Is it really safe for Guoan to renew Fan Shuangjie s contract? There are so many young defenders, which seems bright but actually hides hidden dangers!

Beijing Guoan officially announced that it would renew its contract with Fan Shuangjie, and fans generally commented that it was "a natural progression." This new defensive star has grown rapidly in the past two seasons. He is aggressive in stealing and excellent in individual defense. He is the most promising link in Guoan's local player system. The contract renewal symbolizes that the future of Guoan's defense has been "fixed". However, if you zoom in a little bit, you will find that what Guoan lacks most is young defenders. What it lacks most is the system and patience to turn these young people into real pillars.

The rejuvenation of Guoan's defense is nothing new. In the past two years, the team has successively invested a large number of new players in the central defender and fullback positions: Fan Shuangjie, Naibijiang, Liang Shaowen, Yan Yu. Naibijiang was even regarded as "the most stable piece of the puzzle for Guoan's future." These players all have potential individually, but the biggest problem for Guoan is that there are many young people, which does not mean that the defense is stable. On the contrary, due to the lack of a clear system, frequent coaching changes, and chaotic position rotation, the growth environment of young players is full of uncertainty.

Looking from another perspective, Guoan's defense this season has not become stronger because of its youth. There are highlights, but there are also crashes. What young defenders fear most is not lack of skills, but being "repeatedly pushed into the water" and losing confidence through constant trial and error. Guoan has often made outrageous mistakes on the defensive end in the past two years. To a large extent, it is not the players who are incompetent, but the unstable system, chaotic positioning, and lack of communication mechanisms. Renewing Fan Shuangjie's contract is of course important, but if the system does not change, every young person who comes up will have to go through the same growing pains.

In the past three seasons, Guoan has been vacillating in the position of foreign aid central defender, with frequent substitutions, making it difficult for young central defenders to find a stable partner. Good foreign aid central defenders can allow young people to grow up quickly, but poor foreign aid central defenders can put young people under greater pressure. Now that Guoan has renewed its contract with young defenders, it has not simultaneously launched a clear plan to strengthen the defense: is it continuing to bet on young people? Or looking for a strong foreign central defender? There are no answers to these. The lack of an answer means that young defenders can only continue to "grow up and get scolded at the same time."

Guoan's future defense does have potential, but it is not stable. Fan Shuangjie's contract extension is more like "putting on a piece of the future puzzle", but whether the entire puzzle can be complete depends on winter window operations, coaching stability and system construction. If Guoan continues to "change formations, players, and styles" in defense next season, then these young defenders may still consume their talents in the chaos. Renewing Fan Shuangjie's contract is the right decision, but it is just the beginning, not the answer. What Guoan wants is a defense system that allows young people to truly grow, rather than constantly betting on talent. Only when the system is stable can the future of Guoan's defense be truly bright.

(Shopkeeper Luo)