Although the exact start date of the new Chinese Super League (CSL) season has not yet been finalized, all CSL teams except Kunshan have completed their assembly and started their preparation, naturally including Shanghai's two powerhouses Shenhua and Port. From the current situation, these two teams will have obvious changes in 2023:Shenhua will complete the replacement of old and new personnel; although Port's lineup is more stable, it will have a brand new coaching team.
The time left for the harbor to choose a teacher is running out.
Since the beginning of this month, the Shanghai Harbour Team officially assembled on the 15th of this month, and members of the Harbour Team can often be seen on the Century Park soccer field taking the initiative to advance their recovery training. On the same day, the Harbor Team appeared at Century Park 30 local players, including players who were rented out last season, such as Fu Huan, Zhang Wei, Zhang Yi, He Jiao and so on. It is reported that the main training task of the Harbour team is physical recovery and physical reserve, and the Chinese coaching team headed by Xi Zhikang and Sun Xiang is still in charge of the training. As for foreigners such as Oscar, Vargas, Caron and Paulinho, they will return to the team by the end of this month.
So far, the club has not made substantial progress in hiring a new coach. This is not good news for the Port team. After all, many specific things in the team need to be decided by the coach. First of all, there are 30 local players completing the party. But according to the CFA, each club's first team must register five U21 players and five foreign players in the new season, which means that many of the players gathered so far will not be able to register with the team. It is natural for the coaches to observe who is on and who is off for a period of time before making a decision. In addition, the team's preparations for this season are all carried out in Shanghai, where the responsibility lies.
Shenhua drastically adjusted its lineup after realizing the transition from old to new
The day after the harbor assembly, Shanghai Shenhua also held the first training session in preparation for the new season at the Kangqiao base. Six veterans, such as Feng Xiaoting, Qin Sheng, Zhao Mingjian, Zhu Baojie, Li Yunqiu and Zhang Lu, either left the team or retired. Cong Zhen and Xu Yougang also bid farewell to Shenhua due to the expiration of their contracts. Therefore, how to deal with coach Wu Jingui's drastic adjustments will undoubtedly become the most important task before the season.
Shenhua's first team, in addition to the eight departing players mentioned above, has as many as 11 players who are unable to participate in the club's pre-season training due to being selected for the Olympic and Asian Games squads. Among them, Zhu Yue, Zhu Qiwen, Jin Shunkai, Jiang Zhixin, He Longhai, Fernando and other six players were selected for the Olympic team, Wen Jiabao, Zhu Chenjie, Jiang Shenglong, Wang Haijian, Sun Qinhan and other five players were selected for the Asian Games team. In order to ensure the quality of training, the coaching team has drawn eight young players from the ladder team to join the first team, among which Chen Shenji and Qi Long had playing experience in the AFC Cup last season and received the first affirmation from Wu Jingui.
The eight young players mentioned above, together with the 19 members of the first team from last season and Xu Haoyang, who is back on loan, make a total of 28 players who reported to the team on the assembly day. Two of these players were injured. Liu Ruofan, who was previously selected for the Asian Games squad, has returned to Shenhua for treatment of an ankle injury, while Eddie is currently undergoing rehabilitation after undergoing meniscus surgery at the end of last season.
Wu Jingui said that in the new season, Shanghai Shenhua will continue to integrate the team and help the young players grow up quickly under the framework of bringing in the new with the old. It is reported that the first phase of the team's training is basically based on physical reserves.
The Shenhua coaching staff has also undergone personnel changes. Japanese coach Koji Maeda and Shenhua 08 ladder team head coach Zheng Kewei entered the coaching staff as assistant coaches.54-year-old Koji Maeda had many years of coaching experience in the J1 and J2 leagues in Japan.In 2015, Maeda came to China to serve as the head coach of the first team of the Women's A League, Zhejiang Rheinlanda. Since then, he served as the Shaanxi Football Association All-China ladder team and Guangzhou Evergrande U19. and team head coach, such as Wuhan Sanzhen 06 ladder team.
How to gel the team as soon as possible will undoubtedly become the most important task during Shenhua and Harbour's preparation. After all, there are only about two months left before the expected start date of the Chinese Super League (mid to late April). (Photo/Shanghai Harbor FC, Shanghai Shenhua FC)
