The Rise of Shanghai Harbor
In the first phase of the Chinese Super League, Shanghai Seaport led Group B with a high score of 28 points, tying for first place with Changchun Yatai. Not only that, they have also successfully advanced to the final of the F.A.C. Cup, where they will compete with Shandong Taishan for the title. The team has a full lineup, with powerful foreigner Oscar left over from the golden dollar soccer era, and strong players such as Australian internationals Mooy and Paulinho. What's more, Shanghai Seaport is one of the few clubs that doesn't owe wages, and the whole team is eager to win the second Chinese Super League title in the team's history.
Warm-up win over Guoan
Shanghai Seaport played a warm-up match against Beijing Guoan on December 7 before the league kicked off. In the end, Seaport's three foreigners scored goals and thrashed Guoan with a score of 5-2. According to the plan, Shanghai Seaport will take a flight to Guangzhou this Friday afternoon to make a push for the championship.
Shenzhen's dark horse road
Shenzhen was undoubtedly a dark horse in the first phase of the Chinese Super League. They entered the group of title contenders and launched an attack on the qualification of the Asian Championship. Sources said that Shenzhen team has locked the qualification for the AFC Champions League as their goal for this season. If they succeed in qualifying, they will go all out to participate in next season's AFC Champions League and try to improve the strength of the team. Meanwhile, the Shenzhen team's parent company, Jia Zhaoye, is also facing financial problems, but the team has signed up a number of big corporate sponsors and the local government has promised to provide at least RMB 60 million in incentives and subsidies each year. Nonetheless, with the return of manager Jr. Cruyff, the coaching staff could be the team's shortcoming.
Adjustments to Beijing Guoan
Beijing Guoan made foreign aid adjustments during the break, with Augusto failing to return, Bieira leaving the team early after an injury, and Kim Minjae releasing his contract early. A few days ago, the club officially announced that Bakambu returned to the team, but the team is currently left with only one foreign aid Anderson Silva. The good thing is that Guoan's internal reinforcements are not bad, and there is a certain amount of depth. Although Guoan is behind the score more, but the foreign aid lineup is not complete, it is more difficult to compete for the title. Of course, Guoan did not qualify for the next year's AFC Champions League, so their goal can only be to make every effort to fight for a good ranking.
Crisis and hope for the Riverbenders
During the interregnum, the Hebei team faced a severe crisis, the club was in a state of suspension for a long time, the first team has not been formally assembled, and the club cut its staff drastically. In the face of difficulties, the team staff issued a request to work without pay until the completion of the equity change. Despite this, Korean head coach Kim Jong-woo still chose to return to China, and Bosnia and Herzegovina foreign aid Memishevic also chose to return. With the concerted efforts of the Hebei club and the players, the team competed successfully. on November 30th, the club officially announced that the first team had formally assembled, and the team bus arrived at the Foshan site after a 2,100-kilometer journey, with the fuel and road tolls temporarily advanced by the club's driver, Master. Regardless of the future, they will complete the league this year.
Dark horse performance by Guangzhou City
This season, Guangzhou City, under the leadership of Van Garst, finished fourth in the group after 14 rounds of play with 5 wins, 6 draws, 3 losses and 21 points, successfully advancing to the title contention group, showing a dark horse posture. However, during this interregnum, Guangzhou City also faced financial difficulties, with unpaid wages and rumors that Guangzhou Pharmaceuticals would buy and merge the two teams at one point. Despite this, the club continued to maintain normal day-to-day operations and the team insisted on regular preparation training. Guangzhou City has only two foreign players available in the title race, Tiago and Caldona, with serious injuries, while local players Chen Zhizhao, Tang Miao, Ye Chugui, Chang Feiya, Zeng Chao, and Zhou Yuchen are absent due to injuries.
Shanghai Shenhua's Road to Relegation
In the first phase of the Chinese Super League, Shanghai Shenhua, as the favorite to win the title, but the high start is low, the manager Cui Kangxi dismissed, early lost the opportunity to compete for the title, fell into the relegation group. In the interval, Shenhua foreign aid Moreno returned to the team back to Colombia, the second stage in the relegation group Shenhua will be mainly to exercise young players. In the warm-up match a few days ago, Shenhua was Jinmen Tiger 4-3 shutout.
Relegation pressure on Mt. Henan Longmen
Henan Songshan Longmen intermission is relatively smooth, the current team lineup is complete, five foreign aid all arrive. In the team injury, Ivo, Luo Xin and Dili Mulati have been rehabilitation training, of which Luo Xin's injury need to wait for some time. Junior Niu Ziyi previously suffered a ligament tear, basically not in the second stage of the relegation group game. Wang Shangyuan rejoined the team in recent training, and his return is a very important guarantee for the hardness of the team's midfield and backfield. In recent times, Henan Songshan Longmen began to gradually increase the amount of training, before the warm-up match they 2-2 draw Qingdao, although in the relegation group, but Henan should not be a big problem, will play the relegation of the "judge" role.
Changes and Adjustments in Wuhan
Wuhan's biggest change during the break is undoubtedly the head coach Li Xiaopeng's "promotion" to the national team's head coach position. In fact, in the first phase of the Chinese Super League Wuhan team's results are not ideal, Li Xiaopeng dismissal sound. Wuhan team has delivered for the national team Li Tie, Li Xiaopeng two local skipper, can be said to be the national team skipper "big household". Throughout the break, Wuhan team also because Li Tie and frequently on the news. In addition, in the AFC Cup, Wuhan team two rounds of the total score of 0-3 defeated Shandong Taishan stopped eight. December 4, Wuhan team officially announced that Li Jinyu as the team's head coach, Wuhan team will be under the leadership of Li Jinyu in the second phase of the Super League competition.
Dilemmas and hopes for Chongqing's Two Rivers Athletics
This season, Chongqing Two Rivers Athletic in the "money" problem can be said to be in constant trouble. Early in the season before the start of the Chongqing team because of the problem of salary arrears players refused to enter the tournament, after the efforts of all parties, the team in the final time to be stationed in the tournament. After the first stage, the team only achieved 11 points, ranked 4th in the relegation group. But support for half a year, the team arrears of wages problem is still not dealt with, the interval Chongqing team because they can not afford to pay the electricity bill and fall into a state of suspension, the club as a whole personnel alliance issued an open letter for help, but also got the CCTV soccer night program special report. Subsequently, the CCTV reporter revealed that the share reform working group will be stationed in the club, the relevant funds will gradually in place, the team players are also basically back to the team. In addition, on December 6, Chongqing Athletic Two Rivers Club also released an announcement, the team officially completed the work of team logo update, also passed the relevant audit, the new team logo will be used in the 2022 season, which seems to mean that the club still has a wonderful hand back to the hope of spring.
Relegation battle for Cangzhou Lions
In the first phase of the Chinese Super League, Cangzhou Lions entered the relegation group with a poor record in spite of the large amount of recruitment. During the break, Cangzhou Lions made a managerial change, replacing the meritorious manager Guterbee and ushering in the veteran manager Sablić, who has rich coaching experience in the Chinese Super League. After finishing their AFC Cup campaign, the team prepared for the tournament in Guangzhou, during which they played four warm-up matches against Kunshan, Zhuhai Qin'ao, Guangzhou City, and Guangzhou, achieving three wins and one draw. With the announcement of the fixtures, Cangzhou's preparations are also picking up speed. The players are gradually familiarizing themselves with Sablić's tactical approach, and Sablić's coaching of the team is beginning to bear fruit, as they drew 0-0 with Guangzhou in the warm-up matches, and then beat Shandong Taishan, who are short of internationals, by a 4-0 margin.
Stabilization of Tianjin Jinmen Tiger
During this break, Tianjin Jinmen Tigers looked very stable without too much negative news coming out. They assembled early and prepared for the game under the leadership of Yu Genwei. In the second round of the AFC Cup, they were defeated by Dalian People. They then beat Guoan 1-0 in a warm-up match, and after arriving in Shanghai, the team played warm-up matches against Shanghai Harbor and Shanghai Shenhua, the two host teams, and Tianjin Jinmen Tigers succeeded in all of them.
Dalian's Dilemma and Hope
In the first phase of the Chinese Super League, Dalian People's Team achieved 2 wins, 1 draw, 11 losses and accumulated 7 points, ranking the second last in the total standings, with the same points as the last Qingdao team. In the interval, the team's foreign aid Larson smooth return to the team, undoubtedly to the team's second stage strength to add a lot of firepower. Other Dalian People is also one of the only 3 goals in the Chinese Super League not owed to one of the teams. From the training photos of the Dalian Ren team now can be seen, Boateng and other 3 foreign aid have returned to the team. Players such as Zheng Long and Li Shuai, also appeared on the training ground. The first match of the second phase of the Chinese Super League, the opponent will be Henan Songshan Longmen.
Qingdao's unpaid salary crisis
A few days ago, Qingdao team also exposed the crisis of unpaid salary, because the financial situation is now very bad, only one of the seven sponsors left, and the club has owed salary for eight months. Like other clubs in crisis, Qingdao also proposed a change in shareholding, but little progress was made. on the morning of December 7, Qingdao head coach Wu Jingui held an emergency meeting. In this meeting, Wu confessed the actual situation that the team is now suffering from a shortage of funds, and said that he is not sure when he can pay back the salary arrears. The Qingdao players made it clear that if the club does not deal with the team's salary arrears, the players will refuse to enter the tournament. According to informants, some foreign aiders were very emotional and expressed their dissatisfaction strongly, and the meeting was interrupted as a result. As a Chinese Super League newcomer, the club has received support from the city of Qingdao, however, there is a huge gap in funding, the reason is that a lot of sponsorship money has not been allocated in place.
