As October approaches, the Chinese Super League season has officially entered its final stage. The current trend of the league is basically clear. Shanghai Harbor will win the Super League title, while Shenzhen and Nantong Zhiyun will enter the first division at the end of the season.
With the big picture of the league already set, some clubs have started to prepare for next season in advance. In addition to the replacement of internal and external reinforcements, the head coaches of some teams have also had to move their positions. From the current situation, we can be sure that at least three coaches of Chinese Super League teams will be dismissed at the end of this season.
First place goes to Gabri Garcia, the foreign coach of Nantong Zhiyun. The 44-year-old Spanish coach joined Nantong Zhiyun midway through the season. Garcia played for La Liga giants Barcelona and the Spanish national team during his playing days, winning a gold medal with the team at the Sydney Olympics.
However, the brilliance of his playing days does not mean Garcia is a good manager. Since taking over Nantong Jiyun in June this year, Garcia has led the team to only one win in the league against Shenzhen, who have already locked up the relegation spot early.
After losing 1-3 to Qingdao Hainiu on the road in the last round, Nantong Zhiyun's relegation situation is getting more and more dangerous, basically locking up another relegation spot. According to the latest news, Garcia has officially announced his resignation.
Second place went to Shanghai Harbour's head coach Javier, the league leader, even though Harbour had no doubt about winning the title this season. However, Javier's performance was questioned by many fans and even harbor fans. The Spanish coach seems to only take weak teams. No matter who the opponent is, he will use defensive counterattack tactics.
This trick worked wonders in the first half of the league as the Harbour won many of their matches, but this seemed to have little to do with Javier's coaching ability as the Harbour were helped by the referee in many of their matches. In the second half of the league, the Harbour began to lose ground without the referee's patronage, and went out of both the F.A.C. Cup and the AFC Champions League very early on. In the most recent league matches, they only managed a record of 1 win, 1 draw and 3 losses.
Fortunately, the Shandong Taishan team behind them dropped the ball at a crucial moment. The last round of the league drew 0-0 with Dalian People, losing a good opportunity to continue to close the point difference. With only 4 rounds left in the league and 8 points behind the harbor, the hope of winning the championship is basically lost.
And Harbour's recent poor performances have also led to increasing calls for Harwell's dismissal. Therefore, even if Harbour win the title this season, Harwell's dismissal is inevitable.
The last of these is also the head coach of the Chinese Super League championship team, and he is Wuhan Sanzhen's Japanese coach, Gao Mianmian. Like Garcia, Gao took over Wuhan Sanzhen midway through the season. The Sanzhen club fired decorated coach Pedro, who led the team to the title last season, after the team's poor performance in the first half of the league.
However, surprisingly, the successor they invited was the famous Gao Mianmian. It is important to know that Gao Mian has never coached a Chinese Super League team before, having served as a youth team head coach at a Chinese Super League team. Before joining Wuhan Three Town, he only coached a Chinese Championship team.
Tri-Town's performance also proved that Gao Mian's ability is not suitable for coaching a Chinese Super League team. San Zhen's performance in the league has dropped all the way down. The Japanese coach is not good at high-flying tactics, and Brazilian senior center forward Malcolm Malcolm, who returned to the team this summer, simply could not be reactivated.
Although Three Town won three consecutive league matches some time ago, they were all weak teams like Nantong Zhiyun and Cangzhou Lions. In the last round of the league, they lost 0-1 to Tianjin Jinmen Tiger at home. This proved once again that Gao Mian is not capable of leading his team to play hard games.
Therefore, even if Wuhan Sanzhen can stay in the Chinese Super League next season, it will be very difficult for him to become the team's head coach. Because, his temperament is totally different from Wuhan Sanzhen...
