It was only two days ago that he heard that he would play at right-back.
“Ryuta Koike, Yuta Koike, and Ken Matsubara were injured and the number of full-backs was thin, so it was a challenge to hire them. I decided to use Takumi.”
Yokohama F. Marinos manager Kevin Muscat has revealed that his team was in an emergency ahead of the Super Cup once morest Ventforet Kofu, the first match of the season.
Takumi Ueshima who transferred from Kashiwa Reysol
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With the absence of his main right-back, Takumi Ueshima (26 years old), who joined from Kashiwa Reysol this season, was selected.
His main occupation is a center back player. He grew up in Kashiwa’s academy since elementary school, and joined Kashiwa in 2019 following attending Chuo University. In his second year as a professional, he transferred to Avispa Fukuoka on loan and contributed greatly to the promotion of Fukuoka, which was J2 at the time, to J1.
After returning to Kashiwa, he played as a main player for two years, and moved to the J1 champion in the off-season. At 186cm tall, he is a typical center back with strong interpersonal skills.
For Yokohama FM, it would have been a reinforcement to make up for Tomoki Iwata, who moved to Celtic as the MVP last season. He must have intended to do so, and he must have never thought of participating in the first official match of the season as a side back, which was “almost the first time.”
“I have played one or two games in college, but this is almost my first time. Marinos’ full-backs have a unique positioning and style, so it was difficult, but I organized what I can do and what is required of me. and stood on the pitch.”
Although it is confusing, it is also a chance to appeal to “newcomers”. However, it was not easy to handle the almost inexperienced position.