In the 9th round of the 2024 Chinese Super League, the 60th "Jinjing Derby" of the Chinese Football Professional League, Tianjin Jinmen Tigers lost 0-1 at home to Beijing Guoan, suffering three consecutive defeats and four rounds of winless.
Sitting at home and playing one more man for 83 minutes, Tianjin Jinmen Tigers still lost to old rivals Beijing Guoan, suffering three consecutive defeats.
Aside from the special circumstances of the final three rounds of the 2022 season, the last time the Tigers experienced three or more consecutive defeats was back in the 2021 season, and the team's current predicament can be imagined.
There is no doubt that stopping the decline as soon as possible has become a top priority for Tianjin Jinmen Tigers.
At the statistic level, Tianjin has conceded 11 goals in 9 games, an average of 1.22 goals per game, up from 0.97 goals last season.
Objectively speaking, the decline in the defensive state of the Jinmen Tigers is not unrelated to the injury of foreign central defender Grant and the instability of the fullback.
This season, Tianjin Jinmen Tiger's original planned center-back combination is Grant + Han Pengfei, since the second round against Shenzhen Xinpeng City, the main Grant + Škoric's foreign aid double central defender, the two played 4 games together, Tianjin team completed 2 clean sheets, and only conceded 3 goals.
But after Grant was suspended due to injury, the central defender combination of Jinmen Tigers was readjusted to Shkolić + Han Pengfei.
In the case of the instability of the center-back combination, objective factors led to the team's starters at left wing-back successively tried Yang Zihao, Su Yuanjie, Wang Zhenghao and Wang Xianjun.
After nine league games, the Tianjin Jinmen Tigers' defense has used seven different starting lineups.
In the first six rounds, Tianjin conceded only five goals, but conceded as many as six goals during the three-game losing streak, increasing the average number of goals conceded per game from 0.8 to 2.0. The specific analysis of these conceded goals actually stems from the lack of tacit understanding and poor marking of the defensive players.
Therefore, Tianjin Jinmen Tigers want to get rid of the current predicament, and strive not to lose the ball and not to lose the game in front of the win.
Especially when Grant is difficult to return to the team in a short period of time, it is especially important to identify and focus on building a stable and reliable defense as soon as possible and re-cultivate defensive self-confidence.
Yu Genwei
Head coach of Tianjin Jinmen Tigers football team
I think we did lack some luck and the only chance in the second half was to concede points.
Compared with a solid defensive line, Tianjin Jinmen Tigers also need to further clarify the team's tactical play.
This season, the Tigers have changed all five foreign players, reflecting the coaching staff's determination to upgrade their tactical play, and the effect of the change was evident before the injuries of Grant and Vincent Kompagno.
The Tigers' coaching staff had planned to withdraw Škorić from a central midfield position to a centre-back position first, and then move him forward once he had become well-settled.
However, with Grant's injury, that plan fell through the cracks.
At the moment, Škorić can only act as the pillar of the defense and the most consistent point of play at the back.
Kompagno's injury has had no small impact.
Previously, due to the late registration time, the Jinmen Tigers focused on Kompagno design and run-in tactics during the sprint period of league preparation and the interval after the first round.
Xie Weijun and Kompagno have different characteristics, so they cannot replace each other, which is one of the main reasons why Xiao Xie played less time at the beginning of the season.
Of the 14 goals scored in the first nine rounds of the league, except for two penalty kicks and two direct free kicks, six of the remaining 10 goals were side-to-side combinations, but in the absence of Kompagno, the side-to-side coordination became untargeted.
Fortunately, after Xie Weijun got the start, he took the initiative to pull the side and create space for his teammates.
But once faced with a low-post defense situation like Guoan, this trick will not work, and the final offense can only rely on Ademi and Barton's ball-holding attack.
Even if the Jinmen Tiger side players who have been closely guarded by opponents have no choice but to cross many times, even if they successfully get rid of it.
The team's 52 crosses, 14 of which came from substitute Ademi, and Barton's six, speak for themselves.
However, any cross can only be called a "cross" before it is converted into a goal, not an "assist".
Yu Genwei
Head coach of Tianjin Jinmen Tigers football team
After we conceded the goal, Guoan's overall formation shrank into the penalty area, and we didn't have a good way to get through because there was no space behind us, so we had to rely on crosses from both sides to get chances. Based on the feeling I had when I was in charge on the field, I felt that basically all the players in the duel were in place, maybe we were a little lacking in the quality of the duel finish. It is true that the two central defenders of the Beijing team have very strong header ability, which also brings us great difficulties. So pushing Škorić up front is also hoping to attract two central defenders. We replaced Liu Junxian, including our winger, who was able to get opportunities at two points and created chances, but it was a pity that we couldn't score.
In view of this, in the absence of Kompagno, the Jinmen Tigers can only strengthen the play style of playing more short and small combinations with Xie Weijun as the axis, so that every attack point in the front court can play a more role, including increasing the forward organization of the midfield position, forming a combination of long and short, as well as increasing long-range shots and improving the offensive effect of set-pieces, which are all useful attempts for the team to make.
Of course, the run-in of skills and tactics, the improvement of offensive and defensive effects comes from the accumulation of training, but May and June are the most intensive two months of this season, and time is not on the side of Jinmen Tigers.
Therefore, whether it is the team or the outside world, it is necessary to be mentally prepared to appropriately reduce the expectations of the results that have gradually accumulated over the past two seasons.
Yu Genwei
Head coach of Tianjin Jinmen Tigers football team
Grant I don't think it's optimistic, he's likely to have surgery, so it's not very likely to play in the first half of the season. Kompagno doesn't think it's very likely to come back in the last few games, so we have to face it together now, and we are really at a disadvantage in terms of foreign players in these games. I think through this game, in fact, in terms of technical and tactical aspects, the execution of the players is very good, and everyone's fighting spirit and fighting spirit are also there, so this is the most positive factor for us to be able to better face the next game or future games, and it is also better for our team to get out of the predicament as soon as possible.
Barton
A member of the Tianjin Jinmen Tigers football team
The more difficult times in this situation, I also hope that everyone can unite and twist into a rope to win the next game. Maybe the next game will be won and everything will be better.
In a word, the 2024 season has started well for the Jinmen Tigers, but the injuries and stoppages of the two core foreign players before and after have led to the current difficult situation.
How to use the strength of the whole team to digest the negative impact, travel lightly, get the team back on track, and avoid piling up the pressure of results in the second half of the season or even the end of the season is the current top priority of the Jinmen Tigers.