It seems that just after the FA Cup quarter-finals are over, it seems very far away to talk about the FA Cup semi-finals.
But in fact, in seventeen days, Flash Star will usher in the semi-finals of the Football Association Cup.
Just half a month is not too long to prepare for a game that challenges the sixth place in the Chinese Super League. Moreover, the Chinese League One will also include three league games.
The whole team of Flash Star has switched their preparation mode to the Football Association Cup, with Poseidon as the target of all preparations.
As for the Chinese League One, Flash Star just took the time to play...
One week after the FA Cup quarter-finals, on Sunday, August 20, Flash Stars challenged Kunyang City away from home.
Flash Star did not make a large-scale rotation in this game, because there was a week between the two games, which was enough time for the players to recover.
Zhao Kangming only made normal personnel adjustments in individual positions.
Flash Star defeated its opponent 3:0 in the away game.
Hulay came on as a substitute in this game and did not score. This was also his first substitute appearance in the league this season.
Now he is already a well-deserved main core of the Flash Stars. Last season, his position was unstable, but this season his position in the Flash Stars is unshakable.
This time he was replaced by Zhao Kangming. Considering that the city of Kunyang was not strong, there was no need for Hu Lai to waste his energy on such an opponent.
After all, until September 9th, there will be double matches every week. There will also be a Football Association Cup semi-final.
Zhao Kangming certainly hopes that Hu Lai will save all his physical strength and use it on the blade.
Anyway, against a team like Kunyang City, without Hu Lai, Flashing Stars would win 3:0.
Three days later, on Wednesday, August 23, in the twentieth round of the league, the Flash Stars faced the Meiling Rangers at home.
When this opponent met in the first half of the season, Flash Star drew 1:1 away from home. At that time, both Hu Lai and Wang Guangwei did not participate due to the East Asian Cup.
Now the Stars at home have fielded their entire main lineup, and Hu Lai has returned to the starting lineup.
Although the Meiling Rangers are currently ranked fifth, they still cannot withstand the aggressive offensive of Flashing Star in front of the entire main team.
In the end, they lost with a score of 0:2.
Chen Xingyi was in excellent form in this game and scored both of the team's goals.
His personal league goals reached eight, plus five assists. Chen Xingyi, who was loaned to Flash Stars, performed as if he had been reborn.
There are already discussions on the Internet among Flash Star fans that the club should try their best to keep Chen Xingyi next season. After all, the team will need Chen Xingyi’s strength to play in the Super League next season.
The current negotiation between the club and Golden Arrow is for a one-year lease. After the expiration of one year, Chen Xingyi has to return to Golden Arrow. At that time, whether it is to continue the loan or transfer and buy out, it will need to be renegotiated.
It was different from Zhang Qinghuan's situation. At that time, the capital city Tenglong was eager to sell, so they agreed to buy out Zhang Qinghuan for 5 million yuan after renting Zhang Qinghuan for one season.
Chen Xingyi obviously placed the Golden Arrow on the Flashing Star for training.
This is also the reason why Flash Star fans feel conflicted - the better Chen Xingyi's performance, the more they hope that Flash Star can sign Chen Xingyi, but the less likely Golden Arrow will let Chen Xingyi go easily. If Chen Xing
Yi Zai's poor performance in Flashing Star made Golden Arrow feel that this person has no future in training and was eager to transfer him. Naturally, fans of Flashing Star would not want to pick up rubbish...
So on the one hand, they hope that Chen Xingyi will perform well, and on the other hand, they hope that the Golden Arrow management team will be brainwashed. This is really too high a request.
Chen Xingyi's outstanding performance helped the Flash Stars defeat the Meiling Rangers 2:0 at home.
Flash Star currently has one game less due to playing in the FA Cup. But despite this, they are still ranked first.
In terms of points, they are tied with the Nanhai team, which has played one more game than them, but due to the advantage of goal difference, they are still ranked first.
The third place is Ningtian Yong'an, which has three wins and one draw in the last four league rounds. They currently have 40 points, six points less than both Flash Star and Nanhai.
Previously, Sichuan Chongshan had fallen to fourth place, but it was only one point behind Ningtian Yongan.
These teams have played one more game than Flash Stars.
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Next, in the 21st round of the league on Sunday, August 27th, Flash Stars traveled to Heihe Province to challenge the Heihe North Stars.
This time Zhao Kangming made a huge adjustment to the team's lineup, replacing almost all the main players, including Hu Lai, Chen Xingyi, Zhang Qinghuan, Qin Lin, Wang Guangwei and many other main players.
They didn't even go with the team to away games.
The Stars, who played with full substitutes and even brought a few reserve team players on the bench, overturned in the away game.
They lost to the Black River North Stars with a score of 1:2, suffering their second defeat of the season.
After the game, both Zhao Kangming's formation and the team's attitude towards the game aroused great controversy.
Although everyone knows that Zhao Kangming did this to prepare for the FA Cup semi-finals in the next midweek.
But the question is, with Flashing Star's strength, do they have a chance to eliminate the Chinese Super League's sixth Poseidon team in the FA Cup semi-finals?
Even if everyone knows about the grievances between Zhao Kangming and Poseidon Club, they still can't understand what Zhao Kangming did.
Could it be that Zhao Kangming was really blinded by anger and didn't know what was most important to Flashing Star now?
Of course it's an upgrade, an upgrade!
You put all your main players in Jincheng, and then brought a bunch of substitutes and reserve players to play the Heihe Polaris away game. Do you really think you can defeat the Polaris with just these people?
As we can see from the results, the Heihe Polar Stars players obviously also feel that they are being looked down upon.
So they were irritated and played very well in this game, and finally pulled the leader from the first place in the league 2:1 - because of the failure of Flash Star in this game, the Nanhai team played one more game
They returned to first place in the league with a three-point lead.
At the same time, Ningtian Yongan, ranked third, has 43 points, only three points behind Flash Star.
Because there are only two promotion places, the point difference between the third place and Flash Star is what everyone cares about most. Now there is only three points between Ningtian Yongan and Flash Star. With so many rounds left in the league, it is really embarrassing.
It's easy to say, anything can happen...
In the opinion of many people, Zhao Kangming should give up the FA Cup decisively and send out the main lineup in this away game against Heihe Polaris to ensure victory. With thirteen rounds left in the league, let alone lead by three points, even if
A six-point lead is not a very safe advantage.
As a result, some reporters questioned Zhao Kangming's choice at the post-match press conference.
"Flash Star will not give up on the league. There are still thirteen rounds in the league, and we still have one game less. I don't think the team's situation is already very bad. Of course, I am doing this for the FA Cup semi-finals in midweek.
But unlike what many people think, I have no conflicts with Poseidon Club. I have played and coached there for so many years and have met many people. Some of them are still in touch with me and are good friends.
My family still lives in Lingnan... I am also very grateful to Poseidon Club for giving me the opportunity to become a coach... I am only grateful to the club and have absolutely no contradictions."
That's what he said, but not a single reporter present believed his "nonsense."
He said that he has met many people and made many friends in Poseidon Club over the years, which is true.
But it would be nonsense to say that I am only grateful to the club and have no contradictions.
But as a public figure, how can you say otherwise?
He can't tell the truth and say that he was very dissatisfied with the club's decision that year, let alone scold the Poseidon Club's senior management at a press conference in front of so many reporters, right?
We are all adults, and we still have the basics of human behavior and tact. No matter how harshly we scold someone in private, we will not say these words on the stage.
As for whether Zhao Kangming is really dissatisfied with Poseidon Club, can't everyone see it from his choice?
If he really gave up, why did he hold back his energy to play in the FA Cup semi-finals?
Zhao Kangming may have guessed what everyone was thinking. He continued: "...But the team finally reached the semi-finals of the FA Cup. I think it is either for the purpose of gaining knowledge and experience or for the sake of the FA Cup."
In the semi-finals, and with the respect of our opponent Poseidon, we Flash Stars must also go all out in this game." At this point, he paused and then said, "And I have already told my players.
For the FA Cup match in midweek, I don’t care much about the results. As long as I try my best, I will have no regrets.”
"Does it matter even if we lose to Poseidon?" a reporter from Nanling Province asked.
"As long as we try our best, we can accept even losing the game." Zhao Kangming pondered for a few seconds before replying.
"So the focus is on the process, not the results?" a reporter asked, raising his hand.
"Yes. As a Chinese League One team, it is already a great achievement for us to reach the semi-finals of the FA Cup." Zhao Kangming said.
"Then if that's the case, why not use the main players in this league normally, and then use rotation players in the FA Cup? As a result, we lost in the league..."
"I've said it before, it's to show respect for the FA Cup. I don't think everyone wants to see the semi-finals of the FA Cup, but the Stars use a rotating lineup to face the Chinese Super League team, right?" Zhao Kangming patiently explained.
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The reporters below looked at each other in confusion, but they had their own understanding of Zhao Kangming's attitude.
Obviously Zhao Kangming did not tell the truth.
His true thoughts can be seen from the lineup selection. He would rather lose three points in the league than keep the main lineup until the FA Cup semi-finals. This is definitely not like he said he has no complaints against Poseidon Club.
He can lie, but his personnel selection betrays his true thoughts, which cannot be faked after all.
If he really didn't care about his grievances with Poseidon, how could he let all substitutes and reserve team players come to play against Heihe Polaris away from home?
He can completely let only half of the main players rest at home, which not only ensures the result of the game against Heihe North Stars, but also prevents him from losing too badly in the FA Cup in midweek - and after losing the game, he also has a
The perfect excuse is that half of the team's main players went on an expedition to Heihe three days ago. They were tired from traveling and traveling, and their physical fitness was not good.
But he didn't do this, which means that he cares deeply about the game against Poseidon and hopes to field the strongest lineup when facing Poseidon.
He wants to win, even if the hope is very slim, he also wants to win.
But he couldn't say that directly, so he didn't tell the truth to reporters because it was the only answer he could give.
What else?
Do we still want to say, "I'm not happy with what Poseidon Club did to me back then. Now that the three-year period has expired, I want Poseidon Club to pay the price."
Even if Flash Star eliminated the same Chinese Super League team Haihe Shuanggang in the quarter-finals, can Haihe Shuanggang, currently ranked 11th in the Chinese Super League, be on par with Lingnan Poseidon, currently ranked sixth?
Obviously Zhao Kangming himself knows that with the strength of his team, he cannot defeat Poseidon.
So even though he felt a million dissatisfaction with his old club, he couldn't show it.
Otherwise, he would be happy to spray with his big mouth, but when the game comes, he will be taught by Poseidon how to behave. Wouldn't he lose the game and lose the formation, lose the ball and be embarrassed?
Because the team is not as strong as others, Zhao Kangming can only hold back his dissatisfaction and grievances in his heart. At the same time, he has to force a smile and show that he has a very good relationship with the club and that he doesn't care at all about the club kicking him out.
Breaking things.
He could only express his resentment towards Poseidon Club by leaving all the main players in Jincheng to prepare for the FA Cup semi-final against Poseidon.
It's just that this approach seems sad and helpless to many people. In the end, it is even meaningless, and may also affect the prospects of Shining Star's promotion to the Super League.
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After the game, through media reports, Zhao Kangming's words were spread.
As the reporters thought, after seeing Zhao Kangming's answer, the vast majority of fans felt that Zhao Kangming said this out of helplessness, and did not believe that he really gave up his relationship with Poseidon as he said.
Club feud.
But they didn't believe that Zhao Kangming's calculations against Poseidon Club would be of any use. After all, the strength gap between the two teams was too big.
This is actually quite frustrating for Flash Star fans.
Their team's head coach has been treated unfairly at Poseidon Club. Of course they are well aware of Zhao Kangming's grievances and hope that Zhao Kangming can seek justice from Poseidon Club.
It's just that the strength of the two teams is so different. Even if they go all out, how can they defeat their opponents?
Not to mention that the players may not be willing to give their best in this game that is destined to fail - even though Zhao Kangming said that, does he mean that the players should do that?
In fact, after eliminating a Chinese Super League team in the quarter-finals, many Flash Star fans felt that the team had completed its mission in the FA Cup.
The next semi-finals were completely useless.
If you can't beat him again and again, you still have to waste your energy and risk getting injured...
Everyone still pays more attention to the results in the league. Promotion to the Premier League this season is the only goal, and everything else is just an added bonus - anyway, the team cannot win the FA Cup championship. If you win the championship, you can also participate in the AFC Champions League next season.
, it’s meaningless if you can’t win the championship, it’s almost zero.
Flash Star fans emotionally supported Zhao Kangming's revenge against the Poseidon Club, but rationally analyzed that it was... not worthwhile.
Some Flash Star fans are even worried that this semi-final, which represents the best result in the FA Cup in the history of the Flash Star team, will be a turning point on the road to the FA Cup.
At that time, will this be considered as choosing sesame seeds and losing the watermelon?