The J-talk Podcast

The JTET boys are back to pick over the bones of the opening round in J2 2025! Kicking off a new, streamlined pod format, Jon runs through the scores on the doors from Round 1 in a whistle-stop roundup (Start to 03:15). Jon then sat down with James to discuss their 'Match of the Week', focusing in detail on Omiya's return to J2 life against Yamagata at a sold-out NACK-5 Stadium in Saitama (03:15 to 20:40). The gentlemen then move on to regular segments 'Most Bravo Player' (20:40 to 25:00), then bring up the rear with a look ahead to the key games on the upcoming Round 2 slate (25:00 to Finish). Stay tuned for J3 content in 'J-Talk: Short Corner', coming soon! Please consider joining The J-Talk Podcast Patreon here: https://patreon.com/jtalkpod You can also get involved with our JLeague Chat Discord server here: https://discord.gg/UwN2ambAwg If that's not enough, JTET is on Bluesky at @jtalket.bsky.social

J1 is back, and on this episode (after a brief ACL review at the start of the pod) Jonny and Ben review all of the top flight action, beginning with stirring wins for Okayama, Cerezo Osaka and Kawasaki, then moving on to clashes involving presumptive title challengers, before rounding up the final group of games.

With the new J2 season hurtling into view at the weekend, the JTET crew finish off their 2025 season preview with five more teams covered in depth. James and Jon get things underway by running the rule over newly-relegated Tosu (Start to 09:20), followed by Yamaguchi (09:20 to 19:15), and then Oita (19:15 to 29:00). The boys then welcome special guest Chikashi Toyoshima (co-creator of the ViviCast) to give us the lowdown on hotly-tipped Nagasaki (29:00 to 39:20). After that, friend of the pod Garry Irwin brings up the rear with his thoughts on the campaign ahead for his beloved Kumamoto (39:20 to 50:30). Finally, Jon and James reconvene to take a quick look at the Round 1 fixtures coming up on Saturday and Sunday (50:30 to Finish). This segment also includes a big JTET welcome to Victor Arroyo, who has gallantly agreed to take over at host of the J3-centric 'Short Corner' mini-pod for 2025! We hope everyone enjoys the show, and the big kick-off this weekend! *We asked Chikashi and Garry to respond to these ha

We wrap up our top flight previews with the final five teams, and a heavy Kansai focus, as Alan Gibson guests in Part 1 to chat about his long weekend in the Tokyo area - including the Super Cup - and then help us preview defending champions Kobe (to 38:25) and Gamba Osaka (to 1:03:55). Then in Part 2 Jonny and Ben discuss Cerezo Osaka (to 1:22:35), Kyoto (to 1:41:35) and Nagoya. Follow Alan on X/Twitter and Bluesky.

With the big J2 kick-off less than a week away, the JTET team continue with their team-by-team previews of the 2025 season. In this episode, Jon and James begin in Shikoku, discussing newly-promoted Imabari (Start to 09:15), and their rather-more-established prefectural neighbors Ehime (09:15 to 17:20). After that, Tokushima come under the microscope as well (17:20 to 26:40). The boys then hand over to regular contributor Chris Hough to hear all about JEF Chiba's preparations for 2025 (26:40 to 35:50). Staying in Kanto, Jon then sits down with friend-of-the-pod Steve Fryer for an in-depth chat about Omiya's return to the second tier (35:50 to 01:04:30). There's also a bonus discussion with Steve about one of the biggest J.League news stories of the last twelve months: multinational energy drink conglomerate Red Bull's controversial takeover of Omiya (01:04:30 to Finish). Thank you as always to our contributors and listeners, and we hope everyone enjoys the show! *These are the questions that we asked Chris an

Hot on the heels of Part 1, JTET is back to preview another five teams who are getting ready for the 2025 J2 season. This time, Jon and James get things underway by talking about Consadole Sapporo (Start to 08:45), and Montedio Yamagata (08:45 to 16:45). After that, a trio of special guests are on hand to give us their thoughts on the year ahead. First up is Martin Spivey, who covers Blaublitz Akita (16:45 to 36:20). Following up is Fin Wilson, who has all the pre-season information about Vegalta Sendai (36:20 to 53:00). Rounding things off this time is Leslie Mabon, who waxes lyrical about Iwaki FC's prospects for the 2025 campaign (53:00 to Finish). *Here are the hard-hitting questions that we asked Martin, Fin, and Leslie to respond to: 1)     Please tell us about your team's transfer activity over the winter break (major players coming in, major players going out). 2)     Who will be your team's key player in 2025? 3)     What do you think of your team's manager? 4)     Where do you think your team will f

Victor Arroyo makes his debut as the new host of JTSC, previewing five teams ahead of the new 2025 J3 season:   0:00-3:05 Intro 3:05-5:30 Azul Claro Numazu 5:30-7:50 Fukushima United FC 7:50-10:05 Gainaire Tottori 10:05-12:20 FC Gifu 12:20-15:15 Giravanz Kitakyushu 15:15-End Outro   Join the J-Talk Podcast Patreon here: https://www.patreon.com/jtalkpod Feel free to join us on the JLeague Chat Discord: https://discord.gg/p6PVbF9E Follow Victor on Bluesky: @jfootballanalytics.bsky.social

With not long until the big kickoff for 2025, Jon Steele and James Taylor got together for the first J2 season preview pod. After a brief word of thanks to departing JTSC host Mike Innes, Jon and James talked about five teams:   04:00 to 10:15 Jubilo Iwata 10:15 to 16:10 Fujieda MYFC 16:10 to 25:05 Mito Hollyhock 25:05 to 34:45 Ventforet Kofu 34:45 to end Kataller Toyama   Thank you for your ongoing support of the J-Talk Podcast and J-Talk: Extra Time. We hope you’ll enjoy the 2025 season with us.    Join the J-Talk Podcast Patreon here: https://www.patreon.com/jtalkpod Feel free to join us on the JLeague Chat Discord: https://discord.gg/p6PVbF9E Follow JTET on Bluesky: @jtalket.bsky.social   Stay tuned for part two!

We have another bumper round of J1 previews for you this week, as we edge closer to the start of the new season. In Part 1 Jonny and Ben preview Hiroshima (to 21:20) and Kashiwa (to 48:25), before they're joined by three terrific guests. In Part 2 Daniel Hawkins chats about Fukuoka (to 1:13:17), then in Part 3 Ralf Seidl discusses Urawa (to 1:45:25), before James Taylor from J-Talk: Extra Time rounds out the pod in Part 4 looking ahead to Okayama's first-ever J1 campaign.

Now that we're up and running, our J1 season previews roll on galactically on this episode, with five more teams under the microscope. We begin with a J-Talk crossing of the streams, as Jon Steele guests to preview promoted clubs Yokohama FC (to 42:15) and Shimizu (to 1:09:00), before Jonny and Ben run the rule over Shonan (to 1:29:30) and Yokohama F.Marinos (to 1:52:35) in Part 2. Then in Part 3 we were delighted to welcome Kawasaki correspondent Neil Debnam back to the pod to preview the brave new dawn at Todoroki. You can keep track of all the goings on at Frontale on Neil's blog, and he's now on Bluesky, too.

Welcome to our previews of the 2025 J1 Season! In Part 1, after some housekeeping at the start of the episode, we chat with Lewis White about Tokyo Verdy (to 32:05), and to Ryo Nakagawara about Machida (to 1:01:00) and FC Tokyo (to 1:40:20), before Jonny and Ben discuss Niigata (to 1:56:23) and Kashima. For each club, we follow the same format: A brief review of 2024; the club's major moves in the transfer market; thoughts on the manager; a player to watch and prospects for the new season. You can read Ryo's terrific work in his Shogun Soccer newsletter, and follow each club's ins and out through Jonny's Google Doc.

Welcome back to a new year, and a new season of J-Talk! On our first episode of 2025, Dan Orlowitz joins Jonny and Ben to chat about how the J.League can build on their successful 2024, and what will be new or different this season, before we discuss the 2026 "0.5 Season", or as it will be known from this point on: The 2026 Chaos Energy J.League Cup (from 17:45 to 39:25), before we finish with some hot takes on the best and worst of the new season's top flight kits. Thanks to you all for your ongoing support! Check out Dan on Bluesky, and remember you can keep up to date on offseason transfers on Jonny's Google Doc.

The JTET team start 2025 by bringing down the curtain on last season in the final part of their big J2 season review. Jon and James get things up and running by discussing Montedio Yamagata (Start to 11:15), before handing over to a trio of guest contributors to cover the rest of the Play-Off teams from 2024. We welcome debutant Makoto to talk about Fagiano Okayama (11:15 to 19:20), before veteran co-host of the ViviCast, Daniel Kuroda, takes us through V-Varen Nagasaki's campaign (19:20 to 30:00). Rounding things off is Fin Wilson (@VegaltaPotter on Twitter), who reviews an impressive season for resurgent Vegalta Sendai (30:00 to Finish). 1) How do you feel about the 2024 season for your team overall? 2) What was the high point of the season? 3) What was the low point of the season? 4) Which player from another club impressed you the most this season? 5) What is your biggest hope for your club in 2025? Thanks to all of our listeners and contributors for a fantastic 2024 - see you all again for the new season

In a holiday special, Jon and James talk about the recent (official) J2 Awards, and discuss their own personal picks for some of the more interesting categories. In Part 1, the gentlemen share their views on Manager of the Season (Start to 07:05), and Player of the Season (07:05 to 12:45). Spoilers: Matheus Jesus was robbed! In Part 2, attention turns to the Goal of the Season award (12:45 to 16:10), before things are rounded off with a detailed look at the J2 Team of the Season (16:10 to Finish). Thank you to everyone who's supported the pod in 2024, whether by contributing, commenting, or downloading and listening each week. Best wishes for the year ahead from everyone at JTET!

In Part 3 of the big JTET Season Review for J2, a whopping six teams from the second tier are covered. Jon and James kick things off (sorry) by talking about champions Shimizu S-Pulse (Start to 06:50), and runners-up Yokohama FC (06:50 to 16:45). Jon refers to 'Joao Pedro' twice in the Yokohama FC segment, but of course means 'Joao PAOLO'. The regular co-hosts also discuss Tokushima Vortis (16:45 to 25:45). After that, the mics are thrown open to a welcome trio of guest correspondents. Chris Hough gives us the lowdown on JEF Chiba (26:30 to 34:55), and we hear all about an impressive Iwaki FC season from Leslie Mabon (34:55 to 44:50). Rounding things off for this episode is Martin Spivey, who shares his thoughts on another steady season for Blaublitz Akita (44:50 to Finish). We asked our intrepid contributors to respond to these (painfully generic) season review questions: 1) How do you feel about the 2024 season for your team overall? 2) What was the high point of the season? 3) What was the low point of the

JTSC host Mike Innes signs off for 2024 with a comprehensive review of all 20 J3 teams, using his pre-season predictions as a guide and putting the teams into five groups of four. Mike starts with Toyama, Matsumoto, Gifu, and Nara (01:20 to 10:30), then Imabari, Osaka, Hachinohe, and Kanazawa (10:30 to 19:55). After that, the focus turns to champions Omiya, Kitakyushu, Sagamihara, and Nagano (19:55 to 29:00), followed by Ryukyu, Sanuki, and bottom two YSCC and Iwate (29:00 to 38:30). Mike rounds out the episode with Fukushima, Numazu, Tottori, and Miyazaki (38:30 to 47:30), and a special announcement at the end.   Thank you for your support of J-Talk: Short Corner over the last 4 years, and for your ongoing support of the J-Talk Podcast and J-Talk: Extra Time. Join the JLeague chat Discord server here: https://discord.gg/p6PVbF9E Join the J-Talk Podcast Patreon here: https://www.patreon.com/jtalkpod

In the final episode of 'big pod' for 2024, Sean Carroll joins Jonny and Ben to piece together the J-Talk J1 Team of the Season, as voted on by our patrons. We didn't agree with all of the poll winners, but there is healthy debate and reasoning when necessary, and we think we've assembled one hell of a team. Towards the end of the episode, with the managerial merry-go-round in full swing, we round up some recent appointments. Just a reminder, you can keep up to date with all the top flight transfer news, as its confirmed by the clubs, on Jonny's Google spreadsheet.

Long-suffering Zweigen Kanazawa supporters James Taylor and Victor Arroyo got together again for a freewheeling discussion of their team’s first season back in J3. They covered events on and off the pitch throughout the 2024 season, including Victor’s visit to the Go Go Curry Stadium in April, and each selected their Kanazawa MVP.   Thanks for your support of JTET, JTSC, and the J-Talk Podcast during the 2024 season! Join the JLeague chat Discord server here: https://discord.gg/p6PVbF9E Join the J-Talk Podcast Patreon here: https://www.patreon.com/jtalkpod

In part one of this week’s JTET, James Taylor and Jon Steele discuss the J2 promotion playoff final between Fagiano Okayama and Vegalta Sendai (start to 24:00), including choosing their Most Bravo Player for the match (24:00 to 28:10). Part two is J-Talk: Short Corner, in which Mike Innes reviews the J3 promotion playoff final between Kataller Toyama and Matsumoto Yamaga (28:10 to 31:35) and the second leg of the promotion/relegation playoff between Kochi United and YSCC (31:35 to end).   Thanks for your support of JTET, JTSC, and the J-Talk Podcast during the 2024 season! Join the JLeague chat Discord server here: https://discord.gg/p6PVbF9E Join the J-Talk Podcast Patreon here: https://www.patreon.com/jtalkpod

Kobe claimed a second successive J1 title in Sunday's final round, and on this episode Jonny and Ben round up the final day. We begin with the games involving the three title contenders, and after celebrating Kobe's success, we wonder how the champions, Hiroshima and Machida might approach the offseason (to 38:00). Then in Part 2 we round up the relegation dogfight by discussing the games involving the three teams trying to avoid 18th and the drop, before chatting about the remaining four games from the Matchday 38 slate (to 1:14:55). And finally in Part 3 we hand out Player of the Season awards for the top six.