in Niigata
- Matsumoto shred Akita
- and a look ahead to this weekend's fixtures 

 

As always, thank you for you support - stay safe & enjoy the football coming your way soon!

Episode 379 - J1 Matchday 23

What a weekend in J1! After some Olympic and transfer window housekeeping in Part 1 (to 22:50), we dive in to a terrific top flight matchday beginning with Yokohama FC's stunning win at home over Nagoya, then contrasting results for the top two - F.Marinos stumbling at Shimizu while Kawasaki cruised at Oita - before wrapping up Part 2 with Tosu continuing their dominance over Tokyo, and Kashiwa claiming a huge win at the death over Kobe (to 52:15).

Then in Part 3 we wrap up the other five games, including more late drama at Shonan, and Tokushima claiming a huge three points at home over Gamba Osaka.

JTET: J3 Summer Special (Part 1)

With the third tier in the middle of its summer recess, Jon Steele & Mike Innes got together to review each team's progress over the first half of the J3 season. 

In this episode, the guys take a forensic look at the teams currently occupying the top five positions in the league table (and Jon compares Fukushima United's squad-building with him struggling to carry an armful of laundry up a staircase).

Look out for Part 2 & Part 3 soon!

JTET - J2 Summer Special

After a week or two of downtime, Jon Steele was once again joined by Stuart Smith for a catch-up, 'Summer Special' JTET with a J2 focus. 

In Part 1, the boys discuss the season so far, and the major transfer news from the summer window. 

In Part 2, they look forward to the 'second half' of the second-tier season, and end with a (rather long!) debate about alleged 'power harassment' at Tokyo Verdy.

Hope everyone enjoys the show!

Episode 378 - Japan Fall Short While Gamba Climb

Jonny Nicol returns to the pod to help us round up a difficult week for the Japanese teams at the Olympics, with the men following Nadeshiko Japan out of gold medal contention after their extra time loss to Spain in the semi final on Tuesday (to 43:23).

Then in Part 2 Jonny is rightly buoyant after Gamba Osaka's impressive recent results in their games in hand during the Olympic break hauled them out of relegation danger, and we finish up with some of the most intriguing arrivals during the J1 summer transfer window ahead of the league resuming next Monday.

Episode 377 - OlyWhites in Japan's Sights

We're back for a second episode of the week to mark Japan's progress to the Tokyo 2020 knockout stage in both the women's and men's football tournaments.

Once again we begin with the Under 24 men, and welcome back Richy Palmer, whose New Zealand side stand in the way of Japan making the semi final, but Hajime Moriyasu's team will certainly take some stopping after their superb performance against France. Where can the OlyWhites hurt Japan, and who are their players to watch? Richy fills us in (to 24:58).

Then we recap the 1-0 win over Chile that took Nadeshiko Japan in to the quarter finals, but they will definitely have to perk up their ideas against a Sweden side that have swept all before them in the group stage.

Episode 376 - Kubo Hot, Nadeshiko Not

On this episode we chat about the contrasting fortunes of the Japan National Teams at Tokyo 2020, with fingers crossed both can make it through to the quarter finals (to 25:55), then cover the four J1 games from the past week. 

J-Talk: Extra Time - Round 23 and Transfer News

Stuart Smith is here with a brief roundup of what happened in the last set of fixtures before the J2 summer "break", with updates on tight situations at the top and bottom of the league, plus a sprinkling of the latest transfer news. 

 

Stay safe, stay hydrated, and stay alert for more podcasts to come even the J2 is on hiatus!!

 

If you do want to get involved, and support us in our "work" please consider joining us on Patreon.

 

You can find the details at: https://www.patreon.com/jtalkpod

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Episode 375 - Furuhashi to Celtic, Japan Going for Gold

A slow week ahead of the Olympics starting? Well Celtic, Kobe and Kyogo Furuhashi put paid to any plans we had for a cruisy episode by dropping their transfer bombshell on Friday morning, and Sean Galbraith joined us for Part 1 in which we discuss Furuhashi's move to link up with Ange Postecoglou and how he might fit in at Parkhead. We then move on to some Yokohama F.Marinos transfer news - that Sean is slightly less excited about - with Ado Onaiwu looking set for a move to France, and 2019 J1 Player of the Year Teruhito Nakagawa possibly heading to Kobe to attempt to fill Furuhashi's boots (to 30:39).

In Part 2 Alex Bishop makes a very welcome return to the pod to chat about the key players, youngsters to watch, and overall medal prospects for Asako Takakura's Nadeshiko Japan side in Tokyo 2020, while we also chat about the makeup of the squads for the other three teams in Japan's group in the men's Under 24 Olympic football tournament (to 1:01:38).

Then finally in Part 3 we review the four J1 games played on Saturday, with mixed results for the returning ACL clubs.