Beijing Guoan FC head coach Alberto Zaccheroni is reportedly under fire at the moment as the capital city squad is still winless, and goalless, after competing in three games in the newly-opened 2016 Chinese Super League season.
Daily Mail Online reported that the 63-year-old former Juventus and Japan football manager "came under pressure for his job after goal-shy Beijing Guoan lost 3-0 to Luiz Felipe Scolari's Guangzhou Evergrande in the Chinese Super League" last Saturday at their home ground of Worker's Stadium.
It was the second straight loss of the Imperial Guards after opening their season with a 0-0 draw against lowly club Tianjin Teda last month. After that, they were defeated by newly-promoted side Yanbian Funde, 1-0, at the Yanji Nationwide Fitness Centre Stadium earlier this month.
Zaccheroni's boys were not able to score a single goal in each of the three games mentioned in the China top flight competitions.
The report noted that Beijing Guoan is "traditionally one of China's strongest sides", but they have started the season uncharacteristically as they now occupy the second-to-the-last spot in the current league table.
The team's recent failures had initiated "a barrage of calls" from fans for the sacking of the Italian bench tactician. One such appeal was said to have been "liked" by Beijing Guoan board member Shen Li.
"The start of this season has seen some unfortunate calamities happen to us. Ultimately though, success is measured by results on the pitch," said Beijing Guoan chairman Luo Ning, although he was quick to clarify that he is still in support of Zaccheroni as the team's head coach.
Meanwhile, the former AC Milan, Lazio, Inter Milan, and Torino manager admitted that he was troubled by the team's recent setbacks and it was unusual for a football club like Beijing to go through it.
"I'm also worried," Zaccheroni said, as per the Shanghai Daily. "It has never happened that Guoan has failed to win a single match after three rounds into a season. But there are lots of reasons."
Zaccheroni was signed by Beijing Guoan to a two-year contract on Jan. 19th of this year following an almost two-year hiatus after he resigned from the Japanese national football team. His resignation came in the wake of Japan's failure to advance past the group stage during the 2014 FIFA World Cup in Brazil.