Source: Shangguan News By: for Bing
In the arena, the coaching team is the locomotive that leads the way, while the club is the decision maker at the helm. So, will they be able to come up with a more focused strategy in the face of challenges?
On June 19th, in the fifth round of the Chinese Super League, the powerful Wuhan Sanzhen team continued to lead the table with a 2-1 victory over Shanghai Seaport in Dalian. For the first time, the defeated Shanghai Seaports head coach Leko confessed, "The road to the championship was exceptionally tough, and it is difficult for us to reach the top level of the Chinese Super League at this stage."
With only five rounds of the league in progress, why did Leko call it quits so quickly? The Harbour team made special reinforcements after winning the Double Asia Championship last season, but now the whole team is in low form, is it related to the epidemic in Shanghai? Can the coaching team, as the locomotive, and the club, as the decision maker, take more targeted measures in the face of difficulties?
Outside backers duel, Harbor deserves to lose
The Harbor team lost by a score of 1-2 with only one goal conceded, but the difference in strength between the two teams was obvious from the course of the game. Throughout the game, the Harbor team was clearly behind in shots on goal by 6 to 22, and was completely overwhelmed in shots on goal by 3 to 11. The loss seemed reasonable.
In terms of ball possession, Harbour led their opponents' 35% with 65%, and their pass success rate was 84% ahead of Tri-Town's 72%, but these figures were only scratching the surface - Harbour's area of possession was mainly concentrated in the opposing team's midfield and backfield, which made it difficult to create an effective attacking threat; and passes were limited to the home backfield between the three full-backs, which made it impossible to launch effective attacks forward.
In contrast to the unconvincing defeats of the past, this time Harbour's head coach, Leko, appeared to be convinced after the match, and even a little bit guilty of growing others' ambitions. He said: "The side that played better won the game and we only lost by one goal, but in reality we could have lost by four. The players and coaches were out of form in the first half, and there is still a gap between us and the top teams in the Super League."
Harbour improved in the second half, relying on substitute wide man Ndiaye to pull one back. According to Leko: "We had more possession in the second half but I don't think we were better, we didn't really create a threat and our opponents could have scored all four of our goals in the first half."
The Chinese Super League relies on foreigners. Wuhan Three Town, equipped with five foreigners, started with four of them, and the front three were on fire, especially high center forward Malcolm who turned the Harbour's backline upside down, his powerful header setting the tone of the game early on. In contrast, Harbour only had one foreigner, Paulinho Jr., in the starting lineup, and N'Diaye, who came on as a substitute, was not sharp enough due to unsystematic training.
Foreign aid dependence, test of coach's coaching skills
In the absence of core foreign aid, Shanghai Seaports exposed the stubborn problem that it is difficult to win without Oscar, which is certainly related to the general rule of relying on foreign aid in the Chinese Super League, but also exposes the coaching team's deficiencies in offensive deployment, tactical literacy, overall collaboration and timely response.
All along, the Chinese Super League, dominated by the golden dollar soccer, has formed a simplistic tactical framework with the super foreign aid trident leading the attack and the rest of the local players responsible for defense. Whether it is Guangzhou Evergrande, Shanghai Harbour, or the three towns of Wuhan today, the super foreign aid is the indispensable tactical core, the local players are mainly responsible for defense, and even after the ball is handed over to the foreign aid "tool man".
Now, with the super foreign aid due to salary restrictions and other factors to leave, the core of the Hong Kong team Oscar due to the epidemic and other reasons for the delay in the return of a number of teams back to the original form, seaports "Oscar dependence" more and more obvious. Without Oscar, the Harbor team's offense has become raw, basically unable to create a threat, if not the club's introduction of internal reinforcement Feng Jin a unique, the rest of the local players are trapped in the physical reserves, physical fatigue, tactical configurations and other factors, the performance of the weak drag, it is difficult to shoulder the important task of scoring goals.
Can Chinese players play exciting offense without foreign aid? This season, Xie Hui's all-local team, the Dalian People, has performed well, with 1 win and 3 draws, and is undefeated, especially in the absence of a single foreigner, the team's high pressing style of play has been sound and inspiring.
The high press and spirit of Xie Hui and the Dalian People are actually reminding Shanghai Harbor that the Chinese Super League is not the only tactic, mode and way to live in the world of betting on foreign aid. In contrast, Lecco's helplessness and complaining without Oscar nowadays also shows that the coaching team can't come up with a solution to the problem.
In fact, as long as the proper organization, proper tactics, unity and cooperation, all Chinese players playing in the Chinese class can also score goals, can also play relatively advanced team soccer - provided that the coaching team has the pursuit, the players have the execution. In this regard, Leko may need more thinking.
Carve the boat and clubs need to be flexible too
Xie Hui's Dalian team performed well with an all Chinese team, which could not be separated from the learning he accumulated as an assistant coach at Shanghai Harbor Club for a long time. After assisting three champion coaches such as Eriksson, Boaz and Pereira, Xie Hui chose to fly solo as a head coach and incorporated the experience of these champion coaches into his coaching philosophy.
In contrast, Leko, as the successor of these three champion coaches, lacks the aura of a champion, and his character appears to be "one-dimensional", and lacks the ability to adapt quickly when encountering unexpected difficulties. Even the lack of "frustration education" of the young coach, because of their own stubborn character, so that the team has a "boat for the sword" suspicion.
In my opinion, the Shanghai Harbour team has been affected by the epidemic, the physical reserve is insufficient, the preparation period is insufficient, this situation can not be reversed. In the face of the team only 14 days preparation period of "special circumstances", must take targeted "special measures". It is reported that Leco led the team in Dalian still adhere to their trademark high-intensity training mode, and even two aerobic running, round-trip running to reserve physical fitness.
There is nothing wrong with high intensity training per se, but these training rhythms, training patterns and preparation concepts are usually based on the premise of a normal preparation cycle of about 30 days. Now the harbor team affected by the epidemic, the preparation cycle is only 15 days, so in the league before the continuation of ultra-high-intensity training unchanged is appropriate, remains to be seen.
At the same time, the intense training of Leko's coaching team has been exposed as a problem in the last season. Lecco handpicked defender Mystorovic came to China, a Chinese Super League did not play, suffered two serious injuries ligament rupture. Among them, there is certainly the factor of bad luck, but there are also many insiders believe that the team's excessive training intensity is also a causative factor. In addition, Brazilian striker Lopez ruptured his ligaments in training last year, and Oscar, who was basically uninjured before, suffered a serious injury last year, which is related to Leko's excessive training intensity, over-emphasis on running, and a relative lack of technical and tactical content.
Last season, after Lecco's high-intensity training, there is Brazilian "miracle doctor" Edu escort, using professional ability to ensure that the players come back in time. This season, under the high-intensity training, the harbour team is full of injuries and illnesses, the domestic medical team has been working very hard, but Edu due to the epidemic is still in Brazil has not yet returned to the team, the team has not yet recovered to the best rehabilitation diagnostic and treatment power.
"Everyone, including myself, needs to reflect and analyze to see what we should do next to get better." After the game, Leko's statement was both humble and pragmatic. In my opinion, Leko is only responsible for the technical and tactical aspects of the training and matches, and more matters are really left to the Harbour Club to decide.
Previously, in response to the epidemic when the team management on the do-nothing, lack of response measures, or for the immediate Premier League in trouble buried the fuse. Shanghai Shenhua, for example, although the Kangqiao base is also plagued by the epidemic, but relatively can guarantee a certain training; if the Shanghai Harbor Club can make decisions earlier, more responsible, timely adjustment of the training site or go to the provinces and cities training, perhaps to avoid the current embarrassment.
A Shanghai epidemic, leading to the normal operation of the club in the past the original experience is completely invalid, and further amplify the club management, coaching team strain of the short board. Now, the coaching team, clubs need to face the epidemic prevention and control of the normalization of the background of the new mode of preparation for the Chinese Super League, at this time if you still maintain the original thinking "boat for the sword", the team may not only be unable to get rid of "Oscar dependence syndrome", the future may also be The company's business is not only a good one, but also a very good one.
