In last season's Chinese Super League, the performance of local coaches was amazing: Taishan's manager Hao Wei led his team to the Double Crown, Guangzhou's executive coach Zheng Zhi won the third place in the league against all odds, and Changchun Yatai, coached by Chen Yang, stood out like a dark horse. Of the top four teams last season, two-thirds were helmed by local coaches. In the new season, local coaches are expected to make another breakthrough, with Hao Wei and Chen Yang leading the way, while young and promising Tianjin Jinmen Tigers boss Yu Genwei and Wuhan Yangtze River boss Li Jinyu are also worthy of attention.
Four teams have chosen to change their coaches, and all of them are old faces. As a matter of fact, the 11 foreign coaches are all familiar faces, and it's hard to find famous foreign coaches. Xie Feng, the "old Guoan", has returned to Beijing Guoan, Li Zhangsu's "Iron Marshal" style has been continued in Shenzhen, Wu Jingui has returned to Shanghai Shenhua, and Liu Zhiyu, who assisted Zheng Zhi in Guangzhou last season, has been able to make a name for himself. As the saying goes, "old wine in new bottles", most of the teams chose a manager who is familiar with the Chinese Super League and understands the team to ensure a smooth transition.
The league's Golden Boot winners, Bakambu and Junior, have both scored just 14 goals in the past two seasons, while only the league's top scorer failed to score more than 20 goals in the 2016 season between 2011 and 2019.
The departure of super scorers such as Gaolat, Caldecott, Ackerson and Xavi has made it difficult for the Chinese Super League to reproduce prolific scorers. However, this has also provided opportunities for the growth of local scorers. In the last season, Zhang Yuning and Guo Tianyu both contributed 10 goals, showing notable goal-scoring efficiency. In the new season, local scorers such as Zhang Yuning and Wei Shihao will take on more offensive responsibilities and are expected to have a sustained outburst.
A double-header, a promotion leapfrog?
In the Chinese Super League, which is full of variables, stability has become the foundation for clubs to survive and secure their performance.
Last season, the "double champion" Shandong Taishan and the double runner-up Shanghai Harbor are one of the teams with relatively normal business conditions. While most of the clubs are facing salary arrears and loss of their main players, Shandong Taishan and Shanghai Seaport's fighting strength has increased rather than decreased. The duo made effective additions while securing their starting lineup. Shandong Taishan brought in Liao Lisheng to replace Xu Xin, who left the team, and Guo Tianyu is expected to stay at Taishan after a short stay in the ocean. Shanghai Harbor, on the other hand, has introduced Zhang Linpeng and Xu Xin, two current international players. The Lu-Shanghai rivalry will be the main theme of the new season of the Chinese Super League championship.
In the second group, Beijing Guoan, Changchun Yatai and Shenzhen will challenge the two strongest teams. Beijing Guoan, while retaining most of its starters, has introduced new reinforcements across the board, with Zhang Chengdong returning and Li Ke coming back from injury, and is expected to regain lost ground in the new season.
Changchun Yatai is one of the most well-prepared teams in the new season of the Chinese Super League, maintaining the configuration of five foreign aiders, and in the pre-season physical reserves and tactical integration of the upstream teams is also the most ideal. Despite the departure of two foreign aiders, Caldecott and Jintero, the team's reinforcement strength is not weak, coupled with Li Zhangsu's iron-fisted management can effectively solve the problem of Shenzhen football chain at critical moments. Overall, these three teams have the most potential to challenge the title contenders.
In the soccer league, the promoted horse is usually the favorite to be relegated, but this unspoken rule has been reversed in recent years in the Chinese Super League. Last season, Changchun Yatai became the biggest "dark horse". This season, the four promoted teams Wuhan Sanzhen, Meizhou Hakka, Zhejiang and Chengdu Rongcheng have the ability to turn the tide and stir up trouble.
These four promoted horses in the process of the Super League in good financial condition, is currently the Super League in the few teams without salary arrears. In the new season, in the case of retaining the promotion team, the four foreign meritorious manager all stay, all using five foreign aid configuration, and has been basically in place.
