Paying the price for stubbornness! Shenhua's three consecutive losses, Slutsky resigns

Special contributor/Gan Hui Following the 1-3 defeat to Liaoning Tieren, manager Slutsky declared his resignation during the post-game press conference, bringing his two-plus-year stint as Shenhua's head coach to a close. The club had renewed Slutsky's contract last year for two additional years, extending it through 2027. By voluntarily stepping down, Slutsky ensured a dignified separation for both parties.

If the mere 3 points from 7 matches in May's campaign could be attributed to an act of God—injuries to key players like Gaye and Teixeira, leaving Shenhua with only one foreign player at times—then the recent three consecutive losses, especially to Shanghai Port and Liaoning Tieren, are more of a man-made disaster.

In these two matches, Slutsky made major adjustments to the defense—moving Chen Jinyi to the center to partner with Zhu Chenjie as a brand-new central defender duo, while Manafa and Yang Zexiang took the left and right full-back positions.

This arrangement caused major problems for Shenhua in both attack and defense. On the defensive side, because Chen Jinyi and Manafa were playing in unfamiliar positions and had limited time to coordinate, their positional awareness and mutual defensive coverage were far from ideal, leaving the entire backline wide open for opponents to breach easily. On the offensive side, Shenhua had always relied heavily on attacks from both flanks, but after this adjustment, the left and right wing attacks were virtually abandoned.

In fact, the "Shanghai Derby" had already proven the failure of this tactical change from start to finish, but the "stubborn" Slutsky did not see it that way, so he deployed the same starting lineup again in the match against Tieren.

Sitting in the head coach's seat, one indeed needs to have their own opinions, but there must be a limit to everything. If you completely ignore external advice and suggestions, stubbornly going down a single path, that is self-willed obstinacy. Shenhua once again paid a heavy price for this. Liaoning Tieren easily tore through Shenhua's defense with simple counterattacks; a one-on-one goal by Fernandinho and a penalty by Bonbon Yiyu left Shenhua trailing 0-2 at halftime.

At halftime, Slutsky finally made corrections, bringing in bona fide center-back Li Songyi, moving Chen Jinyi and Manafa back to their familiar positions, and also replacing Gao Tianyi with Xu Haoyang.

After the adjustments, Shenhua's wide attacks became more active and created some threats, and they pulled one back through a penalty scored by Mineiro.

However, in their eagerness to equalize, Shenhua pushed their defense line too high, allowing Liaoning Tieren to seal the victory with a counterattack, making it 3-1. Thus, Shenhua suffered consecutive league defeats to Tianjin Jinmen Tiger, Shanghai Port, and Liaoning Tieren, losing three in a row.

When Shenhua, fielding five foreign players, suffered a humiliating 1-3 defeat to Liaoning Tieren, who only had two foreign players on the pitch, the traveling Shenhua fans in Shenyang could no longer contain their fury and shouted loudly: "Slutsky out! Slutsky out!"

Shenhua's current situation is something no one could have imagined or readily accepted. At the beginning of this year, Shenhua made significant adjustments, bringing in two forwards, Gaye and Latang. If not for the 10-point deduction, Shenhua would have been a strong contender for the Chinese Super League title this season. However, in the 20 matches played so far, Shenhua has already lost as many as 7.

Shortly after the match, Slutsky appeared at the post-match press conference and said: "Thank you very much. First of all, I would like to thank the vast number of Shenhua fans, our players, the coaching staff, and also the club's leadership at all levels. At the same time, I hope that this great club, Shenhua, will perform better in the upcoming matches and go further in this year's FA Cup." These words already gave a sense of something unusual.

Then, Slutsky announced his decision to resign: "My time working at Shenhua has been a very unforgettable period in my life. I gave it my all, but I think when there are things I cannot change, I feel it's better to leave. Here, I wish Shenhua all the best."

Russian manager Slutsky took over Shanghai Shenhua at the end of 2023. During his tenure, Shenhua achieved a record of 65 wins, 19 draws, and 24 losses, leading the team to two Chinese FA Super Cup titles in the 2024 and 2025 seasons, and consecutive league runners-up finishes. Slutsky's more than two years in charge can be roughly divided into two phases. In the first year and a half, Slutsky's team generally performed smoothly, but in the past year, the team encountered more and more problems. When issues arose, Slutsky was slow to address them, and the team's results clearly declined.

After suffering three consecutive losses, Shenhua currently sits on 19 points from 8 wins, 5 draws, and 7 losses, finding themselves in a rather dangerous position. They are only 4 points ahead of second-to-last Wuhan Three Towns, 2 points ahead of third-to-last Tianjin Jinmen Tiger, and 5 points above the bottom team Qingdao Hainiu. In the next round of the Chinese Super League, Shenhua will face Qingdao Hainiu away. For Shenhua, this match has become a relegation battle.