The J-Talk Podcast

After a nice Silver Week break, James and Jon return to look back at all of the big stories from J2 Round 7 (played last weekend).

It's a mini-pod this time (due to the holidays), so in Part 1 Jon runs through five of the fixtures from the weekend (including Yokohama's FC's dig-deep win against Imabari) and makes his selection for a Most Bravo Player for the matchday.

In Part 2, James takes over to look back at the rest of the Round 7 action - he also nominates a Most Bravo Player, and previews this weekend's Round 8 matches.

We hope everyone enjoys the episode (run time: 17 minutes)!

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Thank you for your support of the J-Talk Podcast and J-Talk: Extra Time.

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

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

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

In the final round of J1 games before the international break, Kobe went top for the first time this season, and to mark the occasion Alan Gibson from JSoccer.com joined Jonny and Ben to chat about Vissel's Kansai derby win away at Gamba Osaka, and then Kashiwa's brilliant comeback at Machida that saw them up to second (to 39:30).

Then in Part 2 Jonny and Ben run through the rest of the J1 Matchday 8 results (to 1:20:45), discuss the national team squad for the upcoming four matches, and look ahead to midweek Emperor's Cup action.

Jon Steele and James Taylor look back at J2 matchday 6 with a particular focus on Akita’s Blaublitzing of Tokushima (to 19:50), followed by Most Bravo Player selections (to 26:50) and a look ahead to the next league fixtures and J2 teams in Emperor’s Cup action (to end).

Thank you for your support of the J-Talk Podcast and J-Talk: Extra Time.

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

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

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

After Kashiwa returned to winning ways with a come from behind 3-2 victory away at Kyoto on Friday night, Reysol correspondent Seamus Johnston returned to the pod to chat about the season so far, Friday's win, and the impact some newcomers have made at Hitachidai (to 28:50). Follow Seamus on Bluesky, and check out his Reysol Ramble Substack.

Then Jonny and Ben round up the rest of the Matchday 7 results, including Kobe sending champions Kashima to a third straight defeat, Hiroshima's thumping win over Cerezo Osaka, and much needed wins for Shimizu and Nagasaki. We finish the episode with a check on the opening round of the ACL Elite and ACL Two, some possible domestic inclusions to the upcoming national team squad, and the big games on the J1 Matchday 8 slate.

In this week’s JTET, James Taylor and Jon Steele talk about the game between promotion hopefuls Shonan and Sendai, including a discussion of head injury and concussion protocols (to 31:35), pick their Most Bravo Player (to 39:10), and preview the weekend’s J2 fixtures (to end).

Thank you for your support of the J-Talk Podcast and J-Talk: Extra Time.

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

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

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

After beginning this episode with a roundup of last Wednesday's J1 Matchday 5, including Mito's stunning Ibaraki derby win over Kashima (to 10:20), Jonny and Ben were joined by Chiba correspondent Allen, to recap JEF's first win back in the top flight on Sunday night, and discuss the impact that some of the side's summer reinforcements have made (to 39:10).

Then in Part 3 Kawasaki correspondent Neil Debnam joins to discuss Frontale's eventful 3-1 win over 10 man Shimizu at the National Stadium on Sunday night, which included one of the wackiest goals you'll ever see (to 1:01:05), before Jonny and Ben wrap up the rest of the week's action and look ahead to Matchday 7.

It's a bumper JTET this week, with both J2 and J3 in focus.

In Part 1 (Start to 11:20), Jon runs through all of the key points from Round 4 of the J2 season from last weekend.

There's also a Most Bravo Player pick, and a preview of the Round 5 matches coming up this weekend.

Then in Part 2, Jon chats to James about the state of affairs in J3 after the opening month of the season (with four teams in particular getting a deep dive).

Timecodes for Part 2:

13:45 to 19:45 - Gifu

19:45 to 29:15 - Ehime

29:15 to 39:40 - Fukushima

39:40 to 54:00 - Sagamihara

54:00 to 56:20 - J3 Most Bravo Player for August

56:20 to Finish - J3 Round 5 Preview

We hope everyone enjoys the show!

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*Links to the articles about Yuki Stalph that we reference in this episode:

https://thefootballweek.com/2026/08/29/yuki-stalph/

https://jleagueregista.com/stalph-yscc-interview-j3league-2020/

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OVtqQJ1QYyE

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

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

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

Jonny and Ben were joined by a pair of our correspondents on this episode, after their sides notched first wins of the new season on Saturday night, after both had endured a rough start to the campaign. First up is Ralf Seidl on Urawa, who downed Yokohama F.Marinos 3-2 at home (to 22:15), then Jamie Meikle hops on to discuss Kyoto's win over Fukuoka, and their mass signings of Brazilians ahead of a first ACL Elite campaign (to 42:25). As mentioned at the end of Part 2, please check out Jamie's terrific You Tube channel, Soccer Bunka.

Then in Part 3, Jonny and Ben run through the other results, including Kawasaki also winning for the first time, and Kashiwa and Kashima staying perfect, before we wrap things up with a couple of cupsets from the Emperor's Cup last midweek, and look ahead to the next two rounds of fixtures.

Fashionably late again this week, Jon and James are back to talk about some of the key points from J2 Round 3 (and the season so far).

In Part 1 (Start to 07:40), Jon provides a solo round-up of the on-field action from Round 3.

Then in Part 2, James and Jon chat about 4 teams that have caught the eye over the opening rounds (plus the usual Most Bravo Player chat, and a preview of this weekend's Round 4 games).

Part 2 Time-codes:

09:00 to 12:00 - Most Bravo Player picks for Round 3

12:00 to 17:05 - Toyama

17:05 to 23:55 - Miyazaki

23:55 to 31:40 - Imabari

31:40 to 37:10 - Iwaki

37:10 to Finish - Previews (Emperor's Cup, J2 Round 4, Levain Cup)

We hope everyone enjoys the show (runtime 45 minutes)!

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

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

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

Jonny and Ben kick off this episode celebrating Mito Hollyhock's first ever J1 win, and chat about the worrying signs for Mito's victims Kyoto, who look a shell of the side who rose to 3rd in 2025 (to 16:35). Next we discuss first wins of the new season for Nagoya and FC Tokyo (to 33:40), the three teams with a perfect record after three rounds (to 54:20), and the other four games (to 1:10:05), before we finish the pod with a look at the new Under 21 league, and a check of upcoming Emperor's Cup and J1 Matchday 4 fixtures.