In the face of Duan Liuyu's marginalization in the Shandong Taishan team, it seems that his career is standing at a crossroads. Duan does not have a clear advantage in his position, with midfield defense being his shortcoming, while Li Yuan, who specializes in offense, has already scored two goals and dished out six assists this season, making Duan Liuyu's attacking performance seem inferior. Coach Choi Kang-hee has begun to select new blood, and young talent Xie Wenneng is gradually catching his eye, and his style of play is more in line with Taishan's tactical system.
In addition to Duan Liuyu, Shandong Taishan also has a number of excellent attackers in the squad, such as Abdul Meat Suli, who is more suitable for the front waist, focusing on physical confrontation, and Liu Guobao, who guards the side. Duan Liuyu's position in the Taishan team is in jeopardy, unlike the loaned players in previous years, Duan will be 26 years old next year and has limited development potential. Choi Kang-hee's newly promoted stars are much better. Taishan is facing a lot of player adjustments, including dealing with problem players, and the team has not yet officially released any contracts. Duan Liuyu's chances of playing under Choi Kanghee's coaching seem to be out of reach.
With only three rounds of the Chinese Super League left, and the Asian Champions League on the horizon in Wuhan, Duan Liuyu still has one last chance to prove himself. Even if his contract with Shandong Taishan is not renewed, he still has the chance to join another team and start a new journey. Duan Liuyu needs to join a mid-to-lower tier team with him as the centerpiece, just like Dalian Shide's Lin Liangming, who had an unimpressive career at first, but eventually became a member of the national team as his chances to play increased. Duan's highlight reel was set in the 2019 season and has seemingly stagnated since, which may have something to do with Shandong Taishan changing their three head coaches.
