Football Season Guide

Pleased to bounce back to the top flight immediately after being relegated in 2023. Enjoyed a solid last campaign in J2 and deservedly grabbed the second automatic promotion spot. Had by far the best defensive record in J2 last season, only 27 goals conceded in 38 rounds. This saw them lose only 6 games all season. Of course, key figure for the great defensive stats was captain Gabriel. He has left the team now. The other three major departures are that of another important defender Takumi Nakamura, winger Caprini and the impactful playmaker Shion Inoue. All of them will be missed. Coach Yomoda, in charge since January 2022, added experienced defenders Kosuke Yamazaki and Makito Ito to the ranks. They should become regular starters but it is yet to be seen if they can be as effective at the back as Gabriel and Nakamura were. The other notable new arrival is another veteran. The 32-year-old Yoshiaki Komai should be taking over the creative attacking responsibilities Caprini had last season. Yokohama are set to continue using a 3-man defence. However, with much better opponents facing them now it is also expected to use mostly defensive-minded wide players, so in many games the formation will likely look more like 5 at the back.