Outlook for the new Central League season
With the 20th coming up, the new season
China Super League (soccer league)
The league has officially kicked off, while the Central League will also kick off on April 24.The 2022 season of the
China Super League (soccer league)
The expansion of the league has increased the number of promotion places to 2+0.5+0.5, meaning that the top four teams all have a chance to make an impact on the Chinese Super League. So, among the 18 teams in the first division, which team has the most determination to make it to the Super League? Which team has the strength to make it to the Super League?
Missing out on replacement: Zhejiang still the biggest stealer
Looking back at the 2021 season of the Central League, Zhejiang's performance was particularly notable. Although they received a notice from the CFA to be promoted to the Super League, the team ultimately missed out on the Super League due to a comeback from the Tianjin Jinmen Tigers. However, Zhejiang is still the favorite to win the Super League in the new season. 2020 season, the team finished the season in second place in the Central League, if not for the Super League due to the epidemic relegation quota adjusted to 1.5, Zhejiang team has long been directly to the Super League. However, due to the rule change, Zhejiang had to participate in the play-offs, and eventually lost to Wuhan, losing out to the Chinese Super League.
Zhejiang team's preparation work is strictly in accordance with the standard of Chinese Super League. In terms of internal reinforcements, the team introduced Yao Junsheng, Gao Di, Gu Chao and Hong Kong player Liang Nuoheng, in addition to Cheng Jin, Long Cheng, Long Wei and other powerful players. At present, the biggest challenge faced by the team is the introduction of foreign aid. Since the end of last year, the team has been actively contacting a number of foreign aiders, including a world-class player who participated in the World Cup final in Russia, but the introduction of new foreign aiders has been slow. It was not until the last day before the transfer window closed that Zhejiang finally signed Serbian foreign aid Djurdjic. In the first phase of the game, the team has only two foreign aid available, Djurdjic and Mu Xiekui.
Strong draw: all three teams are possibilities
Chengdu Rongcheng, who finished fourth in the Central League in the 2020 season, has shown strong strength and their goal is to reach the Super League this season. Therefore, Chengdu Rongcheng has continued to make great efforts in attracting new players, not only retaining last season's foreign player Leonardo, but also bringing in former Shandong Taishan player Jonathan and South Korean player Romulo. In addition, the team has also brought in 14 local players, many of whom have experience in the Chinese Super League, such as Liu Ruofan and Yang Zexiang, who are leased from Shanghai Shenhua, and Liu Chaoyang, who is leased from Shandong Taishan.
Chengdu Rongcheng's new head coach is South Korean coach Seo Jung-won, who has coached in South Korea's K-League giants Suwon Samsung as well as South Korea's national team, and has twice been runner-up in the K-League, and is a well-known first-team head coach in South Korea. at the online meeting of the South Korean coaching team held in Chengdu Rongcheng's soccer salon on January 28, Seo Jung-won said the purpose of his coming to Chengdu Rongcheng is to lead his team to a successful Super League run.
Kunshan FC's preparations for the new season have been impressive as they have almost always played against Chinese Super League teams. For example, during the training period in Haikou, Kunshan warmed up with teams such as Shandong Taishan, Beijing Guoan and Wuhan. By the time the preparation for the sprint stage, Kunshan's warm-up opponents were also dominated by Chinese Super League teams, and even the Central League One teams were strong.
As the third-place team in last season's Central League, Kunshan undoubtedly showed its determination and strength to reach the Super League. Gao Yao continues to coach Kunshan with stable coaching results, keeping last season's foreign aid Berto, and bringing in 11 domestic helpers for the new season, including the naturalized player Xiao Tao Tao from Guangzhou, and the superb scorer Xu Jun Min from Nantong Zhiyun. The team's player configuration is very good, the goalkeeper is the national youth goalkeeper Peng Peng, the back line Cui Peng sitting, midfielders Ruan Yang, Wang Jiajie and other performances are also very good, and the striker has Zhu Zhengrong.
Wuhan Sanzhen, a promoted team in the Central League, has become the favorite to overtake the Super League because they have made a lot of moves in the transfer market. The team brought in a total of 19 new players during the winter window, including 3 foreigners and 16 domestic helpers. 3 foreigners are Brazilian center back Jadson, Brazilian striker Edmilson, and Nigerian/Swedish striker Ogbu, all of whom are strong players. 16 domestic helpers are all famous players in the Chinese Super League, such as Ren Hang, Liu Yiming, and Luo Shengwen, among others.
Wuhan Three Town originally had Deng Zhuoxiang, Sang Yifei and other outstanding local players, plus comprehensive reinforcement, from the player configuration, has reached the top level of the Central League, so that Wuhan Three Town jumped to become the super favorite.
Based on this, all three of the above teams have the possibility of advancing to the Super League.
Cautious about the Super League: Meizhou Hakka fights for the top four
As in previous years, Meizhou Hakka prepared for the new season as early as possible, and they assembled at their base - Wuhua Hengpi Soccer Town - on January 4 to start winter training. Not only the winter training time is early, the attraction of coaching and reinforcement work is also quite rapid. The new head coach is Milan Ristic from Serbia. In terms of foreign players, Guinea center forward Dumbya and Nigerian striker Gissen, who performed well last season, were retained, and Brazilian foreigner Igor Shatoni was introduced. Among the six new additions of domestic players are Hong Kong's Laureus, Lu Lin and Gui Hong who played for Guangzhou City last season.
Although Tang Shi has not been officially announced, but from the Meizhou Hakka released the new season family photo and jersey, Tang Shi will wear the No. 21 jersey on behalf of the Meizhou Hakka. Last season, Tang Shi wore the No. 10 jersey of the North Sports University, and became the team's deserved midfield core, in addition to the front waist and back, but also occasional cameo in the shadow striker and side forward, not only to organize the team's attack, but also in the defense to retreat to a very backward position. Most of the team's set-pieces are penalized by Tang Shi. Tang Shi's arrival will strengthen Meizhou Hakka's midfield.
In preparation for the season, Meizhou Hakka played more than 10 warm-up matches with Chinese Super League teams such as Guangzhou People, Guangzhou City, Wuhan Zhuoer and Shenzhen Football, and Chinese League One teams such as Shenyang City. Through the series of matches, head coach Milan's tactical system around Dumbya has basically taken shape, and the main and rotation lineups have basically surfaced, with Liang Xueming, Guo Yi, Shi Liang, Yang Yihu, and Laureus becoming the absolute mainstays.
This season's Central League adopts a four-stage double round-robin system, playing all 34 rounds (10 rounds + 8 rounds + 8 rounds + 8 rounds), with total points determining the season's Central League standings after all the matches have been completed. The champion and runner-up advance, but the 3rd and 4th place will have to play a play-off against the last two in the Chinese Super League. Although it is said to be a chance, it is very difficult, after all, a skinny camel is bigger than a horse, and no matter which way you look at it, the Chinese Super League teams are much stronger than the Chinese League One teams. And, the input determines the final ranking of the team, and the thickness of the lineup the more to the end of the season, the more can be reflected, often a battle to determine the big picture. Meizhou Hakka's strength is not bad, but there is still a gap between them and the favorites. Therefore, the Meizhou Football Salon executives are cautious to say that the goal is to fight for the top four places in the Super League.
