At the Xianghe National Team Base, the 2023 Professional League Club Senior Summit was held with leaders of clubs from the Chinese Super League, Chinese First Division and Chinese Second Division. The CFA and CFL preparatory team unveiled various policy blueprints for the new season at the meeting. Among them, the adjustment of the replay system of the Chinese Super League, the revocation of the U23 policy and the relocation policy of the Chinese League A and B have undoubtedly become the focus.
Looking back on the U23 new policy that has triggered widespread discussion, one can't help but be saddened. Since the 2017 season, the implementation of the policy, in the heyday of the Chinese soccer "golden dollar era", the super foreign aid to join the Chinese super team in the international arena, however, the national team's performance is deteriorating, the problem of talent fault gradually highlights.
In the 2017 season, the CFA and professional league management launched a "new policy on U23 players". It is stipulated that in the 18-member registration list, there must be two players under U23, and one of them must start. However, in front of the interests, the clubs and the FA's position is often contradictory.
In the first match of the 2017 season, Guizhou Zhicheng played against Liaoning Shenyang, and Liaoning circumvented U23 player Wang Qiao's request to start the match through a substitution strategy in the opening 17 minutes. This practice is commonplace in the league.
On March 12, 2017, Sang Yifei replaced Wang Qiao in the second round of the Chinese Super League match between Henan Jianye and Liaoning Kaixin.
In the face of the clubs' coping strategies, the FA launched the 2.0 version of the U23 policy in the 2018 season, which stipulates that the number of U23 players on the field shall not be less than the number of foreign aiders, and that each team shall start at least one U23 player. However, this version is often diluted by other policies in practice. For example, the addition of national team members can reduce the number of U23 players, leaving the top teams largely unaffected. While the mid- and lower-tier teams have to make a difficult choice between foreign aid and young players.In the middle of the 2019 season, the U23 policy was adjusted again, requiring each team to start at least one U23 player, and the frequent adjustments during the season also exposed the irrationality of the policy.
On August 9, 2017, Xu Junmin replaced Wang Qiao on the pitch during the 21st round of the Chinese Super League match between Shanghai Shenhua and Guizhou Hengfeng Zhicheng.
Around the U23 policy, there are also many peculiar phenomena. For example, "23-year-old playing starter, 24-year-old retirement", although exaggerated, but also reflects the different treatment of some young players between the age of 23 and 24 years old.2017 season, Shenhua U23 policy beneficiaries Xu Junmin 14 starts, 15 appearances due to the age of the policy to lose the protection of the loss of playing opportunities. Opportunities.
In addition, the inflated value of young players cannot be ignored. In order to maintain the level of the team, some high-level young players have become sought-after by clubs, with transfer fees and salaries rising dramatically. This has also been cited as one of the reasons for the lack of enthusiasm for young players to study abroad.
So, do young people lack opportunities or abilities? From an objective point of view, the U23 policy did give some young people a chance. Zhang Yuning, He Chao, Wei Shihao, Yang Liyu and others became the mainstay of the team and even entered the national team. However, excellent young players do not need the support of the U23 policy, while unqualified young people are difficult to stand out even with the policy.
On October 31, 2009, Beijing Guoan won the title in the final round of the 09 season of the Chinese Super League, and 22-year-old Huang Bowen has become the mainstay of the team.
Taking the truest World Qualifier as the standard, the 27 players of the national soccer team coached by Li Tie who participated in the Qatar World Qualifier had an average age of 29.56 years old, with as many as 16 players over 30 years old, more than half of them. Only three players, Zhang Yuning, Wei Shihao and tomorrow, benefit from the U23 policy. Among them, it is still controversial whether tomorrow's strength is up to standard, and this team currently lacks U23 players.
In fact, the history of Chinese soccer is full of examples of young players standing out. Zheng Zhi won the honor of Chinese Footballer of the Year at the age of 22, Hao Junmin played for TEDA at the age of 18, Wang Dalei became Shanghai United's starting goalkeeper at the age of 17, and Huang Bowen broke the record for the lowest age for a player in the Chinese Super League at the age of 16 and scored a goal!
So, is the problem with youth training in Chinese soccer a lack of opportunities for young people? The answer is no, the problem is a lack of ability among young people. We should not rely solely on the power of policy to make up for the lack of young people, but should address the root of the problem, so that the already weak players become stronger the day after tomorrow. Canceling the U23 policy may be an inevitable move in the history of Chinese soccer.
