Ademi
Players exhausted, fans anxious in last five games
Stanley in the press conference for the first time to reveal "bitter" and "embarrassing". After the home draw with Shandong Taishan, he confessed that the team did not find the best state at that time. Frankly speaking, the team can keep a draw in that match is really lucky. After all, the opponent created more scoring opportunities for us.
However, in the past 20 days, Guoan won four matches, including a draw, and ended with an undefeated record of two wins and three draws. Despite the seemingly good results, Guoan did not win with its familiar aggressiveness, the players fought hard and the fans felt anxious.
Stanley has yet to "unravel" how to utilize the new guy.
Since his appointment last August, Stanley has been promoting the "433" tactic. Although the team's overall strength was a bit lower last year, the Dutchman has shown his coaching talent and technical style many times, and Guoan performed reasonably well. Now the season preparation period has passed, the team introduced eight new internal and external reinforcements, but the performance of the team in the new season is still "struggling". As a coach, Stanley should take part of the responsibility. At least for now, he has not fully mastered how to utilize these newcomers.
Take the most controversial Ademi for example, the former Dinamo Zagreb captain is still searching for his best form and positioning. Even though his long range shot in the last round helped his team to win their first home game, the North Macedonian seems to be at a loss in most of the situations, whether to go ahead or to retreat. He often looks lost.
Ademi's case is also a side effect of the integration of new recruits with the whole team. Cameroonian midfielder Ngadeu is not to be underestimated as the team's key defensive player. However, he made several low-level mistakes or poor coordination with his teammates during the game. It was his mistakes that allowed Yu Hanchao to find a chance to score. In the Qingdao match, Nga Deu, who is considered to be a "stable" player, gave away a penalty kick and put the team in a passive position.
Guoan's No. 32 player also often passes the ball or inserts it directly under the opponent's pressure, and these maneuvers often lead to wrong counterattacks that embolden the fans. After eight rounds of play, apart from Yang Liyu and Han Jiaqi, other new recruits, including foreigners, are still breaking in with the team.
In May, the Chinese Super League schedule is compact, Guoan will face the physical limit test
Stanley often refers to "luck" in press conferences. In fact, luck is a part of soccer and all sports, but it is not the decisive factor. In order to achieve good results, we have to customize solutions for Guoan from the technical and tactical levels. However, from the last five games, we still have not seen the "backbone" of the team.
If Zhang Xizhe started the game with his ball control and organizing ability, then in the past two games, Guoan lost the so-called tactical "core" of the team when Zhang Xizhe was removed from the game. Although the result is still good (1 win and 1 draw), Zhang Xizhe's absence makes the team tactically passive, or at least it is no longer the familiar Beijing Guoan. If it wasn't for Zhang Xizhe's driving force in the Shenhua game, Stanley's team might have lost their second game of the season in Shanghai.
May is one of the most intensive months in the Chinese Super League this season. From 23 onwards, Guoan will play two consecutive matches in six days, which is undoubtedly a huge challenge to the current team's physical fitness. Most of the veterans Guoan exposed physical and injury problems in this round of matches, including Wang Gang and Zhang Yuning, many of whom missed the matches, and it is uncertain whether they will be able to return in the next two matches. Zhang Chengdong, as a 34-year-old veteran, his health condition does not allow him to play continuously. Including 35-year-old Yu Dabao and Zhang Chengdong's midfielder Ji Zhongguo of the same age, the physical condition of these players will largely determine the team's performance in the next two games. Thus, Stanley is facing many problems, five rounds of undefeated Guoan is still "struggling".
Text / Our reporter Zhang Kunlong Coordinator / Du Rui This version of the picture / Xinhua News Agency
Chinese Super League fixtures are intense and injuries to international players continue to emerge
The first phase of the 2023 Chinese Super League will end on June 9th. Chinese Super League teams will play 12 rounds of matches in 56 days, with an average interval of less than 5 days. Due to the tight schedule and increasing competition, teams have recently suffered varying degrees of injuries to many international or national players, including Wu Xi, Zhang Yuning, Wang Gang, He Chao, and Zhang Linpeng. This has caused trouble and uncertainty for the national soccer team and the Men's Asian Games, which are about to focus on preparations in June.
The eighth round of the Chinese Super League started on May 19th. As the competition in the Chinese Super League became more and more intense, injuries occurred one after another in various teams. In the first round match between Wuhan Sanzhen and Chengdu Rongcheng, Sanzhen's backline international He Chao was unable to continue the match due to a sprained back and was replaced by teammate Yan Dinghao.
During the "Beijing-Shanghai Battle" between Shenhua and Guoan, Shenhua's captain Wu Xi, Guoan's main striker Zhang Yuning, main right back Wang Gang and other players were absent due to injuries. Guoan's full-time model and main attacker Yang Liyu did not play until around the 60th minute. Left back Li Lei, who also maintained his full-time record, did not come on as a substitute until the end of the match as debutant Nai Bijiang suffered cramps.
For the first time in the new season of the Chinese Super League as a substitute, Li Lei's explanation is that after continuous participation, the foot pain, need to rest properly. He Chao, who started for eight consecutive rounds, told the Beiqing Daily reporter that although the back injury may not be particularly serious, it needs to be carefully examined to confirm the specific situation.
At present, the injured players are not only the above players. As the double captain of the national football team and Shenhua team, midfielder Wu Xi was stepped on by the opposing player Cai Huikang in the "Shanghai Derby" with Harbour on April 30th. According to the hospital report, he suffered a proximal fracture of the fifth phalanx of his left foot, which is expected to require about eight weeks of recovery, meaning that he will not be able to participate in the remaining rounds of the first phase of the Chinese Super League (CSL). During a training session the day before the seventh round of the Super League match between the Harbor Team and Zhejiang, the Harbor Team's main defender Zhang Linpeng accidentally strained his leg muscles and missed the match that round. In addition, Henan's Wang Shangyuan and other players also had different degrees of injuries.
For all clubs, the aforementioned players are indispensable pillar players. Their injuries will adversely affect the upcoming training for the new Chinese men's soccer team and the Asian Games starting in June, which may have an even greater impact on the Asian Games.
According to the plan, the Men's Asian Games will regroup at the Hangzhou Asian Games Football Competition Area in Jinhua on June 10 before playing two important warm-up matches against the defending Asian Games champions, the South Korean Asian Games, in the following International Matchday Cycle. With only the June and September international matchday cycles available for the Chinese men's Asian Games before the start of the Hangzhou Asian Games soccer tournament, the coaching staff needed to practice formations and run in key lineups as quickly as possible through training and limited warm-up opportunities. In this case, after communicating with the Chinese Football Association and the national soccer coaching staff, the team's coaching staff confirmed that they will move some overage international players to participate in the June training and warm-up matches against South Korea for the Asian Games.
At the end of March last year, during the closed training period between the national football team and the men's Asian Games team in Haikou, Zhang Linpeng, Wu Xi and Zhang Yuning took part in the joint training of the men's Asian Games team as representatives of the best players of the national football team in the back, middle and front lines. They were originally the main candidates for overage international players. However, recently, the three players have suffered different degrees of injuries. Wu Xi is basically unlikely to participate in the national team training in June. Zhang Yuning has missed three consecutive rounds since making his Henan debut for Guoan in the fifth round. Even if he recovers from his ankle injury, he will need time to adjust his physical condition.
