"End the season in the Chinese Super League with one win." Ahead of the final round of the Chinese Super League championship group tomorrow afternoon, the head coach of Shanghai Harbor and the rival Guangzhou team mentioned this goal.
For the Guangzhou team, which is in a difficult situation in the operation of the club, if it can use the all-Chinese squad to beat the Harbor team to get the second place in the league, it will greatly motivate this team whose future is not yet determined.
The Harbour side is also hoping to take a victory to meet the FA Cup final this Sunday. "The morale can be drummed, not let go", winning the game is self-evident in boosting the morale and confidence of the whole team, and head coach Lecco is also very aware of this truth.
However, due to the continuous dense schedule and the physical problems of the FA Cup final, Lecco's choice in the platoon for this match is not rich. In particular, the team's backline originally had many injuries, and after Wang Shenchao received a red card in the last round, he was even more stretched in the use of personnel.
"The injury situation in our backline is not particularly ideal, there are injuries big and small. The team tries to find the players who are currently in the best health to play in the appropriate positions, and find the players who can currently play at a high level on the defensive end and help the team win to play this game. Lecco said at tonight's regular pre-match press conference.
As for which players will be sent to start, Lecco said, "Of course, I will not announce tomorrow's arrangements in advance. Everyone in our squad is ready for tomorrow, and two hours before the game I'll tell them who starts. The game is 11 starters plus 5 substitutes, there are 16 players fighting this game, it doesn't matter who starts, what matters is that everyone plays at a high level and helps the team win the game after playing. ”
Tomorrow's Chinese Super League finale and the FA Cup final on January 9 are four days apart, which is much better than the two days of rest in the league. In the case that most of the main players of the team in the last round were suspended, and the absolute main players such as Oscar, Mui and Lu Wenjun only played about 30 minutes in the second half, the Harbor team is expected to use a basic all-main lineup against Guangzhou.
One is to be able to stay in shape with the competition, and the other is to be able to rehearse in advance the tactics that the team may use in the FA Cup final. In particular, the team's main delaying centre-back Wei Zhen will miss the FA Cup final because of a red card, and who will replace him in this key position can see some clues from tomorrow's game.