Beijing Guoan head coach Stanley, who was on vacation in South Africa on January 11, recorded a video summarizing the team's performance last season. Stanley said it was unfortunate that he was not able to lead the team to play the last two rounds of matches properly, and that the health of the players was the most important consideration. He hopes Beijing fans will enjoy the next Spring Festival vacation, wait for the spring flowers to bloom, and go together to the newly remodeled Workers' Stadium to cheer for the Guoan team.
Stanley said, "Dear friends, I greet you all from sunny Cape Town. The team is all on vacation and this is a way to build up energy for the new season. This is how I want to look back as well. Over the last four months my team and I have taken over the team for the new season and the players needed to adjust themselves immediately to the new coaching staff and tactical style. I believe everyone is looking backwards from the final result and my team and I need to express our sincere thanks and gratitude to all the players and staff."
When it comes to the biggest regret of the season, Stanley believes that everyone did their best for the team, but didn't end up in the top three or four in the final standings. Especially at the end of the season, the team regretted not finishing the last two Super League games properly. These games could have been an opportunity for the young players to show themselves, but the whole team encountered serious illness. In the club's view, the health of the players was far more important than anything else, which was more important than winning or losing a game, which is why the team ultimately chose to forfeit the matches.
Talking about the biggest transformation of the team, Stanley said, "I have consolidated the training program so that the first team players and the u21 players train at the same time at different venues, or in the morning and in the afternoon, so that I can get a close-up view and recruit the players at any time, and also to give the younger players a taste of how it is to train as a team and show them how to move up to be a part of a team. "
However, Stanley also acknowledged that the team wasn't able to train in Beijing all the time due to the epidemic and the schedule, and at times they had to travel to Rizhao to train and play, so the younger players weren't able to spend long periods of time with one team. "This year, we are going to restart this program so that the two teams can continue to train together in the new season and the players from both teams can be closer together."
Looking ahead to the new season, Stanley believes that Guoan currently has a group of excellent players who can help the team improve its record in the new season. The team's goal is always to be better, especially when the team is injured and fatigued, we can find equally good players from the lineup to make the same contribution to the team, which is the strength a strong team should show.
"We know exactly what we have to work on for the new season and we are working hard for it, hoping to achieve our goals in the run-up to the start of the campaign. When the new season starts, we need to have a good team to play in our beautiful home, Workers Stadium." Stanley said he had passed by the Workers' Stadium before leaving China and that it would be a great honor to play here.
"Chinese New Year is coming soon. I would like to wish all Beijing fans a happy holiday and all the best. We will experience our work in the new season. I wish you all record happy moments in sports and witness the victory and success of Guoan team!" Stanley said.
