In the 2021 season of
China Super League (soccer league)
On the field, drowsy phrases such as "A nightmare to watch!" "Sleepyheads!" "Wake up and it's still 0-0?" were frequent.
The games have become increasingly dull, with goals scarce and draws frequent, and with them a significant drop in attention.
2021 season
China Super League (soccer league)
is facing a full-blown crisis that involves not only the exit of the club, but a gradual cooling of fan enthusiasm.
It's time to think about starting a home and away league, even if it's a cross year game, to show the fans the spectacle and break the embarrassment of two draws.
I remember when I was a child, I saw those "old journalists" use "a boring battle two duck eggs" to describe the game, I think it is very apt. It was like when I was a child, full marks were praised as "one doughnut and two eggs", while zero marks were "one duck egg and two doughnuts".
While such a headline is no longer in vogue, there are many games in the 2021 season that I would love to headline "Two Duck Eggs in a Boring Battle".
As of today.
China Super League (soccer league)
Five matches in the first four rounds have already ended 0-0, and the match between Guangzhou City and Cangzhou Lions in the fifth round finally brought a touch of vigor.
Look at the stats: In the first 4 rounds of the 2021 season, there have been 5 0-0 matches: Shenzhen vs Qingdao, Cangzhou vs Henan, Yatai vs Tianjin, Yatai vs Wuhan, Harbor vs Yatai.
In contrast, there were only 2 0-0 matches in the first 4 rounds of the 2020 season: Suning vs Taishan and Chongqing vs Qingdao.
There were also only 2 0-0 matches in the first 4 rounds of the 2019 season: Tianhai vs Hebei and Wuhan vs Henan.
The stats show that the first 4 rounds of the 2021 season totaled 75 goals with a 2.28 goals-against average, while the first 4 rounds of the 2020 season totaled 98 goals with a 3.06 goals-against average.
The first 4 rounds of the 2019 season totaled 97 goals with an average of 3.03 goals per game. From 3.03 in the 2019 season to 3.06 in the 2020 season to 2.28 this season, the number of goals has fallen off a cliff.
The goals per game averages this season are 3.09 for the 2019 season and 2.82 for the 2020 season, so hopefully the final numbers won't be too bad.
The intuition is the same: too many matches are hard to follow, and the occasional powerhouse matchup is riddled with mistakes and less-than-stellar performances.
In the case of the current top-ranked Taishan team, head coach Hao Wei suffered accusations from fans after the 5th round of matches, while the ranking "
China Super League (soccer league)
Shenhua, who are 'tied for second', and head coach Choi Kang-hee have been blamed.
Epidemic, just one of the factors
2021 season
China Super League (soccer league)
Why is it no longer attractive? The reason is simple: the epidemic is one of the major factors.
Due to the epidemic, many teams' foreign aid failed to return, resulting in a clear feature at the technical and tactical level: the attacking power of almost the majority of the teams plummeted, and the number of goals scored naturally decreased.
Among the current 16 teams, only a few teams such as Shenhua and Shenzhen have moderate attacking power, as they have relatively good lineups and more complete foreign aid.
The return of foreign aid in the 2021 season is a special case: this time, the return of foreign aid is difficult because of the epidemic in Brazil, and the players outside Brazil have basically returned.
In fact, the first 4 rounds of the 2020 season were not as good for the return of foreigners, but the number of goals scored was very high, with a total of 98 goals, surpassing the 97 goals scored in the 2019 season.
Salary limit policy, big name players gradually say goodbye
Salary restriction policy leads to gradual departure of big-name players
China Super League (soccer league)
, such as Pelé, Hulk and other foreigners bid farewell, as well as Teixeira, Eder and so on.
In the context of salary limitation, some
China Super League (soccer league)
Teams have 5 foreigners but not many goals, such as Changchun Yatai, who contributed 3 0-0 scores in 4 games this season, totaling only 2 goals.
But the big-name wideouts bidding farewell are not the worst of the worst; more of them are still under contract and won't be bidding farewell until the end of this season and the middle of next season.
Reinstatement of home-and-away format imminent
The goal tally alone isn't enough to worry about, after all, this year
China Super League (soccer league)
The special case of the "Brazilian epidemic" was encountered.
但
China Super League (soccer league)
Here's the real dilemma: the continuous tournament system has led to a decline in impact.
The matchday system allows for spectators, but only fans from the two divisions and surrounding cities, as well as some of the clubs' traveling fans.
Previously.
China Super League (soccer league)
The league plays every weekend throughout the year, and each game draws as few as 10,000 to 20,000 fans, or as many as 50,000 to 60,000 fans.
And now with the race meeting system, viewers can only watch the race in front of the computer, and the number of shares in the circle of friends is greatly reduced.
If this state of affairs continues, fans may go from being "pseudo-fans" to strangers to soccer.
It is therefore essential that the home-and-away system be restored as soon as possible, and this needs to be considered in conjunction with anti-epidemic measures.
