The J-Talk Podcast

Hot on the heels of Part 1, JTET is back to preview another five teams who are getting ready for the 2025 J2 season.

This time, Jon and James get things underway by talking about Consadole Sapporo (Start to 08:45), and Montedio Yamagata (08:45 to 16:45).

After that, a trio of special guests are on hand to give us their thoughts on the year ahead. First up is Martin Spivey, who covers Blaublitz Akita (16:45 to 36:20).

Following up is Fin Wilson, who has all the pre-season information about Vegalta Sendai (36:20 to 53:00).

Rounding things off this time is Leslie Mabon, who waxes lyrical about Iwaki FC's prospects for the 2025 campaign (53:00 to Finish).

*Here are the hard-hitting questions that we asked Martin, Fin, and Leslie to respond to:

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)?

Thank you for supporting JTET, and The J-Talk Podcast - we hope you enjoy the episode!

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

You are welcome to join the JLeague Chat Discord server here: https://discord.gg/p6PVbF9E

You can also follow JTET on Bluesky here: @jtalket.bsky.social

Victor Arroyo makes his debut as the new host of JTSC, previewing five teams ahead of the new 2025 J3 season:

0:00-3:05 Intro

3:05-5:30 Azul Claro Numazu

5:30-7:50 Fukushima United FC

7:50-10:05 Gainaire Tottori

10:05-12:20 FC Gifu

12:20-15:15 Giravanz Kitakyushu

15:15-End Outro

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

Feel free to join us on the JLeague Chat Discord: https://discord.gg/p6PVbF9E

Follow Victor on Bluesky: @jfootballanalytics.bsky.social

With not long until the big kickoff for 2025, Jon Steele and James Taylor got together for the first J2 season preview pod. After a brief word of thanks to departing JTSC host Mike Innes, Jon and James talked about five teams:

04:00 to 10:15 Jubilo Iwata

10:15 to 16:10 Fujieda MYFC

16:10 to 25:05 Mito Hollyhock

25:05 to 34:45 Ventforet Kofu

34:45 to end Kataller Toyama

Thank you for your ongoing support of the J-Talk Podcast and J-Talk: Extra Time. We hope you’ll enjoy the 2025 season with us. 

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

Feel free to join us on the JLeague Chat Discord: https://discord.gg/p6PVbF9E

Follow JTET on Bluesky: @jtalket.bsky.social

Stay tuned for part two!

We have another bumper round of J1 previews for you this week, as we edge closer to the start of the new season.

In Part 1 Jonny and Ben preview Hiroshima (to 21:20) and Kashiwa (to 48:25), before they're joined by three terrific guests.

In Part 2 Daniel Hawkins chats about Fukuoka (to 1:13:17), then in Part 3 Ralf Seidl discusses Urawa (to 1:45:25), before James Taylor from J-Talk: Extra Time rounds out the pod in Part 4 looking ahead to Okayama's first-ever J1 campaign.

Now that we're up and running, our J1 season previews roll on galactically on this episode, with five more teams under the microscope.

We begin with a J-Talk crossing of the streams, as Jon Steele guests to preview promoted clubs Yokohama FC (to 42:15) and Shimizu (to 1:09:00), before Jonny and Ben run the rule over Shonan (to 1:29:30) and Yokohama F.Marinos (to 1:52:35) in Part 2. Then in Part 3 we were delighted to welcome Kawasaki correspondent Neil Debnam back to the pod to preview the brave new dawn at Todoroki.

You can keep track of all the goings on at Frontale on Neil's blog, and he's now on Bluesky, too.

Welcome to our previews of the 2025 J1 Season! In Part 1, after some housekeeping at the start of the episode, we chat with Lewis White about Tokyo Verdy (to 32:05), and to Ryo Nakagawara about Machida (to 1:01:00) and FC Tokyo (to 1:40:20), before Jonny and Ben discuss Niigata (to 1:56:23) and Kashima.

For each club, we follow the same format: A brief review of 2024; the club's major moves in the transfer market; thoughts on the manager; a player to watch and prospects for the new season.

You can read Ryo's terrific work in his Shogun Soccer newsletter, and follow each club's ins and out through Jonny's Google Doc.

Welcome back to a new year, and a new season of J-Talk! On our first episode of 2025, Dan Orlowitz joins Jonny and Ben to chat about how the J.League can build on their successful 2024, and what will be new or different this season, before we discuss the 2026 "0.5 Season", or as it will be known from this point on: The 2026 Chaos Energy J.League Cup (from 17:45 to 39:25), before we finish with some hot takes on the best and worst of the new season's top flight kits.

Thanks to you all for your ongoing support! Check out Dan on Bluesky, and remember you can keep up to date on offseason transfers on Jonny's Google Doc.

The JTET team start 2025 by bringing down the curtain on last season in the final part of their big J2 season review.

Jon and James get things up and running by discussing Montedio Yamagata (Start to 11:15), before handing over to a trio of guest contributors to cover the rest of the Play-Off teams from 2024.

We welcome debutant Makoto to talk about Fagiano Okayama (11:15 to 19:20), before veteran co-host of the ViviCast, Daniel Kuroda, takes us through V-Varen Nagasaki's campaign (19:20 to 30:00).

Rounding things off is Fin Wilson (@VegaltaPotter on Twitter), who reviews an impressive season for resurgent Vegalta Sendai (30:00 to Finish).

1) How do you feel about the 2024 season for your team overall?

2) What was the high point of the season?

3) What was the low point of the season?

4) Which player from another club impressed you the most this season?

5) What is your biggest hope for your club in 2025?

Thanks to all of our listeners and contributors for a fantastic 2024 - see you all again for the new season very soon!

In a holiday special, Jon and James talk about the recent (official) J2 Awards, and discuss their own personal picks for some of the more interesting categories.

In Part 1, the gentlemen share their views on Manager of the Season (Start to 07:05), and Player of the Season (07:05 to 12:45). Spoilers: Matheus Jesus was robbed!

In Part 2, attention turns to the Goal of the Season award (12:45 to 16:10), before things are rounded off with a detailed look at the J2 Team of the Season (16:10 to Finish).

Thank you to everyone who's supported the pod in 2024, whether by contributing, commenting, or downloading and listening each week.

Best wishes for the year ahead from everyone at JTET!

In Part 3 of the big JTET Season Review for J2, a whopping six teams from the second tier are covered.

Jon and James kick things off (sorry) by talking about champions Shimizu S-Pulse (Start to 06:50), and runners-up Yokohama FC (06:50 to 16:45). Jon refers to 'Joao Pedro' twice in the Yokohama FC segment, but of course means 'Joao PAOLO'. The regular co-hosts also discuss Tokushima Vortis (16:45 to 25:45).

After that, the mics are thrown open to a welcome trio of guest correspondents. Chris Hough gives us the lowdown on JEF Chiba (26:30 to 34:55), and we hear all about an impressive Iwaki FC season from Leslie Mabon (34:55 to 44:50). Rounding things off for this episode is Martin Spivey, who shares his thoughts on another steady season for Blaublitz Akita (44:50 to Finish).

We asked our intrepid contributors to respond to these (painfully generic) season review questions:

1) How do you feel about the 2024 season for your team overall?

2) What was the high point of the season?

3) What was the low point of the season?

4) Which player from another club impressed you the most this season?

5) What is your biggest hope for your club for 2025?

Thanks to all of our correspondents for sparing the time to get involved - Part 4 (covering the Play-Off quartet) is coming soon!