Guoan: The league is difficult to improve, and the FA Cup must be desperate

Reporter Liu Xiangyu reports In the league, Guoan seems to have run out of desires, and the FA Cup has become their only hope for the AFC Champions League. On August 22, Guoan will play away against Shenhua, which is a hurdle that must be overcome.

Guoan is in the top half of the FA Cup, and the signing is not very ideal. The top two Shanghai duo in the league are both in the top half, and Guoan has a direct dialogue with Shenhua after eliminating Wuxi Wugou.

Judging from the performance of this season, Guoan has more chances against Shenhua than against Harbour. The two sides have met in the past five times, Guoan has won three and drawn two, and has not tasted defeat. The meeting between the two sides in the league this season made a big splash, Guoan first drew 1-1 away, and returned to the home court with Wang Ziming's stunner, 2-1 won the limelight Shenhua, giving the opponent the first defeat of the season. These two games can be said to be the two best games played by Guoan in the second half of the season so far.

However, in this cup match, the two teams have been in different states recently, Guoan has drawn twice in a row in the league, and both games have made their own mistakes, and at the same time, there are players who have been sent off by Zhihong, and the momentum has been hit; On the other hand, Shenhua reversed Harbour in the just-concluded Shanghai derby from a goal behind, and this victory was decisive for Shenhua's trend throughout the season, and the team was in an upward state. Judging from the state, Shenhua must be better than Guoan.

The key is also the desire to win. Guoan hopes to return to the AFC Champions League next season, and with the difficulty of changing the league standings, the FA Cup has become the only hope, and Guoan attaches great importance to the FA Cup. Shenhua is expected to win the league this year, and they can't make mistakes at the last minute, and their focus may be on the league.

There is not much room for the two sides to adjust the arrangement, both sides are open cards, and there is no injury in the current lineup of Guoan, and the main force will definitely play. In two games against Shenhua this season, Guoan has performed impeccable on the defensive end, and being based on defense is Guoan's advantage this season. Traore was named in the squad and came off the bench in the last round, and his fitness has recovered quickly and he is likely to return to the starting line-up against Shenhua to form a central defensive duo with Ngadeu. This can limit the play of Shenhua's center forward to the greatest extent. At present, there are certain problems in the two fullback positions of Shenhua, which is also an opportunity that Guoan can seize, right winger Lin Liangming has been getting better and better recently, and Adebenro can be considered on the left, both of them are lethal, and the two sides are also the main breakthrough for Guoan.

Although Guoan fought away, the Beijing-Shanghai battle never needed to be mobilized. Moreover, this season's Guoan is characterized by being strong when it is strong, but it will capsize when it encounters some weak teams, and it is still trustworthy to fight tough battles.

The last time Guoan went to Shanghai Tang, he left a painful memory, but it was the seaport, not Shenhua, that cast a shadow on Guoan. The 1-5 defeat almost sent Suarez away, and the club had already conveyed the intention of changing the coach, but later Suarez led the team to win Shenhua at home, which was considered to temporarily stabilize the situation.

'We are fourth but we are not happy with this position and we want the team to do better. Frankly, the three teams ahead of us are doing better than us, but we won't stop trying. Suarestan admits that it is not easy to finish third in the league, "but we will not give up, and more importantly, we also need to prepare for the future of Beijing Guoan." He knows that the league can prepare for the future, but the cup cannot afford to lose, and the FA Cup is not only Guoan's biggest hope this year, but also his own lifeline.

Suarez is still standing on the edge of the cliff, and if he can perform well in the cup, he may continue his coaching at Guoan and take the season to a finish. If there is a very unsatisfactory result during this period, Suarez will still face adjustment at any time. The club has already made a plan, of course, the change of manager is a matter of the whole body, and the team still hopes that Suarez can lead the season smoothly.

What the coaching staff needs to do now is not only to prepare technically and tactically, but also to adjust the mentality of the players. A player who came off the bench for two consecutive games received a red card, which is rare in Guoan's past history. Although Guoan has appealed against Zhang Yuning's red card, the result is difficult to change. The coaching staff needs to adjust the mentality of the players and make the next personnel deployment to cope with the shortage of major generals. Guoan's next three consecutive away games, after the FA Cup and Shenhua, the team will return to the league to play away against Chengdu Rongcheng and Meizhou Hakka. The schedule is very unfriendly, but fortunately, the most important game is at the front, against Shenhua, Guoan has no way back.