On January 11th, Beijing Guoan's manager Stanley, who is on vacation in South Africa, reviewed the team's journey last season through a carefully recorded video. Faced with the regret of not being able to lead the team through the last two rounds of the tournament, Stanley emphasized that the health of the players is paramount, and looked forward to the Beijing fans enjoying the joy of the Spring Festival and joining hands to pour into the brand new Workers' Stadium in the springtime to cheer for the Guoan team.
"Friends, I greet you from Cape Town, South Africa. The team is enjoying their vacation and building up their strength for the new season. I also take this opportunity to look back. Since taking over the team four months ago, the team and I have worked to help the players adapt quickly to the new coach and tactics, and despite the results, we are grateful for the dedication of every player and staff member." Stanley had this to say in the video.
Speaking of the biggest regret of the season, Stanley said that despite the players' best efforts, the team failed to finish in the top three or four in the end. Especially at the end of the season, the team failed to finish the last two Super League matches due to collective illness. The club believes that the health of the players is far more important than winning or losing a game, which was the deciding factor in the team's final choice to forfeit the tournament.
Talking about the key changes in the squad, Stanley revealed that he has consolidated the training program by having the first team and the U21 players train at different venues or at different times of the day in order to observe and select talent more closely, as well as to give the younger players a taste of team training and to improve their team spirit.
Despite the epidemic and the schedule, the team could not always train in Beijing and sometimes had to travel to Rizhao. Stanley said the program of the two teams training together will be restarted for the new season to allow the players to be with the team for longer periods of time.
Looking ahead to the new season, Stanley believes that Guoan has a good group of players who will bring better results to the team. The team's goal is always the same, especially when the team is facing injuries and fatigue, but still able to find equally good players to contribute to the team, which is exactly what a strong team should be.
"We have clear goals for the new season and are working tirelessly towards them. We hope to be well prepared before the start of the tournament and show a good team in Workers Stadium, our beautiful home." Stanley is looking forward to the games at the Workers Stadium before leaving China.
With the Chinese New Year approaching, Stanley sends his best wishes to all Beijing fans and looks forward to recording happy moments and witnessing the victories and splendor of Guoan's team in the new season of sporting events.
