As many soccer fans may be familiar with, our soccer world has developed a unique tactic in recent years - the high center forward tactic. More than 30 years ago, our soccer team had already made a name for itself on the Asian stage with this tactic. At that time, many opponents, especially in Southeast Asia, were at a loss when facing our high center forward tactic. As long as we worked as a team and jumped up to grab the ball, the opponents often could do nothing. At that time, the national team was one of the best in Asian soccer, and was even jokingly called the "head team" by the opponents.
But as our professional league became more open, our horizons broadened and we grew tired of being called the "head team". So we started to transform ourselves, abandoning the high center forward style of play. Today, Southeast Asian teams are attacking our defense, and Thailand is one of them. Vietnam have even managed to beat us in matches, and even teams like Myanmar are starting to jump on the bandwagon. The last time the national soccer team hosted Myanmar, we ended up with a narrow victory. Losing the height of our forward line, we seem to have lost all our advantages.
Fortunately, in our league, there is a team that always insists on high center forward tactics, that is Shandong Taishan. Since the introduction of Italian center forward Pelé, Taishan found that as long as the ball is passed to Pelé's head, it is difficult for the other team to regain control of the ball, and the threat is obvious. This has enabled Taishan to stay in the top five in the league and even put pressure on Japanese and Korean teams in the AFC Champions League. Other teams see the situation, have followed suit, the effect of high center gradually highlighted. Such as Jiangsu, Su Su, China, Ma, sea and other teams, have achieved remarkable results. Shener, high center and high center and other players, are also highly anticipated.
However, with the end of the Chinese Super League (CSL) Golden Dollar Era, teams have been stretched to the limit in bringing in foreign aid, and have failed to cultivate local senior centers in recent years, resulting in many teams facing the embarrassing situation of having no striker available, and the gap has become more and more obvious. in the 2021 season, Shandong Taishan, who had senior center Guo Tianyu, won the championship; in the 2022 season, Wuhan Sanzhen, who had Malcolm, reached the top of the table, while the other striker-less teams have been comparatively inferior. Therefore, high center has become a key factor for teams to achieve excellent results.
For this reason, many luxury teams, including Beijing Guoan, have pursued high center players. Last season, although Guoan's foreign aid strength is weak, but with the outstanding performance of Zhang Yuning, who is 185cm tall, it still finished the league in seventh place. Zhang Yuning scored 19 goals and won the Chinese Super League Bronze Boot and Local Golden Boot. In fact, Guoan also has a 190cm tall center forward Tian Yuda, who comes from Shandong Luneng Soccer School and was loaned to Beijing Sports University before joining Guoan and scored in two matches.
However, with Zhang Yuning's stunning performances last season, Tian Yuda lacked the opportunity to play. He only made four league appearances, including one start and one assist. In the new season, with Zhang Yuning coming back from injury, Tian Yuda's playing time is even more limited. After all, Zhang Yuning has become the main center forward of the national team, and it is undoubtedly difficult to compete with him.
So Tian Yuda made a bold decision. Since he can't compete with Zhang Yuning, why not try to become a substitute center forward for the national football team? Recently, Changchun Yatai officially announced that Tian Yuda joined the team on a one-year loan, which means he will join the Tan Long-led Changchun Yatai.
Facing Zhang Yuning, Tian Yuda chose to challenge Tan Long. I must say, Tian Yuda is quite courageous. Do you think Tian Yuda can be the main center forward in Yatai? Can he compete with Tan Long? Or will he be Tan Long's right hand man? Feel free to discuss in the comments section!
