Taishan failed to beat Yokohama Mariners on their home turf in Shandong, leaving them in third place in AFC Champions League Group G and with a particularly tough road to promotion. Incheon United have been a revelation, winning two consecutive matches to lead the group. Chinese fans are generally optimistic about the strength of Yokohama Mariners in Group G. Currently, the situation in the group stage is becoming more and more complicated. Kaya seems to be the "clown" who gives away points, and everyone can score on him. Taesan is competing with Yokohama Mariners and Incheon United for the top two spots in the group. Whether Incheon United will be able to stay ahead of the pack is anyone's guess, as they may be suffering from the "donkey pulling the cart" problem!
If Taishan fail to qualify for the Asian Champions League, manager Lao Cui is afraid that he will have a lot of regrets. Why? He rented the "prospective golden boot" from the Chinese Super League and purchased another golden boot from the Indonesian league. From the actual situation of the three-front war, the effect of such a choice is not ideal. For the first time to enter the Chinese Super League, fans can give a certain period of adaptation. However, now that the adaptation period has passed, the situation is not optimistic. Mateusz Pato has been sleepwalking on the pitch and seems to have nothing to show for it except his name.
Taishan team is not afraid to face any opponent in the Chinese Super League and go all out. No Chinese Super League team can take Taishan lightly. Pato's loss in the Chinese Super League was not a surprise. It doesn't matter, there are still foreigners such as Cressan, Moises, Fellaini and Chen Pu. Although the foreigners in the Chinese Super League performance is slightly "limp", but in the AFC Champions League has met its Waterloo. Mo is physically weak and runs slowly; Fellaini can't solve the opponent in the Chinese Super League, but in the AFC Champions League, he managed to limit the attack of Yokohama Mariners.
Cressan's performance in the CFL was far from satisfactory. At times he had to carry the load alone. Hitting the post twice was also a bit of bad luck. Pato and Moto didn't get a chance to start and didn't play the role of a substitute. Fans were concerned about this. Old Choi seemed to be in a better mood when he saw the 400,000 euro foreigner he picked on the sidelines! With Leonardo up front, at least he can enrich the technique and tactics, start a wonderful cooperation with Cressan, and improve the attacking power.
Well, Pato is likely to leave the team next year with Leonardo returning to the Chinese Super League. In the era of gold-dollar soccer, foreigners such as Guedes, Pelé and Fellaini will become history. It is also interesting to think about the experience of Shandong Taishan FC, who rented Leonardo for 3 million euros and played for Ulsan Hyundai, Changchun Yatai and Zhejiang. Hao Wei and Lao Cui's use is appropriate, it is worth pondering.
Then I brought in a scorer from the Indonesian league. Fans force themselves to accept that new foreigners usually "don't fit in" in Shandong. Referring to Tardelli and Kressan, it took some time to adapt. However, the fans lost patience. "You get what you pay for"... How can a 400,000 euros foreign aid be compared to a 3 million euros Leonardo? Does the Taishan team like the feeling of "collecting rent"? If they do, they can rent him for another year next year; if not, they can take back their top scorer.
