J1 League 2020: Shonan Bellmare vs Urawa Reds – tactical analysis

On Friday, the opening game of the 2020 J1 League season kicked off, with Shonan Bellmare hosting Urawa Reds. Having survived relegation by the skin of their teeth in 2019, after a relegation playoff against Tokushima Vortis, the hosts would have been hoping for a better start to the new term.

Urawa Reds almost suffered a similar fate over the previous calendar year, finishing one point above their opening day counterparts last term. They too would have been hoping for a better start to the season in the Japanese top flight, which they achieved.

Despite Shonan Bellmare taking an early lead at the Shonan BMW Stadium Hiratsuka, it was Urawa Reds who claimed three points in a 3-2 victory.

This tactical analysis will dissect the opening game of the 2020 J1 League season and highlight key tactics used by both sides; analysis will then be used to show how they led to the game’s outcome.

Lineups

For their opening game of the season, Bin Ukishima lined his side up in a 3-5-2 with a central pivot in Akito Fukuta – which will be discussed later in the piece – and transitioned into a 4-4-2 when out of possession. Following the side’s 1-0 victory in the opening game of the J1 League Cup against Oita Trinita five changes were made to the starting lineup. Kazunari Ono, Kazuaki Mawatari, Koki Tachi, Hiroto Nakagawa and Yuto Iwasaki were dropped for Takuya Okamoto, Toichi Suzuki, Mitsuki Saito, Naoki Yamada and Naoki Ishihara.

In the opposition dugout, Tsuyoshi Otsuki opted for a classic 4-4-2 and made only one change following his side’s 5-2 victory over Vegalta Sendai in the first game of the J1 League Cup. After scoring twice, once from open play and a penalty, Kenyu Sugimoto dropped out of the matchday squad altogether and was replaced in the starting lineup by the team’s vice-captain, Shinzo Koroki.