Fellaini remains up front as the backbone of the Taishan team in the new season. This photo captures the perspective of Jinan Times-New Yellow River client reporter Sun Changqing.
Taishan's head coach Hao Wei is under tremendous pressure after two consecutive defeats. There was a glimmer of hope when Shandong Taishan failed to beat Zhejiang on penalties, but a 0-2 loss in the Super Cup exposed the problem. Two consecutive "pre-season" losses not only dampened the team's morale, but also made the coaching staff's task extremely difficult. With the first round match against Shanghai Shenhua coming up, Taishan must solve the problems of lineup, technique and tactics in a short period of time, and get back to their best form as soon as possible.
New lineup choices: how to assemble the strongest starters?
Before the transfer window closed, Taishan signed a number of new players such as Sun, Liu and Fernando. Although the team is a bit inferior to Wuhan Sanzhen and other teams in terms of financial strength, the team lineup has been significantly strengthened.
With the addition of new recruits, Taishan are in dire need of finalizing their starting lineup. However, judging from the last two games, it seems that Hao Wei has yet to find the best answer.
In recent matches, Taishan had seven players starting consecutively, including Guo Tianyu, Moises, Sun Junhao, Shi Ke, Jia Desong, Song Long and Han Rongze. Except for Guo Tianyu and Han Rongze, who are out due to injuries, the other five players are all starters from last season.
Sun Guowen and Tong Lei made their debut in the Gift Cup. Liu Binbin, who completed the national soccer training mission, and Fellaini, the returning foreign aid, also showed good competitive status. In the Super Cup, Delgado, Chen Pu, Zheng Zheng and Ji Xiang were given the chance to start.
Hao Wei's lineup depends largely on the players' status. Due to the short training mission of the national football team, Liu Binbin, Chen Pu, Sun Guowen need to adjust the state, not suitable for full-field combat. Zheng Zheng, auspicious and other veterans due to injury can not reach the best state.
Delgado stands out in the team. As an outside back, he was a favorite to leave the team last season. However, he unexpectedly made the starting lineup in the Super Bowl, but did not prove himself in only 39 minutes of play. Delgado faces two choices in the new season: one is to continue his loan and training, but the transfer window is about to close and time is running out to operate. The second is to stay in the Taishan team, due to the team this season has the task of the AFC Champions League, the AFC Champions League team's foreign aid quota adjusted to "5 +1", Delgado do not have to worry about their own identity.
But compared to the Asian Championship, the Chinese Super League is more important. After two games of experimentation, it's time for Hao Wei to make a choice.
As of now, the Taishan team will not have much change in the center line, and the most important thing to be solved is the pairing of the two sides. Tong Lei is racing against time because of the registration issue. If he doesn't register for the Chinese Super League, Jixiang and Wang Tong will face more pressure on offense and defense. Sun Guowen has moved into the main rotation, but he still needs to collaborate with his teammates.
Currently, the coaching staff pays more attention to the players' latest status in the choice of starting lineup. But without a relatively stable lineup, Taishan will face more technical and tactical problems.
New tactic: How to cope with Cressan's absence?
T&T missed two matches, with Cressan's poor form and absence a key factor. Based on last season's penalties, Cressan will miss the first two rounds of the new season.
As the core of the team's offense, Cressan's absence will have two major effects. First, the team lacks the strongest individual striker in the Chinese Super League, and Taishan can only rely on teamwork on the offensive end. Secondly, Moises lost his most taciturn partner, who was frequently active on the right side of the road in the Super Bowl, which is more like a helpless choice. With the midfield unable to penetrate, he was forced to win the wingers. The pressure on midfielder Son Jungho also increased dramatically in this situation, and the red card in the last minute of the Super Bowl was an irrational behavior under pressure.
How to solve the problems caused by Cressan's absence? First, choose a replacement. Guo Tianyu is the first choice for the center position. He has been active in the past two games. In the Super Bowl, against Wuhan Sanzhen's foreign center back Wallace, Guo Tianyu repeatedly took the initiative to seek confrontation and put great pressure on the opponent's defense. Another option is Fellaini. Although ageing affects his physical condition, Fellaini's professional quality is still online. He was the first substitute after the first half of the Super Bowl. After coming on as a substitute, he was also the main target of the offense.
However, Guo Tianyu, Fellaini and Cressan have completely different skill sets and are more reliant on the team's offensive system. In this case, Taishan need to find a stage tactic.
In the Super Cup, Taishan's possession rate was 55%, higher than Wuhan Three Town. However, too much possession not only failed to bring the game into their rhythm, but also provided too many counter-attacking opportunities for the opponents. At the beginning of the season, Taishan might want to try more defensive counterattack strategies while maintaining their wing attack. Reduce the time of possession and increase the efficiency of the offense. After all, early league results will have a decisive impact on trends throughout the season. With Cressan in place, it's not too late to restore pass control.
The age-old problem: Be wary of the slow burn phenomenon:
In addition to the emerging problems, Taishan team also encountered the old problem of "slow heat" in these two games. After a long break, Taishan is always difficult to quickly enter the state. Last season, after a close win over Zhejiang in the first round, they suffered a 0:4 loss to Henan Songshan Longmen in the second round. After the 12th round, the Chinese Super League entered a half-month break. In their first match after the restart, Taishan drew 1:1 at home against Wuhan Sanzhen, who were playing with a single foreigner.
The reason for this problem has nothing to do with the playing system. In the past two seasons, Taishan achieved good results under the fixture system, with players and coaches becoming more accustomed to the intense pace of the game. However, with the reintroduction of the home-and-away system, the environment in which Super League teams are prepared has changed dramatically, and the work of the coaching staff must change accordingly. In addition, away matches in the Chinese Super League will be more difficult with the return of the fans. In the first round of the league, Taishan will play away at Shanghai Shenhua. In the fourth round, the brand new industrial stadium will face Beijing Guoan. If they can't get into shape as soon as possible, Taishan's trend in the opening stage will not be optimistic.
Earlier, Wang Dalei expressed his concerns after the lineup change in an interview. "In fact, I think it's more about bonding. These new teammates used to be rivals, but now they don't know much about the team. In our league or cup games, we don't gel in the first three to five games. I'm a little worried about that too. I hope the coaching staff can adjust to those things."
In front of many problems, head coach Hao Wei is undoubtedly the most pressure. After the Super Bowl, Hao Wei left the stadium for the first time and did not participate in the post-game press conference. This is the most direct way for the coach to express his attitude, but after venting his emotions, the problem still exists. With the passage of time, the Taishan coaching staff must accelerate action.
