China Super League (soccer league)
The tournament's start was postponed while the CFA suddenly issued a salary control order, stipulating that each team's top salary should not exceed RMB 3 million, which caused anxiety for many players, who were generally enjoying a ten million dollar salary before, and the pressure of life increased dramatically. Clubs reacted swiftly to this, shedding excess expenses to ensure the smooth operation of their teams. The era of golden dollar soccer seems to be fading away, and a new reshuffle in Chinese soccer may be in the offing.
After the Spring Festival, various teams have gathered to prepare for the game. Among them, the Guangzhou team has seen the most significant changes. The team that once dominated Asia is now in trouble. With investors searching in vain and the equity reforms not bearing fruit, Mr. Xu has had to continue his soccer career with a stiff upper hand. The collapse of Evergrande's business empire caught the club by surprise, and the club even more resolutely than the Football Association imposed a pay cut, with an average annual salary of just RMB 276,000 and a staggering total investment of around RMB 15 million for the year. Foreigners left in droves, and local players failed to renew their contracts, and they even gave up their wages to look for new owners.
When the Guangzhou team assembled, there was not a single familiar face in the team. It is sad to see the team in such a sorry state after ten years. This also reflects the current situation of Chinese soccer, trying to take shortcuts with high prices, but this road obviously does not work. I was expecting veteran Zheng Zhi to return to coaching, but I didn't expect him to leave the team, and Liu Zhiyu will be the interim head coach.
Evergrande's old rival Beijing Guoan is also facing a difficult situation, after the end of the Chinese Super League, they failed to keep any of the foreign aid, even the iron main force Li Lei also left the team, the strength is greatly reduced. The club plans to train at the Ridge of Haixi, but Wang Gang's fracture is serious and will require a long period of recuperation. Guoan team will go to Shanghai to train in the second phase, Wang Gang will accompany the team and receive treatment.
On March 1, Shanghai Shenhua will also assemble, with all the players, loaned players and coaching team gathered. It's a bumpy road ahead for Shenhua, who have been plagued by wage arrears and will be losing a lot of immediate players. Discussions will continue to focus on the issue of salary cuts, while the selection of a new head coach is also in the spotlight.
The new season is bound to be severely polarized, and if we want to return to glory, I'm afraid we'll have to make radical changes first.
