During the 2019 J1 League season, FC Tokyo came tantalisingly close to securing their first-ever league title. However, Kenta Hasegawa’s side just ran out of steam and Yokohama F. Marinos were able to finish with a six-point lead over the Tokyo club.
This term, an opening day 3-1 victory over last season’s 12th-placed Shimizu S-Pulse could have been a signal of intent that the side from the Ajinomoto Stadium mean business this term and intend to go one better than their second-place finish last year.
Every major stat in their opening game of the season went the way of the opposition, with less possession (36% to S-Pa’s 64%), far fewer passes (300 to 547), a lower pass accuracy (72% to 86%) and marginally fewer shots at goal than their opposition (12 to 14). However, as the adage states, it is the sign of a good side to play poorly and to win.
So, this tactical analysis will shed some light on whether FC Tokyo are just another pretender to the throne this season or if they are to be 2020’s true heir. This scout report will highlight some of Hasegawa’s key tactics and use analysis to explain their impact.
A change in formation
One of the key and most obvious changes to have been noted in Hasegawa’s side from last season to the beginning of this is a change in formation. Last term, the Tokyo side predominantly deployed a 4-4-2 formation, although also a 4-2-2-2 on occasion, however, have so far this term rolled with a 4-3-3 structure. This has led to several key patterns of play emerging in their first J1 League game of the season which have been brought on by the structure change. The majority of these are seen in how the side attack.
In this annotation, how the side looked in attack last season, with the 4-4-2 structure can be seen. This, taken from the 4-2 victory over eventual title winners Yokohama F. Marinos, shows how the two wide midfielders in the midfield four looked to get as high and as wide up the pitch as possible, making the structure like a 4-2-4 while in possession, a common theme in 4-4-2 formations. However, this season the entire structure of the attack has altered, which may, in part, be due to 18-year-old starlet and right midfielder, Takefusa Kubo, departing the club for Real Madrid last August.
Here, the annotation taken from the 3-1 victory over Shimizu S-Pulse can be seen. Two of the key features being Brazilian pair Leandro, number 20, and Adailton, number 15, who arrived at the Ajinomoto Stadium during the offseason. Leandro, on the left-wing, and Adailton, who was moved further forward when right-winger Kyosuke Tagawa was substituted off, played key roles in the front three.
