On June 5, Shandong Taishan started their training in Jinan with a warm-up match against Wuhan coached by Li Xiaopeng. In the end, the two sides shook hands with a score of 1-1, with 24-year-old midfielder Zhang Yuanshu scoring a goal for Taishan. Considering that as many as nine starters were unable to play, Taishan's focus in this warm-up match was to test the bench, while foreigners Fellaini and Leonardo made their debuts. It is reported that Fellaini has completed a contract extension with Taishan, the new contract will expire on December 31, 2025, which may become the last working contract of Fellaini's career.
After the end of the first five rounds of the Chinese Super League, the league entered a break, the original plan of the break for a month, but due to the adjustment of the plan of the National Football League World Qualification Tournament, do not rule out the possibility of the league postponed. At present, Taishan team in the base of normal training, for the next stage of the game to prepare. Due to the national team recruitment, Taishan team's lineup is not complete, Sun Junhao was selected into the South Korean men's football team, Artemis Junmin, Wang Dalei, Liu Binbin, Wu Xinghan, Jin Jingdao, Zheng Zheng and Ji Xiang were selected into the Chinese men's football team, arrived in the United Arab Emirates with the team to prepare for the World Qualifying Tournament matches. Guo Tianyu was selected for the U22 national football team and he is training with the team in Dalian. 9 main players were absent from the training session, which had a big impact on the Taishan team's lineup.
In the absence of most of their starters, Taishan organized two warm-up matches to test the form of their replacements. the first warm-up match against Wuhan on June 5 featured Taishan's debut goalkeeper Han Rongze, while the backline of Shi Ke and Song Long continued to start, both of them being the starters in the league. Junior Zhao Jianfei and Shi Ke partnered the center back, and the right back was Wang Tong, who was injured in the first round of the league and missed 4 rounds of the league due to injury. Now Wang Tong is back from injury and he started at right back in the warm-up match.
In the midfield, Xu Xin and Qi Tianyu partnered at the back, with Duan Liuyu and Zhang Qi as wingbacks, Fellaini as a forward and Leonardo as a striker. Wuhan's squad is also incomplete, with internationals Tomorrow and Dong Chunyu absent, and Fang Hao selected for the U22 national soccer team, and Li Xiaopeng looking for more substitutes. In this matchup, the two teams did not score in the first half. In the 30th minute, Zhang Qi's cross and Leonardo's header created a threat, but unfortunately did not score. In the second half, both teams replaced a number of players, Taishan more young people on the field, Duan Liuyu also wore the captain's armband, 1997 Zhang Yuanshu seized the opportunity to score a goal, Wuhan equalized the score in the final moments of the game.
In the end, Taishan drew 1-1 with Wuhan, and both teams achieved the purpose of practicing players. This season, Taishan and Wuhan are not divided into a division, the first 5 rounds of Taishan team 3 wins and 2 draws to get 11 points, Wuhan 2 draws and 3 losses to get only 2 points, the future of the league when they can meet, but also depends on the organization of the schedule. After the warm-up match with Wuhan, Taishan will also face Tianjin Jinmen Tiger on June 9. Chen Kerui, Kadar and Li Songyi, who are leased by Taishan to Tianjin this season, will return to Jinan with the team to face their old masters, and their play will be a highlight of the match.
Fellaini extends 4-year contract or ends up with T&T as future formation structure emerges
Foreign aid is an important part of the Chinese Super League, and this season Taishan has three foreign aiders playing in the first five rounds of the league, with Fellaini wearing the captain's armband in the match against Shenzhen. This is not the first time Fellaini wearing the captain armband of the Taishan team, the second half of last season, Fellaini had many times to the captain of the identity of the debut, Taishan team manager Hao Wei is very recognizable to him. This season, Taishan team's foreign aid lineup changed a lot, Pelé and Kadar left the team, Gedes and Moises can not return in time, Fellaini became the team's foreign aid core, he also played a more important role on the field. In the first 5 rounds of the league, Fellaini made 5 appearances and scored 3 goals, including a shutout of Guangzhou and a draw with Shenzhen, becoming the team's deserved first foreign aid.
Fellaini joined Taishan in 2019, when he signed a 3-year contract with the team, with the original contract expiring on 12/31/2021. The latest news shows that Fellaini has completed a contract extension with Taishan, and the new contract is expired on December 31, 2025, which means that Taishan and Fellaini have extended their contract for 4 years. If Fellaini plays for Taishan until 2025, he will be 38 years old and will probably choose to retire after his contract expires. In a way, this new 4-year contract between Fellaini and Taishan is likely to be the last working contract of his career, and Fellaini will be able to end up playing for Taishan.
From Fellaini's overall play, he deserves such a contract extension. Recently, Fellaini has also been very active on social networks, constantly updating his training dynamics, he is well integrated into the life of the whole team, and is gradually playing the role of a core. Fellaini is a versatile player on the pitch, not only can play as a back, but also guest center forward and center back, the future with the increase in age, Fellaini's role position may also have a new change, he has enough strength to cope with.
In addition to Fellaini, the contracts of several important players of Taishan team have also been changed. Information from the German transfer market shows that goalkeeper Han Rongze's new contract expires in December 2024, and he is an important reserve for the goalkeeper position of Taishan team, with the strength to become the main goalkeeper of Taishan team. Young Duan Liuyu's contract is due to expire in May 2025 and Guo Tianyu's is due to expire in November 2025, both of whom are Taishan's future hopes.
In addition, this season Taishan team signed a number of new aid is also a long contract, Xu Xin signed 5 years, Ji Xiang signed 4 years, they are Taishan team's future lineup structure of important choices. Of course, Taishan team this season is also facing a number of important players contract expiration test, Wang Dalei, Artemisia, Zheng Zheng, Zhang Qi, Liu Binbin and other players' contracts are December 31, 2021 expiration, their stay or go will also become a bright spot. It should also be noted that the German transfer market player contract data is a reference, I believe that the team for the different circumstances of the players, but also will certainly have timely operation.
About Taishan team, the player reserve has not been a problem, at this stage Taishan team also has a number of young players on loan to exercise, such as Chen Pu and Fang Hao, both in this season's Chinese Super League have a good play. In addition, Liu Chaoyang, Ji Shengpan, Tian Yuda and other young players are also working out in the Central League, the renewal of the lineup is a process, and the Taishan team should also be well prepared.
