What are the drawbacks of the defeat to Malaysia in the warm-up match for the National Olympic Games? Serious injuries and the stubborn problem of losing points from set-pieces is difficult to get rid of

China's 2001 U22 Olympic team, which is training in Shanghai, played a warm-up match on December 23 and lost 1-0 to Malaysia in the fifth minute of stoppage time due to a corner defensive error. As a result, in the atmosphere that has always been based on results, the Chinese Olympic team has once again been pushed to the forefront. However, as far as the game as a whole is concerned, the old problem of the Olympic team's attacking inefficiency has not been well resolved, and the repeated loss of points from set-piece defence has not improved, which is far more worrying than the victory or defeat of a warm-up game.

(1) The state of physical reserve is not optimal

The Chinese Olympic team began preparations in Shanghai on November 30, and although they went to Hangzhou on December 5 to play a warm-up match against the Zhejiang team, the team was preparing for physical fitness from the beginning. Moreover, due to the fact that some players are still representing the club in the AFC Champions League, plus injuries or colds, the personnel has not been very neat, and it was not until the middle of this month that all 27 players on the list were counted. During this period, due to the lack of personnel, the national Olympic team will also add Xiang Rongjun, the fullback of the former 2003 U20 national youth team who played for the Shanghai Port U21 team, to add to the team.

Since the players of this age group returned to China after returning from European training in June, their playing time in the league was effective, and not only was their competitive condition not ideal, but even the basic physical condition was not satisfactory, so the focus has been on strengthening the physical aspect since the team was concentrated. It should be said that in the past period of time, the training volume of the team is still relatively large. On December 20, before the first warm-up match against the Malaysian Olympic team, in order to find the feeling of the game for the players, an internal Xi match was held with the Shanghai Port U21 team, which is preparing to compete in next year's China Second League, which lasted 50 minutes. As a result, with Liu Zhurun's goal, it won 1-0. And the starting lineup for this practice Xi match is roughly the lineup for the Malaysian team.

However, it may be due to the large amount of training that the players are more tired, which makes injuries inevitable. In fact, comparing the 23 players who played in this game with the 28 players who were actually called up, it can be noted that Chen Yuhao and Wang Yiwei in the right-back position are not in the list, and the right-back who started against Malaysia is Xu Bin, the former U20 national youth team, but the latter has always been a purely defensive midfielder in the U20 national youth team. And Liu Haofan, a central defender from the Zhejiang team, also had difficulty entering the list. During the Olympic preliminaries in September this year, Chen Yuhao and Liu Haofan were both starters. Tan also featured in the practice Xi against Harbour Under-21s but sprained his foot in pre-match training against Malaysia.

And even more pity is Abrahan Khaliq. During a Xi match against Shanghai Port U21, he suffered a head injury that fractured the bridge of his nose and has undergone surgery. In the previous warm-up match against the Tajik National Olympic Team, the coaching staff of the National Olympic Team reorganized the personnel in response to the weak midfield of the team, and arranged Khalik and Mutalifu to partner as defensive midfielders, which achieved very good results, and the strength and thickness of the defense were significantly strengthened. But this injury has put a question mark over whether Khalik will be able to make it to the Olympic preliminaries in April next year. What's more, if you can't catch up with the pre-match preparation period of the first team before the new season, it is likely that you will not be able to play for the whole year like in the 2023 season, which will greatly affect your competitive form.

As a result, against Malaysia, the national Olympic team lacked at least three main players in the midfield, and the "old problem" of not being able to defend reappeared, conceding a goal at the last moment, and finally losing the game. In contrast, Malaysia only ended the season on December 3, and the league was followed by the Malaysian FA Cup, although the Malaysian team only started training at the Malaysian Football Centre in Kuala Lumpur on December 19, and then flew to Shanghai on December 21, which was not long, but the players were still in competitive condition, so the technical and tactical state in actual combat was better. The positive and negative in terms of competitive form made the two teams look completely different, and in the end, the Malaysian team won the victory.

(2) Low offensive effectiveness, set-pieces become a big problem

For the current Chinese Olympic team, the warm-up result is not the most important thing. Judging from the match against the Malaysian team alone, the biggest problem of the national Olympic team at the moment is the inefficiency of the attack. In the first half of the game, the performance and offense of the national Olympic team should be said to be good, including the pressing and counter-robbery in the frontcourt, and it did create many good opportunities, and the cooperation was also a bit of a routine. However, on the one hand, the players' individual abilities are limited, and their ability to solve problems or seize opportunities is not strong, so they have not been able to change the score on the field. As long as we grasp one opportunity and open up the situation, the whole situation will be completely different.

However, this is not the first time this has happened in the match against Malaysia, which has been the case this year in the Olympic preliminary matches against the UAE and India, and in the warm-up matches against Tajikistan. Therefore, the coaching staff is also trying to change, including using Du Yuezheng in the 2005 age group to play center, hoping to make the attack of the National Olympic team more three-dimensional, because in the past season, Du Yuezheng played the most minutes among the players in the national Olympic age group. Du Yuezheng also had a good chance against Malaysia, but unfortunately couldn't take it. And the two wing players like Liu Zhurun and Hu Hetao also have a chance.

After missing opportunities again and again, when the national Olympic team made substitutions in the second half, hoping to further strengthen the attack and break the deadlock on the field, the Malaysian team also adjusted through the half-time to make the attack more targeted. It has to be said that the Malaysian team played slightly better in the second half. And the onslaught and counterattack in the final stage also created the conditions for the Malaysian team's final stunner. When the national Olympic team can't attack and defend, it becomes normal to lose.

What's more worth mentioning is that the goal conceded by the National Olympic team at the last moment was a corner kick, which can be said to be a "stubborn disease" of this team. As early as the first half of this year, during the European training, the national Olympic team almost accounted for about 40% of the goals conceded during the entire training period because of set-pieces. In the previous warm-up match against the Tajik Olympic team, the national Olympic team lost one game and lost points from a free kick. This time, he was killed by the Malaysian Olympic team, and it was another corner kick. It can be said that the loss of points from set-pieces has become the biggest and most lethal "stubborn disease" of the national Olympic team at present! If this problem is not solved fundamentally, the national Olympic team will probably continue to "suffer" in this regard.

According to the plan, the national Olympic team will play the second warm-up match against the Malaysian team in Shanghai on December 26. After this defeat, what kind of answer will the National Olympic Games hand over in the second meeting? Let's wait and see.