Xinhua's Zhang Chenlin captured moments on the field of play as Zhang Yuning (center) demonstrated the tacit understanding between him and his teammates in a fierce grab for a lap.
In the late afternoon of July 24, Beijing Guoan welcomed the first media observation session and fan meeting of the season at the training base. The Chinese Football Association (CFA) and the preparatory team of the Chinese Football League (CFL) announced a few days ago that the second phase of the Chinese Super League (CSL) would reintroduce the home-and-away system. In the face of this change, Guoan head coach Xie Feng revealed that the team is ready to cope with the double-front battle.
On July 11, Guoan completed the first phase of the Chinese Super League campaign, and the coaching team took nine days off for the players, and on July 21 the team assembled again in the capital. In the open session on the 24th, most of the players appeared on the training ground, but Xie Longfei did not return for some reason, Adebenelo rested due to wisdom tooth extraction, and Jin Pengxiang, who is in the process of recovering, trained individually under the guidance of the fitness coach. During the 80-minute training session, the team performed lap-taking, confrontation and set-pieces, and the performance of the players showed that they had switched from vacation mode to preparation for the game.
The Chinese Football Association (CFA) and the preparatory group of the Chinese Football League (CFL) officially announced on July 6 that the second phase of the Chinese Super League (CSL) has resumed the home-and-away system. Xie Feng was optimistic about Guoan's return to playing at home, stating, "The players are looking forward to playing at home, and the specifics may become clear in the near future. We're ready for anything - whether it's home or away, we'll give it our all."
In the first phase of the Chinese Super League, Guoan achieved 4 wins, 4 draws and 2 losses in 10 rounds of matches and ranked fifth in the table. Xie Feng mentioned when summarizing the performance of the stage: "According to the statistics, the number of forward passes we made decreased and the ball possession rate also slipped. I've been emphasizing on footwork and avoiding long passes with big feet, but the field restrictions sometimes forced the players to adopt a conservative strategy. This is something we need to strengthen in the next phase by improving our midfield organization and ability to run without the ball."
According to the training schedule, Guoan team will enter the tactical rehearsal stage, with a view to preparing for the final sprint before the opening of the second phase of the Chinese Super League on August 5th.
