Shanghai Harbour suffers 0-3 away defeat by Pohang Ironmen in AFC Elite League Round Two
On the night of October 1st, Shanghai Seaport faced the South Korean rival Pohang Ironman on the road and ended the second round of the AFC Elite League with a 0-3 defeat. After the match, Shanghai Seaport head coach Muscat calmly analyzed the process of the match in the press conference.
Muscat's reaction to the 0-3 loss was surprisingly calm. He believes that a loss is a loss and there is no need to find excuses for the defeat. Compared to some coaches who always find various excuses after a loss, Muscat's mentality is certainly admirable.
Muscat said Shanghai Seaport performed well in the first half, creating a number of attacking chances and even missing a few good opportunities to score. If these chances had been capitalized on, the outcome of the game could have been very different. As for why they lost the game, Muscat also gave his own explanation.
Muscat pointed out that the main reason for Shanghai Seaport's loss was that Pohang Ironman played much better in the second half, making it difficult for Shanghai Seaport to resist. This seemingly objective comment reveals a subtle criticism of the team's second half performance. Obviously, Shanghai Seaport's poor performance in the second half was the direct cause of the final 0-3 loss.
Why was there such a big difference between Shanghai Seaport's first and second half performances? Muscat did not elaborate the reason. But insiders are clear that this is closely related to Muscat's tactical arrangements.
This season, Muscat pushed the passionate attacking tactics of all players in Shanghai Seaport, eager to put the opponents to death. Although this kind of tactic is full of passion, it also greatly depletes the physical strength of the players. If they can solve the problem quickly in the first half, Shanghai Seaport can win easily; on the contrary, if they fail to break the deadlock in the first half, Shanghai Seaport may encounter trouble in the second half when they are physically exhausted. Given that the overall strength of the Chinese Super League teams is limited, most of them are not the rivals of Shanghai Seaport. As a result, Muscat's tactics have suffered many setbacks in the Chinese Super League, and this fiasco with Pohang Ironman has undoubtedly been a wake-up call for the manager.
In this game, if Muscat could put his foot down and give up his aggressive offense and focus on defensive counterattacks instead, he might be able to reap a different result. This 0-3 loss may awaken Muscat to be able to adjust his tactics and formation more scientifically and flexibly in the future.
