The match against Aomori Seiran continues with Makimura’s incredible save. It’s quite interesting to learn that the real play from Fukuda is that he wants the match to at least be tied up at the half. Of course Esperion needs to win this match to win so no doubt it’s about leverage. But what could his strategy be that relies on not being behind?
It seems another key in Coach Narimiya’s strategy is the storming tactic. Essentially they want to create pressure in the inexperienced. We see that with them putting Haneda man-to-man on Ashito. Also with Tachibana we see another strategy in pressuring the inexperienced. The point is make the inexperienced person forced to decide under duress. The ones in Esperion who are going pro like Yamada will be fine in this situation, but those like Tachibana will be in a position that they are uncomfortable in which works in favor of Aomori Seiran because they are used to playing in that type of pressure. Esperion is much more fundamental and strategic.
One aspect of Ashito’s strength is picking up loose balls. It makes sense with his vision he will naturally pull himself looking at his teammates, which helps him figure out where to go faster. Kitano Ren is the first player with the Eagles Eye view that Ashito has to face against. So naturally dealing with it is sa challenge. Before Ashito could be seen as having a head start when examining the playing field. But Kitano also gets that head start, so while it can be viewed that Ashito inherently knows where everyone will be. It requires more of a guess regarding Kitano. No surprise that this shakes Ashito. There is a sense that Kitano Ren’s game is something Fukuda really wants Ashito to model off as a playmaker.
Fukuda’s adjustments for both Baba and Tachibana are interesting. Essentially Baba will man-to-man mark Kitano while Tachibana stays on the offensive part of the field even when Aomori Seiran has the ball. For much of the 3rd year in Esperion we saw them make a huge impact and go pro very early. However Baba is not like them, which is a nice showcase that for him his only path is university. His frustration with the first years came from his pride. Fukuda smartly knows how to use it well in this match.
Of course Baba can’t do it by himself with the kind of player that Kitano is. Sadly one issue is that Kitano has made Ashito hesitant. Thankfully we see that Akutsu to cover for Baba when he needs it. But it raises the issue that Ashito hesitated; here is something he can’t be doing because his eagle eye becomes useless in that scenario. It’s good for Akutsu to push him to trust his gut because that’s what Ashito needs to do in the 2nd half for the team to win.
As pointed out by Fukuda in the earlier parts of the series Ashito doesn’t have the qualities of an ideal forward. But Tachibana with his legs and acceleration does. It’s interesting that alone is a big boost in this match. We see it in the past that Tachibana is his own worst enemy, where his issue lies when he lacks confidence. The biggest example is the Musashino game where he found that extra gear to make an impact. Once his confidence was back he did great in the Musashino match.
Tachibana was so close to scoring a goal, but just missing was huge. As Aomori Seiran’s strategy is to force the mistakes of the first years. It gives them doubt to see what Tachibana can do and what Fukuda believes in him. Which is why going to halftime there is some doubt is Aomori Seiran and it is curious what are the adjustments are that Fukuda has planned.
