Bonuses for football players and cancellation of the match with Ronaldo's team
Leonid Slutsky's decision to head Shanghai Shenhua came as a big surprise to everyone. It seemed that in recent years he had distanced himself as much as possible from coaching and went into humor and show business. At the same time, the specialist has always been famous for his willingness to take on difficult tasks, as evidenced by the stages at Hull City and Vitesse, and he did not betray himself this time either.
He didn’t have much time to prepare for work at the new club. Already on December 30, the specialist, together with his assistants Vasily Berezutsky and Oleg Yarovinsky, flew to China. And in early January, the players gathered for the starting two-week training camp in Haikou. The interest in the domestic headquarters from the first day turned out to be enormous.
“I lived in a hotel for several days, and when I moved out, there were a lot of people around who asked to take pictures or give autographs. Our fans are present at the training camp - I appreciate this and understand the responsibility that lies on my shoulders. The players told me that after victories away, fans come to the airport to meet the team, and there is a very good atmosphere at the home stadium,” noted Slutsky.
In Haikou, his players managed to play two test matches - with the Chinese Olympic team and Changchun Yatai. Both ended with a score of 1:1.
But much more in the Middle Kingdom they were looking forward to the visit of Al-Nasr with Cristiano Ronaldo in the lineup. The team from Saudi Arabia was supposed to compete with Shanghai Shenhua and Hangzhou Greentown as part of a special tour. Tickets for the meetings were sold in advance, which immediately sold out.
Imagine the surprise of people when just a day before the confrontation with the Russian team, the guests announced the postponement of the games indefinitely due to the injury of the five-time Golden Ball winner, although they had already arrived in the Middle Kingdom. Some particularly angry fans even attempted to storm the hotel where Al-Nasr was staying. To smooth out the situation, the Portuguese had to make excuses at a press conference and promise to come again.
Returning to Slutsky, he has already tried, in his signature manner, to create a good atmosphere in the locker room with the help of various jokes. For example, according to media reports, following the results of the starting training camp in Haikou, he personally awarded three outstanding players. Allegedly, $500 went to Ibrahim Amad, $1 thousand to Sephas Malele, $1.5 thousand to Yan Jiesyan.
Also, a video of congratulations to the same Malele on his birthday went viral on social networks. To distract attention, the attacker was asked a couple of questions on camera. Meanwhile, his partners sneaked up on him from behind and broke his eggs on his head. The video was accompanied by the song “Moskau” by the Dschinghis Khan group.
By the way, the mentor communicates with the mentees in English. And for those locals who do not know the language at the proper level, there is a special translator. The coach especially noted his work.
“Now I understand that I have to explain to the Chinese players simply that they need to do it without using emotions and expression. We are not ready for the emotional level, I have to be very straightforward and clear when explaining tactical issues,” the coach admitted.
Victory over Al-Duhail and defeat of Santos
At the beginning of February, the team was awaiting a new stage of preparation - the Equality Cup in Qatar with the participation of Zenit, Al-Duhail and Santos. It was already possible to draw some conclusions from it, because the level of the opponents had seriously increased. And the Shanghai Shenhua players themselves managed to get in shape.
The tournament started off promisingly for them. In the first meeting, the squad from the Middle Kingdom turned out to be stronger than the strong Al-Duhail, which is in sixth position in the current season of the Qatar championship. The opponents' roster has plenty of strong performers, and it is headed by ex-PSG coach Christophe Galtier.
Already in the sixth minute, the kick-in ended in a goal. Malele made a pass into the penalty area, and Yu Hanchao sent the ball into the net on the second attempt. Despite the fact that the spectators did not see any more goals, Shanghai had the advantage and struck twice as many shots. Both Malele and João Carlos missed opportunities. Bao Yaxiong almost never had to enter the game. It is not surprising that Galtier praised his colleague after the final whistle.
“I know that Slutsky is an excellent specialist who has achieved great success. Before the game, we discussed football in China, because I played there in the late 90s. We talked about the adaptation and development of this species in the country,” Match TV quoted him as saying.
In the interval between the two matches of the Equality Cup, the Blue Devils lost to Qatar in a training match, in which the halves were shortened to 35 minutes by agreement of the parties.
But then Santos was defeated. Pele's home club is now going through hard times and has been relegated to the second strongest division in Brazil. However, the authoritative portal Transfermarkt estimates its composition to be four times more expensive. This did not prevent Slutsky's team from achieving a landslide victory. Midway through the first half, Malele carried the ball from the left flank into the center and executed a stunning cutting pass into the penalty area. There, after a series of rebounds, Carlos opened the scoring. Then the Swiss himself scored after a set piece. Just before the break, Wesley Patati reduced the deficit with a brilliant long-range shot. But in the end, “Shanghai” killed the intrigue thanks to the strikes of Andre and Dai Wai Tsung.
Now Slutsky’s team only has to face off against Zenit on February 8th. But the first two matches left a favorable impression. The Blue Devils tried to play first and created many approaches at the opposing goal. They were especially active on the flanks, from where there were plenty of crosses and passes into the penalty area. The brightest performer can be called Malele, who not only expected passes at the forefront of the attack, but also, in search of the ball, regularly moved to the edges to interact with partners. In this regard, a comparison of a powerful, experienced forward with Artyom Dzyuba suggests itself. Other foreign players also looked good, in particular the technical Liverpool graduate Carlos.
Even before his trip to Qatar, Slutsky admitted that ideally he wants the team to control for a long time and quickly return the ball in case of loss.
“This is the best option, in my opinion. But we must be prepared for things to go wrong. We must have both a plan B and a plan C. Now I am trying to explain all the rules, principles and game scenarios to the players,” the coach emphasized.
According to the mentor, he strives to get his players to know what to do in any situation on the field and act automatically, without thinking.
“It doesn’t matter whether the moment occurs in attack, defense, transition phase or during a standard position... In the end, the game must reach automaticity. But not in the sense of being robotic - athletes have enough freedom, but within the framework of certain requirements,” added Slutsky.
Active work in the transfer market and desire to develop local football players
In turn, the club’s management is doing everything to maximally strengthen the Shanghai Shenhua squad for the new season. During the winter window, a number of performers have already left the band. They were replaced by eight players at once.
More than anyone else, attention is drawn to the transfer of Wilson Manafa, who played both games at the Equality Cup. The right-back spent more than four years at Porto, with whom he won many domestic trophies and regularly played in the Champions League. In 2023, he moved to the Spanish Granada, where he almost never played on the field.
Andre also spent most of his career in Portugal, at Chaves and Moreirense. He was not always in the elite division, but he scored a lot everywhere. In Qatar, the Brazilian managed to open the scoring for the Blue Devils. With their arrival, Shanghai fully fit into the current limit on foreign players. According to the rules, there should be no more than five of them in a team.
It is also worth saying a few words about other foreigners. The main star, defensive midfielder Amadou, played more than 100 matches in Ligue 1, and also made his mark in La Liga and the Premier League. Attacking midfielder Carlos is a graduate of Liverpool, played eight matches for them in all competitions and even scored once. Then he defended the colors of a variety of European teams, including Brighton, Porto and Feyenoord, but did not shine anywhere.
Finally, Malele started at Palermo, but failed to prove himself in Serie A. But he actively changed championships and managed to play in addition to Italy in Portugal, Romania and Saudi Arabia. And in 2023, he moved to Shanghai, where he quickly became a leader. Last season he scored 15 goals in all competitions and provided five assists.
At the same time, Slutsky, who at different times helped such stars as Alexander Golovin and Martin Odegaard reach a new level, does not hide his desire to develop his players in a new place so that they can eventually gain a foothold in the Old World.
“My goal is not only the progress of the club and winning trophies with it. I will be very proud if any Chinese go to Europe. There are a lot of challenges for me here - the development of the team, performance in the Asian Champions League, the growth of my players, and how my ideas will work in a completely different country and football culture,” concluded the Russian.