'Doing it for the sake of each other'
I wonder how that kind of mentality translate to the technical aspect of the game. It sounds like a mental thing through and through so I'm really curious.
It seems like Takasugi is painted not in a good way, and I kinda get what's going to be wrong with his half assed approach.
He wanted a big lead, but winning will always be the priority for a J-youth team. The moment the team struggle to get a big lead, they will get back to 'winning' as the goal. At that point, the team will forget about Taira too. They cant risk their 90 minutes for a gameplan with a purpose of only to console one player about to retire. Highschool football however will not back down like that due to genuine power of friendship (a lil cliche ik). Their connection isn't something incidental like the case with Taira. You can't pretend for something like that, moreso for J-youth players.