A Football Renaissance In Tokyo’s Brazil: Go Koruda Tactics At Machida Zelvia 2024 – Tactical Analysis

Most Europeans are not very connected to far eastern football like the J1 League in Japan.

If you were to ask random football fans to name Japanese Teams, they would probably name the likes of Vissel Kobe, but only because players like Andrés Iniesta or David Villa have played there after leaving Barcelona.

The name Machida Zelvia definitely would not ring any bells for most football fans; the team wasn’t even well-known in Japan.

In the last couple of years, Machida was caught up in the relegation battle in the J2 League, merely avoiding relegation into the third Japanese division of football.

Two years ago, things drastically changed for the club, however.

Not only did they get some financial backing from a minority shareholder, which didn’t do too much, to be frank, but they also hired Go Kuroda as the teams new manager, getting promoted in their first season and fighting for the championship in his second season.

Machida Zelvia is the first coaching gig for Go Kuroda in professional football, but his name was still well known in the Japanese footballing world.

Kuroda took over a completely unknown high school football program at Aomori Yamada High School in the early nineties.

The school had horrible training facilities, and Kuroda had no managerial experience.

The schools location in the north of the country also didn’t help the team.

Still, Kuroda managed an unbelievable turnaround in a short amount of time, making the school one of the best teams in the country and becoming the national champion and multiple-time champion of the Prince Takamado Cup.

He was considered the best high school coach in the country for multiple years, coaching the team until the conclusion of the 2022 season.

In 2023, Kuroda took on the challenge of a struggling FC Machida Zelvia in the J2 League without having worked with grown men before that point.

Machida, considered the Brazil of Tokyo, is a town in the greater Tokyo area with a rich football history and culture.

The move came as a huge surprise to most people and was not received well by the majority of experts at the time.

Kuroda and Machida Zelvia managed to overcome those expectations easily, however, securing promotion in the 2023 season.

Currently, the team leads the J1 League with 49 points, four points clear of second place in their first-ever J1 League season.

Are we witnessing a football miracle in a football-breathing town led by a high school football legend?

Or are FC Machida Zelvia not as good as a short view on the table might make them look?

In this Go Kuroda tactical analysis, we will provide an analysis of how the freshly promoted side has taken the J1 League by storm and what to expect for the rest of the season.

Go Kuroda Formations & Players Used

In modern football there usually is something really cool about the way successful managers line up their teams and how they change their formations and tactics every single week to adapt to the opposition.

With Go Kuroda and Machida Zelvia, it’s quite different.

Kuroda sticks with his 4-4-2 in every single game—no inverted full-backs, false nines, or any of that.

In Machida, the game is, in fact, not gone yet.

In terms of players, Kuroda was forced to make a couple of changes during the course of the season for varying reasons.

In goal, Tani is the number one for Machida Zelvia.

In the back four, three spots have been taken for the entire season, with Hayashi playing on the left and Dresevic, a Bosnian international, and Shoji, who has already played in Europe for Toulouse, being paired up in the middle of the line.

On the right side, Mochizuki has taken over the starting spot from Suzuki over these last couple of weeks.

In midfield, captain Sento is leading the double pivot, being paired up with either Shibota or Shimoda.

Fujimoto has been the regular starter on the left, and Na has been starting on the right wing for the last couple of games.

Up front, Kuroda has put a lot of trust in the pairing of experienced Oh and young Japanese striker Fujio.

However, he had to change his plans in these last games because Oh was injured, and Fujio has been travelling to Paris with the Japanese U23 National Team.

For those two, freshly recovered Erik and Australian Duke have taken over the striker positions for Machida Zelvia.

Heavy Focus On Long Balls & Wing Play

Usually, the top teams in their respective leagues dominate their matches and keep more possession of the ball than average at least.

With Machida Zelvia, we have a huge exception to the rule.

Kurodas men only have a possession percentage of 44%, ranking third to last in the entire J1 League.

Still, they are comfortably leading the league.

With only 269.89 passes per 90 minutes, Machida Zelvia even ranks second to last in the league.

The team does not value possession or continuous passing very highly, making them a very special case in todays football world.

Kuroda prioritises long passes over short ones and wants his team to not waste time and quickly attack the oppositions backline.

With 44.68 long balls per game, Machida Zelvia ranks sixth in the league in terms of long passes per 90 minutes.

Go Kuroda is a coach who wants to work and fight football rather than play it.

This may sound harsh, but if we look at the statistics for the J1 League season so far, Machida Zelvia is pretty much below average in every meaningful number you can look at.

Still, they are able to beat most of their opposition convincingly, and their build-up with their long ball is their set-up for success.

Before the season started, the club was able to sign two experienced centre-backs, Gen Shoji and Ibrahim Dresevic.

These centre-halves excel at playing long balls in the first phase of play.

In this situation, we are merely a couple of seconds after the kick-off of the game.

Machida Zelvia is in possession of the ball and instantly shows the teams intentions.

The team overloads the right side of the pit