Zhan Shenhua, or become a watershed in the strategic choice of Taishan season

Reporter Chen Yong reports After a 6-1 defeat to Guoan in the 8th round of the Chinese Super League on April 19, the Taishan team has no respite, and on April 26, they will face Shanghai Shenhua at the top of the table. Because of the loss to Guoan, the Taishan team is currently 4 points behind Shenhua, and if the battle of Lushen wins even if it is a draw, it can regain hope; If you lose, you may only be able to hope for the youngsters soon after the start of the season.

After losing to Beijing Guoan, the Taishan team has lost consecutive games against strong teams from last year to this year. In the 2024 season, Shanghai Port and Shanghai Shenhua are two strong teams, and as a result, the Taishan team was killed five times by these two teams in one season.

There may be a special situation in the two reds against Guoan on the 19th, but it must be said that this is not the first time for the Taishan team, they have already won two reds in the previous game. Moreover, last season's FA Cup final against Shanghai Port, and this season's match against Chengdu Rongcheng, the complete defeat from the process to the result did make the Taishan team quite frustrated.

In fact, in the Asian arena, the Taishan team's record in the past two years is not bad, the 2023 and 2024 seasons are the only Chinese Super League team to qualify and reach the quarterfinals, and this season's AFC Champions League is also the team with the most points in the Chinese Super League before the final round of play, and the opponents encountered are quite powerful, but in the domestic arena, the Taishan team can't be tough in the face of strong teams.

A very important reason is that in the Chinese Super League, the Taishan team was completely studied by the opponent: in the match with Shanghai Port, two of the three goals scored by the harbor were scored by fullbacks Li Shuai and Wang Zhenao; In the match with Chengdu Rongcheng, the first to open the scoring was Rongcheng central defender Yuan Mincheng. The Tarzan team's man-to-man tactical system is prone to confusion when the opposing full-backs and central defenders are plugged in. At the offensive level, the side of the Taishan team was mainly contained by the opponent, Cressan and Kazaishvili were trapped, and the lack of changes in the middle made the Taishan team unable to change the offensive dilemma.

In the previous three consecutive wins, the Taishan team changed the formation, choosing the formation of 4231 or 4141, the weak team has limited attack power, and the defensive ability is also insufficient, such as the pressure on the west coast of Qingdao gave the Taishan team a lot of opportunities, and it is logical for Taishan to win three consecutive victories. But in the game with Beijing Guoan, before Wu Xinghan's red card, the performance of the Taishan team was actually very worrying.

Taishan's three midfielders Huang Zhengyu, Madruga and Li Yuanyi can hold the ball more steadily against weak teams, but when playing against strong teams, the three players are more likely to lose the ball, resulting in Taishan team can only attack with long passes from defenders, which is too simple.

The tactical dilemma is inevitable for the Tarzan team, and there is currently a lack of effective solutions. What can be improved is the dedication and fighting spirit of the game, like the FA Cup, the dedication and fighting attitude are enough, and the data can look a little better, but the tactical content is still lacking.

In addition to the tactical dilemma, the Taishan team also had to face the personnel dilemma, and the red cards of Wu Xinghan and Zeka caused serious damage to the Taishan team. After Zeka's absence, Cressan can be on the front line, Xie Wenneng can start, but after Wu Xinghan's absence, the Taishan team will be more difficult to do in the right-back position, and the team may only hope for Gao Zhunyi's comeback.

The next round of the match with Shanghai Shenhua is likely to be a crucial watershed, in terms of process and result, there are three situations that can allow the Taishan team to regain hope or barely retain the hope of the season, and there is another situation that will mean that the Taishan team can directly operate in advance.

The best-case scenario is naturally to win the game, where the process is not a very important factor; Secondly, the Taishan team played well in the process and drew with Shenhua, although there is still a gap of 4 points, but the hope of the season can be retained; In addition, the content of the game is good, you can see the improvement of momentum, see the improvement of tactical content, even if you unfortunately lose, it can be said that there is still hope at this time.

However, if the Taishan team loses like last season's FA Cup against Harbour, this season's league against Rongcheng, or the Jinglu game on the 19th, then their prospects for this season are very bad. In this case, the Tarzan team can almost start the operation of rejuvenation.

Recently, the young people of the Taishan team have played well, including Shi Songchen's poor performance and then got another chance, which is very valuable for the young man, and Mei Shuaijun, who was replaced in the game with Guoan, also performed well, both of whom are players in the 05 and 06 age groups, very young, and they are worth cultivating. In the future, people like Yi Mulan, Chen Zeshi, Peng Xiao and Wang Haobin will also have the need to exercise.

If the Tarzan team can bite the leader, the training of the young players needs to depend on the timing, but if the Tarzan team is again in a rout against the strong teams, then the young players can actually play more.

Rejuvenation means a shuffling of the existing squad, and even if the game requires some veteran players, more veteran players will lose the opportunity to play. The game with Shenhua is, in a sense, also a key battle for the veteran players.