3 Lessons Learned from an Untypical Victory
Yang Ji, the head coach of Henan Jianye, was very practical by sending only 1 foreign player in this match and even no foreigner was on bench. Their previous match was postponed two days so Yang Ji decided to rotate his squad to save power for future.
Although Ni Yusong’s long-range strike equalised for them, Eder still managed to take the lead for Jiangsu, in just 3 minutes. After Ni Yusong was sent-off on 53', Suning finally got chance to experiment something by rotation. Let’s see what we have learned from this untypical match, and what could possibly affect our performance in next few key matches.
Rotate Wu Xi whenever it’s possible
Our captain Wu Xi turned 31yo this year. He played almost all matches except the first half against GZE. Wu Xi’s form has a direct impact on team performance. Because as one the only two center midfielder, Wu Xi is responsible for defence and transition.
In this match, Zhang Xiaobin was sent to replace Wu Xi in the 2nd half. He has been impressive in this match. He is a forward-thinking guy and provide some key passes to front duo.
If we want to keep up with good form in these key positions. There tier 2 players need to try their best to fill up the gap and provide their support for Wu Xi, Ji Xiang and even Eder, Teixeira.
Gao Tianyi and Zhang Lingfeng needs more opportunities
The only substitution I don’t fully understand was to use Zhou Yun for Yang Boyu, which means there is no chance for promising stars Gao Tianyi or Zhang Lingfeng to play.
These two guys were Capello’s favourites back to 2018. As Wu Xi and Ji Xiang turned their 30s, Suning was lack of young mid-fielders that capable with high quality game. It seems neither Zhang or Gao fits well in the 4–4–2 system. In 4–4–2, midfielders have to be winger or b2b. That’s a pity because in my opinion they fit the 3 in 4–2–3–1 better.
It will be a waste to put these young stars on bench.
3–4–3 is a good option in some cases
Olaroiu has been seeking a good combination for our five foreign players. Besides Miranda, he has to choose 3 out of Eder, Santini, Teixeira and Wakaso. This was the very first time Eder, Santini and Teixeira starts together in this season. With Xie Pengfei and Ji Xiang as wingers of both sides, this is the best offence line Suning can provide.
The formation displays a determination to win, which was missing in key match against Shenhua. Suning still needs to enter top 2 in this group so I believe 3–4–3 is still a usable formation in the remaining matches.
