At 16:15, the pre-match press conference for the 21st round of the 2022 Chinese Super League season, in which Shanghai Seaports took on Beijing Guoan, was held at the Dalian Sports Center Stadium on October 4, with both teams' head coaches, Leko and Stanley, in attendance.
In describing the Harbour's preparations for the match, Leko emphasized, "This match is crucial for both of our teams. Beijing Guoan is a strong team and has been performing well recently. The winner will depend on the form of both sides and we need to give our best to both limit the strengths of our opponents and play to our specialties. We have five to six days to prepare and hope to present a game that is both disciplined and exciting tomorrow."
Responding to center Ndiaye, who was injured in the last game, Leko revealed, "The medical team is doing its best to help him recover and the team has another pre-match training session today. I'm not sure if he will be able to play tomorrow. He is an integral part of our team and we will do everything we can to get him ready for the game."
Speaking about Wu Lei's integration, Leko said, "We believe that Wu Lei is a key player, not only in this season, but also in the future. At the moment he is not yet at his best, but we are working on a training program for him. Wu Lei himself is cooperating with the training with a positive attitude. In the last game, he scored with his efforts and we will continue to train and help him to reach his best form."
Regarding tomorrow's opponent Beijing Guoan, Leko believes that "Guoan has many international players in the team, the midfield is especially strong, the center forward is the top striker in China, the backfield outside back and the captain's strength is outstanding, and the right back Wang Gang is also a member of the national team. We have a good challenge against such an opponent, and the whole team will need to be at their best tomorrow."
Cai Huikang said, "Tomorrow's game is very crucial for us. The team has been in better and better shape recently, and the opportunity to test our training results against such a strong opponent is very valuable, and we will do our best to carry out the coach's intentions."
Cai Huikang also mentioned, "We can't say that Guoan's defense is poor, probably because they are more characteristic in offense. The coach has given us a lot of requirements to limit our opponents, and we will continue our previous game form to keep our opponents from scoring goals and reduce the number of threatening shots from our opponents."
Stanley said in the release, "It's always exciting to play against top teams and I think Harbor is one of the top teams in China, we are looking forward to playing against such a strong team and testing our training level. We have done a lot of preparation for this game and are constantly optimizing our tactics."
Regarding the team's preparation, Stanley said, "The first priority is to prepare for the next game and deploy against the opponent. At the same time, we are constantly optimizing our playing style, so that the players understand my technical and tactical play, and establishing our own tactical play may be more important than facing any opponent. In the last few days, we first study the Harbor team, and we will consider the Shandong team after this game."
Regarding Wu Lei's defense, Stanley said, "As a team, we can't defend against him alone. Wu Lei is a good offensive player and we respect him, but it's impossible for the whole team to focus on him alone. We have a good team of defenders and midfielders who know what to do on defense."
Finally, Stanley spoke about Adebenelo's form: "Adebenelo is gradually regaining strength and approaching starting form. He played 20 minutes in the last game against Dalian and we also had an instructional game this past week where he played 60 minutes. We will play him longer and longer in due course and eventually be able to start."
Gao Tianyi said, "After a week of preparation, we made a comprehensive deployment against our opponents on both offense and defense, and we hope to play a wonderful game under the leadership of our coach and get a good result."
