Japan national team forward Daizen Maeda started for new club Ipswich Town in their Premier League season opener, as the team edged out Sunderland 2-1. After the match, Maeda’s comments — “The intensity is on a completely different level” and “So this is the standard” — sparked a wide-ranging discussion on 5ch, from debates over what “intensity” actually means to comparisons of the Premier League’s quality against other leagues.
◆England Premier League ▽ Matchday 1: Ipswich 2-1 Sunderland (Aug 22)
[Ipswich, England, Aug 22 — Masatoshi Mori] Japan national team forward Daizen Maeda, who joined Ipswich, started in the home match against Sunderland and played until the 35th minute of the second half. The team won a hard-fought 2-1 battle.
— A dramatic late winner clinches victory in the season opener
Source: hochi.news / Original article here
3Anonymous2026/08/23(日) 20:43:31.29ID:hQejZu5Q0
What even is "intensity"?
48Anonymous2026/08/23(日) 21:15:06.37ID:Q4KqBztJ0
>>3
Sprinting flat-out to close down the opponent in every phase of play, the physical weight and speed you put into challenges, never giving an inch of space when marking tight — that's what makes up the difference in "intensity."
The J.League is way more relaxed, so its intensity is lower.
51Anonymous2026/08/23(日) 21:25:40.61ID:0fhiaH9Y0
>>3
Heard it's just a handy buzzword that idiots love to throw around lol
5Anonymous2026/08/23(日) 20:44:19.07ID:c4d1lm4n0
It's like transferring straight from a junior college into Tokyo University.
50Anonymous2026/08/23(日) 21:22:28.89ID:Lxt2FtjZ0
>>5
There are geniuses who come out of junior colleges too. To a genius, it doesn't matter whether it's a junior college or Tokyo University.
60Anonymous2026/08/23(日) 21:43:46.02ID:/4Nybqs00
>>5
But you're just a high school grad though
6Anonymous2026/08/23(日) 20:45:51.04ID:6psNgWlK0
Enciso looked exasperated with him, but this is only the beginning.
7Anonymous2026/08/23(日) 20:47:06.90ID:X3uv/GnA0
Sounds like saying "Premier League > Scotland," basically.
103Anonymous2026/08/23(日) 23:03:22.80ID:Q5D/HOXu0
>>7
Even back in Shunsuke [Nakamura]'s day, the Scottish league's MVP couldn't cut it in what's effectively England's second division.
9Anonymous2026/08/23(日) 20:47:21.87ID:5jyeRE9E0
You never know — he might end up with a bigger career than Furuhashi or Hatate.
11Anonymous2026/08/23(日) 20:47:59.16ID:eJSdGqE00
Furuhashi, where's he even playing these days?
14Anonymous2026/08/23(日) 20:50:46.01ID:QKnNgVdc0
>>11
He's in the US, on the same team as Yoshida.
12Anonymous2026/08/23(日) 20:49:26.59ID:Swj3vBJe0
Joining the Premier League at 28 — isn't he just going to get wrecked?
13Anonymous2026/08/23(日) 20:50:28.27ID:kOmtMsR20
You probably need 6 or 7 out of your starting 11 to be regular Premier League players before you can become a consistent World Cup quarterfinalist.
15Anonymous2026/08/23(日) 20:51:04.42ID:Esof+B5f0
Yeah, the Premier League just seems out of this guy's league.
19Anonymous2026/08/23(日) 20:53:03.67ID:5XUZVN7F0
>>15
If anything, he played until the 35th minute of the second half and they won, so maybe the Premier League isn't such a big deal.
17Anonymous2026/08/23(日) 20:51:34.74ID:fqHncupY0
Um, so the way he's phrasing it means he's definitely locked in a spot on the team, right?
18Anonymous2026/08/23(日) 20:52:24.13ID:o1kV8FQy0
Ipswich are interesting — only the No. 10 plays like an actual playmaker, and everyone else just presses high.
106Anonymous2026/08/23(日) 23:06:40.08ID:cWgrEZO+0
>>18
Though the press wasn't really coordinated.
20Anonymous2026/08/23(日) 20:54:35.79ID:jE1U3/hf0
Still, that was just Sunderland's level of intensity.
27Anonymous2026/08/23(日) 20:56:42.56ID:5XUZVN7F0
>>20
Sunderland finished 7th in the Premier League last season — above Brighton, Chelsea, and Newcastle.
26Anonymous2026/08/23(日) 20:56:34.98ID:V16+pg4N0
Everyone keeps saying the Premier League is amazing, but then I think — if that's true, why doesn't England win every tournament? That part bugs me.
34Anonymous2026/08/23(日) 21:00:00.77ID:D+zZzSt20
>>26
It's just that a ton of great foreign players come play in the Premier League.
35Anonymous2026/08/23(日) 21:02:22.37ID:c4d1lm4n0
>>26
For big clubs in leagues like Spain, Germany, and France, the domestic league is basically just tune-up practice for the Champions League — they coast through it. Premier League big clubs can't win unless they go full effort in every single league game.
41Anonymous2026/08/23(日) 21:08:07.46ID:Y5picaXO0
>>26
Are you serious? Just because a league buys up players from all over the world doesn't mean that country's own national team becomes the best.
28Anonymous2026/08/23(日) 20:57:10.00ID:v85lzm/I0
He missed two clear-cut chances, and then the sub who replaced him scored the winner — that's a tough look for him.
29Anonymous2026/08/23(日) 20:59:43.24ID:jy+sjKeQ0
If he'd converted even one of those two chances, things would've turned out differently. Missing both isn't a good look.
31Anonymous2026/08/23(日) 20:59:53.05ID:ieGfpEsP0
There was a point raised on "Soccer no Sono" (a soccer analysis show) about how, in the transition from defense to attack, he doesn't simply go for a long counter-attack. He wins the ball back fine, but there's nothing after that. "Soccer wa Data ga Juwari" ("Soccer Is 100% Data," a stats-focused soccer book) also stresses that what really matters is possession in the opponent's half and shot-attempt rate.
Well, good luck to him anyway.
82Anonymous2026/08/23(日) 22:19:45.18ID:KEr/IJTo0
Premier League >>>>>> J1 > "Scot-league" (mocking nickname for the Scottish league) > J2
88Anonymous2026/08/23(日) 22:28:29.77ID:QRACz9RU0
>>82
Yeah, that's about right. The Dutch and Turkish leagues sit at about the same level as J1.
Premier League >>> Belgium > J1 (Netherlands/Turkey) >> Scotland > J2
92Anonymous2026/08/23(日) 22:45:52.33ID:zzJzi3SW0
>>82
The "Scot-league" is below J3.
*This article is compiled from excerpts and a summary of the 5ch (Geisports Sokuho+) thread “[Soccer] FW Daizen Maeda on his emotional English Premier League debut: “The intensity is on a completely different level,” “So this is the standard,” “We’ll be defending more, but…”“.
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