The J-Talk Podcast

Needing your J2 & J3 fix? Don't worry, Stuart Smith & Mike Innes - doyens of the lower J.League fare - are here to bring it to you.

Only a short round up for J2 this week, but get to know about the new leaders, Kyoto's first defeat since forever, and an eventful day for a JEF United forward. 

Meanwhile, Mike Innes' Short Corner gives you all you need to know on what is becoming an absolutely epic promotion race. 

Thank you for all your support. Stay safe, and enjoy your football!!

Jon Steele is back to look ahead to tonight's J2 & J3-focused Emperor's Cup ties in this 5-minute, new-style micro-pod.

Hopefully it helps to pump everyone up for this evening's action! Happy listening.

We begin this episode with Sam's report from the England v Germany game at Wembley, Urawa left red faced after an administrative error cost them their two goals from their recent loss to Shonan, and an ACL status check as the group stage in the East Zone winds down - with plenty still on the line for both Osaka clubs (to 10:00).

Then we dive in to the weekend's J1 action, as 10-man Yokohama F.Marinos continued to narrow the gap to Kawasaki at the top, and Kobe rose to third (to 27:26), before we wrap up the other four games from the Matchday 21 slate.

Stuart Smith is at the helm for this week's episode on the podcast dedicated to the second and third tier of Japanese football. He welcomed James Taylor - AKA @KanazawaDreamin - to discuss Zweigen Kanazawa in depth, and go through all of the J2 results form the weekend. 

We talked JEF United, Blaublitz Akita, Omiya Ardjia, Matsumoto Yamaga and a whole host of J2 issues. Then Mike Innes enters the fray with his J3 focused Short Corner segment. Time stamps? 

0:00-26:00 - Get to know James, and we spoke in depth about the current state of Zweigen Kanazawa, including their 4-1 defeat at Montedio Yamagata

26:00-31:50 - Dissecting Kyoto Sanga & Jubilo Iwata's wins

31:50-40:40 - The chasing pack, including big wins for Ryukyu, Machida & Kofu

40:40-50:20 - The relegation battle

50:20-1:00:40 - Weekend preview

1:00:50-end - Mike Innes' J3 Short Corner

Big thanks to James for taking time out to speak on Kanazawa, and as usual a huge shout out to Mike for doing such a good job with J3. This J3 season is wild, and I think we're lucky to have Mike on hand to navigate us through it. 

Thank you to all of you for your continued support, we all really appreciate it! Enjoy the football this weekend. 

Dan Orlowitz guests this week as we look forward to the Olympic football tournaments, and review the week's goings-on in Japanese football.

We begin with Tokyo 2020, looking first at Hajime Moriyasu's Under 24 squad, then chat about expectations for Asako Takakura's Nadeshiko Japan, before moving on to an excellent start to the ACL for all four J1 clubs (to 26:37).

Then we turn our attention to Sunday's J1 Matchday 20 fixtures, beginning with the VAR-dominated marathon between Shonan and Kashiwa and more inconsistency from Shimizu in the bottom half of the table, before we look up and chat about wins for Yokohama F.Marinos, Urawa, Kashima and FC Tokyo.

The boys are back in town with a comprehensive review of the latest J2 and J3 action! 

First off, Johnny Nicol sat down with Jon Steele to look back at Round 19 of the J2 season, including a change of manager for struggling Matsumoto. 

After that, 'Magic' Mike Innes runs the rule over the most recent J3 games, and rounds up some related news items, in 'J-Talk: Short Corner'.

Just the six J1 games from the weekend to review, but still plenty of great goals and talking points from another top flight matchday.

After a brief ACL and Emperor's Cup status check off the top, we cover wins for Hiroshima, Shonan and Kobe in Part 1 (to 40:20), then chat about the Kashima vs Sendai draw, and victories for Sapporo and FC Tokyo against the bottom two.

If you've waited ALL week for a podcast, it had better be worth your while, right? 

• 00:00-17:11 - Sir Jon Steele gives an overview of what happened in the latest round of J2 games.

It's a long one, but well worth your time. Thank you for your support as always, and enjoy your football!!!

Jonny Nicol guests as we piece together the J-Talk Best XI from the first half of the J1 season.

After a brief news and notes roundup at the start of the episode (to 13:00), we go from back to front on the pitch, beginning with goalkeeper and our four-man defence (to 37:31).

Then we stock the midfield and attack in our 4-3-3 formation, with perhaps a couple of controversial selections throughout the team, but hopefully you'll find this an enjoyable listen - it was certainly a lot of fun for the three of us during recording.

A bit later than planned, Jon Steele & Mike Innes are back to round up all of the J2 & J3-related action from last week's Emperor's Cup Round 2 ties.

Enjoy the show - a 'full' JTET episode with a review of last weekend's J2 & J3 action is coming later this week!