Fellaini (far left) remains an important member of the Taishan team in the new season. This photo was taken by Sun Changqing, reporter of Jinan Times-New Yellow River Client
Taishan lost two games in a row, and head coach Hao Wei (far right) is under pressure.
If Shandong Taishan lost to Zhejiang in the penalty shootout, which gave people hope for the new season, then Taishan's 0:2 loss to Wuhan Sanzhen in the Super Cup exposed many problems. The results show that the two most important "pre-season games" before the start of the new season all lost, not only seriously damage the morale of the Taishan team, but also make the coaching team's task more difficult. With less than a week to go before Shanghai Shenhua's first round match, Taishan can only solve the three problems of lineup, technique and tactics as well as preparation to find the ideal state as soon as possible.
New lineups: how to choose a starting lineup?
In the transfer window that is coming to an end, Taishan signed seven new players in one breath, Sun,, Liu and Fernando. Although they lost out to teams like Wuhan Three Town in terms of overall financial investment, the lineup was still strengthened.
With the addition of new recruits, Taishan urgently needs to address the finalization of the starting lineup. Judging from the past two games, it seems that Hao Wei has not found the final answer.
In the past two games, Taishan had seven players starting consecutively, Guo Tianyu, Moises, Sun Junhao, Shi Ke, Jia Desong, Song Long and Han Rongze. Except for Guo Tianyu and Han Rongze who are Cressan and Wang Dalei, who are temporarily unavailable, the other five players are absolute starters from last season.
On this basis, the coaching staff arranged for other players to start. Sun Guowen and Tong Lei made their debut in the Gift Cup. Liu Binbin, who has just completed the national soccer training mission, and Fellaini, the foreign aid who finally returned, also showed good competitive status. In the Super Cup, Delgado, Chen Pu, Zheng Zheng and Ji Xiang got their debuts.
The reason why Hao Wei made such an arrangement is largely related to the different status of the players. Due to the short training mission of the national football team, Liu Binbin, Chen Pu, Sun Guowen need to adjust the competitive state, not suitable for the full game. Zheng Zheng, auspicious and other veterans injured, the physical condition is far from the best state.
Delgado is the most special of the aforementioned players. Since he will play as a foreigner in the new season, he was a popular candidate to leave the team as early as last season when Taishan kept five foreigners in the team. But Delgado made a surprise appearance in the starting lineup for the Super Bowl, but the "Jinan Boy" didn't prove himself in just 39 minutes of action. Delgado faces two arrangements in the new season: one is to continue to loan and practice, but the transfer window is about to close, the relevant operation time is very tight. The second is to remain with the Taishan team. As Taishan has the AFC Champions League mission this season, Delgado doesn't have to worry about his status as the foreign aid quota of AFC Champions League teams will be adjusted to "5+1" since the 2023-2024 season.
But compared to the AFC Championship, the Chinese Super League, which is close at hand, is undoubtedly more important. After the experiment of the past two games, Hao Wei is also the time to make a choice.
From the current situation, the Taishan team will not have a big change in the center line, the most important thing that needs to be solved is the pairing of the two sides. Tong Lei is in a race against time because of procedural issues. If he is not registered for the Chinese Super League, Jixiang and Wang Tong will face more pressure on offense and defense. Sun Guowen has moved into the main rotation, but he still needs to work with his teammates.
Currently, the coaching staff pays more attention to the latest status of the players when it comes to the selection of the starting lineup. But without a relatively stable lineup, Taishan will face more technical and tactical problems.
New Tactics:How to fix Cressan's absence?
T&T missed two matches, with Cressan's poor form and absence a big reason. Based on last season's penalties, Cressan will miss the first two rounds of the new season.
As the core of the team's offense, Cressan's absence will have two major effects. First, the team lacks the strongest individual combatant forward in the Super Bowl, and Taishan's offensive end will have to rely on team play. In addition, the offensive and defensive pivot Moises has lost his most taciturn partner. In the Super Bowl, Moises' most frequent area was the right side of the road, which was more of a helpless option. With the midfield unable to penetrate, he was forced to win the wing. In this case, the pressure suddenly increased on the other midfielder, Son Junho, who got a red card in the last minute of the Super Bowl, an irrational behavior under pressure.
How to solve the problems caused by Cressan's absence? The first step is to choose a replacement. Guo Tianyu is the first choice for the center position. He also worked very hard in the past two games. In the Super Bowl, against Wuhan Sanzhen's foreign center back Wallace, Guo Tianyu repeatedly took the initiative to seek confrontation and put a lot of pressure on the opponent's defense. Another option is Fellaini. Before the Super Cup, Fellaini was injured again, but he remained Hao Wei's most trusted player when his team fell behind. Although ageing will inevitably affect his physical condition, Fellaini's professionalism is still "on the line". He was the first substitute after the first half of the Super Bowl. After the appearance, he is also the main end of the offense.
However, Guo Tianyu, Fellaini and Cressan have completely different skill sets and are more reliant on the team's offensive system. In this case, Taishan need to find a stage tactic.
In the Super Cup, Taishan's possession rate was 55%, higher than Wuhan Sanzhen. However, too much possession not only failed to bring the game into their rhythm, but also provided too many counter-attacking opportunities for the opponents. At the beginning of the season, Taishan might want to try more defensive counter-attacking strategies while maintaining their wing attack. Reduce the time of possession and increase the efficiency of the offense. After all, early league records will have a decisive impact on trends throughout the season. With Cressan in place, it's not too late to restore pass control.
The age-old question: Be careful if you start out slow.
Aside from the new problems with the lineup and technical tactics, the Taishan team also encountered the old problem of slow and hot in these two games. It's always not ideal for Taishan to appear after a long break. Last season, after narrowly defeating Zhejiang in the first round :at 0, they suffered a 0:4 drubbing in the second round to Henan Songshan Longmen. After the 12th round, the Super League entered a half-month break. In the first match after the restart, Taishan drew at home with Wuhan Sanzhen in a single foreign aid battle:1.
The reason for this problem has nothing to do with the playing system. In the past two seasons, Taishan achieved good results under the fixture system, with players and coaches becoming more accustomed to the intense pace of the game. But with the reintroduction of the home-and-away system, the environment in which Chinese Super League teams prepare has changed dramatically, and the work of the coaching staff must change accordingly. In addition, away matches in the Chinese Super League will be more difficult with the return of the fans. In the first round of the league, Taishan will play away at Shanghai Shenhua. In the fourth round, the brand new industrial stadium will face Beijing Guoan. If they can't get into shape as soon as possible, Taishan's trend in the opening stage will not be optimistic.
Earlier, Wang Dalei expressed his concerns after the lineup change in an interview. "In fact, I think it's more about bonding. These new teammates used to be rivals, but now they don't know much about the team. In our league or cup games, we don't gel in the first three to five games. I'm a little worried about that too. I hope the coaching staff can adjust to those things."
With many problems, head coach Hao Wei is undoubtedly under the most pressure. After the Super Bowl, Hao Wei left the stadium for the first time and did not attend the post-game press conference. This is the most direct way for a coach to express his attitude, but after venting his emotions, the problem still exists. With the passage of time, the Taishan coaching staff must accelerate action.
