On July 13th in Beijing, the new season of the Chinese Super League started again, and the new round of the journey is a severe test for every team. Newly adjusted schedule for the Super League teams means challenges, many teams have different configurations of foreign aid, whether it is the championship or relegation, are facing difficulties, which may even reshape the entire league's competitive landscape, it can be said that this season, the Super League in the national football team to make way for the 12 strong match at the same time, but also full of uncertainty.
In order to prioritize the preparation for the national football team's 12-team tournament, the remaining nine rounds of the first phase of this season's Chinese Super League will be compressed into one month. According to the official schedule released by the Chinese Super League, each round of the league's eight matches will be played in two days, with a one-day gap between each round. This means that each team will only have two days of rest and recuperation time after playing a league match, which puts a very high demand on the team's physical reserves. It is currently the third day of the year, and although most of the matches are scheduled to be played in the evening, the intensive schedule and the hot and humid weather in the south have greatly increased the difficulty of the matches, especially for the players from the north. This not only tests the physical condition of the team, but also the depth of the bench, as lineup rotation is inevitable with the density of one game in three days. This week, Guangzhou and Beijing Guoan will be the first to play, they need to first complete the bye game postponed due to the national football team's preparation for the Top 40, and then two days later, they will face Chongqing Liangjiang Athletic and Tianjin Jinmen Tiger respectively.
The Chinese Super League will also restart in three months after the national soccer team finishes its campaign in the 12-team tournament. Although the detailed schedule has not yet been announced, it has been confirmed that the second phase of each team will only play eight league matches, and not play a full year of 30 rounds of league matches as envisioned in the pre-season, which will inadvertently increase the chance of the championship and relegation. It's worth noting that while the second stage of the competition is not exactly the same as last season, just like last season, some teams won't have a chance to play each other throughout the year in this season's Super League. Compared with the first stage, which also plays eight rounds of league matches in a month, the biggest problem of the second stage actually comes from the first cross-year organization, the last round of league matches will be placed in the beginning of January in 2022, and some internal and external aid contracts are about to expire, and if these players do not complete the renewal of their contracts, it will inevitably affect the strength of the team. It's fine if the team has no desire by then, but if it needs to be decided in the final round, then the impact will be more significant. In addition, it also involves some teams in the summer window to introduce foreign aid is ready to sign a short-term contract, in which the contract deadline should also be adjusted accordingly.
By the double impact of the adjustment of the Chinese Super League and the epidemic prevention and control, the Chinese Super League is likely to usher in one of the coldest summer window in history, which is mainly reflected in the foreign aid level. Unsurprisingly, there will be far more returning foreign aiders than new ones joining in this summer transfer period, both from the clubs' pragmatic search for the current situation and from the reassessment of the feasibility of foreign players joining the Chinese Super League. In the next few years, very few Super League teams will be able to secure a full complement of foreign players, and many will be faced with the reality of having only a handful of foreign players available. Under the premise that the Chinese Super League still emphasizes foreign aid, the lack of foreign aid will directly affect the competition pattern of the entire league. Of course, our domestic players will have to assume greater responsibility, especially those who should theoretically be stronger international players, but these players will have to follow the national football team for a long time for training, and will not be in their respective clubs to prepare for the game.
At present, the most serious affected by the foreign aid problem may be Beijing Guoan. The two Brazilian foreigners, Augusto and Fernando, have not been seen since the day they returned to the team at the end of last season, so it's no surprise that their relationship with Beijing Guoan has come to an end. Kim Min Ja has been caught up in transfer rumors, and the player's personal desire to land in the Europa League seems to be relatively strong. Bakambu, although he will return to the team, is also seen as a transfer favorite, and may even return at any time during the summer window. Bieira is not a problem for the time being, but he was injured before, the next league is bound to miss part of the game, which also makes Beijing Guoan can really rest assured that the only remaining direct from Changchun Yatai Sosa, and he is precisely for Beijing Guoan is dispensable characters, for this reason, for the aspiring to compete for the title of the difficulties faced by Beijing Guoan is quite obvious.
By coincidence, Shanghai Seaport's situation is also not optimistic, Arnautovic has been rumored to return to Europe since the start of the Europa League, and the player's personal attitude is quite resolute. Although it seems that Shanghai Seaport doesn't want to be a bad influence, it's an indisputable fact that Arnautovic hasn't returned to the team. In addition, Muy due to the change of relatives at home also delayed the return of the moment, after all, when you can enter the country plus to account for the isolation of the moment, when you can play in the Super League is also an unknown, not to mention that this summer window on the Muy have a love of the European clubs are also not a few, the Shanghai seaport can keep people are also not known. In addition, the Guangzhou team has already released Paulinho and Talisca, in the case of the impossibility of introducing new foreign aid, Cannavaro can only bring the so-called full Chinese class to play the rest of the league this season.
At the other end of the league, teams fighting for relegation are also facing changes in foreign aid. Except for Wuhan, which has introduced a new foreign aid player, Andres Lopez, other teams are still in the status quo for the time being. For example, the Tianjin Jinmen Tigers, despite a lot of rumors about the introduction of new foreign aid news, but to date even the shadow of the people have not seen, not to mention the specific candidates are still foggy, even if the finalization of when to enter the country is also not yet decided, and perhaps even if the arrival of the Chinese will need at least two weeks of isolation and observation, and the first stage of the remaining nine rounds of the league will be finished within a month, and how many of them can catch up with the round! We think about all know, for this from the domestic search for foreign aid is not a new idea, otherwise the whole first stage will not have new foreign aid will be the probability of events. On the Henan Songshan Longmen side, although they welcomed back Karanga, but Ivo's return is still a tricky issue, there is no this midfield core about Henan Songshan Longmen is obviously a world of difference.
After the first phase of the competition, the Chinese Super League will usher in a three-month break for the simple reason of making way for the national soccer team's preparation for the Top 12 tournament. There is no doubt that this season, the Chinese Super League was changed into this way is to bet on the national football team can enter the World Cup in Qatar, so early for the national football team to set aside enough time to prepare for the game is not surprising, and even before the speculation of the direct cancellation of the season's extreme situation if the eventual occurrence of the unacceptable things. But after all, this move can give the national team to fight for the 12 strong to bring how much help is not yet easy to say, but about the Super League clubs, especially those who are not the state of the international players and the impact of foreign aid is clear. Prolonged inability to have official games to ensure that the teams can only through the warm-up games to find ways to adjust themselves, which will also be based on the epidemic prevention and control situation to the organization, if the physical condition of the players, athletic condition and psychological condition can not be adjusted, then wait for three months after the league restarted, I am afraid that more or less will still affect the second stage of the game play.
Of course, there are still FA Cup matches organized during this period, but I'm afraid this tournament has become more and more of a chicken rib for the Chinese Super League teams. First of all, by the current epidemic prevention and control impact, the Asian Champions League for the Super League teams has become meaningless, and even almost can be described as a burden, so the attraction of the AFC Cup championship itself has become very little. Secondly, the Super League is still the team's foundation, especially for the championship and relegation has a clear goal for the team, the enthusiasm for the AFC Cup itself is extremely limited, although do not rule out the possibility of letting the main players to look for the state of affairs, but after all, need to take into account the possibility of avoiding injuries and illnesses as much as possible, in this case the main players will be allowed to play for how long or what kind of input! In this case, how long the main players will play or with what degree of commitment to play are question marks, and for this reason the probability is very likely to be used first for the substitutes and young players to train and use.
It is worth mentioning that, in addition to some of the Chinese Super League teams are facing difficulties in survival, in fact, from the beginning of the season before the news about the possibility of certain teams to quit, and now such as unpaid wages and other negative reports are endless, even if some teams can overcome the difficulties to continue to fight in the Chinese Super League, then for the players in the team's mentality is also a huge impact. Of course, this aspect of the problem in the body of the middle and lower reaches of the team, for the title contenders will not happen what substantial impact, but for the relegation army undoubtedly has the potential to pull one hair will affect the whole body, and even said that if the team really can not hold out the end of the season, then there are still teams from the Premier League relegation as well as how to carry out the original promotion and relegation of the additional games may be another story. All in all, what can be confirmed and what can't be confirmed are all adding to the unpredictability of this season's Chinese Super League, and are destined to make this season's Chinese Super League full of unknown variables. (Bao Wenlong)
