With their first win of the season, Three Towns took the first step back on track

Reporter Lu Mi reports On the evening of the 12th, Wuhan Three Towns defeated Yunnan Yukun 3-1 at home to win the first win of the season, rising two places in the standings and temporarily out of the relegation zone.

In the previous five rounds, Wuhan Three Towns only scored 1 point and scored only two, ranking at the bottom of the Chinese Super League and the team with the fewest goals in the Chinese Super League. Three Towns urgently announced a change of coach, Chinese assistant coach Deng Zhuoxiang took over the team, a few days, Wuhan Three Towns faced the menacing promotion horse Yunnan Yukun, the former league champion only took 36 minutes to take a three-goal lead, some positions of the players are quite eye-catching, and the previous five rounds of performance in sharp contrast. It seems that the poor performance in the first five rounds is not due to the lack of strength of the team itself.

With the arrival of the first victory, the pressure on the whole team of Three Towns was relieved. It's just that Deng Zhuoxiang led the team to "put out the fire" for a short time, and the three towns of Wuhan still have some way to go before they can get back on track. Before this year's relegation crisis is lifted, we can't relax, and Wuhan football can no longer withstand the toss.

In the 5th round of the Chinese Super League, Wuhan Three Towns played Meizhou Hakka, which was a direct dialogue with the relegation opponent, and the Three Towns led by penalty kicks, but then were reversed by the opponent by 3 goals. The result and the process were unacceptable, the players played out of order, and the mistakes were fatal. This loss made the management of Wuhan Three Towns Club completely unable to sit still, and when the team returned to Wuhan, it immediately started the process of changing the coach.

Martins did not show up on the day of the holiday, and the management first held a meeting with the first team to announce the change of manager, and then criticised some of the players for their performance in the first five games, hoping that they would be able to return to their normal level of play. Before the new head coach was in place, Chinese assistant coach Deng Zhuoxiang led the team to Yunnan Yukun as acting coach.

The last home game lost 0-4 to Zhejiang, and the first home game after the change of coach was against promoted Ma Yukun, which was a "redemption battle" to save the confidence of players and fans. Fortunately, Wuhan fans have seen the mental changes of the players in Wuhan Three Towns.

Only half a minute into the opening game, the first attack of Wuhan Three Towns, launched from the right side where Deng Hanwen was, crossed, and Tudolie headed the goal to give the team the lead. Then in much the same way, the goal was replicated, and the Three Towns quickly led by two goals. Deng Hanwen was undoubtedly the focus of the game, in the 36th minute, Deng Hanwen took advantage of the opponent's penalty area clearance error, the opportunity of the middle defensive vacuum to score a goal, sent two assists, and then scored again, he became the team's number one contributor to the victory. The goal conceded in this game was a huge mistake in Yukun's defense on the left and in the middle, and Yang He, who started for the first time, was obviously helpless against the experienced Deng Hanwen.

1-3 reversal by Meizhou, Deng Hanwen and goalkeeper Shao Yiliang were criticized after the game, thinking that their form had declined significantly. In the first five rounds, Wuhan Three Towns only scored two goals in total, and three in the first half of this game, and the two players who were questioned showed their good form. Tudore's injury did not affect the team's offensive, Deng Zhuoxiang changed the team's formation to 541 in the second half, deliberately shrinking the defense, Yukun did not get many chances, but in the last minute of the game by the three towns veteran Enrique scored a penalty and got a face-saving goal.

"Just three training sessions don't change the quality of a team, the changes in the team, the communication between the club leaders and the team, and the support from all sides, and the enthusiastic atmosphere of the fans today also inspired the players." Tang Zhuoxiang explained the changes in the team this way.

As Deng Zhuoxiang said, three training sessions cannot bring improvement to the team. The change brought about by the change of coach is nothing more than to rebuild the confidence of the players, adjust the mentality, let each player play at a normal level, and then use targeted tactics to deal with different opponents.

The performance of the Wuhan Three Towns players in the game against Yunnan Yukun proved that some of the problems of the previous team were related to the previous head coach.

Martins' team took charge of Wuhan Three Towns at the start of this year, and he has been accompanied by a number of new players, mostly from teams that were at the bottom of last season's rankings. Perhaps because of the lack of sufficient understanding of the players, Martins has been trying in the first five rounds, constantly making changes, and constantly "testing the waters" in personnel. In the first two rounds, he led the team to play Chengdu Rongcheng and Qingdao West Coast, and he was able to play some content during the game, but the finishing ability of the forward line was really limited. Then faced a relegation opponent with similar strength, or even inferior to himself, the three towns did not show the determination to win, and even did not get points, which is very fatal, and it can be seen that Martins does not know enough about different opponents.

The comprehensive strength of the Three Towns team this year has decreased compared with last year, but there are still well-known players such as Deng Hanwen, He Xi, and Wang Jinxian. Referring to the team's relegation process last season, it can be seen that even if the strength of foreign aid is greatly reduced, it can complete the relegation with the efforts of domestic players, and even strive for better results. After the first five rounds, the management is also thinking about how to play at the normal level of the players in the team, which is why after the decision to let Martins go, the management communicated with the players, hoping that they can correct their attitude when the manager changes.

Since the beginning of the league, they have been sitting in the position of "deputy squad leader", and after winning Yukun, Wuhan Three Towns has rebounded in the rankings and finally got out of the relegation zone. Next is the intensive schedule, on April 15 at home against Beijing Guoan, on the 19th away against Shanghai Shenhua, two strong teams in a row, the rest time is very short, Deng Zhuoxiang faces a huge challenge. Last year, the team won away against Beijing Guoan in difficult circumstances, and now they meet again at home, and Three Towns will be hoping to get points.

The club's management hopes that the players can continue the spirit of the first game against Yukun, play their own level, and strive to get points in the next two games. Only by moving away from the relegation zone can the pressure on the team be reduced and everything can slowly get back on track.

Wuhan Three Towns has encountered many difficulties in recent years, and it is not easy to continue to compete in the Chinese Super League.

At the end of last year, on the one hand, the three towns of Wuhan were plagued by many international lawsuits, which may cause huge trouble for access; On the other hand, it was also a critical period for private investors in the three towns to withdraw and seek share reform.

In 2023, the club officially announced that the original investor would stop injecting capital, but the team still had the AFC Champions League task that year, and there was no substantial operational crisis, and there was a smooth transition at the end of the year. However, although the share reform was put on the agenda, it did not go smoothly until the end of last year, when the international lawsuit was gradually resolved, and the share reform finally made substantial progress. The so-called substantial progress is that there is a new source of funding, and the Sports Bureau has given the club the funds to maintain its operation for a year.

At the beginning of last year, the team left a group of players, and high-paid international players such as Xie Pengfei and Wei Shihao left one after another; At the beginning of this year, Wumi Tijiang "exchanged" He Xi, Jiang Zhipeng switched to Shenzhen, and Liu Dianzuo, He Chao, Liu Ruofan and other players left. The overall strength of the Wuhan Three Towns team has declined, but it has also released a lot of salary space. The funds provided by the Sports Bureau are still sufficient, and it is understood that so far this year, the team has not been in arrears of wages, which is significantly better than the operating state of the past two years.

For this season, the Three Towns Club was more confident, at least not too worried about relegation, after all, with financial support, this is exactly the confidence of the club to change the coach decisively after the poor results in the first five rounds. Martins was appointed in a hurry, not only did he lack understanding of the players, the environment of the Chinese Super League, etc., but also did not know much about the situation within the club, and did not know how to solve the historical problems.

After the completion of the share reform, the shareholding structure of the Three Towns Club has not changed, and the corporate shareholder is still Wuhan Shangwen Star Sports Industry Co., Ltd., and the management is also the original team. The Sports Bureau only supervises the funds, and the entry and exit of personnel will be reported to the relevant personnel in terms of procedures. There is ambiguity about the real decision-making and management of the club, for now. Now, the club is at a critical juncture in the selection of a manager, and whether it can find a suitable candidate will be directly related to the future trend of the team, and even the change of the club's management rights and responsibilities, and the relevant decisions must be very cautious.

The Wuhan professional men's football team has a lot of experience along the way, and it is not easy to remain on the stage of the top league.

In 2008, Wuhan Optics Valley had a poor record in the Chinese Super League, and in September of that year, in the game against Beijing Guoan, Optics Valley defender Li Weifeng clashed with Guoan player Lu Jiang, and then attracted heavy penalties from the Chinese Football Association, both players were suspended and fined, and Li Weifeng was banned for 8 games. International player Li Weifeng is an important player in the back line that the team introduced specifically for relegation in the second half of the season, and the decision to suspend for eight games has caused strong dissatisfaction from Wuhan Optics Valley Club. In the end, Wuhan Optics Valley Club announced its withdrawal from the ongoing Chinese Super League on October 2 of that year.

In the year after the dissolution of Optics Valley, Hubei Green, the predecessor of Wuhan Yangtze River Club, was established, heralding the beginning of Wuhan football. It was not until 2011 that Zall Holdings took over and kept the "only seedling" of Hubei professional men's football team. Overtaking, relegation, and overtaking, Wuhan football has ups and downs.

In 2022, the Chinese Super League has Wuhan Three Towns and Wuhan Yangtze River Wuhan Derby, Three Towns brought the Chinese Super League championship to Wuhan and created the history of the AFC Champions League, and it seems that Wuhan football has reached its peak.

It's just that after the three towns won the Chinese Super League championship, Wuhan Yangtze River announced its dissolution, and the three towns became the "only seedling of the Chinese Super League" in Wuhan football. Three Towns didn't have a good time after winning the championship, and the club's operations and results began to decline. Fortunately, the team's team is good and has also received the support of the government department, so that it can be successfully relegated in the past two years, and there is a completion of the share reform today. Today's situation is not easy to come by, and the current Wuhan football people need to cherish it and shoulder the responsibility in management and operation to avoid Wuhan football being hit again.