Despite welcoming eight new faces in the winter transfer window, Beijing Guoan's performance in the league has been choppy, failing to taste victory in two consecutive matches.
In the first round of league matches, Guoan returned to the New Sports Center to challenge Meizhou Hakka, a newcomer to the Chinese Super League. In theory, Guoan should have comforted their fans with an overwhelming victory, however, the offense was never able to knock down the opponent's door. Instead, Meizhou Hakka took advantage of the mistakes of Guoan's defender Yu Dabao and goalkeeper Zou Dehai to break the deadlock.
Faced with the unfavorable situation of falling behind in the first goal, Guoan seemed to be helpless, and it was only through a controversial penalty kick that they drew with their opponents. In the second leg, Guoan faced last season's Chinese Super League champions Wuhan Sanzhen on the road. Unlike the first match, this time Guoan became a passive opponent. Luckily, new goalkeeper Han Jiaqi bravely saved Wuhan from a number of close calls. At the same time, Sanzhen's players, who were eager to score, wasted good chances to score due to their impatience. It can be said that Guoan was lucky in this game. Not only were they not attacked by San Zhen, but they also scored the first goal with Yang Liyu catching the home team's goalkeeper Liu Dengzheng's cheap mistake. After conceding the goal, San Zhen team became more anxious and was unable to equalize the score. Just when the crowd thought that Guoan would beat Sanzhen 1-0 on the road, coach Stanley made a fatal mistake at the end of the game by replacing Brazilian midfielder De Souza with Zhang Chengdong. As a result, Guoan paid the price. Only 3 minutes after Zhang Chengdong came on the field, Sanzhen's foreign striker Admiral Ademilson easily passed Zhang Chengdong in the penalty area and broke the door of Guoan team, which had no choice but to harvest a draw again. Looking back on these two games, Guoan team exposed many problems. The problem of aging backline needs to be solved, Yu Dabao and Ngaardew's combined age is more than 68 years old, speed and positional sense are not satisfactory, often caught by the opposing strikers on the counterattack. If De Souza is not in good form, Guoan may even struggle to get two draws. Compared to the backline, Guoan's forward line has more serious problems. Yang Liyu and Wang Ziming are currently in a slump and can't find a way to score. Despite the impact of foreign aid Ademi, but the shooting technology is really not to be praised. Fang Hao, the international footballer Guoan brought in from Taishan, is unable to show his strength due to too little playing time. Therefore, the biggest problem currently plaguing Guoan is the weakness of the front line. Fortunately, Zhang Yuning, the local golden boot of Guoan last season, has made a comeback. Recently, he and his coach Stanley attended the pre-match press conference of Guoan and Qingdao Sea Bulls, which shows that Zhang Yuning's physical condition is ready to participate in the game. Although we can't be sure if Zhang Yuning will be in the starting lineup for Guoan, I'm sure he'll be able to play at least as a substitute. Zhang Yuning's return will undoubtedly energize Guoan's forward line. Once this problem is solved, against the weaker Qingdao Sea Cowboys, Guoan is expected to beat the opponent on the road and win their first victory in this season's Chinese Super League. However, Guoan's weaknesses can't be solved by relying on Zhang Yuning alone. Stanley must help Yang Liyu and Wang Ziming find their form as soon as possible. Otherwise, this year's Guoan will struggle to finish in the top four on the table.
