Eastern manager ready for ‘survival year’ as Hong Kong Premier League returns this weekend
- Traditional powerhouses face tough new season after departure of over 14 players in closing season
- Almost half of head coach Roberto Losada’s squad is made up of under 22 players with only four foreign players including one Portugal-born Chinese player
Traditional football powerhouse Eastern may have to forget its coming season and focus instead on nurturing young players, said head coach Roberto Losada as the Hong Kong Premier League begins this weekend.
Following the departure of more than a dozen players, including major overseas acquisitions including Everton Camargo, Fernando Pedreira, Mikael Severo, Losada said it would be naive to think they could challenge for the title as they have in previous years.
“It will be a very tough season for us,” Losada said. “After losing more than 14 players from last season, we have a shorter roster and many of them are young players promoted to the team from our youth squad.
“We have no objective like winning the championship or winning something. Kitchee remain in a class of their own, while Lee Man, Southern and even BC Rangers can pose some threats, but not us.
“It’s going to be tough, perhaps a survival year for us. What we will try to do is to play better and give the young boys an opportunity.”
The team has kept just three foreign players in this year’s squad, including centre back Tamirlan Kozubaev from Kyrgyzstan, midfielder Marcos Gondra and striker Victor Bertomeu while young defender Zhou Kangming, 23, joined the squad this week.
Eastern have promoted four junior players from the youth squad to play alongside three existing under-22 players. Another under-22 player Wong Ho-chun joins from Lee Man. Almost half of Easterns 20-member squad is made up of young players.