Under the baton of Choi Kang-hee, the Taishan team achieved an undefeated gold medal in the two-front war, with three wins and two draws in five matches in the Chinese Super League, and a victory in the AFC Cup.
Taishan was able to make a quick coaching change thanks to its deep roots and an overall technical and tactical system that has not yet collapsed. Despite facing low emotions, tactical mistakes and staffing problems, Choi Kang-hee knows the Chinese Super League like the back of his hand, and his advanced coaching philosophy and strict management experience make him the right man for the Taishan team. In recent years, the relative weakening of opponents has provided Cui Kangxi with a favorable opportunity to revamp his team and refine his tactics.
This season, the Taishan team accumulated 18 points in the first 12 rounds of the Chinese Super League, ranking sixth, 11 points away from the leading Shanghai Port, the possibility of winning the title is low. However, the team is now on the right track, the tactics are becoming more mature, the overall recovery, the realization of the first three goals set by Choi Kang-hee seems to be within reach, and is expected to overtake Guoan and Sanzhen team.
Beijing Guoan's radical changes have been made year after year under the slogan "always be first".
As a glorious division in the history of Chinese soccer, Beijing Guoan has been established since 1992 with the slogan "Guoan will always compete for the first". However, in the AA era, Guoan has competed with Dalian Wanda and Shanghai Shenhua for the title; in the Chinese Super League, although it did not beat Shandong Taishan and Guangzhou Evergrande, the only Chinese Super League title has been fixed 14 years ago.
Guoan's poor record in recent years has led to frequent head coaching changes, with seven head coaches replaced in just six years since 2017.
This season, Guoan has a luxurious lineup, with foreigners such as De Souza, Ademi, and Ngaardoude, as well as local players such as Li Lei, Yang, Fang Hao, Feng Boxuan, and Han Jiaqi. However, the team is in a slump, with an imbalance between offense and defense, scoring as many as 17 goals, only slightly less than Changchun Yatai. Currently, the most valuable foreigner, Ademi, is mediocre except for his long-distance shooting.
With 4 wins, 6 draws and 2 losses in the first 12 rounds of the season, the team is in the seventh place with 18 points. Such a track record is closely related to Stanley's coaching ability, especially in training, tactics and substitutions.
Soares took over as coach of Guiao and despite having guided Estoril to relegation in the Portuguese Superliga, he has earned just 13 points from 12 matches.
On June 23, the third round of the FA Cup, Guoan won 1-0 away to Zibo Qisheng, a weak team in the second round. Suarez is rapidly transforming the team, perfecting the tactical system, replacing some of the positional players, the overall formation is more compact, and the intention of the attack is more obvious.
However, Beijing fans, who are used to seeing the world, did not show any surprise, and they took a wait-and-see attitude.
Not only does BGS lack good coaching, it also lacks consistent form, resilience in the face of adversity, and the discipline to focus and execute well.
Suarez said Beijing Guoan will remain "comparative" this season if it fails to solve problems that are more difficult than technical and tactical ones, not to mention the 11-point gap with the Hong Kong team!
The three Wuhan towns are in dire need of a strong heart as the defending champions drift away.
Surprisingly, defending champions Wuhan Sanzhen have been in a slump in the early part of the season, even losing consecutively. The team left an impression of laziness and lack of scoring.
Considering the need for multiple fronts this season, the club has set the goal of keeping six and competing for three, but up to now, it has only won three games in 12 rounds and ranks eighth, which is unable to achieve even the minimum of "keeping six". This result is not satisfactory to the club and the fans.
During the break, Wuhan Three Town finally changed their coach, with Pedro stepping down and Mian Takaka taking over. Japanese coach Mian Takaka made his debut after only five days on the job, with a 5-1 defeat in the FA Cup match against downstream Central League side Jiangxi Lushan.
Through this game, we found that there were still some bright spots for Triple Town, such as the team's high-pressure stance and the significant increase in power up front, as well as the small-scale confrontations and cooperation, and the fact that the defense as a whole has moved forward a lot. This is a very different style from the Pedro era.
Meanwhile, 18-year-old Xia Xiaoxi was in fine form, scoring a spectacular world goal and creating a penalty in the AFC Cup match.
For Wuhan Sanzhen, the comeback of injured players is the best news. Gao Gao Mian will have more room for tactics and staffing in the upcoming matches.
Striker Aziz is back from suspension, Wei Shihao and Deng Hanwen are recovering from injuries, and Stancho returned to China after the national team game. In addition, Tao Qianglong, who has been performing well recently, is highly aligned with Wuhan Sanzhen's soccer philosophy. Gao Gao Mian is expected to lead the team to retain the sixth place and compete for the third place!
