WGCC 2017 M: Japan’s coach knows recipe for competing with top-level teams in Tokyo 2020…

Yuichi-Nakagaichi

That was exactly the fact of which Yuichi Nakagaichi, the head coach of Japan, has spoken the most at the press conference after the match against Brazil, today.

“We knew that playing against world No. 1 Brazil would be an uphill battle. Until the end of the third set, we couldn’t show what we wanted to do, but in the end, the players were shouting out loud and really expressing themselves. But it was too little, too late. However, I think the players realized the meaning of expressing themselves like this. Today, (Naonobu) Fujii and (Haku) Ri allowed Bruno and Lucas to do what they wanted. We used (Taishi) Onodera for a lengthy outing and gave him more of a chance. When they targeted him with their service, his lack of technique and rough edges showed. However, when he was on the court, Brazil’s offense shifted to the middle and left, so his presence did have an impact,” Nakagaichi said.

“Looking towards Tokyo 2020, we need more tall players like Onodera. Overall in this competition, in the first half, Ishikawa couldn’t get going, so we kind of lost direction as a result and that showed our immaturity as a team. Maybe also our conditioning was poor and we need to think more about that especially before major competitions. It was our first opportunity this year to play against top-level teams and obviously, the players realized the gap there is between them and us. We want to face more teams with height and power and find ways out of our problems. We need to develop players like Onodera,” Japan’s head coach explained the vision of his national team in this Olympic quadrennial.

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