Giovanni van Bronckhorst said his Guangzhou research and development team must quickly switch from “a very disappointing night” after a 3-0 defeat in the former Barcelona star’s first game as a coach in the Chinese Super League.
Former Tottenham Hotspur midfielder Mousa Dembele suffered a penalty, one of the two ceded by R&F, when they started the coronavirus-delayed season losing to Roberto Donadoni’s Shenzhen.
Van Bronckhorst, Champions League winner with Barcelona in 2006, will have to quickly raise his team for a derby clash with defending champion CSL Fabio Cannavaro Guangzhou Evergrande on Thursday.
“All in all a very disappointing night for me, for the team, for the club, not being able to start the league with that first win,” said the 45-year-old former Dutch captain after Sunday’s defeat behind closed doors in Dalian.
Van Bronckhorst, who also played for Arsenal and moved to China following a successful spell as a Feyenoord manager, was particularly unhappy that the R&F suffered two penalties in rapid succession.
Shenzhen scored both, in the 64th and 70th minute, with the R&D already at a half-time disadvantage thanks to a goal of their own.
For the first penalty, 33-year-old Dembele caught Li Yuanyi’s heel in the box.
“I don’t think he’s creating any danger (Li), the player walks away from the door and in the 18-yard box you have to keep it in front of you,” said Van Bronckhorst.
“I think this is a penalty that we could have avoided.”
Van Bronckhorst added: “We still have 13 games to play and we have to be much more fit for the next games because the way we played today is not the way I want to see and not the way we can play.”
CSL started Saturday five months late due to the coronavirus with all games played in Suzhou or Dalian and behind closed doors in a renewed format.
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