Damn seeing Tachibana going hard like that was so thrilling! I am so glad he is stepping up in this match and seeing that confidence, realizing his skills are better than he thought, realizing that the other team are actually wary of his plays was so exciting to see. I can't believe he did a handstand goal or whatever it is called in the middle of a match like that, talk about a flashy goal lol. Hopefully this is the start of him having a bigger presence in the team.

I was getting concerned when Ashito was getting anxious after seeing Tachibana scoring and seeing his determination, I thought he might be heading into the wrong direction but it doesn't seem to have been affecting the team as heavily as I thought it would. I think it's fine for him to want to score, but I hope he doesn't neglect his defense in return.

Kuroda actually risked injuring himself in order to save the goal, that was really unexpected and I am sure Togashi is even more shaken up by it since he's looked down especially on Kuroda regarding his plays. I guess Togashi's words really had an effect on Kuroda too. I wonder how Togashi will react to Kuroda's injury next episode.

Agree, after this match probably most of the problem existing in the team will be gone, and the team will be more united and powerful

I am just waiting for some brilliant playmaker moment for Ashito

Probably

The esperion team still has no unity like that togashi and takeshima, kaneda knows they won't work well together that's why he shot that goal but kuroda sacrificed himself and now he's dead

The coach said the MVP here is ashito about instructions and ashito is getting pumped up when tachibana scored that goal and it's all because of that amazing vision follow up of ashito he knows that ohtomo is not gonna make it so he still ran from it to catch the ball

We all know from that and the ending of this ep that ashito is gonna become captain. He’ll have no clue as to why he’s captain and a few may dissagree but overtime everyone will realise and see why he’s effective as captain and hopefully he’ll score next episode and we see esperion win

I kind of feel like his obsession to score this match will cripple his playmaking judgment. I can't help but feel as though Aoi will be the strongest when he's playing to get the ball in the goal regardless of who does it. I'm super pumped on how this anime goes off the traditional route as in any other soccer anime, we'd have never expected the MC to be moved to defense the way Aoi was.

For the story and anime it's amazing. In actuality that goal would've been a foul for dangerous play, because his feet where at head height.....

But then it was like a modified bicycle kick so i can see it as a goal/ non goal in real life

Congrats Tachibana on your first goal of the season 🥰🥰

And one of the best goal I've seen, congrats indeed

seriously, like why did he do a 1 hand flip?

He couldn't get his head on it in time so he went with the bicycle at point blank range...

Tachibana is the reason to stick with first plan, don't change plan instantly

The captain was like against it and got angry when tachibana said to stay with the plan and the captain was like you can't even score and now you have the nerve to talk like that

hurray, now he scored, he is allowed to talk again xD

Great save by Kuroda, but painful

If he slammed against the post with his nuts, he wont be able to recover for a long time lol

He should've open his eyes that's his mistake and even in unconscious his eyes is closed lol

Well iure that close to something you best pray it wont hurt as much

Looks like kuroda won't be playing anymore it's time for the bench warmer guys

Tachibana came in for the steal like "SUPRISE MOTHER*****R!" and got his first goal!

Talk about poggers! XD

belive it or not im switching sides, i want that angry champ to win. I belive he deserves it. I'm underdogs fan.

Aoi just needs to see hina and then his mangeyko will activate lol

Hana sitting outside the field just to watch them play is so sad (っ˘̩╭╮˘̩)っ

Time for another Saturday of soccer! Folks, we're almost at the finish line!

2 episodes to go!

Same with Love All Play

dropped that trash

To each is his/hers/their own ¯\_(ツ)_/¯

are they still doing those "Shooto!" calls

lol Love All Play was the badminton anime, Shooto Goal to the Future was the other soccer anime..

ups nevermind then.

Oh no two episodes left. I feel like they're gonnalose because in the opening they're all sad and stuff and this always happens in sports anime

Hopefully we see them win tho

Let's talk ball

Vs Musashino

Football is a mental sport.

One of the reasons why Musashino outplayed Espersion in the previous episode is mentality. They are top of the league. They are in a winning spree and they have a manager they believe in. They are certainly a unit with high heads.

On the other hand, although Espersion have superior players but they are in poor form. They are a team of divided individuals. They are a team that lack beliefs. (Like Espersion players questioning Nozomi's direct ball tactic after going one down)

When somebody lacks belief in life, they often walk on wrong pathways. This is where a leader comes in.

A leader guides, a leader inspires, a leader gives you confidence and confidence gives you self belief.

A leader among men is Musashino's captain, Motou Chaiki.
He's a pillar to the team. When his team was panicking from Espersion's direct ball, he guided the team out of trouble by taking responsibility, absorbing the pressure of the situation. He held the team together.

A leader on the pitch is what Espersion lacks. A leader off the pitch is present in Date Nozomi.

Nozomi's constant guidence was the reason behind Espersion's equalizer.

A goal by Tachibana for Nozomi.

When someone believes in you when you are all low & dejected, that person is the one you can truely die for.

That's the beauty of this goal. Tachibana was ready to die on the pitch for his coach.

It's not solely plot powers why Tachibana turned on. Even in real life especially the prime Mourinho teams that conquered Europe had several players who were ready to die for Mourinho.

Mourinho calls such players "the mad dogs." Such players are truely dangerous as they are ready to throw everything in order to win. Thats why they are called "those who are ready to die".

Similar thing in the United teams under Sir Alex. Players under Sir Alex only feared one thing and that was defeat. This is how greatness is achieved.

Back to the match;
The momentum is now with Espersion. With Aoi playmaking from fullback a goal was on the cards untill Satake pulled the strings.

High defense line + offside traps, tactical masterclass from Satake.

The reason Satake instructed to form a highline of defense is to increase the efficiency of his team's high pressing. With a highline, the active area of play on the pitch is drastically reduced. Now there are more players in a smaller area, leading to shortage of space. Combine that with Musashino's high press, it's a very suffocating situation for the opponent team. The space left in behind is checked by the "offside traps".

Offside trap is a double edge sword, if the coordination among the defenders is slightly off, the attacking team can very very easily score a goal. (Just like when Aoi was through on goal) It's almost like "living on the edge". Many top teams like Liverpool, Man City to name a few play with a high line.

LMAO Liverpool got battered 4-1 by Napoli as their highline was brutally exposed. But Musashino's defenders are well trained & none of them idolizes Harry Maguire OR defends like Trent👍

This match has just started there's plenty more to come.

Offside trap always just makes me shout at the screen. >_< Either my team completely botches it, or gets completely shut down by it. Never seems to work in our favor.

Another great episode. Was really good to see Tachibana finally getting on the scoresheet and boosting his confidence. His dribbling and hold up play was amazing. That being said, the way he scored his goal was extremely extra for no reason so that was funny 😂

But damn, Musashino's manager really knows what he's doing and how to get the best out of Kaneda. His tactical expertise was on full display and Kaneda looks like an absolute headache for defenders to deal with. Could've easily had a first half hattrick in this game.

Also, there's no way Aoi was offside for his goal. That linesman has to be blind LOL!

At this point Takeshima and Pompadour dude (forgot his name but I love him) just have to tackle the sh*t out of him or just rough play him cause as soon as he gets the ball he's a menace

the risk of doing that though is that if they bring him down as the last man in defence, they run the risk of getting a red card. So they have to still be careful with how they tackle him

Trueeee though they can only do that if they're not the last. And man they're supposed to be both guarding him and he slips between them every chance he gets 😂😂 get it together boys.

fr they need to work on their coordination

That should have been a goal but ashito was in the offside and it made ashito angry at that referee lol then ohtomo is holding ashito

Don't even think it was offside, based on the angle they showed us. Bad call from the linesman

That suprise pikachu face of the butler on Ashito's offside.
Nice to see Ohtomo, Tachibana and Aoi trio at work. That was one hell of a kick from Tachibana also finally getting the recognition he deserves.

He doesn't talk that much but every scene we get to see him in this episode he keeps getting shock

Tachibana is so invincible after that goal and he can sensed that musashino is afraid of him and it made esperion happy

Happy birthday to Sailor Mercury!

( ͡° ͜ʖ ͡°)

...oh, sorry, I was just thinking about the last thing I saw her in. :P

Hentai?

Mochiron!