Special correspondent Gan Hui reports On the evening of the 12th, in the 7th round of the first phase of the AFC Champions League Elite League East Asia against the Yokohama Mariners of Japan, Shenhua handled the ball in the penalty area, which led to Shenhua conceding the goal when it had a certain advantage in the opening game, and finally lost the game 0-1. In the post-match press conference, when asked why Manafa was replaced at half-time, head coach Slutsky answered bluntly, saying that it was because of his poor performance that he was substituted.

As the first stage of the AFC Champions League East Asia Zone comes to an end, Shenhua will fight for promotion in the last two rounds, but it will be difficult against Japan's Yokohama Mariners and Kobe Victory Ship, who are among the top players in the East Asia zone after the first six rounds.

In the face of the overall strength of the Yokohama Mariners, head coach Slutsky still sent 18-year-old Yang Haoyu to continue the starting lineup of the "Super Cup", which is also the first time that the young player has played in the AFC Champions League.

Although the opponent was strong, Slutsky was not conservative. After the opening, Shenhua pressed high and played very actively, and the players entered the state quickly, creating a lot of threat to the opponent.

However, after missing a few good opportunities, Shenhua was seized by the opponent to score a goal due to a mistake of her own. In the 20th minute, the Yokohama Mariner counterattacked, Manafa broke the ball in the penalty area and cleared, but he was very hesitant to handle the ball and gave the opponent a big gift. Lopes crosses the ball and Jan Mateus slotted home from the top of the arc with a long-range shot.

After coming to Shenhua last year, Manafa had high hopes. Judging from the competition, he does have relatively strong ability, but his ability has not been fully transformed into combat effectiveness. In the second half of last year, he missed a long period of time due to injury. Manafa made just 19 appearances in the Chinese Super League season, starting 16 and providing five assists.

In a previous interview, Slutsky said of Manafa, "Last year, Manafa managed to form six assists through crosses. Of course, we want Manafa to have a way of playing that makes the opponent unpredictable, because once he has a more fixed way of playing, for example, he only crosses, then in this case, the opponent will put him out and make him unable to go on, so it will be difficult for him. This requires him to choose flexibly according to the actual situation on the field, whether to cut inside or by walking outside close to the baseline and then crossing, and it is necessary to use this more flexible style of play to show his advantages. ”

Slutsky didn't give Manafa too many restrictions tactically, but gave him a lot of freedom to play. However, in the two games that have been played in the new season, Manafa has not been able to show the effect that everyone expected. In this match against Yokohama Marinos, his mistake directly caused the goal to be conceded. At half-time, Slutsky replaced Manafa with Yang Zexiang. In the post-match press conference, when asked if it was tactical or physical reasons to replace Manafa, Slutsky said, "It was because I was not satisfied with Manafa's performance that I replaced him." ”

Regarding the full match, Slutsky concluded, "The loss in this game hurts my heart. In the first half we were probably in control of the game. At half-time, I was appreciative of everyone's performance and I hope everyone can continue to work hard in the second half. But in the last 15 minutes of the second half, it was clear that our attacking players were also down in terms of fitness and did not create more effective chances again. ”

There is still the final round left in the first stage of the AFC Champions League East Asia Zone, and Shenhua will play Vissel Kobe at home on February 18. Although the current promotion situation is not favorable, Slutsky did not give up, "Shenhua's defeat in this game really hurts me, but we still have one last game, and we will try our best to win the last game and try to qualify." Early in the morning of February 13, Shenhua will take a flight back to Shanghai to prepare for the race against the Kobe Victory Boat.