2023 is not favorable for Shandong Taishan, a veteran Chinese Super League (CSL) powerhouse. In the past few months, the club has released a lot of negative news and the team's preparation for the Chinese Super League has been seriously affected.
That's why most of Taishan's players have been in bad shape lately, and the team has suffered three consecutive defeats recently. Taishan lost to Zhejiang and Wuhan Sanzhen in the pre-season "Gift Cup" and Super Cup, except for a 0-1 away defeat to Shanghai Shenhua in the Super League opener.
Such a bad performance in the new season is rare in Taishan's team history. Facing this unfavorable situation, Taishan must get a win as soon as possible to help the team get out of the doldrums. Therefore, it is especially important for Taishan to play a home match against Nantong Zhiyun, a promoted team in the Chinese Super League, in the second round of the league.
Before the start of this match, Taishan also received good news that current international Wang Dalei is back from injury and ready to play in the Chinese Super League. Recently, Wang Dalei posted a video of him taking part in training on social media. Judging from the current situation, Wang Dalei is likely to start in the match between Taishan and Nantong Zhiyun.
This is undoubtedly a great benefit to the currently struggling Taishan team. Hao Wei has been using No. 2 goalkeeper Han Rongze as a starter in the last few games, but his continued losses have indirectly led to Taishan's losing streak.
It's safe to say that Korea is clearly out of form right now, or are they still angry with Hao Wei? No wonder Hao Wei said in the press conference after the away loss to Shenhua, Wang Dalei's absence has a great impact on the team, which seems to imply that Han Rongze is not worthy of becoming the main goalkeeper of Taishan.
In the match of Nantong Zhiyun, Taishan will not only welcome the main goalkeeper Wang Dalei, but also change the team's main lineup. Tong Lei, who came on as a substitute in the last round of the league, was quite eye-catching, and his side breaks and passes posed a big threat to Shenhua's backline.
In this round of the league, Tong Lei is likely to be included in the starting lineup by Hao Wei. In this way, the Sun-Tong side combination of last season's Dalian people will reappear in Taishan, and the performance of Sun Guowen and Tong Lei will largely determine the quality of Taishan's side attack. Their assists could create more breakthrough chances for Fellaini and Guo Tianyu up front.
In addition, naturalized player Fernando is also likely to start in this match. Due to well known reasons, side speedster Wu Xinghan is definitely out of action lately, while Liu Yang and Chen Pu both have some issues with their form right now.
Compared to Liu Yang and Chen Pu, Fernando is much more capable. In the last round of the Chinese Super League and Shenhua, Fernando was quite active after coming on as a substitute and created some shots, but had poor foot control.
In this round of league, Hao Wei can give more trust to Fernando and make him the main winger of Taishan. I believe that as long as Fernando can regain his 7 successes, he can definitely make a difference in Taishan's side attack and create more space for Sun Guowen to attack through his sharp breakthroughs.
The above four players started at the same time, undoubtedly can greatly enhance the strength of Taishan. It is believed that Taishan will be able to beat Nantong Jiyun at home and usher in the first victory of the new Chinese Super League season as long as there are no surprises!
