Background[]
TBA
Main Story[]
Masanori Baba first appeared in the practice match between Esperion's Youth A-team and Tokyo Shūrin High, with a final result of 9-0 for Esperion.[1]
Later, he participated in the joint training between team A and team B as part of team A-1, together with Enshin Akiyama, Eita Takasugi, Yutaka Yamada, Jun Marchs Asari, Yōichi Kiriki, Kanpei Kuroda, Kento Sugawara and Yūma Motoki.[2]
When Ashito Aoi, Kanpei Kuroda, Eisaku Ōtomo and Keiji Togashi were promoted to team A, Baba was revealed to be part of the reserve players, together with Taira Nakamura, Kunitaka Matsunaga and Osieck Mino.[3]
He was a starter in the match against Kashiwa Dai Business High in the position of midfielder.[4] At minute 75, he was replaced by Haruhisa Kuribayashi.[5] Esperion won that match 3-0.[6] Due to Kuribayashi's absence, in the next days, Baba trained with the members of the regular team in consecutive matches against the reserve players.[7]
He was chosen to be a regular in the midfielder position in the match against Tokyo Vans.[8] During the second half, he communicated with Ryūichi Takeshima[9] and Jun Marchs Asari[10] several times in order to mantain the formation compact. He was later on replaced by Otomo.[11] Esperion won that match 2-0.[12]
Baba was not chosen as a starter in the match against Funabashi Academy High[13] and did not play that match. He did not play in the J-Youth Cup's matches against Iwata Allegri[14] or Ganon Osaka[15] as a starter, however, he did play the latter being subbed in from the bench.[16] After the match, which ended with a 5-1 for Ganon Osaka, Baba blamed first-year players for their lack of experience and bad performance and Tatsuya Fukuda for his decisions as a coach. He was calmed down by both Otomo and Tōji Kobayakawa.[17] The situation reached the limit in the second match against Funabashi. Baba played that match, which Funabashi won 1-0 thanks to a goal from Sammy Rufin.[18] After the match, some Esperion players had a meeting to analyse the reasons behind the defeat, without reaching any answer.
Fukuda chose Baba to be a starter in the match against Aomori Seiran High as a midfielder.[19] Some days before that match, Baba, Yamada, Kobayakawa, Kanji Nikaidō, Kyō Shimura and Kenta Yoshitsune went together for dinner to celebrate the end of their times in Esperion's Youth team and Yamada, Shimura and Yoshitsune's future promotion to the senior team.[20] During the match, he was mostly placed in the right flank of the midfield to connect with the right full-back Yamada. However, due to Aomori's strategy, the right flank was mostly isolated and Baba could not participate much in the offensive plays of Esperion. This was however broken when Akiyama started to participate in the creative plays of Esperion, breaking down Aomori's press.[21] After that, Baba centered his position in order to implement a zonal marking on Ren Kitano with the help of Otomo. However, due to Ren's incredible technical skills, that zonal marking did not work.[22] For the last eight minutes of the first half, Fukuda instructed Baba to man-mark Ren, to prevent Aomori from scoring a goal before the half time that could psychologically harm Esperion's moral.[23] Baba succeeded on executing Fukuda's plan, despite the fact that Ren managed to dribble past him and Otomo once, but that play was saved by Nagisa Akutsu.[24] During the half-time, Baba and Sōichirō Tachibana were replaced by Asari and Shimura.[25] At the end of the game, he celebrated Esperion's victory 2-1 with his teammates.[26]
Baba did not play in the final of the Takamadonomiya Cup against Ganon Osaka, which Esperion won 1-0, with a goal scored by Yamada.[27] He was visibly emotional in the dinner that was shared by all members of Esperion's Youth team (staff and players) to celebrate the end of the season.[28]
References[]
- ↑ Volume 5 Chapter 40
- ↑ Volume 7 Chapter 66
- ↑ Volume 12 Chapter 119
- ↑ Volume 12 Chapter 125
- ↑ Volume 13 Chapter 133
- ↑ Volume 13 Chapter 136
- ↑ Volume 14 Chapter 139
- ↑ Volume 15 Chapter 150
- ↑ Volume 16 Chapter 162
- ↑ Volume 16 Chapter 163
- ↑ Volume 16 Chapter 165
- ↑ Volume 16 Chapter 169
- ↑ Volume 17 Chapter 174
- ↑ Volume 21 Chapter 211
- ↑ Volume 21 Chapter 212
- ↑ Volume 21 Chapter 215
- ↑ Volume 21 Chapter 216
- ↑ Volume 21 Chapter 217
- ↑ Volume 22 Chapter 231
- ↑ Volume 24 Chapter 247
- ↑ Volume 23 Chapter 239
- ↑ Volume 24 Chapter 245
- ↑ Volume 24 Chapter 246
- ↑ Volume 24 Chapter 248
- ↑ Volume 25 Chapter 254
- ↑ Volume 27 Chapter 280
- ↑ Volume 30 Chapter 309
- ↑ Volume 31 Chapter 311
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TBA