Fellaini continues to play a key role as the centerpiece of Taishan's new season, and reporter Sun Changqing of the Jinan Times-New Yellow River captured the moment.
Taishan's successive defeats have put head coach Hao Wei under immense pressure.
Although Shandong Taishan lost to Zhejiang in the penalty shootout once gave people a ray of hope, the 0:2 defeat against Wuhan Sanzhen in the Super Cup exposed many problems. The defeat in the first two "pre-season games" of the new season not only hit the team's morale, but also made the coaching staff's task even more difficult. With only one week left before Shanghai Shenhua's first round match, Taishan must solve the lineup, technical and tactical problems, and get back to their best form as soon as possible.
New lineups: How to build the strongest lineup?
Before the transfer window closes, Taishan signed seven new players such as Sun, Liu and Fernando in one breath, and although the financial investment is not as good as that of teams such as Wuhan Three Towns, the strength of the lineup has been improved.
The addition of new players has left Taishan in dire need of finalizing their starting lineup, but Hao Wei seems to have yet to find the best answer. In the past two games, seven players have started consecutively, and except for Guo Tianyu and Han Rongze who are out due to injuries, the other five players are all starters from last season.
The coaching team adjusted the starting lineup according to the players' status. In the Gift Cup, Sun Guowen and Tong Lei made their debut, while Liu Binbin, who completed the national soccer training mission, and Fellaini, who returned as a foreign aid, also showed good competitive status. In the Super Bowl, Delgado, Chen Pu, Zheng Zheng and Ji Xiang got the chance to start.
Hao Wei's arrangement is largely related to the players' status. Due to the short training mission of the national football team, Liu Binbin, Chen Pu, Sun Guowen need to adjust the competitive state, not suitable for the full game. Zheng Zheng, auspicious and other veterans injured, physical condition is not up to the best. Delgado, as a foreign aid, became the favorite to leave the team after Taishan retained the five foreign aiders, but failed to prove himself after unexpectedly entering the starting lineup in the Super Cup.
Delgado faces two arrangements: continue to rent and practice, or stay in the Taishan team. As the Taishan team has the task of the Asian Champions League this season, the foreign aid quota is adjusted to "5+1", Delgado does not have to worry about his own identity.
But the Chinese Super League is more important, Hao Wei needs to make a choice. At present, the Taishan team's central axis will not have much change, the most important thing to solve is the two sides of the matching problem. Tong Lei is facing registration problems, Ji Xiang and Wang Tong will face more pressure. Sun Guowen has entered the main rotation, but still needs to work with his teammates.
The coaching staff is concerned about the latest form of the players, but without a stable lineup, Taishan will face more technical and tactical problems.
New tactic: How to cope with Cressan's absence?
Crezan's absence has had a huge impact on the offensive end of the Taishan team, with Moises losing his most taciturn partner and midfielder Son Junho under increased pressure. How to solve the problem of Cressan's absence? First, choose a replacement, Guo Tianyu and Fellaini are both good choices.
Guo Tianyu was active in the Super Bowl, seeking confrontation and putting pressure on the opponent's defense. Fellaini, despite his age, is still "on the line" professionally, and after the first half of the Super Bowl, he became the first substitute and the main end 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 Bowl, Taishan's possession rate was as high as 55%, but too much possession didn't bring the game into their rhythm, but instead provided counter-attack opportunities for the opponents. Taishan may want to try more defensive counterattacking strategies to reduce the time of possession and improve the efficiency of the offense while keeping the wingers on the attack.
The age-old problem: slow-onset fever requires vigilance
In addition to the new problems in the lineup and technical tactics, Taishan team also encountered the old problem of slow heat in these two games. After a long break, the team always appears to be in an unsatisfactory state. This season, after Taishan's close win over Zhejiang in the first round, they drew 0:0 with Henan Songshan Longmen in the second round. After the 12th round, the Chinese Super League entered a half-month break, and in the first match after the restart, Taishan drew 1:1 at home with Wuhan Sanzhen, who played with a single foreign aid.
The reason for this problem has nothing to do with the system, but rather the fact that due to 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 has had to 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.
Wang Dalei expressed his concerns after the lineup change in an interview. Head coach Hao Wei is undoubtedly under the most pressure. After the Super Bowl, Hao left the stadium for the first time and did not attend the post-match press conference. As time passes, the Taishan coaching staff must act faster.
