Nagoya Grampus are traditionally built upon an excellent defense and last season Kenta Hasegawa was hired to jumpstart the attack. With a year under Hasegawa under their belt, Grampus are now hoping to have both the sturdy defense and inventive attack that can push them towards the top of the table. Will they reach those heights in 2023?

Last season

Hasegawa’s first season in charge at Toyota Stadium was a bit rocky. The attacking jump that Grampus were hoping for did not come, but a shift to a three-man back line midseason sorted out their back line and they finished the season with the best defense in the league once again.

The midseason system change proved crucial as Grampus lost just three of their last 17 matches to climb the table and finish eighth.

Goal for 2023

Grampus finished third in 2020 and won the J.League YBC Levain Cup in 2021 so they are not far removed from some terrific seasons. There’s no reason they can’t have another in 2023.

The key for Nagoya will be sorting out the attack, which should be aided by the addition of Kasper Junker from Urawa Reds. The Dane has showed he’s capable of being a match-winner, but it’s about finding consistency from the dangerous striker. With Mateus back on board, there are the pieces for Grampus to have the attacking verve they need to compete at the very top of the Meiji Yasuda J1 League.

What to watch for

In addition to Junker, Grampus brought on Ryuji Izumi, Yuki Nogami, Riku Yamada and Takuji Yonemoto. They had to do so because Yuki Soma, Léo Silva, Keiya Sento and Yoichiro Kakitani all departed, so there’s been a lot of change at Toyota Stadium.

Fortunately, the familiarity of Hasegawa’s season, the magical Mateus, Sho Inagaki as a midfield tackling machine and Mitchell Langerak in goal gives Grampus a lot of dependability to fall back on. The key is Hasegawa engineering the attack, which is why he was hired and now he’s been armed with Junker to help him do just that.

Score and the sky is the limit in Nagoya.