Part five of my attempt to rule the Chinese Super League on Football Manager 2016 with Yanbian Fude.
We're approaching the half-way point of the league season already and safety from relegation is quickly becoming a real possibility. But with our goal in sight, we have to wary of something nasty lurking around the corner. It's called Guangzhou.
Part One of this series can be found here.
Part Four can be found here.
It’s easy, this manager stuff. The win at Henan, expected as
it may have been, was followed by a period where we had what might be called
“form”.
The early exchanges saw Seung-Dae test their keeper twice
and us force a couple of early corners. Cui Min got our first goal after just
10 mins from one of those corners, rewarding what was a very positive start to
the game. A few minutes later it was 2-0, with Jin Bo coming in at the back post
to put away Petkovic’s cross. We were in complete control, dominating the game,
and not letting Lavezzi even get a sniff at our goal. A third goal arrived in
style, a slick passing move ending with Tae-Goon slipping in Seung-Dae to fire past their keeper. 3-0 and game over, as far as I was concerned.
The team seemed to think so, too, and stopped trying in the
second half. Hauxia came back into the game and although a comeback was never
really on, it made for uncomfortable viewing. Lavezzi managed to get a goal
back right at the end. The players didn't like it, but I had to tell them for a
wretched second half performance.
Things began to look very bright when Bit-Garam returned
from injury and played through a couple of reserve games without trouble. He
was only fit enough for the bench for the home game against Tianjin, but having
him back was a huge boost.
The confidence was high and it was reflected in the way we
played in the opening twenty minutes. The only thing that was missing was
goals, and Tae-Goon happily obliged, latching onto Steve’s through ball and
finishing past Du Jia.
Tianjin equalised before half-time, however. Cui Min didn't do
much to justify his inclusion over the young and talented, yet under-performing,
Liu Haidong by being comfortably outjumped by Fredy Montero. The Colombian’s
header was exquisite, right into the far corner, but any decent centre half who
could get off the ground wouldn't have allowed it.
I made two changes at half-time, replacing the
under-performing Cui Min with Liu Haidong, and the ineffective Jin Bo with Cui
Ren. The fresh legs elevated our performance. Tae-Goon chipped a
fantastic pass over the top to meet the out-to-in run of Seung-Dae, and my
inside forward continued his good scoring form. Seung-Dae had a great chance to
make it 3-1, and we almost regretted not taking it at the end. Luck was on our
side and we won the game 2-1. That made it three wins on the bounce – not quite
relegation form, I daresay.
Sun Jun rejoined the squad after his hernia, and the squad
was completely healthy again, as well as confident. The trip to Changchung, a
fellow mid-table side, suddenly looked a lot more winnable.
Whether my tactics were too conservative, or whether the
team lacked focus after a good run, the performance against Changchung was a
disaster. They dominated most of the game, we struggled to get out of our half,
and with every passing minute it felt more like the Guangzhou game had come two
weeks early. Two goals in three minutes from Oumarou put the home side in a
commanding position before half-time. We toiled away in the second half, but
the damage had been done, and we returned to Yanji very much humbled and dumped
back down to earth.
A home game against struggling Yongchang at least gave us a
chance to put a poor result and performance behind us before the big trip to
Guangzhou. Petrov, their manager, said at the start of the season that we would
discover a harsh reality this season. On the eve of this game, he had more to
say: he thought we would beat the drop.
It didn't escape me that he was playing games with us; an
attempt to distract us from the game at hand. I answered cautiously to his
comments, in hopes it would keep the team focused.
The first half was a complete non-event. Yongchang proved to
be a very difficult side to break down, and our attack perhaps lacked the edge
it had before the Changchun game. Steve had a chance to break the deadlock
early in the second half, but put his shot straight at the keeper. Tae-Goon did
likewise, but at least we were looking livelier.
That, of course, proved to be the perfect time for Yongchang
to deliver the sucker punch. Mulenga rose above our centre backs, who just
can’t jump that high, to head his side into the lead.
After that, we were scrambling for an equaliser. We came
agonisingly close when Tae-Goon had a shot deflected onto the post, and then
somehow had the rebound blocked off the line and out for a corner. The luck was
on Yongchang’s side, and they walked away with three valuable points.
From three wins on the bounce to two defeats in a row.
Football, eh?
Frankly, it was going to be three defeats in a row.
Guangzhou were unbeaten in the league still, practically strolling to yet
another title, with Jackson Martinez averaging over a goal per game. Playing them
away from home is the Chinese equivalent to travelling to Barcelona and Real
Madrid; you might as well write it off as a loss in advance and prepare for a
beating.
At least, that was how I felt, until Scolari decided to
mouth off at his press conference. He labelled our over-achievement in the
league a fluke, and predicted a sharp decline in results once teams worked us
out. To use an old cliché, Scolari had done my team talk for me.
Before the game, an old club favourite helpfully pointed out
that Jackson Martinez was a threat, and I responded appropriately. Focusing on
a single player against these big teams was always going to be risky, but
cutting off the service to him was the only way we would get through the game
without being humiliated.
The set-up worked, for a short while at least. We limited
Guangzhou to harmless long range efforts, and even tested their keeper with a
shot and forced a corner. Yet even when these sorts of sides aren't playing
well, they still have players that can produce something out of nothing. Step
forward Paulinho, the Spurs flop, to fire one in from 30 yards, and I'm left
shaking my head wondering just what the hell I was supposed to do about that.
My keeper probably felt the same.
Still, Guangzhou continued to not play at their best, and we
continued to restrict them to long range efforts. 60 minutes in, Jackson
Martinez was subbed off, having not had a kick, and I took it as a small
victory. Seung-Dae continued to be a pest with his runs in behind, but he
couldn't produce a good enough finish to get us back in the game. Eventually,
they got that important second goal when our concentration finally slipped.
Yes, it was three defeats in a row, but I felt proud of our
performance against the Champions and spirits were still high. Guangzhou’s
mammoth shot count was deceptive: 14 of them were long ranged effort, the vast
majority coming from Paulinho, who’s performance was the very epitome of the
old adage “throw enough crap at something and eventually something will stick”.
As far the table was concerned, we were still looking good:
The teams at the bottom continued to struggle, and we had a
nice gap between us and them. All we needed was to get back to winning ways
quickly and ensure we kept that gap nice and wide.
Elsewhere in the world, the European season was coming to an
end. Manchester City, Real Madrid, Juventus, Bayern Munich and PSG won their
respective leagues, while Juventus beat Arsenal in the Champions League final.
And as summer approached, so too did the Rio Olympics. China’s U23 side were
drawn in a group with Brazil, Sweden and USA. I’ll be astonished if they win
against any of those sides.
So ends May. June doesn’t get any easier with games against
title challengers Beijing and Shandong, and the cup game against Jiangsu. I
hope you join us for those because we might need your support.
