September 8: After Home Defeat, Fans Call for Liu Jianye to Leave as Li Zhenquan Addresses Team Issues

After losing 1-3 to Shenhua and going winless for ten rounds, Chongqing Tongliang Long's home stadium was filled with chants calling for Liu Jianye to leave.

No one expected the person to step forward and respond would be player Li Zhenquan rather than the coaching staff.

When he picked up the microphone, the criticism from the stands briefly paused.

In the usual football scenario, fans demand a coaching change after a defeat, while players bow during the post-match thanks and quickly return to the dressing room, with no one wanting to face the difficult issue.

But Li Zhenquan chose to step forward.

He said responsibility must be taken for the defeat, but all the pressure cannot be placed on Liu Jianye alone. The players also have their own problems, and everyone throughout the team must take responsibility for their part instead of only blaming the head coach after every loss.

He also said this is the team's first Chinese Super League season and they are still in the middle of the table, with the results achieved through the efforts of the coaching staff, domestic and foreign players, and the support team.

Was this statement realistic? It was indeed very practical.

It also made people realize that after following football for a long time, many may have been influenced by the habitual idea that changing the coach can immediately change a team's fortunes.

When results decline, the first reaction is often that the head coach is the problem.

Can changing the coach eliminate players' mistakes during matches? Can it make injured players healthy again? Can it fill gaps in squad depth? Things are not that simple.

Football has never been a game for one person.

The coach creates the tactics, but players must execute the movements; foreign players' form cannot be guaranteed to produce goals every match; and with the fatigue of competing on multiple fronts and limited rotation options, coaches also face difficult challenges.

Putting all responsibility for ten winless rounds on Liu Jianye would be unfair to him.

Does that mean the fans were wrong to criticize? Not necessarily.

What was Tongliang Long's form like at the start of the season? They climbed all the way to second place in the table and, as a promoted team, once showed the potential to challenge stronger sides.

With that performance, anyone watching would expect the team to achieve something this season.

However, opponents gradually figured out the team's tactical approach, the attack struggled, defensive gaps appeared, and the ranking continued to fall until it dropped to ninth.

The higher the expectations, the greater the disappointment when things fall short.

Fans buy tickets to watch the team, not to see consecutive defeats. Calls for Liu Jianye to leave are not necessarily personal hostility, but rather an outlet for frustration built up over ten winless rounds and a hope that the team can quickly recover.

If you were sitting in the stands and had not experienced a victory for ten straight rounds, you would naturally feel anxious.

But while frustration is understandable, the situation still needs to be viewed rationally.

Looking closely at this promoted team's foundation, being able to remain in the middle of the Chinese Super League table is actually close to the target set before the season.

Ten winless rounds are certainly disappointing and represent a real crisis, but the team has at least not fallen into the relegation zone and still has room to adjust.

Limited squad depth, heavy demands from playing on multiple fronts, and inconsistent foreign player form are all real issues, and they cannot simply disappear by changing the head coach.

Li Zhenquan's willingness to step forward at least shows that the team has not lost control internally.

The players have not pushed all responsibility outward. They know their own execution has problems, that they failed to take their chances, and that defensive lapses are issues they need to improve.

This is more important than many other things.

If a team loses its unity, that is when the situation truly becomes difficult. The players are still willing to shoulder responsibility together and face their own problems, showing that the foundation has not collapsed.

However, unity alone cannot directly bring points.

Ten rounds without a win cannot be erased with only statements like 'we will take responsibility together.' The problems are clear: attacking efficiency is insufficient and defensive weaknesses need fixing. The team cannot rely only on fighting spirit to cover its shortcomings every match.

Determination can carry a team through one or two matches, but it cannot sustain ten or twenty rounds.

The league break has arrived.

On October 11, the team will host Shandong Taishan, another difficult opponent.

This month-long adjustment period is an important final opportunity for Tongliang Long.

The coaching staff needs to consider tactical changes and avoid being completely figured out by opponents; players need to regain their finishing touch, improve defensive concentration, and reduce basic errors; the club also needs to consider squad depth and whether reinforcements should be made during the break.

The fans' chants are both pressure and expectation.

The players' sense of responsibility is an attitude, but it is not the final result.

Whether the team can escape its difficulties will ultimately depend on performances on the pitch. One victory is more convincing than many statements about taking responsibility.

So, are the main problems behind Tongliang Long's ten winless rounds really caused by the head coach?