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Manzano tasked with top-3 CSL finish
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SHANGHAI Greenland Shenhua’s new manager was given a task of leading the team to a top-three finish in next season’s Chinese Super League.
The club named former Beijing Guo’an coach Gregorio Manzano as its new manager last week. The one-year contract will only be extended if the Spaniard can help the team clinch a spot in the 2017 AFC Champions League (ACL).
“Our goal is to advance to the AFC Champions League. It’s not easy, but I have confidence,” Manzano told a press conference at the club’s training base in Pudong New Area yesterday.
“We need to put the coaching team under some pressure,” explained club president Wu Xiaohui. “As long as the team advances to the AFC Champions League after next year, Mr Manzano will continue to be the head coach.”
“What I don’t want to see is after the team makes improvements by the end of next season, we still don’t get the result we want. So we need to set a bottom line,” Wu added. “Shenhua wants to return to the top tier of the CSL.”
Shenhua finished sixth in last season’s CSL, and missed the CFA title after losing the second leg of the Cup final to Jiangsu Sainty at Hongkou Football Stadium.
Hundreds of Shenhua fans showed up as Manzano arrived at Pudong International Airport on Sunday afternoon. He was then guided around the team’s training base before joining the club’s top officials for a meeting in the evening.
Manzano spent the last two years in Beijing. His contract was mutually ended one year early after Beijing finished fourth last season, missing out on the 2016 ACL.
“When I was coaching Beijing, we met Shenhua several times, and I know that the two teams are long-term rivals... I want to thank Shenhua officials for their trust and I hope to achieve better things,” said Manzano, whose first task will be to strengthen his team’s defense.
Greenland Shenhua scored a total of 42 league goals last season, the fifth highest among the 16 teams. However, it conceded 44 goals in 30 matches, while Manzano’s Beijing conceded 26, the fewest among all CSL teams.
“Our forward line is powerful, but defense is our weakness,” Manzano conceded while talking about his new team. “We have already started the work of looking for new players. I need my players to know how to control the ball. If we can improve in this, it will be easier to win games.”
Greenland Shenhua will head to Spain for winter training in preparation for the new season that kicks off in March.
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