Honestly, the decision itself was quite surprising. After all, while putting Jun off the midfield would be beneficial, not only to help fill in the blank in the midfield but also to handle Jui Hata on the back, Makino's presence there was also quite irreplaceable. While yeah, he wasn't the tallest and the fastest one, his command and game-reading ability were something that the team relied upon.
As a defender, Jun was not really that good at taking command. He was always a reactive one, waiting for Makino to give an order. That was why he didn't work well as a sole defensive midfielder earlier. Partnering him with Sano would only get the same result, as those two boys had never been in a leadership position.
