Nagoya Grampus have made a managerial change, parting ways with Massimo Ficcadenti and replacing him with F.C.Tokyo’s Kenta Hasegawa.

Ficcadenti had been the boss at Nagoya since the fall of 2019, when he took over Grampus for the end of the season. He instilled a strong defensive mindset at the club and no club in the MEIJI YASUDA J1 LEAGUE allowed fewer goals over the last two seasons.

Nagoya finished third place in 2020, earning them a spot in the 2021 AFC Champions League, where Grampus were the final Japanese club standing. They slipped to fifth place in 2021, but did win the J.LEAGUE YBC Levain CUP.

Hasegawa comes to Nagoya after four years at F.C.Tokyo, where he led the club to finishes of sixth place, second and sixth again before resigning after an 8-0 loss in November as Tokyo spent much of the season mid-table.

Hasegawa is one of Japan’s most storied football men, having played for Nissan Motors and then Shimizu S-Pulse at the J.LEAGUE’s founding. He also earned 27 caps for the Samurai Blue before moving onto managing, where he led S-Pulse and then led Gamba Osaka to promotion from J2 in 2013, then a remarkable treble in 2014.