Yokohama and Urawa spearhead challengers to champions Kobe in J-League
Former Leeds and Liverpool forward Kewell took over at Yokohama after fellow Australian Kevin Muscat left following last season's runner-up finish. Kewell lifted the 2005 Champions League with Liverpool and won 58 caps for Australia, appearing at two World Cups.
But he has never reached the same heights as a manager in lower-league English football with Crawley Town, Notts County, Oldham and Barnet. The 45-year-old has however inherited one of the strongest squads in the J-League thanks to the work of Muscat and his predecessor Ange Postecoglou, now of Tottenham.
"There are still areas that we need to work on but I can't fault my players with the work ethic that they've shown from day one," Kewell said after taking Yokohama into the Asian Champions League quarter-finals this week. "They've taken it with a smile on their face.
"We demand a lot, especially in training, because I'm a firm believer that you have to be able to perform at a good level in training to perform at a top level in games." Yokohama finished a distant seven points adrift of last season's champions Kobe, who won their first title five months after Spanish veteran Andres Iniesta left the club.
Iniesta joined Kobe in 2018 and won the domestic Emperor's Cup a year later, but he made only a handful of appearances last season before leaving in the summer. Stacked full of former Japan internationals and led by last season's J-League player of the year Yuya Osako, Kobe start as favourites to defend their crown.
"We won the title last season but the players and coaching staff still aren't satisfied," Osako said after extending his contract with the club this month.
Urawa beat Saudi Arabia's Al-Hilal last year to win their third Asian Champions League but they have
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