Peninsula all-media reporter Pan Lichao
On the afternoon of July 7, the tenth round of the first stage of the 2021 Chinese Second League officially started, with Qingdao Manatee playing against the U20 national youth team. In the first half, the two sides exchanged white rolls, and the manatees, which suddenly accelerated in the second half, won 2:0 with the goals of Xu Jiajun and Zhang Fengyu, winning four consecutive wins while at the top of the Yancheng division table with a record of 7 wins, 2 draws and 1 loss, which was also the fourth consecutive clean sheet for the Manatees. On July 13, the eleventh round of the league, Qingdao Manatee will play against Wuxi Wu Hook.
Nine consecutive unbeaten games to top the table
The opponent of this game, the U20 national youth team, once used a controversial penalty to suppress the whistle in the first leg of the game, which affected the mood of the Manatee team to a certain extent. The starting lineup of the Manatees in this campaign was slightly adjusted in the back line compared to the previous round, Li Yu started on the left side, Chen Long replaced Gao Fei as the right defender, the center-back was still Sha Yibo and Zhang Fengyu, Jiang Ning and Sun Xu continued to partner the double back, Wu Xingyu, Cui Hao, Xu Jiajun formed the forward line, and Xiao Zhi single arrow.
The first half of the game was very dull, both sides had many mistakes, and in the second half, the two teams that were not satisfied with the draw made substitution adjustments at the same time in the second half, and Manatee coach Yin Tiesheng replaced Cui Hao with Wang Xiufu to strengthen the attack, and the pace of the game also began to speed up. In the 51st minute, Xu Jiajun broke through to the bottom line on the left side, and the small angle pick shot broke the deadlock, and the morale of the Qingdao Manatees after the goal was greatly boosted, frequently impacting the opposing defense. In the 59th minute, Manatees forwardcourt Hu Mingchang passed to the right side, Sun Xu passed the ball to the goal, Xiao Zhi knocked back, Zhang Fengyu shot, 2:0. The team then began to defend and counterattack, did not give the opponent any more chances, and finally maintained the score of 2:0 until the end.
After winning this game, the Manatees topped the Yancheng Division with a record of 7 wins, 2 draws and 1 loss, and the chaser behind them gradually widened to a gap of 7 points, and this is also the Manatee team's nine consecutive unbeaten and four consecutive clean sheets, the Manatees scored 19 goals in the first 10 rounds of the game and only conceded 3 goals, is the team that scores the most goals and concedes the fewest goals, and it can be said that it is quite difficult for the Manatees to ride the dust.
The role of new signings in the front and back fields is obvious
In this game, Xu Jiajun and Zhang Fengyu each scored a goal. In this year's league, including Zhang Fengyu, Mou Pengfei, Xu Jiajun, Chen Long, Wu Xingyu and other new signings have played a role in key moments, Mou Pengfei as a player who was once a player in the Chinese Super League has basically not made too many mistakes. The backline composed of Sha Yibo, Zhang Fengyu, Li Yu and Chen Long is very tacitly coordinated, and basically does not give the opponent too many scoring opportunities. Yin Tiesheng also hopes to motivate the veterans to have a good performance: "The performance of the new signings this year is generally good, I hope that these young players can mature as soon as possible, which also gives some old players pressure, if you don't work hard, you may not get the opportunity, through this benign team competition, let the whole team unify their thinking, play a good game, in order to achieve the goal of the season." ”
Due to the large number of free agents joining the Chinese Second Division teams in the Chinese Super League this year, coupled with factors such as neutral renaming, some teams that look relatively unfamiliar may become "mysterious teachers". As the season progresses, the strength of each team has gradually been demonstrated, and the manatees' deep bench advantage has gradually been reflected. When talking about the mid-season reinforcements, Yin Tiesheng once said that he would carry out targeted reinforcements in the case of dense defense of the opponent, after the former international Xiao Zhi joined the team, let the Qingdao Manatees form a double insurance, coach Yin Tiesheng can arrange Xiao Zhi and Chen Jiaqi who started to play as a center forward according to the opponent's situation. Xiao Zhi plays a role as a veteran in the team's center forward position, and Chen Jiaqi, as a young high school forward, often communicates with the coaching staff and veteran players during his breaks, so that he can better play his height advantage. Another new signing introduced in the middle of the season, Cao Sheng, also played his due role on the wing, reflecting the unique vision of the old coach in selecting and employing people.
Details on and off the field reflect the results of the preparation
This year's Manatees, whether in training or competition, reflect the word "serious" in various details. Before the team re-concentrated on the Yancheng division, the confidentiality of the team's technical and tactical work was paid considerable attention, and the coach Yin Tiesheng was very strict about the details of the players' actions and training attitudes in daily training.
The closed two-point and one-line life in the Yancheng competition area is relatively boring, and the team members spontaneously organized various small activities and games such as table tennis, e-sports, and chess to entertain themselves while adjusting their lives, relaxing their mentality, and maintaining their state. After each game, the coaching staff will arrange for the main players to relax in the hotel's swimming pool and relieve muscle tension. Veterans such as Jiang Ning also lead by example, often giving some encouragement and enlightenment to young players. Yin Tiesheng said that as the manager of the team, he will inevitably be under pressure from all sides, and now that he is 65 years old, he continues to coach at the retirement age, also because of his love for football and his feelings for Qingdao Manatee.
It is understood that the first stage of the 2021 season of the Chinese Second Division has a total of 14 rounds divided into three divisions, and the eight teams in each division have two to three qualifying places (the top two in the division and the two best in the three divisions of the group are the third qualifiers), and the Manatees can be said to be riding in the Yancheng Division, I believe that as long as you adjust your mentality to do a good job, it should not be a big problem to qualify in the division.