While training in China, the Singapore team is also actively preparing for the tournament. After losing the match against Thailand, head coach Takashi Nishitani was fired. Singapore chose Mian Ogura, also a Japanese coach, to coach the team. It is said that he replaced Takashi Nishitani because his English was not good enough to communicate smoothly with the players, while Mian Ogura's English was better.
Kokura reluctantly took over and recruited 26 players for the first training session, eight of whom play overseas, including Ilhan Vandy, who plays in the B-League, while the other seven play in Malaysia, Indonesia and Thailand. Ilhan's two older brothers, who currently play for Pathum United in the Thai Premier League, played against Harbour and both were selected for Singapore.
In its last 12 matches, Singapore has won four, drawn three and lost three, winning against fish-belly teams such as Guam, Macau, China and Chinese Taipei. In the first two matches of the 36-team tournament, Singapore lost 0-5 on the road to South Korea and 1-3 at home to Thailand. "The two teams from China and Singapore are roughly the same at the moment," said Mian Ogura in an interview with the Singapore media. No matter what opponent they face, they will focus on themselves and do their best to win the match."
National football team psychological reconstruction effect is remarkable
Beijing time on March 17, the national soccer team announced 26 Singapore players, Li Ke, Li Shuai, Li Ang, Xie Wenneng and Zhao Bo lost. Among them, Li Ke, Li Shuai due to injury, Xie Wenneng to help the Olympic Games, Zhao Bo because the goalkeeper position has three reserves, as for Li Ke, seems to have not come out of the psychological shadow of Jankovic ordered to leave the team.
Ickerson is finally going with the team. Although the injury has not yet healed, Ivan said that even if Ickerson plays 5 or 10 minutes, he can have a positive impact on the team. This statement was more to express psychological comfort and encouragement for the naturalized striker. Ickerson has suffered a lot before because of his losses in the World Qualifiers and the Asian Cup.
Due to limited preparation time, after a week of training in Shenzhen, Ivan held short meetings at noon every day to instill tactical theories in his players, which were then practiced in subsequent training sessions. The players generally expressed a basic understanding of Ivan's tactical requirements.
Ivan believes that after the Asian Cup fiasco, it is more important for the Chinese team to make psychological repairs. In an interview, he repeatedly emphasized rebuilding players' self-confidence. In daily training, Ivan also repeatedly emphasized that players should give full play to their imagination and boldly put into the attack, which will help the national football team's psychological reconstruction.
Overall, the current atmosphere in the national soccer team is much more relaxed than in the Jankovic era. Although Ivan is strict on details, he is not harsh and does not build up his own authority by severely punishing his players. On the contrary, he is willing to communicate with his players in private. Wu Lei mentioned in an interview that Ivan is a "humorous" old man. In addition, many players also mentioned that the current team atmosphere is relatively relaxed.
A big problem for Ivan to solve
The 442 formation is the main formation set by Ivan for the national soccer team as seen in their recent training sessions. However, in defense, the wingers on the ball-less side need to retreat and the formation changes from 4 to 5 defenders. When shifting from defense to offense, the wingers on the ball-less side need to insert at high speed. Compared to the Jankovic era, Ivan's tactical requirements were simpler and livelier, and easier for the national soccer team to understand and implement in a short period of time.
From a personnel point of view, there shouldn't be too many personnel changes in the front line and the back line, Wu Lei and Zhang Yuning in the front line will still focus on the single bar, in addition, Ickerson has not yet recovered from his injury and can only be used as a substitute, and Fernando can play as a second striker or as a winger.
In defense, Jiang Guangtai and Zhu Chenjie remain the top choices for the center back position. With the return of the likes of Gao Zhunyi and Deng Hanwen and the inclusion of Wang Zhen'ao, there are more options at the wing-back position.
The position with the most variables comes from the midfield. Compared to the Jankovic era, except for Wang Shangyuan, all the center-forwards in the Janko era were selected for the national team, including veteran captain Wu Xi, Wang Qiuming, Xu Xin and Li Ke. How to build the midfield is a pressing issue for Ivan.
Judging from recent league performances, the general consensus is that the pairing of Wang Shangyuan and Lee Won-yi is favored to serve as a double midfielder for the national soccer team. Wang Shangyuan has been a mainstay of the national team for the past two years. Although Li Yuanyi was selected for the national soccer team for the first time, he played well in Shandong Taishan. In addition, Cheng Jin and Gao Tianyi can also hold this position, with Cheng Jin also being selected for the national soccer team for the first time. Although Gao Tianyi participated in the Asian Cup, his playing time was limited.
No matter what choice Ivan makes, the national soccer midfield is facing reconstruction. Combined with the reality of the current league, the midfield position may also be the "shortest" constraint to the development of national soccer in the next few years. At least there is no sign of a young player who can replace Wu Xi as the centerpiece of a new national soccer midfield.
In the two forward positions, Xie Pengfei has been in brave form lately and is expected to be the mainstay on the right. On the left Ivan is likely to choose between Wei Shihao and Lin Liangming.
