With the momentum of defeating Nanhai Team 4:2 at home and ranking first in the league, Flash Stars went north to challenge Capital Athletic away from home four days later on Thursday, August 3rd.
Even though it was an away game, even though it was a double match in a week, even though Zhao Kangming rotated the lineup, the Flash Stars, who had just played the "best game of the year in China League One" (media language), still defeated Capital Athletic 2:0 in the away game.
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Three days later, on Sunday, Flash Stars returned home to welcome the 16th-ranked Tangdu Kowloon. This team was also a second-division team last season. After being promoted to the first-division league, their results have been ups and downs, and they are currently ranked 3rd.
Sixteenth place, the goal is also to avoid relegation.
Speaking of which, this team is the hometown team of Chen Xingyi - Chen Xingyi is from Tangdu, Nanhe Province.
I don’t know if it’s because fellow countrymen meet fellow countrymen, but Chen Xingyi was very active in this game.
He scored twice for the first time since joining Flash Stars, and also the first twice in his career.
The commentators on Nanhe Satellite TV were particularly helpless: "No wonder they all said, 'My fellow villagers made me burst into tears when I saw my fellow villagers.' It turned out that I was beaten by a fellow villager..."
Hu Lai also scored a goal in this game. His number of goals in the league this season reached 14, and he still leads the league's scorer list.
Currently ranked second on the scorer list is Ningtian Yongan’s foreign aid forward, Ivar Moses. Frenchman, 28 years old. He played in the Chinese Super League with Yongan last season. Although his performance was mediocre, he still had experience in the Chinese Super League.
forward.
Moses, who had a mediocre performance in the Chinese Super League, came to the Chinese League One, and originally had a mentality of reducing dimensionality and attacking. In fact, he did feel better in front of the goal in the Chinese League One than in the Chinese Super League. Before Hu Lai exerted his strength, he had always been
Top scorer in the league.
However, this good feeling disappeared as Hulay continued to score goals in the league.
Hu Lai scored a hat trick in the game against Nanhai, directly surpassing Moses, who scored ten goals at the time, to become the top scorer in the league, and suddenly extended the lead to three goals.
Now the lead is as much as four goals.
The Chinese Super League striker who reduced the dimensionality attack came to the Chinese League One, and he was no match for Hu Lai.
This performance has to make people place more expectations on Hu Lai's future - if Flash Star successfully reaches the Super League this season, what performance can Hu Lai perform in the Chinese Super League next season?
Will he continue to create a youth storm in the Chinese Super League, or will he encounter a belated "rookie wall" in the Chinese Super League?
Everyone is looking forward to it, but also anxious.
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When Chen Mo came to Zhao Kangming's office, he found that he was looking at the schedule on his tablet computer in trance.
"Why are you so dazed?" He came up and took a look, "The next game is against Nan'an Jinpeng. They are also relegated from the Chinese Super League. Their performance is far behind that of Ning Tianyong'an. Can't we just play normally?"
"No, I'm watching the next game." Zhao Kangming shook his head.
"Next game?" Chen Mo looked down, "Oh, the Football Association Cup... Do you have any ideas, Old Zhao?"
Generally speaking, with the thickness of the lineup of Flash Star, if you want to succeed in the Super League, you should decisively give up the FA Cup.
But this season the Flash Stars are a bit lucky. In the first few rounds of the FA Cup, they encountered opponents that were obviously weaker than themselves. For example, in the third round they met a Chinese second-division team, and in the fourth round they faced the same team.
Chinese B teams, by the fifth round, most of the Chinese A teams will be eliminated one after another. As a result, Flash Star met the biggest dark horse of this season's FA Cup, Dongtai Juxing City, an amateur team!
How can you give up on this? Do you want Flash Star to be eliminated by amateur teams? Then this is too fake.
So just like that, Flashing Star smoothly reached the quarterfinals in the Football Association Cup.
Then when they came back to their senses, they saw that among the quarter-finals of the FA Cup, they were the only Chinese League One team, and the other seven teams were all from the Chinese Super League...
In the fifth round of the FA Cup, when they faced amateur teams, they had both psychological and strength advantages.
Now it is their turn to experience the feeling of Dongtai Juxing City at that time.
"What do you think we should do?" Zhao Kangming did not answer Chen Mo, but asked back.
Chen Mo spread his hands: "What else is there to think about? It's impossible for us to win the FA Cup. Being able to reach the quarterfinals is already the only one in the Chinese Premier League. If we don't give up now, how long will we wait? We will lose to the Chinese Super League.
The team is not wronged either. Then we can focus on playing in the league and try to lock in the two places for the Premier League as early as possible."
After hearing this, Zhao Kangming nodded: "That makes sense."
Chen Mo smiled: "Isn't this a choice that most people would make? What is it?"
"But I have another bold idea. Lao Chen, do you want to listen?"
Chen Mo pulled up a chair and sat down: "I'm all ears."
Seeing him like this, Zhao Kangming smiled and said, "Old Chen, what do you think our chances of reaching the top spot this season are high?"
Chen Mo didn't expect that Zhao Kangming would ask him a question first. He frowned and thought for a while: "I dare not say 100%, but I think it is more than 60%. As long as we don't make mistakes, as long as there are not a lot of injuries in the second half of the season
Illness...especially if those young guys stay healthy and in good condition, I think the chance is still very high."
The current league points situation is like this. After sixteen rounds of league play, Flash Star has eleven wins, four draws and one loss, accumulating 37 points and ranking first in the league standings.
Lingnan Nanhai lost to Sichuan Chongshan at home after losing to Flash Stars in an away game. They suffered two consecutive league defeats and are currently ranked second with 34 points.
Third place Sichuan Chongshan followed with 32 points.
Fourth place is Ningtian Yongan, who was relegated from the Chinese Super League last season. Their only goal this season is to return to the Chinese Super League, and they currently have 30 points.
Xiaojiang Green Forest ranked fifth with 29 points, and Meiling Rangers ranked sixth with 28 points.
This is the situation of the top six teams in the league, and also the six teams most likely to surpass the league.
The top two teams in the Chinese Premier League can be promoted directly without having to play promotion and relegation playoffs with any relegated Chinese Super League teams. It is a bit like a one-time deal.
Therefore, as long as they can ensure that the third place will not surpass them, Flash Star will be able to obtain an upgrade spot.
Looking at it now, Flashing Star is five points ahead of third place Sichuan Chongshan in terms of points. This point difference cannot be considered small.
However, considering the long second half of the season, it is too early to say whether to upgrade or not.
Just like last season.
Flash Star had played seventeen rounds in the league and was still ranked fourteenth, with almost no hope of promotion.
As a result, the ranking went up all the way, reaching the ninth place. Just when everyone thought that the team would continue to rise like this, and then compete with the top four teams to see if they can impact the Chinese Super League.
Quota.
Qin Lin's injury changed everything, and the team's performance began to decline again.
When the season was over, Flash Stars ended up ranked 13th, which was one spot higher than their ranking at the end of the first half of the league.
A lot happened in that half season.
So who can guarantee that there won’t be any more colorful, twists and turns and bizarre stories in the remaining 18 rounds of the league this season?
Therefore, Chen Mo added a lot of attributive words to say that he thinks the team's prospects for promotion are quite optimistic.
After listening to Chen Mo's analysis, Zhao Kangming still nodded, thinking that Chen Mo was right.
"Lao Chen, have you ever thought about what we will do if we successfully upgrade?"
"I never thought about this. What do I want to do so far away?" Chen Mo spread his hands.
"I have thought about it," Zhao Kangming said, "especially after seeing the performances of Hexi Daqin and Capital Xiangyun after they were upgraded... Hexi Daqin is still struggling on the edge of relegation, but I feel like they have already booked it in advance for Capital Xiangyun.
We have a quota in the Chinese League One this season. Do you think that if we are successfully promoted to the Chinese Super League next year, we will be sure to return to the Chinese League One early?"
Chen Mo did not answer this question because he did not know how to answer it.
Zhao Kangming didn't need his answer. He continued and shook his head: "I don't really want to do this. I finally got promoted to the Super League. Of course, I have to stay in the Chinese Super League and not fall down. It will take a few years to establish a firm foothold."
, and then seek bigger things... That's what I think. We don't go to the Chinese Super League to watch a round, come back with a lot of experience, and come to the Chinese League One to brag. We say that we have seen it all in the Chinese Super League, and the games in the Chinese League One are still good.
What can't you cope with? But you really can't cope with it... Look at Nan'an Jinpeng, our opponent in the next round, how bad they are playing? Once some teams are relegated, they lose all their energy and can't come back.
went……"
Zhao Kangming rambled on, and Chen Mo listened quietly, because he knew that what Lao Zhao wanted to tell him was contained in these rambles.
"Flashing Star is a good team, and the club management is rarely tolerant. If we just play in the Chinese Super League for one year and then fall down, I feel sorry for the club's hard work in the Second League and First League for so many years. Now that we have gone up,
Then stand firm." Zhao Kangming made a chopping motion, "So I think, based on the current situation of our team, let's give it a try and see if we have the capital to gain a foothold in the Chinese Super League."
Old partner Chen Mo had already guessed what Zhao Kangming was thinking. He asked directly: "Are you going to try it with the FA Cup?"
Zhao Kangming nodded: "Yes. This is our only chance to compete with the Chinese Super League team. Nan'an Jinpeng and Ningtian Yong'an are not considered Chinese Super League teams. A hairless phoenix is not as good as a chicken. The real Chinese Super League team is that we are in
Our opponents in the quarter-finals of the FA Cup are Haihe Shuanggang. They are currently in the middle of the Chinese Super League rankings. As a veteran Chinese Super League team, they are a suitable opponent. If we lose, we can also know where we lost so that we can win.
Next, we will make targeted training and adjustments, and the recruitment after the end of the season will be more purposeful."
"What if we win? What if we advance to the semifinals?" Chen Mo asked.
"Then continue to try and test our limits. The Chinese Super League teams we encounter in the semi-finals are basically top-ranked teams. Even if we are eliminated by then, it doesn't matter. How about it, Lao Chen,
What do you think of my bold idea?"
Chen Mo shook his head: "I think you already have the answer. Even if I say it's not good, you will probably still do it."
"That won't work. We are partners and we always have to have the same thoughts."
"I don't have any objections to the matter of finding a Chinese Super League team to try and make mistakes in the FA Cup. I just think, aren't you afraid of affecting the league?"
"It doesn't matter, the FA Cup is a single elimination system, unless we can reach the final... But to be honest, I think the hope is quite slim. And I looked at the schedule, the FA Cup quarter-finals and semi-finals are in the eighth
It’s all over in the month, so it’s just one more game at most. It won’t have much impact on the league..."
Chen Mo shook his head: "No, I'm not talking about the schedule. I am saying that if we decide to go all out in the FA Cup against the Chinese Super League team, then we may give up a few league games. Let's take the next match with Nan'an Jinpeng.
Let’s talk about the game, should we give up? Will giving up affect our ranking in the league? In addition, after the game against Haihe Shuanggang, will the team’s physical fitness and state be affected?
Will this impact continue to the next round of the league, our game against Kunyang City?"
"You're right, Lao Chen. That's why I must discuss it with you, because you will consider this matter from your perspective. Different perspectives can ensure that we will not make mistakes when making decisions."
Zhao Kangming was not unhappy because of Chen Mo's objections. Instead, he not only praised Chen Mo, but also patiently explained to him.
"But I have calculated it carefully just now. Even if it affects certain games, we can afford the price. The same is true for the FA Cup with Haihe Shuanggang. I have carefully studied Nan'an Jinpeng's performance in my own game
Regarding the performance at home, I think even if we use a rotation lineup, at least we can guarantee that we will not lose the game on the away road. In this way, our main lineup can be used against Haihe Shuanggang. And the game against Haihe Shuanggang is our home court
, we didn’t have to move anymore after flying back from Nan’an, and our physical strength was guaranteed. After playing the Football Association Cup, although we played Kunyang City away from home in the league, Kunyang City was also very weak, so we could still use rotation.
If you fight with the best lineup, even if you can't win, you won't lose.
"Even if we get two draws in a row in the league and drop from first to second, we can still be ahead of third-placed Sichuan Chongshan. If we are eliminated from the FA Cup, we can lose all
We will focus on the league. In the remaining dozen rounds of the league, I believe that with our ability, it is difficult to win the league championship, but we should still be sure to keep the top two in the league."
After listening to Zhao Kangming's entire analysis, Chen Mo raised his hands: "You have considered all aspects. I have no objections. I can give it a try according to your ideas."
Zhao Kangming asked him with a smile: "Then... do it?"
Chen Mo nodded: "Do it!"
Zhao Kangming breathed a sigh of relief: "In the away game against Jinpeng, let Chen Xingyi, Qin Lin, and Li Tielin rest. Let Shi Junde start at the defensive midfielder position, and play double midfielders with Marvin, and only Hu Lai is on the front line.
The single-arrow tactic focuses on controlling the midfield. As long as we can control the midfield, even if we can't win, we probably won't lose."
Chen Mo wrote down all these personnel adjustments, nodded and said: "Okay."
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Three days later, boos broke out in the Nan'an Stadium where Nan'an Jinpeng played their home game.
Amidst the boos, in the corner flag area where the Jinpeng team was located, a figure fell from the sky, stood firmly on the turf with his legs, and showed the camera lens the jersey number and name behind him.
The commentator of Anton Satellite TV shouted at the top of his lungs: "Hu Lai!! With the goal in the 72nd minute, he helped the Stars lead Nan'an Jinpeng 1:0 in the away game! Zhao Kangming directed Hu Lai in this game.
Hu Lai started the game and did not let him take a rest. He seemed to have expectations for him...and now Hu Lai has repaid Zhao Kangming's trust and support in him with this goal!!"
In front of the visiting team's coaching bench, Zhao Kangming shook his head at Chen Mo and said: "I really didn't expect him to score... There weren't many chances in this game..."
Chen Mo smiled: "Isn't this good, Lao Zhao? We have been calculating there for a long time, thinking about this and that... What's the result? Hu Lai's goal made all our calculations in vain! If we
If we can score three points in the away game, we don’t have to consider the impact of the FA Cup match on the league..."
Zhao Kangming nodded: "Yes. Hu Lai helped us get the lead. Now we need to think about how to keep this lead."