The J-Talk Podcast

This week's episode wraps up J1 Matchday 7 with Sam Robson and Tobias Dreimann.

In Part 1 Tobias shares his thoughts on the season to date for top flight leaders Hiroshima, after they retained their hold on top spot with a come from behind 4-2 win at Kobe on Sunday. We then move on to the contrasting victory secured by second-placed FC Tokyo, who burst out of the gates and put Kashima away in the first half hour at Ajinomoto Stadium, before moving on to preview the crunch clash between the top two in Hiroshima on Friday night (to 41:35).

Then after we bid Tobias farewell, Sam runs through the other results from the round, beginning with Oita going third after their home win over Sendai, and including the action-packed draw between Yokohama and Nagoya, and Shimizu claiming a huge first win of the season in the Shizuoka Derby against Iwata.

Follow my guests on twitter:

Sam - @FRsoccerSam

Tobias - @ConDrei

Sam Robson, Dan Orlowitz and Stuart Smith guest on this week's podcast to round up another weekend of J.League action.

In Part 1 Dan joins Sam to chat about FC Tokyo's 2-1 home win over Shimizu on Saturday, and new table toppers Hiroshima, who climbed to the summit on goal difference ahead of Tokyo after sweeping aside Gamba Osaka 3-0 at home (to 30:12).

Then after we bid Dan farewell Sam and I round up the rest of the J1 Matchday 6 action, beginning with the three games last Friday night, and finishing with first wins of the season for Iwata and Sendai (to 1:00:50).

Next we turn our attention to J2, and Stuart chats about new leaders Yamagata and the rest of the top five, including Sunday's big FC Ryukyu vs Kashiwa showdown (to 1:14:35), before we move on to some other talking points around the league (to 1:26:20), and finish with a brief check on J3.

Follow my guests on twitter:

Sam - @FRsoccerSam

Dan - @aishiterutokyo

Stuart - @sushi_football

On our first J2 Special of the new second tier campaign, Geoff Osborne, Steve Barme and Jon Steele guest to review the first month of the season.

In Part 1 Geoff makes a barnstorming J-Talk debut as he chats about surprise leaders FC Ryukyu's superb start to life in J2, and also discusses some of the special challenges the club faces in establishing a football culture down in Okinawa in such a unique setting (to 24:14).

Then Steve visits to talk about Omiya's teething problems under new manager Takuya Takagi, and another underwhelming start to the season for the Squirrels (to 37:50), before Jon rounds up the rest of the big stories from Matchday 5 and the first month of the season as a whole (to 1:03:35), with a brief check on J3, who played Matchday 3 over the weekend, thrown in at the end of the episode at no extra charge.

Follow my guests on twitter and the web:

Geoff - @OkinawaOzzy

Geoff's FC Ryukyu Updates blog

Steve - @AgentOrange2009

Jon - @J2KantoBites

Sam Robson returns to the pod for a full review of J1 Matchday 4, while there's also a full debut from Alex Bishop, who joins us at the start of the episode to chat about new table toppers FC Tokyo.

Alex and Sam discuss Tokyo's home win over Nagoya that saw them leapfrog Grampus to the summit, the capital club's progression in their second season under Kenta Hasegawa, and whether that will be sustainable in the long term (to 17:03).

Then after we bid Alex farewell, Sam and I run the rule over the other results, beginning with Oita's meteoric rise to third following their excellent home win over Yokohama, and working our way down the table before finishing with the matchday's only draw, between Kobe and Shimizu (to 56:55). We finish off the episode with a chat about Hajime Moriyasu's experimental Japan squad, ahead of the friendlies against Colombia and Bolivia.

Follow my guests on twitter:

Sam - @FRsoccerSam

Alex - @abishop32

In this week's episode we go east and west (and north and south?) in J1 with Scott McIntyre and Alan Gibson, and Jon Steele fills us in on another terrific J2 matchday.

In Part 1 Scott discusses Sunday's big Kanagawa Derby at the Nissan Stadium, FC Tokyo finally breaking their home league goal drought, first wins for top flight powerhouses Urawa and Kashima, and Sapporo's goalfest at home against Shimizu in all its Anderson Lopes-inspired glory, before we finish with a spot of ACL chat (to 42:45).

Then Alan chats about a mixed weekend for the Kansai clubs - home defeats for Osaka pair Gamba and Cerezo, but a strong away win for Kobe at Sendai - before we cheer plucky Oita's second away win of the new season, and look ahead to a quirky Matchday 4 fixture list (to 1:11:18).

Finally, Jon gives props to surprising J2 table-toppers FC Ryukyu and Mito, and we work our way through all of the second tier Matchday 3 action, a round of games where if you weren't winning 1-0 away you just weren't doing things right. We finish the episode by touching on J3, after the first round of the 2019 season was played over the weekend.

Follow my guests on twitter and the web:

Scott - @mcintinhos

The Asian Game podcast

Alan - @jsoccermagazine

JSoccer.com

Jon - @J2KantoBites

After another action-packed weekend in J1 and J2, Sean Carroll, Adrian Serna, Sean Galbraith and Charlie Houghton all guest (separately) on this week's episode, which is dedicated to the memory of Yokohama F.Marinos supporter Han Kessels, who tragically passed away last week at the age of just 52. Messages of condolence for Han can be left here (http://bit.ly/rememberingHan) and will be passed on to his family and friends.

In Part 1 of the podcast Sean Carroll begins with his thoughts on joint table-toppers Nagoya and Yokohama, before discussing the Kawasaki vs Kashima game that he attended last Friday night. We then move on to review six other J1 Matchday 2 games (to 37:40).

Then Adrian joins me to chat about Nagoya's improved squad and their excellent start to the new campaign (to 48:30), before Sean Galbraith shares his own memories of Han Kessels, and enthuses about Yokohama's strong first two games (to 1:02:50).

Then finally Charlie raves about Kofu's offensive outburst in their big win at Yamaguchi, and Ryukyu's burning start to life in J2, before we finish with some of the other noteworthy scores and storylines from the second round of the second tier season.

Follow my guests on twitter:

Sean Carroll - @seankyaroru

Adrian - @758adrian

Sean Galbraith - @1amSage

Charlie - @FRsoccerCharlie

Sam Robson and Stuart Smith guest to review the first weekend of the new season in both J1 and J2.

In Part 1 Sam and I begin with Kawasaki's home stalemate with FC Tokyo and the other three draws in the top flight matchday, then move on to discuss the impressive opening day away wins for Yokohama, champions-elect Oita and Nagoya. We round off our chat with the two home winners - Cerezo Osaka and Shonan (to 34:05).

Then Stuart joins me to revel in FC Gifu's win over Yamagata, before we give praise to second tier new chums FC Ryukyu and Kagoshima United, who both won at home in their first ever J2 fixtures and join Gifu in the top three. Wins for Machida and Kashiwa are also discussed, before we wrap up by touching on the remaining results.

#NOTE# This episode is plagued by audio problems caused by very spotty Skype connections in my chats with both guests. I apologize and did my best in the editing suite, but there were numerous occasions where their voices cut out for over a second at a time. This will certainly affect your listening experience, and again, I apologize.

Follow my guests on twitter:

Sam - @FRsoccerSam

Stuart - @sushi_football

In Part 2 of our J1 Season Preview, Scott McIntyre picks up where we left off in Part 1, previewing all of the teams from Yokohama (12th in 2018) down in last season's standings. We work our way through the teams as follows...

- Season 2 of The Era of Ange at Yokohama - goals galore again (to 9:50)

- Have Shonan restocked enough for a season of mid-table mediocrity? (to 13:55)

- Scott sees a brighter outlook for Tosu, and then our first bet of the new season follows (for the record he still hasn't paid up on our Jo over/under bet from last year) (to 18:00)

- Nagoya's massive range of outcomes (to 23:30)

- Iwata sitting on their hands in the transfer market... bonkers, right? (to 27:00)

- Promoted J2 Champions Matsumoto - have they got juuuuuust enough to hang on second time around? (to 30:35)

- Loads of traffic in and out at promoted Oita, but not enough quality to survive (but possibly a better defence than Kobe, according to Scott).

We then finish (from 33:40) with predictions that are sure to spectacularly blow up in our faces.

Follow Scott on twitter @mcintinhos and check out The Asian Game podcast.

In Part 1 of our monster J1 preview, the Sapporo striker Jay Bothroyd leads things off by talking about his disappointment at Consadole missing out on the ACL places on the final day of last season, and how, despite the club finishing in its highest-ever position in 2018, that setback is driving himself and the team to go one better this year. Jay also chats about the offseason comings and goings at the club, his relationship with Thai forward Chanathip, and how long he will continue playing (to 20:05).

Then my co-pilot for the episode, Scott McIntyre, gives his thoughts on Sapporo, before I chat with Neil Debnam about two-time defending champions Kawasaki (to 44:30) and Scott waxes lyrical about Frontale, before we move on to Hiroshima and Kashima (to 58:55).

Ryan Steele joins me to chat about Urawa's improved squad depth (to 1:10:40), and Scott discusses Reds before we move on to FC Tokyo (to 1:22:20), then, on triple duty, Alan Gibson talks about the contrasting offseasons, and prospects going forward, of the three Kansai clubs - Cerezo Osaka, Kobe and Gamba Osaka (to 1:41:00).

Scott follows with his thoughts on the Kansai trio, before we finish the episode by running the rule over Shimizu and Sendai.

#NOTE# Part 2 of the J1 Preview is also now available for download, and covers Yokohama, Shonan, Tosu, Nagoya and Iwata, as well as promoted teams Matsumoto and Oita.

Follow my guests on twitter and the web:

Jay - @jaybothroyd

Scott - @mcintinhos

The Asian Game podcast

Neil - @frontalerabbit

Neil's Frontale Rabbit blog

Ryan - @steelinho

Alan - @jsoccermagazine

JSoccer.com

We're back with our usual in-depth preview of the new J2 season, with an extra special twist, as new Tokyo Verdy manager Gary White leads things off by sharing his thoughts on the early days of his role in charge of The Greens (to 22:00).

Then Stuart Smith and Jon Steele bring the knowledge on the teams relegated from J1 last season, Kashiwa and Nagasaki (to 32:30), before we work our way through the teams who made the playoffs in 2018 (to 1:02:20), with a special cameo from Steve Barme on Omiya.

I then open the floor to the guys on teams they are looking out for this year, in order, Fukuoka, Kofu, Yamagata, Tokushima, Chiba, FC Gifu, Kyoto and Yamaguchi, before we finish with the two teams promoted from J3 last season - FC Ryukyu and Kagoshima United (to 1:33:15) - and Jon and Stuart share their predicted top sixes.

Follow my guests on twitter:

Gary - @GaryJWhiteTD

Stuart - @sushi_football

Jon - @J2KantoBites

Steve - @AgentOrange2009