As I thought about this title, I tried to paint a picture of the unique tradition of the Chinese soccer locker room. This tradition means that in a team, the only player who has the power is the big man, and even the more senior players have to take a back seat. However, this leader must have a firm grip on the situation, otherwise the harmony of the locker room is at stake.
Regarding Evergrande's brilliance, some people attribute it to the strategy of gold-dollar soccer, so let's leave it here for the time being. It is due to the strong financial investment, Evergrande attracted many outstanding players, thus achieving its glory. 2010, Zheng Zhi and Sun Xiang joined Evergrande. In 2010, Zheng Zhi and Sun Xiang joined Evergrande, while the Guangzhou team was still struggling in the Central League, they were given generous treatment. The two national footballers, who had traveled to Europe, were willing to join the Chinese league and start from scratch.
Zheng Zhi was the captain of the national team, while Sun Xiang was the main defender of the national team. Zheng Zhi played for Charlton in the English Premier League, while Sun Xiang was the first Chinese player to reach a Champions League final. Zheng Zhi is naturally slightly better at the center of the team.
Therefore, when the players have to ask Zheng Zhi for advice, Sun Xiang's attitude is particularly independent. The two do not have a deep personal relationship, so when they work together in the same club, friction is inevitable.
In the 14th round of the 2014 Chinese Super League, Guangzhou Evergrande challenged Beijing Guoan away from home, and the conflict between the two finally erupted: in a backfield defense, Zheng Zhi nearly lost the ball because he was negligent in his staring. Fortunately, left back Sun Xiang made up for this mistake in time, but when Sun Xiang got up, he rebuked Zheng Zhi loudly. As captain, Zheng Zhi was naturally upset, and the two then exchanged words on the field.
Fortunately, teammates intervened in time to defuse the conflict. However, looking into the differences, it is not difficult to find that teammates are more inclined to support Zheng Zhi, Sun Xiang seems to be a bit isolated.
The following year, Sun Xiang received an offer from Shanghai SIPG and he did not hesitate to return to Shanghai. I can't say that Zheng Zhi and Sun Xiang had a clean break, but I can only say that their relationship was not close enough to make it difficult to work together on the same team. Ultimately, the cultural tradition of Chinese soccer is that there can only be one big brother player in the locker room, and that's the only way for the team to maintain harmony.
