As chants of “step down” echoed through Hongkou Football Stadium, the pressure on Shanghai Shenhua’s head coach Gus Poyet reached a boiling point. But is the team’s underwhelming record entirely his fault? A deeper look suggests the reality is far more complex. Since the second round of the league against Tianjin Quanjian, Poyet has struggled to field a full-strength squad as originally planned during winter training. Suspensions to Qin Sheng and Sun Shilin, along with injuries to key players like Li Jianbin, Fredy Guarín, Wang Lin, and Bai Jiajun, forced constant reshuffles. In the recent clash against Chongqing Lifan, Li […]