Chengdu Rongcheng: Timely review of failure, FA Cup needs to "stabilize the waves"

Reporter Lu Mi reports Before the evening of the 17th against Taishan, Rongcheng had been undefeated in 12 rounds on both lines, and only drew two games. From the mid-term adjustment to the present, Rongcheng's record and efficiency are still quite good among the top five teams in the Chinese Super League, which is inseparable from coach Xu Zhengyuan's adjustment and employment. Although they lost 0-3 to Taishan away, they always have an enterprising heart in good times or bad, and they fight for the goal of the AFC Champions League.

In 2022, Rongcheng continued to refresh the team's history in its debut season in the Chinese Super League, and finally finished fifth in the league without a win in the first 8 rounds, which is a very good result as a promoted horse. In fact, in 2022 and 2023, the club's overall investment and recruitment efforts are nothing in the Chinese Super League, but they are still making steady progress.

Due to the passing of the AFC Champions League (including qualifying rounds) in successive years, Rongcheng has made up its mind this year to invest a lot of money in recruitment, introducing many Mesozoic players, completing the renewal of the midfield and backfield, and enriching the depth of the bench. But in the process of running-in, the team also experienced some ups and downs.

At the beginning of the game, although Rongcheng could win the game with hard power, the process of the game was not as smooth as imagined. Compared with the unbeaten start of last season in 13 rounds, it lost in the second round of the 2024 season, losing 0-1 away to relegation team Cangzhou.

That defeat also reminded the team and Xu Zhengyuan, when multiple players can play the same position, how to make reasonable arrangements and make the best use of people, we must think carefully. In the first 10 rounds of the game, Xu Zhengyuan and the team are almost advancing in the groping, because the strength of the players themselves is not bad, so, the record is quite ideal, there has been a wave of 5 consecutive wins in the middle, and has also experienced almost being snatched away by Yatai in Cangzhou 3 points, and even lost to the whole Chinese Ban Taishan, so it has experienced 3 rounds of winless.

During that time, Xu Zhengyuan mainly used people in the midfield and backfield, experimenting in one or two positions, hoping to find the most suitable candidate on the premise of ensuring that he won the game.

From the 11th round to the 14th round, the team's midfield was basically fixed as the combination of Zhou Dingyang and Gan Chao, and in the absence of injuries, the two wingbacks were Tang Miao and Gulfinkel; In the defensive line, Yang Shuai and Timo become a fixed combination, and the other central defender will be adjusted according to injuries and form. Before the 15th round, in addition to the role of Andrigo on the offensive end was not completely clear, Xu Zhengyuan finally straightened out in terms of playing style and employment.

Judging from the offensive and defensive data of the first 15 rounds, Rongcheng scored a total of 33 goals and conceded a total of 16 goals. From the point of view of offensive efficiency, it already has the appearance of a strong team; It's just that defensively, compared to other teams at the top of the rankings, conceding a bit more goals.

For most of the first half of the season, the team and Xu Zhengyuan were groping, and the match against Shenhua in the 15th round of the Chinese Super League became a turning point. In that game, the team faced off against one of the best opponents in the league, and in the end, Rongcheng drew with the advantage. Although the result is regrettable, Xu Zhengyuan has gained a lot. First of all, Hu Hetao started and made a brilliant return after experiencing big ups and downs; Secondly, on the question of whether to stay with Andrigo or Palacios in the summer window, Xu Zhengyuan has an answer. Relative to Andrigo's dispensable state in the tactical system, he finally chose Palacios, who had a savior performance at key moments last season.

The performance of Palacios and Hu Hetao directly improved their combat power, which is equivalent to bringing in reinforcements. If it weren't for Hu Hetao's subsequent three-week injury, perhaps the harvest would have been even more; Palacios, on the other hand, started the first two games he signed up for, scoring in back-to-back games, and in the 20th round, he scored a hat-trick and was directly involved in the team's four goals, becoming the first player in team history. In the 10 games since his return, he has contributed six goals and two assists.

Palacios' return also led the team's attacking group up front, showing efficiency beyond the first half of the season. In the second half of the season, 9 rounds have been played, and Rongcheng have scored 25 goals, compared to only 16 in the same period of the first half of the season. Compared with the statistics of the players involved in the frontcourt, Felipe had 5 goals and 5 assists in 9 games in the second half of the season, one goal less than the same period in the first half of the season, but 3 more assists; Romulo has three goals and five assists, all better than the first nine rounds of the first half of the season; Gulfinkel, as a wing-back, has to both plug in and drop back to defend, and has only scored one goal this season, in the 11th round, but his assists, starting in the 16th round, are nine times in total.

The offense is open, even the defense is better, conceding 3 fewer goals than in the first half of the season, winning by a large score and keeping clean sheets has become a further pursuit of Rongcheng in the second half of the season.

Rongcheng's current number of goals scored and conceded is in line with their ranking, with a total of 56 goals, ranking third in the Chinese Super League; With 23 goals conceded, the Chinese Super League is tied for second place, the same as Harbour.

This season, several foreign aides in Rongcheng broke out one after another, with both goals and assists, and the entire attack group cooperated with each other to achieve the effect of multi-point flowering.

Including Ackerson and Zhou Dingyang, there are a total of 10 non-foreign players involved in the goal. Among them, Wei Shihao, Zhou Dingyang, Gan Chao, and Hu Hetao are all "competing" with their past selves, and they have made great progress.

The first is Wei Shihao. Due to injuries and suspensions, he has played about the same amount of time as he did last season with Three Towns. Last season, he made 19 appearances with five goals and one assist, and so far this season he has eight goals and two assists in 16 appearances, and he still has time to improve after the suspension is lifted.

followed by Zhou Dingyang. This season, he has scored seven goals, the most since he landed in the Chinese Super League in 2019, and has completed a series of goals. In addition to his professional attitude, Gan Chao has to do with stabilizing the midfield defense next to him, and he has more space to take the ball forward and close to the attacking zone. It is worth mentioning that Zhou Dingyang's assistive defense steal data ranks in the top three in the Chinese Super League.

It's Gan Chao and Hu Hetao again. They both stood out in the fierce competition, and although the two did not score as many goals as Wei Shihao and Zhou Dingyang, they both completed their self-transcendence. Gan Chao has taken on a lot of work on the defensive end of the midfield this year, and he is very serious in training, which impresses Xu Zhengyuan and sits firmly in the main force. He has scored just one goal in a single season in the past two seasons and has already exceeded his task this year.

After a year of hibernation, Hu Hetao returned strongly in the second half of the year, making great progress in passing and running and cooperating with his teammates. Even if there are Wei Shihao and Tang Miao in this position, he will have a chance to play.

Rongcheng is currently 10 points away from Shenhua in second place, 9 points ahead of Guoan in fourth, and there are 6 rounds left in the Chinese Super League.

As a young team, it is not easy to rise in the ranking year by year in such a narrow upstream space as the top five. The goal of this year's team league is not to compete for the championship, but to obtain the AFC Champions League seat, at present, the third position should play the AFC Champions League 2, so if you want to play the top AFC Champions League elite league, you need to do something in the FA Cup, that is, to win the championship.

Before the 1/4 finals of the FA Cup, Rongcheng was a guest in Jinan, and the opponent played with a single foreign aid, while Rongcheng was the strongest lineup, but was defeated by the opponent 3 times "sneak attack", lost 0-3, and suffered a double kill by Taishan.

Judging from the comprehensive record this season, Rongcheng can easily handle it when facing midstream and downstream teams. So far this season, it has double-killed Manatee, Nantong, Jinmen Tiger, Zhejiang, Yatai and Xinpeng City; At the beginning of the second half of the season, he successfully took revenge and defeated Cangzhou.

But in the face of the top five teams, the team did not win in the first half of the season, and now facing the exhausting journey of the third-line battle, Taishan, was killed twice, which is really a bit demoralizing.

However, after the loss, Xu Zhengyuan did not blame the players. "It's not easy for everyone. In good times, this is a signal to re-examine ourselves. Xu Zhengyuan said that the team will start with him to reflect, and he also hopes that the players will reflect. There are 6 rounds left in the league, and the opponents are Guoan and Shanghai Shuangxiong, both of which are top five teams, and they have not yet won this season. At that time, it is very important for Rongcheng to use what kind of mentality to face the strong dialogue, and the result is also a consideration for whether the team will become a real strong team.

After losing to Taishan, Rongcheng moved directly from Jinan to Nanjing, preparing for the 1/4 finals of the FA Cup with Nanjing City, although the opponent is only a team in the middle of the league, but learning from the past, Rongcheng also needs to deal with it carefully.

From the perspective of divisions, Rongcheng still has a great chance to break out of the encirclement and advance to the finals, so what they have to do is to "stabilize the waves".