The Gamba Osaka Herald
Squad19 Feb 2029
Tempers go at Gamba Osaka
Nobuteru Nakagawa 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 dugout19 Feb 2029
When it matters, Ritsu Doan plays
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.
Boardroom19 Feb 2029
Gamba Osaka bank $700.0K from an old deal
The unglamorous genius of a well-written contract. Kanji Okunuki is somebody else's player now, and $700.0K has arrived because the people who sold him thought further ahead than the transfer window.
Market19 Feb 2029
The Ryoya Yamashita question follows Gamba Osaka around
Every press conference now starts and ends the same way: with Ryoya Yamashita’s future. The manager has run out of new ways to say nothing.
Squad19 Feb 2029
Matthew Grimaldi remains an outsider
A year in and the city has not opened up, the language has not come, and lunch is eaten alone more often than anybody at Gamba Osaka would admit. It shows on Saturdays.
The dugout19 Feb 2029
Riku Handa keeps his manager's vote
The message was aimed at the stands as much as the dressing room: Riku Handa plays, and the argument is closed until the manager decides otherwise.
In brief
- Squad Yosuke Maeda is not doing himself any favours
- Squad Ritsu Doan is the talk of the training ground
- Boardroom The Gamba Osaka board choose calm