Ademi
The players have played hard in the last 5 games and the fans have watched with impatience
Stanley responded to the words "struggling" and "embarrassing" for the first time in the press conference. After the home draw with Shandong Taishan, he admitted that the team had not found the right track at that time. To be honest, the team was lucky to keep a draw in that game. After all, the opponent created more chances than Guoan.
Now, in the past 20 days, Guoan has played four games, including sports draws, Guoan has recently achieved an undefeated record of 2 wins and 3 draws, including such tough battles as winning Henan on the road, although the record seems to be past, but the fact is that even when the team won, it was clearly not the style they were familiar with, not to mention the devastatingly smooth offense, even threatening to shoot, such a Guoan, the players played very difficult, the The fans looked anxious.
So far, Stanley hasn't "unlocked" how to use the newcomer.
After taking office last August, Stanley has been implementing the "433" tactical system. However, it is puzzling that the Dutchman has shown his coaching level and technical style in many matches, and Guoan has played basically satisfactorily in a team that was a bit inferior in overall strength last year. Now, after a full season of preparation, the team also introduced eight new internal and external reinforcements under quite difficult circumstances, but he played in the new season is very "struggling". As a coach, Stanley does have to take some of the blame. At least so far, he doesn't fully know how to use these newcomers.
Take the most controversial Ademi for example, the former Dinamo Zagreb captain is still finding his form and niche and even though he went into the Flying Fairy long range in the final round to help his side to their first home win of the season, for the most part you still got the feeling that the North Macedonians didn't know what they were supposed to be doing, was it the front line? Is it retreat? He often looks confused.
Ademi's example also flanks another situation where the newcomers are gelling with the whole team, and the name that needs to be mentioned is Ngadeu. The Cameroonian's prowess as the defensive stalwart that the team has relied on the most this season is there for all to see. More than once he has made cheap mistakes or not worked well with his teammates during a game. It was his mistakes that allowed Yu Hanchao to eventually find a goal. In the previous Qingdao match, he was considered to be the most "stable" player and gave away a penalty, putting the team in a passive situation early on.
In addition, Guoan No. 32 also likes to pass the ball or direct plugs when forced by opponents, and usually the end result of these maneuvers is wrong counterattacks, and these scenarios often leave fans in a cold sweat. After eight rounds of matches, apart from Yang Liyu and Han Jiaqi, other new players, including several foreigners, are still working with the team.
In May, the Chinese Super League schedule is intensive, Guoan will face a short-term multi-fight fitness test
Stanley often talks about "luck" in press conferences. In fact, it is a part of soccer and even all sports, but it is never the decisive factor. In order to achieve good results, we must formulate "solutions" that fit Guoan's current situation from a technical and tactical point of view. However, judging from the last five games, we still can't see what the team's "main direction" is.
If the previous arrangement of Zhang Xizhe starting or the importance of Guoan No. 10's ball control and organization ability, then in the past two games, the withdrawal of Zhang Xizhe Guoan in the field is not the so-called tactical "core". Although the result is not bad (1 win and 1 draw), the team is really passive when he is not on the field, at least from the tactical point of view, this is not the familiar Beijing Guoan anymore. Against Shenhua, if it wasn't for Zhang Xizhe's drive and tandem when he came on, maybe Stanley's team would have lost their second game of the season in Shanghai.
May is one of the most intensive months in the Chinese Super League this season. From 23, Guoan will play two consecutive matches in six days, including an away match in Huzhou, Zhejiang, which is undoubtedly a big challenge for the current team's fitness. Most of the veteran Guoan players have been exposed to fitness and injury problems in this round of matches, including Wang Gang and Zhang Yuning, many of whom missed the matches and are not sure if they will be able to come back in the next two matches. Zhang Chengdong is a 34-year old veteran whose physical condition does not allow him to fight continuously. If you include 35-year-old Yu Dabao and midfielder Ji Zhongguo, who is the same age as Zhang Chengdong, the fitness of these players will go a long way in determining the team's performance in the next two matches. As you can see, Stanley is facing a lot of problems, five rounds of undefeated Guoan continue to "struggle".
Text / Our reporter Zhang Kunlong Coordinator / Du Rui This version of the picture / Xinhua News Agency
Injuries keep popping up for international players in a packed Super League schedule
The first phase of the 2023 Chinese Super League will end on June 9th. Chinese Super League teams will play 12 rounds of matches in 56 days, with an average interval of less than 5 days. Due to the tight schedule and increasing competition, teams have recently suffered varying degrees of injuries, including injuries to Wu Xi, Zhang Yuning, Wang Gang, He Chao, Zhang Linpeng, and many international or national players. This has caused trouble and uncertainty for the national soccer team and the Men's Asian Games, which will focus on preparations in June.
The eighth round of the Chinese Super League began on May 19th. As the competition in the Chinese Super League became more and more intense, teams suffered injuries one after another. In Wuhan Sanzhen's first round match against Chengdu Rongcheng at home, He Chao, a backline international and an absolute mainstay of Sanzhen's team, was unable to continue the match due to a sprained lower back and was replaced by his teammate Yan Dinghao.
During the "Beijing-Shanghai Battle" between Shenhua and Guoan, Shenhua's captain Wu Xi, Guoan's main striker Zhang Yuning, main right back Wang Gang and other players were absent due to injuries. Guoan's full-time model and main attacker Yang Liyu did not play until around the 60th minute. Left back Li Lei, who also maintained his full-time record, did not come on as a substitute until the end of the match as debutant Nai Bijiang suffered cramps.
For the first time in the new season of the Chinese Super League as a substitute, Li Lei's explanation is that after continuous participation, the foot pain, need to rest properly. He Chao, who started for eight consecutive rounds, told the Beiqing Daily reporter that although the back injury may not be particularly serious, it needs to be carefully examined to confirm the specific situation.
At present, the injured players are not only the above players. As the double captain of the national football team and Shenhua team, midfielder Wu Xi was stepped on by the opposing player Cai Huikang in the "Shanghai Derby" with Harbour on April 30th. According to the hospital report, he suffered a proximal fracture of the fifth phalanx of his left foot, which is expected to require about eight weeks of recovery, meaning he will not be able to play in all the remaining rounds of the first phase of the Chinese Super League (CSL). During a training session the day before the seventh round of the Super League match against Zhejiang, Zhang Linpeng, the main defender of the Harbor Team, accidentally strained his leg muscles and missed the match. In addition, Henan's Wang Shangyuan and other players also had different degrees of injuries.
For all clubs, the aforementioned players are indispensable pillar players. Their injuries will adversely affect the upcoming training for the new Chinese men's soccer team and the Asian Games starting in June, which may have an even greater impact on the Asian Games.
According to the plan, the Men's Asian Games will regroup at the Hangzhou Asian Games Football Competition Area in Jinhua on June 10 before playing two important warm-up matches against the defending Asian Games champions, the South Korean Asian Games, in the following International Matchday Cycle. With only the June and September international matchday cycles available for the Chinese men's Asian Games before the start of the Hangzhou Asian Games soccer tournament, the coaching staff needed to practice formations and run in key lineups as quickly as possible through training and limited warm-up opportunities. In this case, after communicating with the Chinese Football Association and the national soccer coaching staff, the team's coaching staff confirmed that they will move some overage international players to participate in the June training and warm-up matches against South Korea for the Asian Games.
At the end of March last year, during the closed training period between the national football team and the men's Asian Games team in Haikou, Zhang Linpeng, Wu Xi and Zhang Yuning took part in the joint training of the men's Asian Games team as representatives of the best players of the national football team in the back, middle and front lines. They were originally the main candidates for overage international players. However, recently, the three players have suffered different degrees of injuries. Wu Xi is basically unlikely to participate in the national team training in June. Zhang Yuning has missed three consecutive rounds since making his Henan debut for Guoan in the fifth round. Even if he recovers from his ankle injury, he will need time to adjust his physical condition.
