On the night of May 10th, Wuhan unfortunately failed to get their first win of the season in the 4th round of the Chinese Super League, losing 0-2 to Beijing Guoan after a fierce battle at the Suzhou Sports Center. After this round of matches, despite having played one more game, Wuhan is still in 14th place in the league, just one point ahead of Tianjin Jinmen Tigers, who are second from the bottom. After the match, coach Li Xiaopeng admitted that he is facing the pressure of not winning consecutively, but he is full of confidence in the team and believes that they will rebound after overcoming the difficulties. Li Xiaopeng also believes that the match with Guoan is the best game Wuhan has played so far.
In the game, facing the strength of Beijing Guoan, Wuhan coaching staff still adopted a defensive counterattack-based tactics. Li Xiaopeng made a drastic change to the starting lineup, with Mbia and Carrizo as the double center backs, and Ye Chongqiu and Tian Yinong as the backs, with the intention of thwarting Guoan's attack in the middle of the field. At the same time, Li Xing was elevated to the front, standing behind center forward Evra to provide support, while the side is assisted by Huang Zichang and Fang Hao two speedy players. The seemingly reasonable tactical arrangement aims to sneak up on Guoan through high-intensity defense and fast counter-attacks for a win.
However, this tactic did not have the desired effect. Only 3 minutes into the match, Mbia tripped Zhang Yuning in the penalty area due to lack of concentration, and gave away a penalty kick. 0-1 down, Wuhan tried to launch a counterattack, and Evra had a shot that hit the post and bounced off the line, nearly equalizing the score. Bilic also said after the game, "The opening lead of 1-0, the players instead will not play, giving Wuhan more opportunities to attack."
In the second half, Wuhan replaced Fang Hao with Li Xingqi in an attempt to change their attacking strategy, and Bakambu scored again just one minute into the second half to increase the score to 2-0. As a result, only one minute into the second half, Bakambu broke through again, extending the score to 2-0. Facing the situation of conceding goals in the opening of both halves, Li Xiaopeng said helplessly, "The players are still not focused enough."
After four rounds of matches, Wuhan's performance was a little bit bland, except for the first match against Hebei and the match against Shanghai Shenhua which surprised the fans. Many fans expressed concerns about the team's performance and raised many questions: why only two players, Li Xingqi and Fang Hao, were used in the U23s; why A Jin was not used against Guoan, at least to have a pivot point to fight for a bit up front; and why Li Xing was not put in the most threatening position at the back. ......
Wuhan fans really hope that the team can get their first win of the season in advance. However, the team is currently facing a lot of difficulties, Li Chao, Yang Boyu, Liu Yun and other players due to injury can not play, Baptiste Tang and Raphael also due to injury can not return in time, which makes Li Xiaopeng in the formation of the pressure. When talking about the pressure of four rounds of unbearable, Li Xiaopeng firmly believe that after this difficult period, the team will be better in the future.
Nonetheless, Li Xiaopeng might be able to change his mindset. Whether it is Li Xingqi or Fang Hao on the field, the opponent will target this way of attack, why not try to replace the U23 players? In addition, in the midfield, Wang Kai and other players also have a certain strength. 2019 season early, when the team did not have a center forward available, Guo Tianyu in many recommended into the starting lineup, and achieved good results. Now, Li Xiaopeng may as well try more, perhaps there will be unexpected gains. Next up, Wuhan will face the Jinmen Tigers on May 17th. Currently, the Jinmen Tigers are widely regarded as the weakest of the 16 Chinese Super League teams, and this matchup could be Wuhan's best hope for a first win of the season so far.
