Special correspondent Gan Hui reports After more than two weeks of winter training and three warm-up matches, Shenhua's winter training in Haikou is coming to an end. For the upcoming new season, head coach Slutsky believes that the competition in the Chinese Super League will be more fierce than last year, "In addition to the harbor, Rongcheng, Guoan, and Taishan have some new changes, and they will all actively participate in the competition for the Super League championship." "And Shenhua in 2025, the top priority is the Chinese Super League.

After the end of the league last year, Shenhua made personnel adjustments, Malele left the team, Fernando was also gone, and the team introduced Mineiro, Li Ke and two young players Wang Shilong and Wang Hanlong. Personnel changes have brought about fine-tuning of the starting lineup, on the front line, Mineiro replaces Malele, who left the team at the end of his contract, in addition, the young player Yang Haoyu has been reused, and it is not ruled out that he will win a certain amount of playing time in the new season.

Slutsky has a high opinion of Mineiro, "He is a very good player, first of all, he is extremely fast; Secondly, he is also very good at his personal skills; Thirdly, he has a strong sense of stepping forward, and sometimes he can solve problems alone, and of course, his sense of cooperation is also relatively strong. He's doing everything he can to fit in. ”

In order to allow Mineiro to adapt to the team's technical and tactical style of play as soon as possible, the coaching staff gave him a small stove almost every day. Mineiro revealed that he communicates with Slutsky almost every day, "The manager knows my characteristics very well, I have speed and strength, and the manager asks me to try to impact the opponent's defense as much as possible, score goals for the team and get more points." ”

Fresh from an unfamiliar environment, Mineiro will need a process of adaptation, but he believes he can play the opening game of the new season – the Super Cup against Harbour.

"Last year, I played almost 50 fights and didn't stop until I came to China, so I feel like I'm maintaining a good level of competition. In terms of my current form, I should be able to play the Super Cup on February 7th. Mineiro added, "I want the fans to know that I am very competitive and that I always have high expectations of myself. In good times and bad, I will fight for the team. I also hope that the fans will have confidence in me and the team and that we will achieve good results. ”

Last season, Shenhua conceded a lot of goals from set-pieces, and during the winter training, Slutsky arranged special training, "We have conducted a very serious study on set-pieces, especially in set-piece defense, and we have made some new attempts in position and form. This year, we hope to improve. Of course, it's hard to predict the actual outcome now, but we will try to do our best, and I hope everyone can understand that even if it is a European giant, conceding goals from set-pieces is probably a norm. In addition to the set-piece defence, Slutsky also has some new elements in other tactical arrangements, "The opponent is more familiar with our style of play, our whole operating system, and our personnel. But during the winter training we also prepared some new things, but it's hard to judge whether it will work now. ”

Last season, Shenhua also exposed a more difficult problem, that is, once Teixeira is injured, the team's attack and defense will be greatly affected. "It's a common phenomenon that key players are missing and affecting the team's results. "How to fix it? He said he would "use a different way, a different strategy." ”

Manafa didn't perform as well as he should last season due to injuries and other reasons, and, as a full-back, he made fewer crosses and more inside cuts. In this regard, Slutsky said, "Last year, Manafa made six assists through crosses, but that doesn't mean he has to cross, because once he has a fixed way of playing, the opponent will find a way to contain it. So, I want him to be more flexible and selective. ”

So far, Shenhua has played a total of 3 warm-up matches. In addition to sending a full bench lineup for the game against Guoan on the 24th, they were the main players in the games against InBev and the West Coast, and the teenager Yang Haoyu stood out and occupied a starting position. Shenhua's No. 8 position is the most competitive, with both current and former internationals. Speaking of Yang Haoyu, Slutsky said, "As long as the young players show their ability and level in training, they will get some opportunities. ”

As for Li Ke, Slutsky is also looking forward to it, "Li Ke is an excellent player, but due to various objective reasons, he has not been systematically trained for several months and has been staying overseas. Objectively speaking, his physical condition has not yet recovered to its best, but in terms of position and consciousness, he is more than enough to cope with the demands of the No. 6 and No. 8 positions. I believe that in a few weeks, his physical condition will be on a higher level and his performance will be better. We play high-intensity football and we have to have a lot of personnel. ”

In about half a month, Shenhua will usher in the first game of the new season, the "Super Derby" with Harbour, thus starting the busy 2025 season. In the case of multi-front operations, how will Slutsky make trade-offs?

"To put it bluntly, the Super League is definitely the top priority; As for the AFC Champions League, we hope to qualify. As for how far we can go next, it depends on everyone's performance. Overall, hopefully we can do well in all competitions and get what we want. ”