The 17th round of the Chinese Super League ushered in the battle of Tianwangshan in this season’s championship group. In the end, Shandong Taishan defeated Shanghai Haigang 2-0 with Sun Zhunhao’s pass and shot, expanding the points advantage to 8 points. Although the Harbour team also won a penalty in the game, it almost narrowed the point difference. But judging from the progress of the whole game, the active change of the Taishan team made this game present a one-sided situation.
The competition between the first and second place in the Chinese Super League is naturally the focus of the game, and in this kind of battle of Tianwangshan, which all the Chinese Super League pays attention to, there are not many coaches who dare to change. It is even more bold to dare to use a formation that has not been used in the entire season in such a game. In this game, Taishan team coach Hao Wei chose to change boldly. The starting lineup changed to a four-back formation that lasted a whole season and changed to a three-back formation. Zheng Zheng, Shi Ke, and Jia Desong are lined up, and Liu Yang and Jin Jingdao are separated on the left and right as wing guards. In the middle, four central midfielders, Moises, Fellaini, Sun Zhunhao and Xu Xin, are piled up, and U23 teenager Guo Tianyu alone serves as the single arrow.
Although the Seaport team has a small Paulinho suspended, but the coach Lecco still continued the team’s regular play. Just replacing Paulinho and Liu Zhurun with Abrahan and Li Shenglong in the first rounds respectively. The changes are not big. It can be said that Lecco still focuses on stability in the key battle for the championship.
In addition to arranging the 3 center-back formation used for the first time this season, the Taishan team also made a rather surprising adjustment to the configuration of the midfielder, sending 4 center-backs to the field together. The difference is that Sun Zhunhao is slightly behind, which is equivalent to a single midfielder. Fellaini and Xu Xin are active in the front, similar to the central midfielder, while Moises is more in front to cooperate with Guo Tianyu. Tarzan’s formation is more like 3142, which is quite similar to the formation of Haigang. Haigang was also a 3 central defender in this game, and then Wang Shen exceeded Ren’s single midfielder. Abrahan and Mu Yi are equivalent to central midfielders. Oscars are relatively free and often move around the side of forward Li Shenglong.
Originally, the Harbour team had 3 foreign aids, but due to the suspension of Paulinho, only Oscar and Muyi could play in this campaign. On the other hand, the Taishan team, with Fellaini’s return from injury and has recovered his state, all five foreign players can play with all their strength. In this campaign, the Taishan team also sent the best four foreign aids: Fellaini, Moises, Sun Zhunhao and Judson. The two goals of the Taishan team were also contributed by foreign aids Jia Desong and Sun Zhunhao respectively.
The Seaport team only has Oscar as a core, and they seem isolated and helpless in front of the powerful midfielder of the Taishan team. Although he was very active throughout the game and hoped to gain something, he still couldn’t change the situation. This also led to the fact that when there was a penalty opportunity in the second half, Oscar too pursued the angle and missed the only opportunity for the Harbour team to score.
Taishan high-altitude bombing combined with ground conduction seaport lack of fulcrum in restricted area
In recent seasons, high-altitude bombing has always been the housekeeping skill of the Taishan team. Although the head coach has changed from Li Xiaopeng to Hao Wei, this skill for survival has not been lost. Fellaini, Guo Tianyu, Judson and even Moises are all good headers. In the header competition with the Harbour team, the Taishan team’s advantage was too obvious, and there were very few scenes of these four competing for the top and losing in the game. The first goal was also a header from Judson.
Compared with the previous season, the Taishan team has changed a lot in terms of ground conduction. Side passes no longer only look for high points in the penalty area. There are also more low pass passes. At the same time, players dare to make moves at the front of the penalty area.
On the other hand, due to the characteristics of the Oscars, the Harbour team still focuses on the ball, but the high-altitude ball is a weakness. There used to be Anutovich in the penalty area as the fulcrum. Now with his departure, the team can no longer be the fulcrum in the penalty area. The starting striker Lee Shenglong in this game was also unable to play a pivotal role. In the game, there were many times when the harbor players got the chance to pass from the wing. When they looked up at the situation in the penalty area, they did not choose to take the ball. This is one of the shortcomings in the tactics of the seaport’s offensive.
Throughout the game, the team shot 3 times and 0 shots at the harbour without fighting back
In this game, the seaport team’s ground offense could not penetrate the Taishan team’s defense. In the 90 minutes of the game, the Haigang team only got 3 shots. Not only that, the Harbour team still shot 0 times in the game. Throughout the first half, the harbor didn’t even shoot a goal. Judging from the number of shots, the two teams are not at the same level. But this happens to be a battle of Tianwangshan between champion and runner-up teams. This kind of gap in shooting data in a game of this magnitude is extremely rare.
The thickness of the lineup is too big, although there are substitutions, it can’t become a killer move
After returning to the locker room with the data of 0-1 and 0 shots at halftime, the Harbour team will inevitably make substitution adjustments. Sure enough, after returning to the field, the Haigang team changed two people in one breath: U23 striker Liu Zhurun and Taishan old player Mai Tijiang debut, replacing Abra Khan and Li Shenglong respectively. Although Liu Zhurun’s header in the final stage of the game created a penalty for the team, the effect after he and Mai Tijiang played was not ideal.
The difference between the two teams’ starting lineups is not too big, but look at who is sitting on the bench. Taishan team is Liu Binbin, Ji Xiang, Delgado, Dai Lin, Duan Liuyu and other players who have proven their strength in the league and are in their prime. Although the Haigang team sits on the bench with three former international players Yu Hai, Mai Tijiang and Cai Huikang, all of them are no longer what they used to be. Yu Hai is 34 years old, Cai Huikang has already faded out of the team’s regular rotation lineup, and Mai Tijiang’s state is also far worse than before joining.
In the second half, Seaport coach Lecco has also been actively making adjustments. He ran out of 5 substitutions, but the effect was minimal. On the other hand, Hao Wei made only two substitution adjustments. Delgado played in the 90th minute, and there were not many chances of performance. Another player Liu Binbin could have launched multiple attacks on the harbor defense line. The comparison of the effects of the two teams’ substitutions is too obvious.
Looking back at the entire game, it is not difficult to see that the Taishan team is completely better than the Haigang team in terms of personnel, strength and tactics. It is not surprising that the Haigang team lost. According to the current state and strength of the Taishan team, it may only be a matter of time before the Chinese Super League wins.
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