Guangzhou Evergrande is indeed on the cusp of the storm now.
Especially after the start of the second half of the season, Guangzhou Evergrande did not play very well in consecutive rounds. In addition to draws, there were even losing games, which caused the team to fall from the top spot.
They have not been able to reach the top, which is unprecedented for Guangzhou Evergrande, a team that has always been the dominant team in the Chinese Super League.
Although Guangzhou Evergrande has finally returned to the leader's position relying on these rounds of consecutive wins and the strength and bad luck of its competitors, whether it is within the club, Evergrande fans, or even the outside media, they are concerned about Evergrande's sluggish performance.
There are many accusations.
Among them, the club's owner Xu Jiayin held continuous meetings with the club's leadership. At the meeting, he asked the club staff to put forward their own requirements, which players they wanted to buy and what jobs they wanted to do. As long as it was in line with the development of the club, he fully supported it.
At the same time, Xu Jiayin, who would rather be a chicken head than a phoenix tail, pointed out sternly that since he had created championship-level conditions for the team, but if he could not win the league championship under the conditions, the subsequent punishment methods would not be very good.
Already.
After Xu Jiayin reduced the pressure on the team and proposed high material rewards, Guangzhou Evergrande finally stabilized its status and returned to the top spot.
Therefore, Lippi did not accept criticism while acknowledging the slump. The famous Italian coach believes that after two consecutive years of peaks, it is very difficult for the team to continue to achieve good results in the third year, so it is normal for the team to be in a sluggish state.
, is understandable. As for the team's defense conceding too many goals, Lippi turned to say that Evergrande scored more goals than conceded. Obviously, Lippi hopes to give the team confidence before the key game, and he also believes
The team has returned to a familiar winning track.
Evergrande is currently evenly divided by Guoan in the Chinese Super League, and the Longteng team is only one point behind and chasing closely. It still has to be distracted by the AFC Champions League. Lippi hopes to seize the opportunity in the first round away game and win the home game.
In the game against TEDA last week, Lippi made rotations at all costs. Gilardino, Elkeson, Gao Lin, Feng Xiaoting, and Jin Yingquan did not play the full game and got a chance to adjust and rest. Lippi
I just hope that the team can be in the best condition to grab points in the away game.
Of course, this game with Guangzhou Evergrande is not without hidden dangers, that is, captain Zheng Zhi is suspended due to accumulation of yellow cards.
It is strange to say that although there are not many opportunities for the Longteng team to play against Guangzhou Evergrande, there are still a few games. However, in these limited games, most of the time Zheng Zhi is always unable to catch up with the game. It is not because of injury.
Well, he just came back from injury and couldn't play the whole game. This time he just accumulated yellow cards and couldn't get on the court. This is really good news for the Longteng team.
Although Zheng Zhi's physical condition and playing status have declined slightly as he has aged in recent years, strictly speaking, he is still the No. 1 midfielder position among domestic players because of his football awareness and technical ability at his feet.
, his ability to read and understand the game is definitely second to none among active players, and as a player who has been in the Premier League, Zheng Zhi's self-discipline can be said to be rare among domestic players.
When people in the industry talk about this veteran, many people will mention two words: self-discipline. Zhu Guanghu, who single-handedly discovered Zheng Zhi, once said that it seems that Zheng Zhi is so lucky in his career, but in fact this is inseparable from his determination.
Regarding his own strict requirements, "Zheng Zhi usually trains very hard and is very self-disciplined in his daily life. He rarely smokes or drinks. Generally speaking, he is a player who can control himself very well."
Speaking of Zheng Zhi not smoking or drinking in life, Zhang Sheng once saw a picture in the WeChat Moments, which is very popular on the Internet. At that time, a friend in Guangzhou took a photo of the dinner party. Zheng Zhi and Gao Lin both brought
They were sitting with their respective wives. The most impressive thing is that both Zheng Zhi and Gao Lin only had a cup filled with drinks in front of them. This picture also attracted many people to like it. Some people commented: "In and
At an unsupervised private party, both Evergrande players did not drink. It can be seen that the self-discipline of Chinese players has become much stronger than before, and they should be praised!"
Someone once chatted with a reporter from Evergrande and wanted to ask about Zheng Zhi’s daily life. However, this reporter who had been flying around with Guangzhou Evergrande said that although he had had many contacts with Zheng Zhi, he had no idea about him.
He didn’t leave any deep memories in his private life. “There’s nothing much to say about Dazhi’s life. He didn’t stay up all night to play, and he didn’t have any bad habits. He usually only went out to have a meal with Shaona (Zheng Zhi’s wife). Use us.
According to media people, Dazhi’s life has no news value.” When others asked him to recall Zheng Zhi’s living habits, the Evergrande team reporter thought for a long time before holding back: “It seems that it is just for
To maintain physical condition, Dazhi goes to bed very early every day and rarely goes to bed late, let alone stays up late." It is said that Zheng Zhi developed the habit of controlling his mood well after fierce competitions when he was studying abroad at Charlton. That night
He has the habit of going to bed early. CCTV sports reporter Liu Siyuan also revealed that Zheng Zhi is the earliest to go to bed in the Evergrande team. The fierce game that night will not affect his work and rest time, while many other young players are not able to do this.
a little.
Lippi said in an interview with reporters that with Zheng Zhi's self-discipline and talent, it is entirely possible for him to play until the age of 38 or even 39. The national football fitness coach Jia Han also praised Zheng Zhi.
He once said: "Zheng Zhi is definitely a model for Chinese professional players. His physical foundation is already good, and his usual diet structure and work and rest time are also very regular and professional, so even if he is nearly 35 years old, he will still not be unable to keep up with training and training."
The physical intensity requirements of the game.”
As a Chinese fan, when Zheng Zhi played for the national team, Zhang Sheng certainly hoped that Zheng Zhi would not be injured and maintain such a good condition. However, when Zhang Sheng serves as the head coach of the Longteng team, Zheng Zhi as the head coach of the Longteng team
When facing an opponent, Zhang Sheng was completely willing to have players like Zheng Zhi unable to play.
Judging from the ability index given by the system, Zheng Zhi's data is at least better than the current domestic midfielder of the Dragons. Lin Feng's current ability index has increased since the end of the break, reaching 74, but he still needs to
It is lower than Zheng Zhi. Although the difference is only 4 to 5 points, but if Zheng Zhi's rich competition experience is also included, the comprehensive ability between Lin Feng and Zheng Zhi is too far apart.
Before this game, a large number of domestic sports media reporters were stationed in Jiangcheng, because as a competition between the top teams in the Chinese Super League, no football sports reporter would not pay attention to it, and even foreign reporters came to watch it.
After all, no matter who of these two teams advances, they will face off against Western Sydney Wanderers and Pohang Steelers in the East Asia finals. Of course, Australian and Korean sports reporters will not waste such an opportunity to observe.
And compared to the past, when reporters regarded the Dragons as the upstarts and disruptors of Chinese football, football reporters now regard the Dragons as a giant in the Chinese Super League.
Zhang Sheng still vaguely remembers that when the Longteng team was first formed, not to mention domestic reporters, let alone reporters from outside Hubei Province, even the local football reporters in Jiangcheng would not glance at the Longteng team out of the corner of their eyes.
As the Longteng team's performance improved, it wasn't until they entered the second division that local reporters in Jiangcheng paid attention to this new football team in Hubei Province. This was because the Longteng Group behind the Longteng team paid for the transportation and horse fees for the locals.
Many football reporters came to support the result.
It was only after the Longteng team reached the FA Cup final in the second division that domestic reporters realized this dark horse. However, they were more interested in the Longteng team in the FA Cup. Reporters from various media said that
A mentality of satisfying the fans' curiosity was reported. Once the Longteng team returned to play in the second league, the reporters would forget about the Longteng team.
This situation changed after the Longteng team reached the First Division. The team's excellent results, the team's international lineup that blinded the fans, and their big spend in the transfer market. Finally,
Coupled with the FA Cup championship, at this time, both local football reporters in Jiangcheng and even football reporters across the country have focused their attention on Longteng Club.
Several media have even contacted the Longteng team for a long time to participate in daily interviews with the team. When the Longteng team entered the Chinese Super League, with the influence of the Chinese Super League platform, the Longteng team was completely taken seriously. In addition, the Longteng team
The team has achieved good results in the AFC Champions League, and even the sports media in many Asian countries have begun to pay attention to this emerging club.
Now it is natural that the AFC Champions League match against Guangzhou Evergrande has attracted the attention of many media.
The day before the game, the head coaches of both teams also took their players to attend the pre-match press conference. In the press center of Longteng Club, Zhang Sheng met Lippi.
Lippi was obviously very familiar with Zhang Sheng. When Zhang Sheng greeted Lippi in English, Lippi actually responded to Zhang Sheng in Spanish. Apparently he knew that Zhang Sheng, who was proficient in Portuguese, could understand Spanish.
As an old Italian coach, Lippi has been coaching in Serie A for a long time. In order to communicate with foreign players from all over the world, he specially learned Spanish and French. Of course, this is also related to Lippi being Italian. Italian and Portuguese
Spanish and French are both from the Latin family. In fact, when Italian is your mother tongue, learning the next few languages is relatively easy. This means that their actual writing and grammar are the same, but their accents are just different.
When Zhang Sheng greeted Lippi, Lippi extended his hand to Zhang Sheng enthusiastically and said: "Congratulations to your team for reaching this point. I hope tomorrow's game will be a wonderful game."
Zhang Sheng responded with neither humility nor arrogance: "Congratulations to Guangzhou Evergrande for reaching the quarter-finals again. I also believe that tomorrow's game will be very exciting."
Lippi's words expressed his surprise that the Longteng team entered the quarter-finals, and he obviously looked down on the Longteng team. Zhang Sheng emphatically mentioned that tomorrow's game will be exciting. Obviously Zhang Sheng is planning to let Guangzhou win.
Evergrande will look good in tomorrow's game.
When the press conference started, the Evergrande reporter who liked to make trouble but was of low standard raised a question that made Lippi very unhappy: "Hello, Mr. Lippi, under your leadership, Guangzhou Evergrande won
I have passed almost all the Chinese Super League teams, but so far there is no victory against the Longteng team. What do you think of this problem? How do you plan to treat this game?"
Lippi was still smiling when he was answering other questions. Hearing this question, he immediately lost his face and replied stiffly: "Winning and losing football matches are normal. The so-called historical results are not trustworthy.
As the champions of the AFC Champions League and the Chinese Super League, we will stick to our own style of play no matter who we face. Although away games will indeed be more difficult, we have only one goal, which is to win, because we are strong enough and defending the championship is our only goal.
.”
Sun Xiang, the captain of Guangzhou Evergrande who later came to attend the press conference, also reiterated the team’s goals in an interview: “As the best team, we should have the best results. We will not let go of every championship, no matter what.
Whether it is the Chinese Super League or the AFC Champions League, both are our goals."
Longteng is undefeated against Guangzhou Evergrande and has a very high winning rate at home. This has always been a hot topic in the media. Whenever the two teams meet, some people will highlight it. On the Internet, this is even a menstrual topic.
.
When Zhang Sheng brought Shu Jun to the press conference, the reporters did not let the two of them off because the Longteng team was at home. After going through the usual questions, they took turns bombarding them.
The issue that reporters focus on the most is Ben Alpha. During this period, Ben Alpha's ups and downs have been criticized by many outsiders, but Zhang Sheng has always placed him in the starting position. Every time, he is the real kicker.
If he stops moving or performs too poorly, it will affect the overall performance of the team, so he should be replaced.
Zhang Sheng's arrangement has always made the outside world doubt whether there is a clause on the number of games played in Ben Alpha's contract. For the sake of the terms in the contract, Zhang Sheng had to let Ben Alpha play the game.
Obviously everyone thought that Zhang Sheng had to agree to such a condition in order to pursue Ben Alpha's star power. This time the reporters finally asked this question.
When the host of the meeting asked a reporter to ask a question, the reporter asked: "Will you send Ben Alpha to start in this game? If so, why did the Longteng Club bring him in in the first place? There is a stipulation on playing games in the contract.
.If so, how are you going to deal with this conflict?"
Zhang Sheng replied decisively: "There is no such thing at all. Ben Arfa's playing is based on the team's tactical considerations. When he performs poorly, I will replace him. Of course, his strength is obvious to all."
