On his debut as first-team coach, Salvador's figure quickly attracted the attention of the media and fans. Soon after, with his extraordinary record, he strongly interpreted the soccer world's maxim - "a change of manager is like a change of sword". In Guangzhou's first match, he led the team to beat Dongguan Guanlian 2-1 on the road, winning the season opener, which is undoubtedly a valuable asset for the team, but also cleansed the embarrassing winlessness at the beginning of the season. Immediately after that, they shook hands with Wuxi Wu Hook 1-1 on the road and managed to get rid of the edge of the relegation zone. Although they were defeated by Shanghai Hong Kong in the AFC Cup, it was just a minor hiccup and had nothing to do with the big picture.
El Salvador did have a couple of good moments, racking up four points in just two games in the Central League, surpassing Liu Zhiyu's three points from eight games in charge. In Guangzhou's clash with Jiangxi Lushan, despite trailing 0-1 early in the game, they scored two goals in the 90th minute to come back and win 2-1, earning their second win of the season and their first at home to escape the shadow of relegation.
In contrast, Salvador shone brightly and crushed Liu Zhiyu's coaching record. Salvador led his team to seven points in three Central League matches, while Liu Zhiyu scored only three points in eight matches. The debate about the merits of foreign coaches versus local coaches is no longer in doubt, with the mediocrity of local coaches being judged against the excellence of foreign coaches. Some of the negative jungle concepts they cling to are hindering the progress of Chinese soccer.
