With the AFC Cup kicking off in October and the second phase of the Chinese Super League resuming in December, Shenhua began to gather and prepare for the game at the end of August. Apart from Zhu Chenjie, Wu Xi and Bassogo, who are on national team duty, and Zhu Yue, who is participating in the National Games, all other first-team players participated in this stage of training.
For Shenhua, the immediate priority is undoubtedly the AFC Cup. If they can win the title, they may still be able to talk about it. After all, after losing to Guoan in the league, they missed the qualification for the championship group. Such a result is difficult to bear for the whole Shenhua team and fans. The team invested a lot in this season, but due to the system and tactics, it did not reach the expected goal.
In the relegation group, Shenhua still maintains a large advantage. In fact, if Shenhua were in Guangzhou, they would have a good chance to enter the championship group with their current points. However, the world of soccer does not allow assumptions, and they can only participate in the relegation group. Fortunately, the relegation pressure is relatively low. After all, Shenhua is 15 points ahead of Qingdao, who are in the bottom one, 14 points ahead of Henan, who are in the second bottom two, and 11 points ahead of Wuhan, who are in the third bottom three.
The FA Cup has become Shenhua's top priority this season after the league dropped into the relegation group. In recent years, they have been performing well in the F.A.C. Cup, winning it twice in 2017 and 2019. In the history of the F.A.C. Cup, Shenhua have only won it three times in total, and if they win it this season, they will equal the number of times they have won it with Guoan, but still fewer than Taishan (six times).
To compete for the title, Shenhua must face up to their opponents. As of now, teams like Taishan, Guoan, and Shamrock are eager for the honor of the AFC Cup. However, due to the national team training, both Taishan and Guoan have a number of international players called up, and Guoan has only one foreigner available in the future, Silva.
The stronger Guangzhou team was drawn 8 people, can only be replaced by the team players; seaport was drawn 3 people, foreign aid Muy may be with Australia to play in the World Qualifier, the return time is a mystery. As for the other teams, the deep football's Jintero, Achimpen, Wakaso have returned home to participate in the World Qualifier, foreign aid only left Caldecott; Guangzhou City four foreign aid in two back to South America, may miss the AFC Cup; Yatai situation is better, the three Brazilian foreign aid to stay in our country to recuperate; Henan and Hebei is also expected to have a good performance in the AFC Cup.
Compared with Guangzhou, Guoan, Taishan and other international players, Shenhua's lineup is relatively complete. Currently, only Wu Xi, Zhu Chenjie and Bassogo have national team commitments among the starters, and they are also absent from this phase of the training.
However, Shenhua has four foreigners in their team. Moreno has long regarded Shanghai as his second home, with his wife and children in Shanghai; Adrian's family is also in Shanghai. Although Dumbya and Jonic's families are not in Shanghai, they have both expressed their willingness to stay.
Despite the fact that the draw for the AFC Cup has not yet been made and the opponents are still unclear, Shenhua has been preparing seriously for the game. It is reported that the team trains from Monday to Saturday and rests on Sunday. Tuesday and Friday are both two practices a day. Later this month, Shenhua will play warm-up matches to get back the feeling of the game. The two warm-up matches that have been confirmed are against the Jinmen Tigers on September 26th and 29th.
In the first phase of the Chinese Super League, Shenhua was dominated by veterans. Whether they will give more chances to the youngsters in the next stage is yet to be finalized. This season, among Shenhua's U23-age players, only Zhu Chenjie and Wen Jiabao have maintained a steady rate of appearances, and goalkeeper Ma Zhen has played twice. Wang Haijian and Zhu Yue, as well as the three youngsters who joined this year, Xue Qinghao, Wang Yi and He Longhai, have yet to appear in an official match.
"We can't go from one extreme to the other without having a good year. But the team's focus does have to change next. In the relegation group, we have the advantage of points from the first 14 rounds, so we will give more chances to the youngsters. But this year's transfer window is closed and the youngsters on loan cannot return for the time being." Shenhua general manager Zhou Jun said.
