Background[]
TBA
Main Story[]
Yutaka Yamada first appeared in the pratice training between Esperion's Youth A-team and B-team.[1]
He participated in the joint training between team A and team B as part of team A-1, together with Enshin Akiyama, Kento Sugawara, Eita Takasugi, Jun Marchs Asari, Yōichi Kiriki, Kanpei Kuroda, Masanori Baba and Yūma Motoki.[2]
When Ashito Aoi, Kanpei Kuroda, Eisaku Ōtomo and Keiji Togashi were promoted to team A, Yamada was revealed to be part of the regulars[3], and he completed the training with ease when Ashito and Kuroda joined them.[4]
Yamada was a starter against Kashiwa Dai Business High, playing as a right full-back.[5] He assisted Kenta Yoshitsune in the first goal of the match.[6] After Yūma Motoki's goal, he received a ball from Haruhisa Kuribayashi, but the goalkeeper blocked his shot.[7] The final result was 3-0.[8]
Yamada, Yoshitsune, Takasugi and Nagisa Akutsu were summoned by the U-18 Japan national team to play several matches in Czech Republic.[9] In the concentration, Yamada witnessed a strong argument between Yoshitsune and Takasugi with Akutsu because of his lack of respect towards his teammates, diagnosing that the origin of the problem was that Akutsu was ashamed of himself because of him being unable to be trancendent in the national team.[10]
At his arrival to Tokyo, it was announced that Yamada, Yoshitsune and Kyō Shimura were going to be promoted to Esperion's senior team. Accompanied by Tatsuya Fukuda and Jun Kase, they participated in a press conference.[11]
In the following weeks, Yamada played with Esperion's Youth A-team against Kashiwa and Soleil, wining both matches by 2-0 and 3-0, respectively.[12] He also played in the eight-final J-Youth Cup's match against Iwata Allegrio U-18, which Esperion won 3-0.[13] However, Yamada lost with his team in the quarter-final against Ganon Osaka with a result of 5-1.[14] He could not avoid defeat against Funabashi Academy High either, in a match in which Esperion lost 1-0 due to a goal by Sammy Rufin.[15] After that match, Yamada and Shimura met with Akutsu to ask what was happening with Esperion and why were they receiving so many goals. They were soon after joined by Ashito, Fukuda and Takasugi and, after an analysis of the defeat, Ashito claimed that Akutsu had lost the command of the defense.[16]
A few days before the second match against Aomori Seiran High, Yamada, Yoshitsune, Shimura, Baba, Tōji Kobayakawa and Kanji Nikaidō took dinner together to celebrate the end of their careers in the Esperion's Youth team.[17]
Yamada was chosen as a starter against Aomori Seiran in the position of right full-back.[18] In the first play of the match, he received the ball from Akutsu and left behind Kentaro Oba with a stop-and-go dribbling trick. After that, he avoided the mark from Yuki Konuma with a wall pass with Yōichi Kiriki. When Yamada reached the edge of the box, he worked together with Takasugi and Yuma, and managed to place himself inside the box, but his later cross to Sōichirō Tachibana was blocked by Ryūki Haneda.[19] In the subsequent corner kick, Yamada received the ball from Otomo and sent the ball to Takasugi, who could not shoot because of Eito Makimura's anticipation. In the next plays, he continued working with Otomo and Yuma to create scoring chances for Esperion, unbalancing the team's attack.[20] Aomori strengthened the defence of their left flank, forcing Esperion to move the ball towards Ashito's position, and after that, they blocked any pass course towards Yamada, making the right flank ineffective.[21] This strategy was overcome by Esperion by involving Akiyama into the construction of the plays. Immediately after that, Yamada could receive a long ball from Otomo and had a scoring chance[22] but Makimura blocked his shot.[23] Some minutes later, Yamada got a ball from Ashito, but that ball was recovered by the combined work of Konuma and Damien Jay Yamagai.[24]
For the second half, Baba and Tachibana were replaced by Shimura and Asari, and as a result, Yamada and Togashi moved to the midfield, as a right winger.[25] Around minute 55, he received a ball from Kiriki, but Makimura captured the ball before Yamada could shoot.[26] In the next play, Yamada, Yuma, Kiriki and Takasugi worked together to create an opportunity for the latter, but the scoring chance was again aborted by Makimura. After Yuma scored the first goal, Yamada tried to score with a long shot, but it was repelled by Renard Sho Moriyama.[27] Shiro Narimiya, Aomori's coach, subbed out the right full-back Hayato Sasaki to introduce the midfielder Kiso Naoki.[28] This served Aomori to implement the N-box strategy, using Kitano as their core. This forced Yamada to reinforce the center, leaving the right flank, which was unattended, to Asari. The subsequent plays that Yamada tried to create with the help of Asari and Takasugi were blocked by the joint work of Kitano and Taiyo Fujinaga.[29] Yamada's tendency to move to the right flank kept him disconnected from Esperion's plays, and eventually Fukuda decided to replace Yamada with Kuroda for the last minutes of the match.[30] At the end of the match, which Esperion won 2-1, Yamada was seen celebrating with his teammates Esperion's victory in the East Championship J-18 Premier League.[31]
Yamada played in the final of the Takamadonomiya Cup against Ganon Osaka.[32] He was assisted by Yoshitsune and scored the only goal of the match for a final result of 1-0.[33] This allowed Esperion's Youth team to participate in the U-18 Alkass Cup in Qatar. However, due to age restrictions, third year players like Yamada could not participate in it.
He was seen watching in a TV the Alkass Cup's match between Esperion's Youth and Barcelona FC's Youth, together with Yoshitsune and Shimura.[34]
References[]
- ↑ Volume 5 Chapter 42
- ↑ Volume 7 Chapter 66
- ↑ Volume 12 Chapter 119
- ↑ Volume 12 Chapter 121
- ↑ Volume 12 Chapter 123
- ↑ Volume 13 Chapter 129
- ↑ Volume 13 Chapter 134
- ↑ Volume 14 Chapter 137
- ↑ Volume 15 Chapter 148
- ↑ Volume 17 Chapter 172
- ↑ Volume 17 Chapter 173
- ↑ Volume 20 Chapter 207
- ↑ Volume 21 Chapter 211
- ↑ Volume 21 Chapter 215
- ↑ Volume 21 Chapter 217
- ↑ Volume 21 Chapter 218
- ↑ Volume 24 Chapter 247
- ↑ Volume 22 Chapter 231
- ↑ Volume 23 Chapter 234
- ↑ Volume 23 Chapter 235
- ↑ Volume 23 Chapter 236
- ↑ Volume 23 Chapter 239
- ↑ Volume 23 Chapter 240
- ↑ Volume 24 Chapter 244
- ↑ Volume 25 Chapter 254
- ↑ Volume 25 Chapter 260
- ↑ Volume 26 Chapter 262
- ↑ Volume 26 Chapter 265
- ↑ Volume 26 Chapter 266
- ↑ Volume 27 Chapter 274
- ↑ Volume 27 Chapter 280
- ↑ Volume 30 Chapter 308
- ↑ Volume 30 Chapter 309
- ↑ Volume 35 Chapter 357
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TBA