On March 5, Beijing time, Yunnan Yukun Club, the newcomer of China's First Division League, held a ceremony for the new season at the Yuxi Highland Sports Center. Head coach Li Jin Yu was interviewed by reporters. Regarding the new foreign aid policy, Li Jin Yu believes that it seems to have a great impact on the Chinese Super League and will be a new challenge for every team.
Li Jin Yu said: "China's first division has not yet started, so it is difficult to say what changes will be brought to China's first division after the foreign aid policy is adjusted. But I think the impact of the Chinese Super League is really big, because in addition to the five foreign aiders, some teams may also have naturalized players and Hong Kong, Macao and Taiwan players. That way, some teams can be six foreigners at once, and that's still a pretty big impact on the league, including the increase in spectatorship. The pace is really much faster and harder than last year's league. The Chinese First Division now has three foreigners. Maybe we can't use foreigners evenly on all three lines, but every team has a goal.
When asked if he had a rough estimate of the overall situation in this year's China First Division, Li Jin Yu said:¡°We are new to the China First Division. Even if we are well organized, we need time to adapt to a higher league, because this year's team reorganization is extensive, and a lot of good players have come in. But again, the team needs details and bonding, so we try to play the game well."
Yukun is investing heavily this season, with an expected annual investment of around $100 million. Therefore, although he is a newcomer to China's first division, he still receives a great deal of attention from the outside world. In this regard, Li Jinyu said that the team's biggest advantage lies in its relative stability. "Because before last year, the overall operation of Chinese soccer could be a bit unstable. After I came here, I should say I have done a good job in protecting the players. Our chairman Cai has also been working on creating family bonds for the players in that regard and investing heavily in the emotional side of things. Maybe for the time being we won't be expanding blindly like particularly big clubs."
Regarding the goal of the new season, Li Jin Yu said bluntly: "I think this season is still relatively low-key, starting from relegation, because the China A League is still relatively unfamiliar to most players. Even though we have a lot of Chinese Super League players, we have a large number of players who were still playing in the China B League last year. Therefore, we should familiarize ourselves with the China A-League. Moreover, our team used to have no foreign players, but now we have new ones. How to play better also needs a process. Because both China Championship and China B League are facing the demand of Chinese local players, we need to know other teams this year.
"I've watched a couple of games in the first round this year and the feeling of recovery is still very strong, the commitment and preparation of the teams is more complete. So I think the situation is different at each level of the league, but the difficulties and challenges faced are actually the same." Li Jin Yu said: "Actually, when I was in B, I felt that the game is more variable, there are too many accidental things, because the players themselves make too many mistakes, and maybe all the teams are facing this kind of problem. It's important in a game where you might not be trying to beat the other team, but trying to get your stuff together first. But when we got to A, we needed more rhythm. Of course, we need more of that to be different.
On whether Yuxi's 1,700-meter plateau environment has a home-field advantage, Li Jinyu smiled and said:¡°Everyone would consider it an advantage, but it is only a small part of the favorable factors. If we don't play well, the weather and advantages are useless to us. The most important thing is to do well."
