Shenhua will take the initiative to change in the new season, and the attack line reinforcement + tactical upgrade is the focus

Special correspondent Gan Hui reports On December 4, the match against Ulsan HD in South Korea ended, and Shenhua's 2024 season came to an end.

From February 25 to December 4, Shenhua played a total of 41 games on four fronts: the Chinese Super League, FA Cup, Super Cup and AFC Champions League Elite League, with a record of 30 wins, 6 draws and 5 losses. The Super League accumulated 77 points, ranking second by one point; Super Cup win over Harbour; FA Cup semi-finals; The AFC Champions League Elite League is provisionally ranked ninth in East Asia. Overall, Shenhua's 2024 season was relatively successful.

For the future, Shenhua has more expectations. A few days ago, at the "BLUE NIGHT Shenhua Family Day", Gu Jiqing, chairman of the club, said when presenting the Magic Award to head coach Slutsky: "This season, Shenhua has further improved in terms of temperament and positive energy output, and I hope that the head coach's magic can be maintained in the future, bring us more joy and more success, and hope that next year we will all move together towards the championship that we all want to see." ”

To win the league title, Shenhua has a lot of work to do. Shenhua Club will further enhance the overall strength of the team through recruitment. At the same time, Slutsky will optimize and upgrade the team's tactics through winter training to make the team more combative.

If you push back the time by more than 9 months and go back to before the Super Cup, I believe many people can't imagine that until the final round of the 2024 Chinese Super League, Shenhua still has hope of winning the championship.

For more than a decade, Shenhua has been away from the stage of the league championship. In the 2024 season, the team's staffing has been improved to a certain extent compared with the previous season, but compared with the harbor with Oscar, a foreign aid in the Jinyuan era of the Chinese Super League, Shenhua still has a certain gap in overall strength.

However, after the start of the season, Shenhua was a sight to behold. With the advancement of the league, Shenhua showed the temperament of a strong team little by little, and returned to the sequence of the championship team in the Chinese Super League. The fast pace of high pressing and offensive and defensive switching has made many teams extremely uncomfortable. In the first half of the league, Shenhua once occupied the top position. In the second half of the league, when the harbor won consecutive games, Shenhua, who was chasing closely in the standings, showed super tenacity. Shenhua finally won 24, drew 5 and lost 1, accumulating 77 points, setting a record for the highest score of the runner-up in the 30 rounds of the Chinese Super League.

In a direct dialogue with the city's rival Harbour, Shenhua, who had lost in the derby a few years ago, not only defeated the opponent to win the "Super Cup" this season, but also won 1 win and 1 draw in the two league matches at home and away, gaining the upper hand, but only lost to Harbour in the semi-finals of the FA Cup.

While making a certain breakthrough in the results, Shenhua has delivered a very good report card in terms of the output of positive energy, the contribution to the national team, and the improvement of the professionalism and standardized operation of the club.

Throughout the season, Shenhua has dedicated many classic games that can be recorded in the history of Chinese football. The reason why these competitions are classic is that in addition to the ups and downs and thrilling process, it is more important to show the sportsmanship of fighting to the end and never giving up. The charm of sports is not only the victory or defeat of the game, but also the transmission of sportsmanship, which can play a role in motivating and inspiring people. Shenhua's home match with Tianjin Jinmen Tigers, the game went to 88 minutes, Shenhua was still one goal behind, the players did not give up, Yu Hanchao scored two goals in 3 minutes, completing a shocking reversal. Shenhua uses vivid examples to interpret "Impossible is nothing".

Shenhua has made a lot of explorations in the standardization and healthy operation of the club. For a long time, the development of professional clubs in China has not been healthy, basically relying on blood transfusion from the parent company, and lacking self-hematopoietic function. This season, Shenhua has put a lot of effort into business development, so that Shenhua's resounding brand has shown its own value. Although there is still a big gap between the relevant income and the club's expenses, improving the self-hematopoietic function and allowing the club to operate healthily is the only way for a mature and professional league to take. Moreover, in the context of stimulating domestic demand, the Chinese Super League, as the most professional league in China, should also make more beneficial attempts in the development of the sports industry and the expansion of the sports industry cake.

In September, the round of 18 of the World Preliminary Tournament began. During the international break in September, October and November, the national football team played a total of six games, during which Shenhua played in the three tiers of the Chinese Super League, FA Cup and AFC Champions League Elite League, and the battle for the league title entered a white-hot stage. However, in the face of the recruitment of national football personnel, Shenhua Club fully cooperated and supported.

A total of 19 people from Shenhua were selected for the three training camps of the national football team to compete in the top 18 of the World Preliminary Tournament (note: after the inspection of the national football team medical team, Yang Zexiang withdrew from the October training camp due to injury, and Fernando withdrew from the November training camp), which is one of the clubs that contribute the most international players. Among them, Xu Haoyang, Yang Zexiang, Wang Haijian and Bao Yaxiong were selected for the national football team for the first time with their outstanding performance in the league, and Xu Haoyang, Yang Zexiang and Wang Haijian wore the national football jersey for the first time in their careers. Whether it is the number of starters or the number of players played, Shenhua is also one of the clubs that contribute the most.

In the match with Saudi Arabia, Jiang Shenglong made an opponent's own long + red card, which became the biggest highlight of the national football team in this game. In the battle with Indonesia, Jiang Shenglong contributed 10 clearances on the defensive end and worked with his teammates to maintain the lead; On the offensive end, Jiang Shenglong sent a beautiful assist, and the national football team finally won this crucial battle 2-1. Then away to Bahrain, substitute Wang Haijian assisted Zhang Yuning to kill the opponent and helped the national football team win two consecutive victories.

Before the international players go to report to the national football team, the club will take care of them and do their best, and also look forward to their triumph. In the game, the Shenhua international players also tried their best, Zhu Chenjie and Jiang Shenglong were injured in the national football game, and Yang Zexiang and Fernando had aggravated injuries.

Although Zhu Chenjie plays a very important role in Shenhua's defensive system, after Zhu Chenjie's injury, the club still requires him to completely recover his body first. Zhu Chenjie ended up missing all five games of Shenhua's September campaign and the AFC Champions League elite league against Johor in early October. During this period, Shenhua, which had a very solid defense, conceded 3 goals in 3 games, and conceded an average of 2 goals per game, which was not unrelated to Zhu Chenjie's absence.

In the consciousness of Shenhua, the national honor is above all else, so everyone always believes that not only for Shenhua, but also to contribute to the development of Chinese football, this is a city like Shanghai, such an investor as Jiushi, and a brand like Shenhua should bear the responsibility, and it is also the purpose and concept that Jiushi has always adhered to after becoming the owner.

The 2024 season is a thing of the past, and looking ahead to the 2025 season, Shenhua has a higher goal - the league title. After two years in Shenhua, the team has won the FA Cup and the Super Cup, and now it is short of the championship of the Chinese Super League.

After regretting not winning the Chinese Super League championship this season, Slutsky has revealed on many occasions his determination to compete for the championship next season, "We will do our best to live up to expectations and continue to work hard for the championship next season through our continuous hard work and hard work." On Shenhua Family Day, when he received the Magician Award from Chairman Gu Jiqing, Slutsky added loudly: "As long as we all work together, no one can defeat us, and this is our slogan for next year." ”

Judging from the performance of the 2024 season, Shenhua is strong and weak in attack. In 30 league games this season, Shenhua conceded 20 goals, the fewest goals conceded by any team in the Chinese Super League, and 10 fewer goals than the champions Harbour. But in terms of offense, Shenhua does have a lot of room for improvement. In the 2024 Chinese Super League season, Shenhua's total number of goals is 73, 23 fewer than Harbour, which is the key reason why they regretted being behind Harbour in the end. When playing against mid-to-lower teams, Shenhua was relatively difficult to win, especially against opponents who defended intensively, and Shenhua lacked the weapon to break the "iron bucket formation". Therefore, one of the goals of Shenhua Club's recruitment in the new season is to improve the team's offensive end and enhance the team's attacking power.

As a club that advocates scientific, professional and standardized operation, Shenhua's team affairs are the responsibility of the head coach, so the club will fully respect the attitude of the head coach when it comes to the adjustment of team personnel. At the same time, the club will continue to carry out the personnel adjustment and optimization of the team in the new season under the premise of strictly abiding by the relevant regulations of the Chinese Football Association.

At present, the club is actively and steadily promoting the recruitment work for the new season. Before the team's winter training, we strive to have new signings in place and complete the run-in of the new lineup through winter training.

After a season, the Chinese Super League opponents have gradually adapted to Shenhua's tactical play, so Shenhua will take the initiative to change. After the arrival of new foreign coaches and new signings, Slutsky will make corresponding changes and improvements to the existing tactical system. According to the arrangement, Shenhua will go to Haikou for winter training in early January next year.