On the night of September 9, Guangzhou soccer team drew 0-0 with Tianjin Jinmen Tigers, a 10-man team, in the 17th round of the Chinese Super League. After the match, both managers Fu Bo and Yu Genwei were interviewed at the press conference.
Yu Genwei commented on the performance of the Jinmen Tigers: "In tonight's game, we suffered an unexpected situation in the first half when player Shi Yan was sent off. But overall, our players performed well and managed to hold on to one point. After the loss in the last round, we have summarized the game, I think this game, our spirit and style of play and mood have been restored, the draw is acceptable. Although the penalty kick was missed, I was already emphasizing to them in the locker room that in the last game it was our whole team that faced difficulties and needed to work together to turn things around, while in this one it was Beric who had personal difficulties. But we are a family, we are brothers, we have to support and tolerate each other. We will return to Tianjin tomorrow and do our best to prepare for the next game."
Talking about the adjustments in the second half, Yu Genwei said: "In the first half, we did not expect someone to be sent off so quickly, which disrupted our pre-match deployment. In such bad weather, it is really passive to play with one man less. We made adjustments in the midfield, changed players in the center backs, and adjusted the 4-4-1 formation accordingly. The players were very disciplined and executed well, we defended well and didn't concede any goals. In the latter part of the second half, we continuously gained advantages and threats from set pieces, and we would have been more satisfied if the penalty kicks had broken through. But that's soccer, we held on despite being a man short and created chances on the attacking end, which was our highlight and we are more than pleased."
Regarding the team's injury situation, Yu Genwei introduced, "Xie Weijun suffered an injury to his eyebrow bone during a scramble in more than 30 minutes in the first half of the game, and the team doctor advised him to come off the field to rest, but he insisted on playing through the game. We replaced him in the second half, and his persistence reflects the players' desire to contribute to this game and change the trend of the last game."
Fu Bo summarized the performance of Guangzhou team: "In this game, the players showed that they wanted to win the game very much, and after two consecutive losses on the road, it would be helpful to get points at home to improve the points. However, the players were a little bit restrained, and the game was not very exciting; and we did not have the advantage of playing with one more player, and the youth of the players was especially obvious. After a period of time, we did not play as well as we would have liked in a dominant game. The team also lacked some luck with set pieces. In the future, especially in home games, we need to further strengthen our mental and technical-tactical success."
Artemisia came on as a substitute in the second half to make her Guangzhou debut, and Fu Bo commented: "Considering that we played one more person, we replaced him. Originally he was not in the plan, today there is just such an opportunity, but also let him through the game to adapt to the rhythm, to find the feeling of the game. The opposing team's recovery defense is really difficult, but the quality of the timing of several set-pieces and corners after he came out was good, and we hope that the veteran players will be able to play in the future, and they have the ability to do so, but it just takes a period of time for them to adjust in terms of physical fitness."
Zhang Jianzhi both gave away and pounced on penalties in the game, Fu Bo said: "This is his second game, he is still very young, such a game is very rare for him. Pouncing on penalties is very helpful to his mental growth. I think his performance in the game was better when he was behind and in a tie, while it was a challenge for us when we had the advantage. In the future, the young players need to work on more matches and strengthen in training, which is a process that takes time and we need to communicate more with the players."
