Marked for Eitaro Matsuda
From our football correspondent
Uneasy
Squad28 Dec 2026
Ryota Izumori and a teammate went at it, and not about football. Training grounds are small places and a long season makes them smaller.
Squad28 Dec 2026
A row about effort at Sagan Tosu
Somebody said out loud what several people thought about how hard another man trains, and Kenta Nishizawa was in the middle of it. The one dressing-room argument that is genuinely about football.
The dugout28 Dec 2026
The manager makes an example of Fuchi Honda
“If you cannot run for the shirt, somebody else will wear it.” No name was used and none was needed; every player in that room knew who it was for.
The dugout28 Dec 2026
It is never announced and it is entirely visible: the biggest afternoons of the season keep containing him. A press box works this out long before anybody at the club confirms a word of it.
Market28 Dec 2026
It has been denied twice and printed three times, which is the usual arithmetic. Until Ryota Izumori signs something — a contract at Sagan Tosu or anywhere else — this column belongs to him.
Market28 Dec 2026
The list is a quiet document with a loud meaning. Yoshiki Narahara may talk to anybody who asks, and everybody at the club understands what that means.
Back issues
From our football correspondent
Uneasy
Squad16 Nov 2026
Ryota Izumori was at the centre of it, and by the time it was pulled apart there were three or four others involved. Training grounds are small places and long seasons make them smaller.
Squad16 Nov 2026
A row about effort at Sagan Tosu
Somebody said out loud what several people thought about how hard another man trains, and Kenta Nishizawa was in the middle of it. The one dressing-room argument that is genuinely about football.
The dugout16 Nov 2026
The manager makes an example of Eitaro Matsuda
“If you cannot run for the shirt, somebody else will wear it.” No name was used and none was needed; every player in that room knew who it was for.
From our football correspondent
Uneasy
Squad9 Nov 2026
Kenta Nishizawa and a teammate said things this week that will take longer than a week to unsay. It was not about football, and both of them play on Saturday.
Squad9 Nov 2026
Words at Sagan Tosu training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Yasuki Kimoto is at the centre of it, and the squad will now find out whether the standard rises or the pair of them simply stop speaking.
The dugout9 Nov 2026
Eitaro Matsuda asks for a word with the manager
“I would rather say it to his face than read about it.” The meeting was requested by the player, which tells you most of what you need to know.
The dugout9 Nov 2026
He asked about his future and was given an answer with minutes in it. The manager has now made a promise in a building where promises are remembered, and the clock on it has started.
Squad9 Nov 2026
A rating of 6.64 was enough for the selectors, and nobody who watched the match is going to argue with them.
The dugout9 Nov 2026
“Judge me on him.” Managers do not say that kind of thing by accident — it moves the pressure from Hiromu Mitsumaru’s shoulders onto his own, and both of them know it.
From our football correspondent
Crisis
Squad5 Oct 2026
There were 9 saves in it, and at least three that had no business being saves at all. The ten outfield players owe him a drink and they know it.
Match3 Oct 2026
0‑3 to Vissel Kobe, and it was every bit as bad as the number suggests. There are defeats you argue about and defeats you apologise for; this was the second kind.
The dugout5 Oct 2026
“I was told what my role would be, and I signed on that basis. It has not happened.” A grievance with a date attached is the hardest kind to settle.
Match3 Oct 2026
The wait goes on for Sagan Tosu
4 without a win now, and the ground has developed the special quiet of a crowd that expects the worst. One scrappy 1-0 would cure most of it; that is the maddening part.
Squad5 Oct 2026
Ryota Izumori and a teammate went at it, and not about football. Training grounds are small places and a long season makes them smaller.
Squad5 Oct 2026
A row about effort at Sagan Tosu
Somebody said out loud what several people thought about how hard another man trains, and Kenta Nishizawa was in the middle of it. The one dressing-room argument that is genuinely about football.
Boardroom5 Oct 2026
Nobody left the Sagan Tosu dressing room in a hurry
The door stayed shut a long time after the final whistle. What was said in there is between them; whether it worked is between them and Saturday.
Squad5 Oct 2026
10 new faces, and Sagan Tosu are still learning each other
A squad rebuilt inside one window pays for it in a currency nobody budgets for. The football is not worse than the sum of the players; it is worse than the sum of the players who have played together before.
The dugout5 Oct 2026
The manager’s verdict
“That is on me. I pick the team and I picked wrong.” Managers say that when they mean it and when they need to be seen to, and after 0‑3 Nagatomo Ueda left the room before anybody could ask which.
From our football correspondent
Uneasy
Squad21 Sep 2026
Kenta Nishizawa and a teammate went at it, and not about football. Training grounds are small places and a long season makes them smaller.
Squad21 Sep 2026
Words at Sagan Tosu training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Ryo Shiohama is at the centre of it, and the squad will now find out whether the standard rises or the pair of them simply stop speaking.
Squad21 Sep 2026
200 times in these colours, in all weathers and under four or five different managers. That kind of service is quietly disappearing from the game.
Player ratings21 Sep 2026
Successful dribbles: 15. There is a particular sort of despair on a full-back's face by the seventieth minute, and it was on display.
The dugout21 Sep 2026
“It is not the end of the world and it is not good enough. Both of those are true.” The manager, after a 0‑0 draw, said the honest thing and then went to say it again inside.
Match19 Sep 2026
Point won or two lost for Sagan Tosu?
Ninety minutes, no goals, and the argument started before the car park emptied: a point gained, or two thrown away against Omiya Ardija? Both sides of it will still be going on Thursday.
The dugout21 Sep 2026
The plan did not have a place for Yuta Imazu
Nobody at Sagan Tosu is suggesting he is out of form. The manager simply wanted somebody with a different set of qualities for ninety specific minutes, and there is nothing a player can train to fix that.
The dugout21 Sep 2026
Eitaro Matsuda knocks on the manager’s door
“Thirty minutes, door closed, everything said. We shook hands after.” Whatever was in the room stayed in the room, and Eitaro Matsuda trained the next morning like a man with less to carry.
Squad21 Sep 2026
Jo has taken the shirt
At 27 he is in the side on merit and somebody else is watching from the bench. Places at Sagan Tosu are won quietly and lost loudly.
From our football correspondent
Crisis
Match12 Sep 2026
0‑3 to FC Tokyo, and it was every bit as bad as the number suggests. There are defeats you argue about and defeats you apologise for; this was the second kind.
Squad14 Sep 2026
Form comes and goes; this has not gone. Keisuke Sakaiya is 21, and the version of him training now would not have got into the side he was in a year ago.
Squad14 Sep 2026
Words at Sagan Tosu training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Kenta Nishizawa is at the centre of it, and the squad will now find out whether the standard rises or the pair of them simply stop speaking.
The dugout14 Sep 2026
“I pick players who do the work. All of it.” No name was spoken; every camera still turned to Ryota Izumori, and the manager let it.
Boardroom14 Sep 2026
The music was off and the showers ran late. What was said in that dressing room stays there, but Saturday will publish the minutes.
Squad14 Sep 2026
Masataka Kobayashi was at the centre of it, and by the time it was pulled apart there were three or four others involved. Training grounds are small places and long seasons make them smaller.
The dugout14 Sep 2026
The manager’s verdict
“That is on me. I pick the team and I picked wrong.” Managers say that when they mean it and when they need to be seen to, and after 0‑3 Nagatomo Ueda left the room before anybody could ask which.
Player ratings14 Sep 2026
Successful dribbles: 13. There is a particular sort of despair on a full-back's face by the seventieth minute, and it was on display.
Looking ahead14 Sep 2026
He used to wear the other shirt. On Saturday he plays against Omiya Ardija in this one, and whatever he says this week about it being just another game will be untrue.