Beijing Guoan, the shining star of this season's Chinese Super League (CSL), has aroused widespread concern and expectation since the beginning of the season. Fans were eagerly awaiting the revitalization of this ever-winning team to defend the top spot. However, four consecutive losses were like a bolt from the blue, leaving the fans disappointed. Although Beijing Guoan then won a tough game, the victories were always intermittent and never consecutive. It was as if the team was stuck in a loop: win one, draw one, win another, and then lose another. Currently, Beijing Guoan is ranked 7th in the Chinese Super League standings with a record of 4 wins, 5 draws, 2 losses and 17 points, which is a far cry from the fans' expectations. The team's head coach Stanley is under tremendous pressure.
As early as the beginning of the season, some Guoan fans began to call for Stanley's dismissal. But whenever the calls for Stanley's dismissal reached a crescendo, Stanley was always able to magically lead his team to a win, sometimes even an overwhelming win, to give the fans renewed hope. Needless to say, Stanley's coaching career is full of challenges. Nonetheless, there is still a lot of news about Beijing Guoan's upcoming new coach.
Portuguese media zerozero had reported that Portuguese coach Ricardo Soares will take over the position of head coach of Beijing Guoan, and the contract between the two sides will be extended to the end of 2025. However, other media outlets subsequently debunked the news, saying that Ricardo Soares had not signed with Beijing Guoan. However, as the saying goes, "no news is news", so why would the Portuguese media link Ricardo Soares to Beijing Guoan and not another club? Shortly after this rumor broke, Ricardo Soares' employer, Portuguese club Super Estoril, officially announced the end of their partnership with Ricardo Soares.
The president of Estoril FC made it clear in a statement that "Ricardo Soares and his team have ended their partnership with Estoril." Immediately following this, Portuguese media outlet newspaper Record predicted that Ricardo Soares will continue his coaching career at Beijing Guoan in China. So, will he succeed in replacing Stanley as the new head coach of Beijing Guoan this time?
Ricardo Soares, 48, spent most of his playing days and coaching career in Portugal. As a manager, he has been at the helm of a number of teams in the Portuguese Superliga and Portuguese Liga, including Estoril, Givicent, Moreirense and Xaviş. In the 21/22 season, he led Givicent to a fifth place finish, which was Givicent's best result in the 21st century. After that, he traveled to Africa to coach, but did not do well and eventually returned to the Portuguese Super League.
