It was initially thought that Dai Weijun, a naturalized international and a player with many years of experience in the English Premier League, would quickly show his outstanding talent upon joining Shanghai Shenhua.
However, the ideal is full, but the reality is as thin as a bone. Forty days have passed since his debut at Shanghai Shenhua in early July, but Dai Weijun's performance at Shanghai Shenhua has been very general and even a bit "disappeared". It can be seen that Dai Weijun's foot skills are really good, body flexibility, ball control ability. He has his own unique characteristics in terms of interception, stealing and organizational reaction in front of the field. The shortcomings that have been exposed so far are that Dai Weijun is generally average and does not have a wide field of vision. He likes to carry the ball around the pitch and lacks sharpness and the ability to pass threatening balls.
According to statistics, from joining Shanghai Shenhua this summer to complete his debut to the last round of 3 round: 0 victory over Shenzhen, Dai Weijun currently represents Shanghai Shenhua played nine games. Nine games, say more, say less, but Dai Weijun's performance is a bit unworthy of people's full expectations of him and his many halos. The data shows that 9 games have passed and Dai Weijun hasn't scored a single goal for Shanghai Shenhua so far, only contributing one assist.
Finishing with only one assist in nine games, which is at best a second-rate domestic player, is more than a little shabby when placed on a naturalized international player like Dai Weijun.
The writer believes that Dai Weijun has not been able to play a prominent role for Shanghai Shenhua not only because his individual ability needs to be improved, but also because he may not be able to get consistent playing time. Statistics show that although Dai Weijun has played 9 games for Shanghai Shenhua, he has only made 3 starts, which was somewhat overlooked by coach Wu Jingui. Therefore, with his playing time so limited, it's understandable that Dai Weijun won't be able to play a proper game for himself for a while. As you know, Dai Weijun's performance in Shenzhen last season was absolutely outstanding. He played 20 games, started 12 times, and contributed 2 goals and 6 assists for Shenzhen. That kind of creativity in front of goal is definitely the best among local players.
Therefore, we should not conclude that Dai Weijun's future at Shanghai Shenhua is worthless just because of his poor performance in these 9 matches. We should still look forward to his performance. Of course, head coach Wu Jingui needs to be brave enough to use his players and give Dai Weijun more chances to play. Otherwise, he might be tempted to leave Shanghai Shenhua.
