Matchday 4 Review : Chengdu Blades

Victory!

Yes, this is how I feel right now, Guoan has finally gotten back to their winning ways, though they've yet to lose yet, its been over 3 weeks since their last win. This one was extremely watchable and showed football how it should be played.

There were lots of changes for this game, so let's look at the lineup:

Goalie - Yang Zhi

Defense - Zhou Ting, Xu Yunlong, Zhang Yonghai, Lu Jiang

Midfield - Du Wenhui, Matic, Tao Wei, Yang Hao, Martinez

Forward - Joel Griffiths

That means a ton of changes in the midfield, basically an entire overhaul with the exception of holding mid Matic, changing out Wang Changqing, Ryan Griffiths, and Huang Bowen. I don't know what Lee Jangsoo said to the team in the change room, but this was a totally different Guoan squad, taking the match directly to Chengdu right from the start. Griffiths had an early chance that was created purely by hustle, something that had been lacking in the team, but things got good a short while later when Du Wenhui scored a nice goal off a great run and cross from Martinez. That was the highlight of the half, both sides had a few good chances and Beijing's defense still didn't look solid (namely Zhang), but Yang Zhi was up for the few 1st half challenges he faced.

Going into the half up 1-nil was a nice feeling, but the way the team's played this year, I was still fairly nervous about the result, could we hold them off? The nerves quickly went away early in the 2nd half, a questionable offside call against Griffiths had me angered, but moments later, Guoan was given a free kick deep in the Chengdu end (almost by the corner flag). Tao Wei's great delivery was met by a Yang Hao header, knocking the ball deeper in the box for a sliding Griffiths who buried it, making it 2-nil and offering a nice insurance goal. Griffiths was almost able to make it 3 in the 87th minute, but couldn't get the shot off in time and was foiled by Chengdu's large keeper. The only other thing to note was Wang Ke's season debut, coming on for Martinez in the 90th minute.

Huang Bowen is one of my favorites among the current crop of Guoan players, I was there for his first goal as a 16 year old in 2004 and his rocket shots at that age showed a lot of promise, I thought he could be the future of Chinese football. He's still young, only 21 now, and going into his 6th CSL season, but he just hasn't matured to match all the previous expectations fans had for him. It's been obvious in the past few games that he's had problems figuring out how to work with Martinez and the other midfielders and hashing out what his role should be.

Switching Huang and Tao doesn't lose you very much. While Tao is more attacking, he's also very creative, and Matic has shown himself capable of being a solid defensive mid. At the same time, Martinez looked to be revitalized, and was more dangerous than ever before this year, going up and down the wing. Yang Hao was a breath of fresh air, as well, in his first game in the squad this year.

There was some talk about Lee's job security in the run-up to this match, this is simply outrageous. He's brought the team to within a point of a league title and, even if the team didn't get off to a great start, they're still undefeated in the league, currently sitting in 3rd, and also in a great position to advance in the Champions League.

The fans and media are putting too much pressure and too many expectations on this side, this is exhibit A in the case against them. Lee's one of the better CSL managers and one game, or even a few poor outings, isn't enough to condemn him, we need to show more loyalty. We need to have more faith in Lee, his decisions in this match paid off, and he's the man that can take us farthest.

That's that, I hope I don't need to be talking about that anymore this year. A great win, back to winning ways, still undefeated in the league, and have a big weekend clash against Shandong coming up, who is travelling to Jinan?

Matchday 4 Preview : Chengdu Blades

Hi all, hope you're having a great weekend so far, yesterday certainly was an interesting day in the CSL.  I'm moving today and so this is going to be a shorter post than usual, so let's get to it.

Guoan's on the road in Sichuan this weekend looking to get back its form after losing its first game of the season, a midweek Champions League defeat in Korea.  Guoan's struggled on the road this year and Chengdu came up with a big upset in their only home clash, against Shanghai Shenhua.

Don't expect to see many changes to Guoan's lineup, most likely Martinez will be in for Guo Hui and that's about it, though perhaps we'll see a few changes to the bench.  Lee Jangsoo is very unhappy (as well he should be) with the team's performance as of late, but because of fitness issues there just aren't that many changes to make and its too early to start seriously worrying.  

Let's hope for 3 points out of Guoan and no player having to apologize for stupid mistakes.  This is a team with high expectations placed on it by the media and internally high expectationsof themselves, but its time for them to relax a little and play with passion instead of pressure.  

Matchday 4 League Preview

Thank God its Friday, which means we'll have football tomorrow to continue this incredible week. If you're here, you're a football fan, and what a week, eh? A weekend of CSL and European football, including a Monday CSL match, the European and Asian Champions League midweek, and now a full weekend of football, doesn't get much better! Match of the week? I'd say first or last, Shenzhen-Dalian or Shandong-Changchun. Last week I pulled even on predictions, here's hoping I can keep the momentum:

4.11 15:30 Shenzhen - Dalian Shide
Hmm, this is a hard one to call...Shenzhen has showed some promise so far this year and Dalian is coming off an embarassing loss in nearby Guangzhou. Both squads have been mediocre this year, this is a chance for one to step up. Prediction: Shenzhen 1 - 0 Dalian.

4.11 15:30 Jiangsu Sainty - Qingdao Zhongneng
Jiangsu finally earned its first point of the year last week while Qingdao suffered through a draw in Changsha. Jiangsu has looked dangerous so far this year, the same can't really be said for Qingdao, I have a feeling that they will struggle on the road this weekend. Prediction: Jiangsu 2 - 1 Qingdao.

4.11 19:30 Hangzhou Greentown - Guangzhou Baiyunshan
Guangzhou has gotten off to a good start under former Guoan and national team manager Shen Xiangfu, Xu Liang's currently on top of the scoring charts after his hat trick last week, Hangzhou's been up and down so far. Much like the 2 matches above, these are two squads that are looking at midtable finishes, but have aspirations for more, its this kind of match that will decide exactly how good their season will be. Prediction: Hangzhou 1 - 2 Guangzhou.

4.12 15:30 Chongqing Lifan - Henan Jianye
Henan's won twice this year against average teams, but have done so at home. Chongqing is a team that is likely to go down unless big foreigners like Guinee will be able to carry them to some goals, I have a feeling its not going to happen this weekend. Prediction: Chongqing 0 - 2 Henan.

4.12 15:30 Shaanxi Zhongxin - Shanghai Shenhua
Shanghai's coming off of two big wins in the domestic and Champions League, but haven't faired well away from the comforts of Hongkou. Shaanxi's in a similar situation having done well at home, but struggling on the road, while I don't think they'll be able to upset Shenhua, this could very well be a draw. Prediction: Shaanxi 1 -1 Shanghai.

4.12 16:05 Chengdu Blades - Beijing Guoan
I've predicted Guoan in every one of their matches so far, going with my heart, this one will be no different, though they really should win this one (full preview of the match coming later). Prediction: Chengdu 0 - 1 Beijing.

4.12 19:30 Changsha Jinde - Tianjin Teda
Ahh, another home match in Changsha, this is their 4th straight match at home, the only team with such a comfortable opening. The masters of the scoreless draw are going up against the team that has scored the most so far this year. How powerful is Changsha's kungfu? I think Tianjin's going to be able to maintain their spot on top, though they won't be able to fully expose Changsha's 11 behind the ball. Prediction: Changsha 0 - 1 Tianjin.

4.12 19:30 Shandong Luneng - Changchun Yatai
And finally, the 2007 champions travel to the 2008 Champions. Shandong licked their wounds after the shellacking they took in Shanghai by winning in the Champions League midweek, but still look to be seriously missing Zhou Haibin. Changchun's started strong with 2 wins and a draw to sit in 3rd place. This is a tough one to call, but I have a feeling Changchun will hammer out a tough fought road win. Prediction: Shandong 1 - 2 Changchun.

That's it for now, have a great weekend and enjoy the football (and hopefully nice weather too)!