Beijing time, May 3, Shanghai Shenhua is blocked from registering new recruits for the new season due to FIFA sanctions. Media personality Song Chengliang posted an article on social media platforms, providing an in-depth analysis of Shenhua's predicament.
Full text of Song Seung-ryong's social media:
There is no clear start time for the new Chinese Super League season, but the rules for promotion and relegation have been finalized, and the league discussion is heating up after the transfer window closes. Today, I saw a media saying that Shenhua is facing the risk of relegation due to the transfer ban, and I feel quite helpless. Below, I'll give you a rundown of Shenhua's transfer ban this year and the team's strategy for using personnel--
1. The first media open day after the Winter Olympics, Shenhua announced that the new season will be a full Chinese class, without foreign aid, which is the first time I have heard of Shenhua's full Chinese class.
2. I tweeted that I couldn't understand it because that's not how clubs are routinely built. The economic crisis is endless, but this year also only Guangzhou and Hebei did not have foreign aid, Greenland, even if there are difficulties, should find a way to form a normal lineup.
3. The reason I can think of may be that this year's budget is so limited that it can only pay the salaries of local players, leaving no room for foreign aid.
4. We have to understand that this year, the decision of the three direct drop places in the Chinese Super League, the clubs have long been aware of, only the CFA announced a while ago, so Shenhua's decision-making program is already aware of the three direct drop, I am still all Chinese class.
5. At the time of the media open day, Shenhua probably didn't expect the FIFA sanction to be so swift, or else they wouldn't have canceled the contract of DaLaoHei in the early stage. Big old black can't only sign half a year, so he is in at least one year more contract situation by Shenhua termination; but in fact Shenhua also left a backhand, such as Bassogao, there is no termination of the contract. So when the FIFA ban came, Shenhua immediately recalled Basogo.
6. Along this line of thought, in fact, we can come to the conclusion that Shenhua is ready to the first stage of the full Chinese class, as for the second half of the year, if it does not work, I'll invest again. Greenland has also often smashed money in the summer window over the years, such as Deng Baba in 2015 and Xavi and Jin Xinyu in 2019.
7. So even if there is no foreign aid or only one Basogo, is Shenhua risky this year? I don't think so, at least in terms of group strength, Greenland is always better than Evergrande and Huaxia Happiness, and in terms of team strength, Shenhua is also better than Guangzhou and Hebei. You should know that there is also Chongqing, they are remaining what players? You can't beat those three teams, I don't believe it.
8. Other teams in the same tier as Shenhua include Guangzhou City, Zhejiang, Jinmen Tigers, etc. Overall, Shenhua is at least 10-12th on paper, so there's no need to worry too much. Coach Wu Jingui also has a lot of experience in relegation over the years, and his lower limit with the team won't be too low.
9. Of course, I still want to emphasize the point that I have posted on Twitter that I don't think Shenhua's policy this year is just relegation. An insightful and established club still has to be a bit vocal. I take Guoan as an example, Guoan from 2020 on the situation of arrears, Zhonghe's situation is also very general, but people this year, but still make up enough foreign aid, this is a kind of attitude!
10. Going back to 2 here, I am still not in favor of having no foreign aid this year. Shenhua's strategy this year is to have five or six young players, with three or four foreigners and three veterans, so that the team can still go for the league ranking it deserves. Greenland should still be pursued a bit after so many years of mediocre league results.
11. Hopes are high, reality is hard. Well, let's get back to reality, even in this situation, I still think there are a good portion of the team's veterans that are unavailable, at least three or four of them. I can't name them so as not to get myself in trouble, even if I have to give them a paycheck to be determined not to sign up. Wu mom used to talk about temperature, now can't afford to use foreign aid is it, still talk about the fart temperature, you want to stay can, but kick the ball even if, even should be thrown directly into the reserve team, even though there is no reserve team league this thing now.
12. After dropping to the relegation group the previous year, Shenhua's comment section on every official microblog became a large-scale cartwheeling scene. You have to do something, right? At least make the fans who support you happy. How are you going to win back our hearts if you keep using veterans who have no way of contributing to the team?
13. Back to the FIFA lawsuit itself, don't bother about whether foreign aid can still be used in the summer window, but the lawsuit and the arrears have to be dealt with, or else FIFA can further deal with the matter, including deduction of points and disqualification from registration. Guizhou is a precedent, so Shenhua still has to deal with this issue in a proper way within a certain timeframe.
Are Southeast Asian teams relying on emulating Evergrande to advance in the AFC Champions League in a blowout?
Recently, the Japanese media "Asian Football Tribe" wrote an article about two Southeast Asian teams advanced to the last 16 of the AFC Champions League, pointing out that the trick to their success in the AFC Champions League, in fact, perfectly fits our perception of the "gold dollar soccer" impression.
Talking about the results achieved by Southeast Asian teams in this year's AFC Champions League, the article said that the previous year was the first year of AFC Champions League expansion, and Southeast Asian teams were hit hard when they came up: United City FC 0-8 Kawasaki Frontale, and Tampines Rangers 0-9 Jeonbuk Hyundai. Of course, there were some good performers, such as Batangas United, who almost qualified for the tournament the previous year.
In comparison, the performance of Southeast Asian teams in the 2022 season of the AFC Champions League is not comparable. Not only did Batangas United and Johor Bahru make it to the Round of 16, but other teams that didn't qualify also did well, such as Singapore's Lion City Mariners, among others.
Southeast Asian teams have been impressive in this year's AFC Champions League. Not only did Baton Rouge and Johor Bahru advance to the top of their group, but Johor also edged out Kawasaki Frontale, who are now second in the J-League standings, and Ulsan Hyundai, the top team in the K-League.
For Batang United and Johor Bahru's outing, the article pointed out several elements of their success: firstly, big ambitions; secondly, a collection of capable domestic players, as well as good foreign aid; and thirdly, professional management.
The article writes that the success of Batang United and the Johor team is built on "big ambitions, with dreams of one day outperforming their counterparts from our country, Japan and South Korea, and even further afield in the region."
The article suggests that these two teams are no different from their other East Asian counterparts, with teams made up of the best local players in their respective countries, as well as proven foreigners, and that their club management is at the forefront.
Pointing to an observation made by the owner of the Johor team once upon a time that "vision without execution is just an illusion," the author argues that it is that big ambition, coupled with the hard homework to accomplish it, that has brought the team to where it is now.
The article states that both Batangas and Johor did not achieve their success overnight. Johor failed to qualify for the AFC Champions League in the previous three seasons, and after being relegated, Batang United started in Thailand's second-tier league, facing difficulties and using their "time and money well to secure their place in the AFC Champions League today."
Some people believe that Canton's fielding of youths makes Johor's advancement less golden. Another view is that they both played at home. In response to these views, the article stated that no matter what, both Batang United and Johor won the promotion ticket.
Ultimately, the article argues that Southeast Asian teams' stellar performances in this year's AFC Champions League prove that the level of soccer in the region is on the rise, and that soon, they will see themselves as equal contenders who can compete with the Asian powerhouses.
Many people scoff at the so-called "golden dollar soccer", but we can see the rise of Guangzhou Evergrande from the bodies of Johor and Batang United. Their trajectories are very similar!
All of them use money to collect domestic soccer elites, supplemented by high-quality foreign aid, and use professional management tools to knead these players into a whole. Eventually, then time to precipitate results. For example, Evergrande shouted that year to spend 5 years to win the Asian Championship (in fact, only 3 years to complete the goal).
From this, we can see that the rise of the two Southeast Asian teams, Johor and Batangas, is not based on the "gold dollar soccer" that we have criticized and despised!
The most typical or Johor team, the domestic league 8 consecutive championships, than Evergrande also Evergrande. Malaysian Football Association (MFA) family members also do not come out to manage: you Johor to get 9 consecutive 10 consecutive championships, what is the use? Malaysian soccer went up? You advanced to the AFC Champions League 16, the national team into the final 12? The national team's performance is not good, you are to get the AFC Championship is meaningless ah!
Once again verified a truth: professional soccer want to improve the results can not be separated from the "golden dollar", you deny the "golden dollar", in fact, is to deny the professional soccer itself.
