Well, I've had some familial responsibilities as of late which has led to some serious slacking n the blog, as well as missing Wednesday night's game. Having read a lot of the recaps online, I'm not really surprised with what happened, as almost all of them place the blame on the defense. Watching how it happened, I'd totally agree, Oh's all alone on the far side of the box while 3 Guoan players are just standing in the 6 yard box haplessly watching the ball go in. Of course, if the offense was a little more potent, this wouldn't have mattered, so all the blame can't be placed on those at the back, but these major missteps are par for the course. Opponents rarely score against us due to great attacking plays, its typically due to mindless play.
Losing this match was bad, but losing Huang Bowen, who went down with a really horrible looking ankle injury in the 1st half, is far worse. In what was a very rough game on both sides, Huang's injury will really hurt us. He's now going to be out for at least 3 months and though we've had so many midfield options and guys step up, it really hurts to lose such a solid player for so long.
At this point, we're sitting in 3rd place with 2 matches remaining, 4 points behind Nagoya and 2 behind Ulsan. It's fairly simple, get 6 points in the remaining matches and advance, fail to and deal with the disappointment of being eliminated in the 1st round. If that happens, I have a feeling a lot of fans are going to start talking about the future managerial situation for our team. It's away at Shaanxi this weekend, a win would be the best way to forget about this disappointment.
Showing posts with label Ulsan Hyundai. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Ulsan Hyundai. Show all posts
Thursday, April 23, 2009
Wednesday, April 8, 2009
Champions League Matchday 3 Recap : Ulsan Hyundai
Sorry folks, there's not been a lot of action around here lately (and we still owe you a CSL recap, coming tonight) and of course tomorrow will be predictions about this weekend's upcoming matches. Matchday 3 of the Champions League featured 4 Chinese teams facing off against 4 Korean teams, the 2 home teams won, the 2 away teams lost, unfortunately Guoan was one of the away teams.
Big thoughts:
1. We. Need. Height.
2. I could care less about you "stepping up", next time don't make the mistake!
The big team news was that Du Wenhui (for Martinez), Zhou Ting (for Zhang Xinxin), and Yan Xiangchuang (for Wang Changqing) were all used as starters. Lee also kept Zhang Yonghai on the pitch at center back, this was massive mistake number one. The crowd in Ulsan probably didn't top out at over 1,000 people, and quite possibly more like 500, of which 50 were very loud (or miked up) Guoan fans. What do the Korean fans know/don't know about this competition? Crowds in China were huge for both matches there, crowds in Korea were tiny.
On to the game, Guoan started out fast with two great early chances, the best from a Matic longball to Du, who was too quick with his shot when he had time. From then on, the first half was almost entirely Ulsan.
I don't know much about Kim Shin-wook and couldn't find very much about him online. He wears number 24 for Ulsan and is 1.96 meters and that's about all I needed to know, but after the performance on Tuesday, it wouldn't surprise me if you told me he was Korea's greatest soccer prospect ever. Kim straight up killed it, every long ball, every free kick was incredibly dangerous namely because Kim was huge and the tallest guy Guoan had on the field was 1.83 meters, meaning he won literally every header. It made for an incredibly dangerous first half as Guoan's defense was asleep much of the time, though thank God for Yang Zhi who kept the squad in the game. The only good development for Guoan was Huang Bowen taking a shot that challenged the keeper late in the half, not unusual except this was a rocket from outside the box. Damn, I really wish I could see a lot more of this from Guoan players, instead of constantly trying to play the ball into the box.
It was quite obvious Guoan needed to bring on 1.88 meter Lang Zheng or Paul in the 2nd half, however Lee took nearly 10 minutes to bring on Lang for Zhang Yonghai, which almost led to a goal a few minutes earlier when an Ulsan forward broke into the box (off of a headed long ball) and Zhou Ting gave him a slight push, but fortunately no foul. Just after the Lang move, Lee brought on Tao Wei for Ryan Griffiths.
Yang continued saving Guoan from a major beating throughout the 2nd half, but he was finally beaten when two Guoan defenders (Xu and Zhou) looked like they were totally lost and an Ulsan player was finally able to put one past Yang in the 69th minute.
With all the traffic being one way, it didn't look like Guoan was going to have a chance at pulling this one out, but Tao Wei played a great ball in to the elder Griffiths who was pushed over in the box and the referee gave a penalty kick. As a Guoan supporter, I admit it was kind of a soft call, I was also elated about it as I thought we'd be able to steal a point out of the game.
Huang Bowen stepped up to take the spot kick in the 84th minute and...the keeper made the save. From then on it was a foregone conclusion, Beijing's spirit was shot and there was no way they'd get a point out of the match.
It was an extremely ugly game for a Guoan fan as the side was almost completely impotent, the two best chances came in the very first minute and at the very end of the match. Huang apologized for not scoring the penalty, but a few members of the defense should also be apologetic.
Guoan has now scored 1 goal in 3 games, a miserable stat, made worse by how hard it is to watch their ugly football. We need size, Lee, please take Paul out of the doghouse for at least one match, let's see what happens. We need players to start clicking, at this point it still seems like nobody is on the same page and too many of our defenders, put simply, don't seem to understand how to play defense.
Things are made worse in the Champions League because Newcastle earned a draw in Osaka, meaning first place and fourth place are only separated by 2 points. Fortunately 2 out of the 3 remaining group games will be played at Gongti, so hopefully we will be able to recuperate and advance on top of the group.
Turn the focus on to the league and forget about this result for a fortnight.
Big thoughts:
1. We. Need. Height.
2. I could care less about you "stepping up", next time don't make the mistake!
The big team news was that Du Wenhui (for Martinez), Zhou Ting (for Zhang Xinxin), and Yan Xiangchuang (for Wang Changqing) were all used as starters. Lee also kept Zhang Yonghai on the pitch at center back, this was massive mistake number one. The crowd in Ulsan probably didn't top out at over 1,000 people, and quite possibly more like 500, of which 50 were very loud (or miked up) Guoan fans. What do the Korean fans know/don't know about this competition? Crowds in China were huge for both matches there, crowds in Korea were tiny.
On to the game, Guoan started out fast with two great early chances, the best from a Matic longball to Du, who was too quick with his shot when he had time. From then on, the first half was almost entirely Ulsan.
I don't know much about Kim Shin-wook and couldn't find very much about him online. He wears number 24 for Ulsan and is 1.96 meters and that's about all I needed to know, but after the performance on Tuesday, it wouldn't surprise me if you told me he was Korea's greatest soccer prospect ever. Kim straight up killed it, every long ball, every free kick was incredibly dangerous namely because Kim was huge and the tallest guy Guoan had on the field was 1.83 meters, meaning he won literally every header. It made for an incredibly dangerous first half as Guoan's defense was asleep much of the time, though thank God for Yang Zhi who kept the squad in the game. The only good development for Guoan was Huang Bowen taking a shot that challenged the keeper late in the half, not unusual except this was a rocket from outside the box. Damn, I really wish I could see a lot more of this from Guoan players, instead of constantly trying to play the ball into the box.
It was quite obvious Guoan needed to bring on 1.88 meter Lang Zheng or Paul in the 2nd half, however Lee took nearly 10 minutes to bring on Lang for Zhang Yonghai, which almost led to a goal a few minutes earlier when an Ulsan forward broke into the box (off of a headed long ball) and Zhou Ting gave him a slight push, but fortunately no foul. Just after the Lang move, Lee brought on Tao Wei for Ryan Griffiths.
Yang continued saving Guoan from a major beating throughout the 2nd half, but he was finally beaten when two Guoan defenders (Xu and Zhou) looked like they were totally lost and an Ulsan player was finally able to put one past Yang in the 69th minute.
With all the traffic being one way, it didn't look like Guoan was going to have a chance at pulling this one out, but Tao Wei played a great ball in to the elder Griffiths who was pushed over in the box and the referee gave a penalty kick. As a Guoan supporter, I admit it was kind of a soft call, I was also elated about it as I thought we'd be able to steal a point out of the game.
Huang Bowen stepped up to take the spot kick in the 84th minute and...the keeper made the save. From then on it was a foregone conclusion, Beijing's spirit was shot and there was no way they'd get a point out of the match.
It was an extremely ugly game for a Guoan fan as the side was almost completely impotent, the two best chances came in the very first minute and at the very end of the match. Huang apologized for not scoring the penalty, but a few members of the defense should also be apologetic.
Guoan has now scored 1 goal in 3 games, a miserable stat, made worse by how hard it is to watch their ugly football. We need size, Lee, please take Paul out of the doghouse for at least one match, let's see what happens. We need players to start clicking, at this point it still seems like nobody is on the same page and too many of our defenders, put simply, don't seem to understand how to play defense.
Things are made worse in the Champions League because Newcastle earned a draw in Osaka, meaning first place and fourth place are only separated by 2 points. Fortunately 2 out of the 3 remaining group games will be played at Gongti, so hopefully we will be able to recuperate and advance on top of the group.
Turn the focus on to the league and forget about this result for a fortnight.
Tuesday, April 7, 2009
Champions League Matchday 3 : Ulsan Hyundai
Good afternoon from a hazy Beijing as our boys take on Ulsan Hyundai in Korea today. The game sort of snuck up on me after the long holiday weekend here (although I spent it in rather lovely, spring-ey Beijing), so this will be relatively short, sweet and to the point. Yes, I'm standing up like a Guoan defender (or forward) and taking the blame instead of simply passing the buck to Guoan's locker room gag order leading to limited news. Sure, there's the story of Lee Jangsoo heading back to Korea to face his university friend Kim Hokon, there's also the fact they have a Newcastle Jets defender who will be going up against the fabulous Griffiths boys, and then there's that they are sponsored by Hyundai, who briefly were lead sponsors of Guoan a few years back and....well, that's that. Oh wait, they're also coming off a draw this weekend, though they've only earned 2 points in 3 games so far this year.
In the Champions League, Ulsan has struggled so far, losing in their first two matches and there have been accusations that the manager is ignoring this competition and picking sides packed with reserve players. Guoan, currently sitting tied for top of the group with Osaka can certainly make their road a lot easier with a full 3 points in this match.
Lee has declared he's excited to be coaching a match in his homeland and that his side won't be afraid of their Korean counterparts, despite the trend in Chinese football, mainly at the national team level, of "fearing Korea". I would expect Lee to make more adjustments to the lineup than usual, using this as a chance for some of his recently recovering players to get match fit while resting some of the players who've been regulars in the lineup so far this campaign. Expect significant time for Zhou Ting, Zhang Yonghai, and Tao Wei in this match. What will be more interesting is how Lee handles the attacking setup, Joel Griffiths who was out with a red card suspension on Friday is likely to feature, but will Lee try to experiment a little and sit Martinez? Will Paul finally be removed from Lee's doghouse?
Get home from work early (or find a bar with the game on), as its a 6 pm (Beijing time) kick off tonight!
In the Champions League, Ulsan has struggled so far, losing in their first two matches and there have been accusations that the manager is ignoring this competition and picking sides packed with reserve players. Guoan, currently sitting tied for top of the group with Osaka can certainly make their road a lot easier with a full 3 points in this match.
Lee has declared he's excited to be coaching a match in his homeland and that his side won't be afraid of their Korean counterparts, despite the trend in Chinese football, mainly at the national team level, of "fearing Korea". I would expect Lee to make more adjustments to the lineup than usual, using this as a chance for some of his recently recovering players to get match fit while resting some of the players who've been regulars in the lineup so far this campaign. Expect significant time for Zhou Ting, Zhang Yonghai, and Tao Wei in this match. What will be more interesting is how Lee handles the attacking setup, Joel Griffiths who was out with a red card suspension on Friday is likely to feature, but will Lee try to experiment a little and sit Martinez? Will Paul finally be removed from Lee's doghouse?
Get home from work early (or find a bar with the game on), as its a 6 pm (Beijing time) kick off tonight!
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