It was a SHANGHAI derby in the semi-finals of the FA Cup, and it was about who could reach the final. It is different from the league, and if it goes wrong, it can be made up later. The managers on both sides, Harbor coach Lecco, may not have much experience in derby, and Mao Yijun, as the leader of Shenhua for many years, will naturally be no stranger to derby. In my opinion, Shenhua's match is debatable in terms of platooning.
As far as Shenhua is concerned, the first few rounds of matches against Sichuan, Changchun and Shenzhen, the defense is relatively stable, and Zeng Cheng's super god play may also cover up some problems. In this game, such problems are infinitely magnified. After rotating the four players Cao Ding, Bai Jiajun, Adrian and He Longhai, it felt that there were some problems in the team's run-in on the field, and in such an important game, the rotation range reached 1/3, which was obviously not reasonable, and the facts also proved this.
The high pressure of the harbor made Shenhua extremely uncomfortable on the field, frantically scrambling for the ball under his feet, causing Shenhua to make too many unnecessary mistakes, disrupting Shenhua's rhythm through his own forward, resulting in Shenhua's untimely deployment when turning from defense to attack, mostly on the side of Cao Bai on the left side. In previous years, the team still relied heavily on them, but because of the long lack of battle, their defense was relatively weak, and it was particularly difficult to face the attack of the harbor. The defensive thickness of Adrian in midfield did not play much role for Shenhua, and Sun Shilin's supplement at the back was far from enough. The problem with He Longhai is that he is relatively young, and the offensive end may not be too much of a problem, but his biggest problem is in defense, one-on-one and assisted defense, which have exposed obvious shortcomings, and I hope that he can improve himself through more training, after all, his tacit understanding with the whole team is not yet in a rhythm.
Another key problem with Shenhua is the defense of Oscar. Previously, when Choi Kang-hee was coaching, he adopted a man-eye tactic, sparing no effort to physically stick to the defense and even use fouls to make Oscar unable to easily raise his head to pass the ball. However, in this game, I did not see Shenhua's restrictions on Oscar, which directly allowed Oscar to receive four assists. Although he has just returned from injury, his ability is still very strong, and he can quickly enter the state as long as he is given the opportunity. Shenhua conceded several goals in this game, all of which are related to staring at people, and in terms of defense and being oppressed, it is necessary to find a better way.
In my opinion, Shenhua's first 30 minutes were not concentrated enough, and he did not expect that the harbor would be pressed heavily, and from the helplessness on Zeng Cheng's face, it can be seen that he has no way to concede the ball. It can be said that the harbor dominated the game, and the 5-1 score is not surprising.
In the second round, for Shenhua, the gap of four balls is still difficult to catch. Shenhua is less Sun Shilin, the problem is not very big, the harbor is less Oscar, there is a lack of a midfield commander, the loss is not small. However, Harbor has clearly entered the state of the game, and the oscars in the previous games are not on the field, perhaps Lecco has figured out the corresponding countermeasures. If the first leg is drawn or a small loss, then Shenhua has a chance. Of course, I still hope that the two sides can dedicate a wonderful game to the fans, and hope that Shenhua can correct its mistakes and adjust its status as soon as possible. After all, football is round, and anything is possible before the final whistle is blown.