Wuhan Sanzhen, a team on the rise, has injected new life into the team with its powerful foreign players.
According to Punch, this phenomenon, while surprising, is par for the course.
Halfway through the first phase of the Chinese Super League, the promoted Wuhan Sanzhen led the table with 4 wins and 1 draw, 13 points accumulated to show its strength.
This team's performance is reminiscent of Guangzhou Evergrande's glory 11 years ago - can Wuhan Three Town replicate the "Kaiserslautern Myth"?
In the Chinese Super League, utility foreigners and stable domestic players have become the key to the title race.
Challenges and Opportunities
Shanghai seaport faces a tough test against Guangzhou and Wuhan in two consecutive rounds.
Guangzhou has lost its former dominant style, while Wuhan Sanzhen has presented a great challenge to the seaport with its stable strength.
Seaport exposed their lack of defense against high balls in the first half and were broken by Malcolm and Renhang respectively.
Coach Lecco adjusted his tactics just before halftime, and Feng Jin assisted Ndiaye's equalizer in the second half, but Seaport still lost 1-2.
Seaport has 2 wins and 3 losses in 5 matches at the halfway point, accumulating only 6 points, and the gap with Wuhan Sanzhen has reached 7 points.
Wuhan Three Town started the season well, thrashing Hebei and Guangzhou 4-0 and 6-0 in the first two rounds respectively.
The road to the title under the litmus test
This match against Seaport is seen as a litmus test for Wuhan's three towns to blow the title out of the water.
After the match, manager Pedro expressed his satisfaction with the result, praising the players for their hard work.
Coach Leko also acknowledged Harbour's current poor form, saying the team needs to improve.
Recreating the Everest of 11 years ago?
There are many similarities between Wuhan Sanzhen and Evergrande, which was just upgraded in 2011.
The club has a stable financial base and is able to sign quality players.
Triple Town signed three foreigners in Stanchou, Wallace and Davidson, with Stanchou playing a role no less important than that of Conca back in the day.
In the era of golden dollar soccer, many old Evergrande players also joined Wuhan Sanzhen.
However, it will take time to see if the overall level of Spanish coach Pedro is up to the task of competing for the title.
Against Shenhua in the third round, Pedro replaced Xie Pengfei and three foreigners in the second half, leading to Shenhua's near equalization.
Against Harbor, Pedro's overly conservative halftime adjustments led to Tri-Town being tied by Harbor despite leading.
Promotion to the Championship is not out of reach
In the history of international and Chinese soccer, it is extremely rare to see a case like Kaiserslautern winning the championship as a promoted team.
Since 1994, only Guangzhou Evergrande replicated this myth in 2011.
Judging from the first five rounds of the season, Wuhan Three Town is not without chances.
Both Taishan and Seaport are facing their own difficulties, which makes Wuhan Three Town expected to compete for the title.
Coach Leko said the team will learn from its experience and continue to improve.
Coach Pedro, on the other hand, said that the team will focus on each game and keep their feet on the ground.
With several teams facing economic crisis, Wuhan Three Town is expected to be the favorite to win the championship with its quality foreign aid and stable domestic players.
Is this lucky or unlucky for Chinese soccer?
