Guoan's two matches against Ulsan in the Champions League were pretty bad, two losses and losing Huang Bowen for much of the season. So far this year, the team has been able to regroup after Champions League struggles and hopefully this week will be no different. You have to want to win every competition you are in, but for the fans, winning the league is a far more important goal than Champions League success. We still haven't lost in the league and are only 4 points back of Henan at the top, who've played one more game than us.
The lineup is definitely going to be effected by Huang's loss and it will be interesting to see how Lee handles it. Our midfield is packed with many options. Matic is a must at holding midfield, but from there, you have the choice of Du Wenhui, Yan Xiangchang, Ryan Griffiths, Tao Wei, Yang Hao, and Martinez. Many of these players can play on the wing or in an attacking role, and a player like Yan or Du is in a position where its time to step up and be stars or just eek out a career as mediocre role players. They show a lot of promise, but its time that they deliver on it.
I've been hard on Huang all year, he's struggled this season, has yet to score a goal, and even missed a critical penalty kick. However, losing a player like Huang for the better part of the season is massive. Huang, best wishes from all us fans and hope you'll get well very soon. While the manager was having a hard time putting together a midfield that worked and his decision making now gets easier, it's tough dealing with this loss.
Back to this game and our opponents, the "Northwestern Wolves", Shaanxi Zhongxin. They are a fairly weak team with a bad home record, losing twice (to Shandong and Shenzhen) on their own pitch and drawing once. Yet this is a side that always seems to get at Lee Jangsoo, last year Guoan lost at home and drew on the road while in 2007 Guoan only managed 2 draws. The fans in Xian are famous for being rabid and can get a little wild, fans were allowed in for the practice and according to Lee the tense atmosphere influenced the squad's practice.
The behavior of Shaanxi's fans has served as a motivating factor for Guoan. Ryan Griffiths said that he definitely wants to score a goal after getting an idea what things would be like on Sunday, Du Wenhui declared that Guoan has to shut up the big Xian crowd and come away with 3 points.
I love Du's spirit and motivation, now let's hope he can deliver. Enjoy this beautiful Sunday weather in the capital and get ready for the action, kick off's at 16:00.
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