Alphabet Challenge | Part 45, Club 22 | Tapping Into Gamba Potential

Six months in Japan had seen Trebor Mahtal successfully steer Gamba Osaka well clear of any relegation concerns while flooding some of the club’s promising youngsters. His big challenge now was to strengthen the squad to compete with Japan’s best.

Mahtal had to be careful of buying from abroad, given that Japanese teams are only allowed to name five foreign players in a matchday squad. And, having sold three foreigners and with four still remaining (further proof that the FM AI is useless at squad building) and one more arriving in June, he focused fully on homegrown talent. His main priority was to strengthen a shaky backline, and he picked up promising centre backs Dai Sueyoshi for £550k from Kashima and Masataka Ikeda for £2.5m from Yokohama F Marinos. They were joined by playmaker Yuta Nomura for up to £4m from Vissel Kobe.

Mahtal also promoted a mass of talented homegrown youngsters, including 16-year-old right back Takuya Kikuchi, 6ft 6in striker Tetsuya Wada and centre back Yu Fukunishi and 17-year-old striker Keigo Kikuchi, right back Hayato Tominaga and goalkeepers Yoshihiro Michiue and Kotaro Chikaishi.

Mahtal slightly switched up his approach, moving away from the 3-4-3 to more of a 3-5-2. The experienced Koki Kaneko comes in alongside exciting young South African Wandile Fortuin up top with vice captain a few youngsters competing for places alongside playmaker Ales Vorel. Ikeda and Sueyoshi come straight into the first 11 alongside captain Jung Won-Jin and Shintaro Ikefuji is also retraining to play in a deeper midfield role.

First Full Season In Japan

The transfer business didn’t affect the bookies’ expectations, predicting Gamba to finish 14th with title odds of 200/1. Holders Yokohama F Marinos are Evens favourites to make it three consecutive titles and six in the last seven, followed by Vissel Kobe (13/2), Kashima (8/1), Kawasaki Frontale (10/1), and Avispa Fukuoka, Urawa Red Diamonds and Cerezo Osaka (20/1). Mahtal was quietly confident his young team could surprise a few and push for a top-half finish as he looked to tap into the Gamba potential.

Mahtal’s first full season in Japan began at home to Albirex Niigata and the sides played out a dire 0-0 with a combined four shots on target – equalling the number of 0-0s they had all of last season. There was far more entertainment in their first away game as a Fortuin double led a 4-1 win at promoted Shimizu S-Pulse. Last season, Gamba only won four away games, but they got halfway to that tally already as Ikefuji’s early strike edged a 1-0 at Kashiwa Reysol, in which Fukunishi became the youngest ever J1 League and Gamba player aged just 16 years 54 days. Two weeks later, fellow 16-year-old Wada scored 21 minutes into his debut to decide the Osaka Derby against Cerezo, which made the club’s youngest ever goalscorer aged 16 years 268 days.

The strong start continued as Vorel, Wada and K Kikuchi’s first senior goal earned a 3-0 win over Ventforet Kofu, which took Gamba top of J1 after 8 games. But that didn’t last long as consecutive 1-0 defeats, before a solid 0-0 with Vissel Kobe, plummeted them down to 7th. That inevitably ushered in a poor run before Kaneko’s 93rd-minute strike nicked a fortuitous 1-0 at leaders Avispa and youngsters Wada and T Kikuchi, who replaced Wada as the club’s youngest scorer aged 16 years and 242 days, earned a 2-0 over FC Tokyo.

Cup Disappointment

In addition to the league, Japan has two cup competitions. The J.League Cup kicked off during the busy early league period, and a tired Gamba side fell at the first hurdle on penalties to second-tier Machida Zelvia after drawing 3-3 over two legs. The more reputable Emperor’s Cup began in June with an Osaka Derby and Fortuin’s brace earned a 3-0 win over Cerezo. They eased past third-tier Ehime 3-1 and dominated Ventforet 4-1 led by a Wada double to reach the quarter final. However, they then drew 19-times winners YFM, who’d won the competition in the previous seven years, away from home. But they held their own with Wada scoring twice, only to draw 2-2 and lose 3-2 in a disastrous penalty shootout.

Targeting a Top-Half Finish

The second half of the season began with Wada scoring the only goal as Michiue made 8 saves on his league debut. However, they were thumped 5-1 at Albirex and dominated 2-0 at Shonan, denting outside hopes of reaching continental competitions. But their inconsistency shone again as Kaneko, Ikefuji and Ryoo’s late winner earned a 3-2 victory over YFM, then losing 2-0 at rivals Cerezo. Duarte made an immediate impact as he scored a 30-yarder just before halftime and laid on the second for Nomura just after it to tee up a 4-0 thumping of struggling Shimizu. That was followed by a hugely surprising result as the rapidly improving Wada bagged a hat trick in a 6-1 demolition of 4th-place Kawasaki Frontale.

Game 1 – Tokyo Verdy (14th, home): An exciting youth prospect (see below) impressed on his debut at the heart of the defence as Michiue’s six saves earned a 1-0 win.

Game 2 – FC Tokyo (2nd, away): That result was bettered at FC Tokyo as a late goal by left back Fuga Tone nicked a 3-2 win that lifted Gamba all the way up to 3rd.

Game 3 – Sagan Tosu (18th, home): Any outside hopes of the title were dashed as Gamba slipped to a 2-1 defeat at relegation-fighting Sagan. That left a two-horse title battle, while Gamba faced a thrilling fight for the other two continental places. Gamba in 3rd led surprise strugglers YFM in 8th by just 3 points.

Game 4 – Kyoto Sanga (20th, away): Gamba’s final away game was a must-win, and they delivered, Midfielder Koji Osada scored his first of the season inside 90 seconds and Duarte created goals for midfielder Shuto Nakamura and Wada to secure a 3-1 win that relegated Kyoto. That took them 2 points clear of Shonan in 5th and 3 clear of YFM and Vissel Kobe in 6th and 7th.

Game 5 – Urawa Red Diamonds (10th, home): Gamba wrapped up at Osaka Stadium, knowing a point should be enough to qualify for continental competition. And that’s exactly what they got as Vorel’s early header was cancelled out late on. But that was enough to secure qualification for the AFC Champions League for the first time in 28 years. Elsewhere, Kawasaki Frontale battered Shonan 7-1 on the final day to win their 8th title and first since 2045.

Gamba finished in an impressive 3rd on 68 points (22 more than last season), after 19 wins, 11 draws and 8 defeats, scoring 57 and conceding 38 (10 more and 15 fewer than last season). Impressive youngster Wada was the league’s 8th top scorer with 14 in 26, only 9 fewer than Kashima striker Kosuke Nishiyama’s 23 in 35, and Vorel was the 11th top assister with 8. As a result, Wada was deservedly named J.League Best Young Player with Ikeda in 3rd.

Youngsters Deliver Huge Improvement – With Plenty More To Come

Mahtal was delighted with the progress his young squad had made this season. They’d gone from mid-table fodder to a strong showing in the second half of the season edging them into Asia’s premier club competition. The star of the season was very much Wada, who scored an impressive 18 goals in 30 games, without a single assist. Fortuin scored 13 in 37 followed by Nomura and Kaneko (7) and K Kikuchi (4). Vorel led the way with 10 assists, followed by Nomura (9), Okanishi (7) and Kaneko (5).

Gamba’s potential was again boosted by a stellar youth intake led by unbelievable centre back Hiroshi Nagai, who comes through as the second-best defender and fourth-best player at the club! Mahtal locked him down to a six-year deal, alongside fellow graduates centre back Yusuke Uemoto, winger Keisuke Iwamoto and striker Tetsuro Shugyo.

Could Mahtal continue to improve this exciting young Gamba Osaka side? And how would they fare as they moved into the Champions League? Join us on Friday to find out!