On April 8, the Super Cup was restarted after three years. Shandong Taishan, as last season's AFC Cup champions, lost 0-2 to Super League champions Wuhan Sanzhen, failing to win their first trophy in 2023. During the match, Taishan showed a gap with Wuhan Sanzhen in terms of technical and tactical setup, personnel bonding, and individual form. It is not a pity to lose the championship, but it shows that the new season will face greater difficulties and challenges.
The Terriers still put a lot of thought into preparing for the Super Bowl. In the case of Cressan's inability to play, the team temporarily left Delgado, who also entered the starting lineup for this game. In order to better "tie the fence", Hao Wei also started the formation of 3 center backs. At the beginning of the game, Taishan had a certain advantage on the field. However, the good times didn't last long. In the 10th minute, Wuhan Sanzhen broke the deadlock on the field with two new recruits. Wei Shihao broke through three Taishan defenders and helped Aziz score. Taishan got off to a bad start and fell behind 0-1.
Conceding the ball too early seemed to break Hao Wei's pre-match deployment. Meanwhile, it was hard for Taishan to organize a decent attack on the pitch. Except for Chen Pu, who took advantage of a steal in front of the goal to complete a shot that tested Liu Dianzuo, Taishan entered the danger zone of Wuhan Sanzhen's defense and couldn't push their attack forward. After the 30th minute, Taishan began to continuously out of the ball, the midfield was suppressed by the opponent, more difficult to organize the attack. In response, Hao Wei replaced the mediocre Delgado early until the end of the first half.
On the change of sides, Hao Wei changed horses continuously, Wang Tong, Liu Binbin, Fellaini and others came out one after another, and at the same time, the formation was adjusted back to 4 backs, forcing them to put more troops in the offensive end. Unfortunately, the adjusted tactics have not yet had time to implement, Wuhan three towns and scored, Xie Pengfei linking Stanciu to extend the score to 2-0. thereafter, Taishan began to use more of the traditional bottom of the pass play, hoping to be able to use Fellaini, the high point of the goal scoring breakthrough. This change had some effect, but Liu Yang and Fellaini also missed chances in front of the goal. Thereafter, Taishan were misused by Liu Bin on the exact pitch.
Looking at the overall content of this game, Taishan showed a clear gap with Wuhan Sanzhen in many aspects. First of all, in terms of tactical setting, Taishan still switched back and forth between 3 center backs and 4 backs, just like last season. This setup seems to be an advantage of the team's tactical flexibility, but it is actually a reflection of unclear tactical thinking. On the other hand, although Wuhan Three Town has welcomed many new players, the idea of seizing the opening was as unified as last season, and the high-intensity pressure on the opponent's midfield and backfield has never changed. Hao Wei needs to reflect on how to find his own characteristics in both offense and defense and play to his inherent strengths.
Secondly, there was also a clear gap between Taishan's players and Wuhan Sanzhen in terms of creativity and responsibility on the offensive end. With the loss of Cressan, Taishan had little in the way of single point breakthroughs, with Chen Pu, Delgado and Liu Binbin, including Moises, all notably lacking breakthroughs in the first half. Breaking has always been the easiest way to create chances in soccer. If you lose breakthroughs, your offense loses variety. It was difficult for Taishan to break through Wuhan Sanzhen's defense step by step. In this regard, Wuhan Sanzhen had chances to break through both foreigners such as Stancho and Davidson, as well as Wei Feihao and Wei Pengnei.
In the new season, Taishan team not only has three towns in Wuhan, but also Shanghai seaport, Beijing Guoan and other teams, the overall strength is obviously improved. It can be said that the pressure and challenges they face this season are far more than last season. With only a week to go before the start of the league, it is difficult for Taishan to make big changes in a short period of time. In the long season, they need to find the best solution to solve the offensive and defensive problems as soon as possible and make timely improvements, as well as how to help many new assistance to integrate into the team as soon as possible. There are many difficulties on the road ahead.
