The J-Talk Podcast

New JTSC host Victor Arroyo returns after an unexpected hiatus to review all 8 matches of an entertaining opening round of the J3 season and selects his goal of the week.

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Jon and James are together again to look back at an action-packed round of J2 action!

First of all, Jon runs you through the scores from most of the Round 3 games (Start to 05:30), then sits down with James to talk about Tosu v Imabari, our Match of the Week, in detail (05:30 to 25:40).

Then it's time to nominate our Most Bravo Players (25:40 to 29:40), and peruse the Round 4 fixture list to pick out some key games to focus on (29:40 to Finish).

Thanks for all of the support, and we hope you enjoy the pod!

*Join The J-Talk Podcast Patreon here: https://patreon.com/jtalkpod

*Check out our JLeague Chat Discord server here: https://discord.gg/UwN2ambAwg

*Follow JTET on Bluesky here: @jtalket.bsky.social

We round up two full rounds of top flight fixtures (with a focus on the weekend's Matchday 4) in this week's episode, towards the end of which we're joined by Neil Debnam to chat about the early days of Shigetoshi Hasebe's reign at Kawasaki.

We begin with the games involving the top three - new leaders Kashiwa, who climbed to the summit with a win away at Urawa, then Shonan's draw at Yokohama F.Marinos and Hiroshima's narrow win at home over Yokohama FC - before moving on to Kashima's win over FC Tokyo, and the battle between promoted sides Okayama and Shimizu, then away wins for Machida, Gamba Osaka and Fukuoka (their first of the season), before wrapping up Part 1 with the draw between Niigata and Cerezo Osaka (to 1:03:35).

Then Neil joins us to discuss Kawasaki's 1-0 home defeat at the hands of Kyoto - Sanga's first win of the year - and Frontale's prospects in the ACL Elite Round of 16 against Shanghai Shenhua, before we wrap up the episode with a look at the fixtures in J1 Matchday 5.

Please check out Neil's Frontale Rabbit blog.

James, Jon, and special guest Sean Carroll look back at another busy weekend of J2 action.

James gets things started with a quick review of most of the Round 2 action (Start to 03:00), before Jon and Sean sat down to talk about Omiya's home win over Kofu in depth (03:00 to 15:00).

The boys also discuss Omiya and Kofu's prospects for 2025 in more detail, and touch on the new era at Omiya under Red Bull (there are spoilers for classic 90s sports comedy 'Cool Runnings', so be warned).

After that, Jon and Sean pick out some 'Most Bravo Players' from the weekend (15:00 to 19:50), and finish things off by looking ahead to the forthcoming Round 3 fixtures (19:50 to Finish).

We hope everyone enjoys another streamlined JTET experience this week!

*Support The J-Talk Podcast on Patreon here: https://patreon.com/jtalkpod

*Join our JLeague Chat Discord server here: https://discord.gg/UwN2ambAwg

*Follow JTET on Bluesky here: @jtalket.bsky.social

Jonny and Ben were pleased to welcome Stuart Woodward back to the pod, to chat about his trip to Hiroshima for Yokohama F.Marinos' visit to Sanfrecce on Sunday, a cagey affair settled by a correct, but unfortunate, penalty decision against visiting defender Jeisson Quinones that saw Hiroshima stay perfect after two rounds (to 27:20).

Then in Part 2 we chat the other two sides with spotless records, Shimizu and Shonan, then move on to the four teams that won for the first time this season on Saturday, and finish with the three Matchday 2 draws.

The JTET boys are back to pick over the bones of the opening round in J2 2025!

Kicking off a new, streamlined pod format, Jon runs through the scores on the doors from Round 1 in a whistle-stop roundup (Start to 03:15).

Jon then sat down with James to discuss their 'Match of the Week', focusing in detail on Omiya's return to J2 life against Yamagata at a sold-out NACK-5 Stadium in Saitama (03:15 to 20:40).

The gentlemen then move on to regular segments 'Most Bravo Player' (20:40 to 25:00), then bring up the rear with a look ahead to the key games on the upcoming Round 2 slate (25:00 to Finish).

Stay tuned for J3 content in 'J-Talk: Short Corner', coming soon!

Please consider joining The J-Talk Podcast Patreon here: https://patreon.com/jtalkpod

You can also get involved with our JLeague Chat Discord server here: https://discord.gg/UwN2ambAwg

If that's not enough, JTET is on Bluesky at @jtalket.bsky.social

J1 is back, and on this episode (after a brief ACL review at the start of the pod) Jonny and Ben review all of the top flight action, beginning with stirring wins for Okayama, Cerezo Osaka and Kawasaki, then moving on to clashes involving presumptive title challengers, before rounding up the final group of games.

With the new J2 season hurtling into view at the weekend, the JTET crew finish off their 2025 season preview with five more teams covered in depth.

James and Jon get things underway by running the rule over newly-relegated Tosu (Start to 09:20), followed by Yamaguchi (09:20 to 19:15), and then Oita (19:15 to 29:00).

The boys then welcome special guest Chikashi Toyoshima (co-creator of the ViviCast) to give us the lowdown on hotly-tipped Nagasaki (29:00 to 39:20).

After that, friend of the pod Garry Irwin brings up the rear with his thoughts on the campaign ahead for his beloved Kumamoto (39:20 to 50:30).

Finally, Jon and James reconvene to take a quick look at the Round 1 fixtures coming up on Saturday and Sunday (50:30 to Finish). This segment also includes a big JTET welcome to Victor Arroyo, who has gallantly agreed to take over at host of the J3-centric 'Short Corner' mini-pod for 2025!

We hope everyone enjoys the show, and the big kick-off this weekend!

*We asked Chikashi and Garry to respond to these hard-hitting questions in their previews:

1)     Please tell us about your team's transfer activity over the winter break (major players coming in, major players going out).

2)     Who will be your team's key player in 2025?

3)     What do you think of your team's manager?

4)     Where do you think your team will finish in the 2025 table (head and heart)?

5)     Which team in J2 do you think is going to surprise people this season (could be your team or any other, could be a positive or negative surprise)?

*Join The J-Talk Podcast Patreon here: https://patreon.com/jtalkpod

*Join our JLeague Chat Discord server here: https://discord.gg/p6PVbF9E

*Follow JTET on Bluesky here: @jtalket.bsky.social

We wrap up our top flight previews with the final five teams, and a heavy Kansai focus, as Alan Gibson guests in Part 1 to chat about his long weekend in the Tokyo area - including the Super Cup - and then help us preview defending champions Kobe (to 38:25) and Gamba Osaka (to 1:03:55).

Then in Part 2 Jonny and Ben discuss Cerezo Osaka (to 1:22:35), Kyoto (to 1:41:35) and Nagoya.

Follow Alan on X/Twitter and Bluesky.

With the big J2 kick-off less than a week away, the JTET team continue with their team-by-team previews of the 2025 season.

In this episode, Jon and James begin in Shikoku, discussing newly-promoted Imabari (Start to 09:15), and their rather-more-established prefectural neighbors Ehime (09:15 to 17:20). After that, Tokushima come under the microscope as well (17:20 to 26:40).

The boys then hand over to regular contributor Chris Hough to hear all about JEF Chiba's preparations for 2025 (26:40 to 35:50).

Staying in Kanto, Jon then sits down with friend-of-the-pod Steve Fryer for an in-depth chat about Omiya's return to the second tier (35:50 to 01:04:30). There's also a bonus discussion with Steve about one of the biggest J.League news stories of the last twelve months: multinational energy drink conglomerate Red Bull's controversial takeover of Omiya (01:04:30 to Finish).

Thank you as always to our contributors and listeners, and we hope everyone enjoys the show!

*These are the questions that we asked Chris and Steve to think about:

1)     Please tell us about your team's transfer activity over the winter break (major players coming in, major players going out).

2)     Who will be your team's key player in 2025?

3)     What do you think of your team's manager?

4)     Where do you think your team will finish in the 2025 table (head and heart)?

5)     Which team in J2 do you think is going to surprise people this season (could be your team or any other, could be a positive or negative surprise)?

Join the J-Talk Podcast Patreon here: https://patreon.com/jtalkpod

Get involved with our JLeague Chat Discord server here: https://discord.gg/p6PVbF9E

Follow JTET on Bluesky here: @jtalket.bsky.social