With stars such as Paulinho and Augusto leaving one after another, and marquee players such as Arnautovic and Bakambu struggling, the number of foreign aiders in the Chinese Super League has plummeted, with few teams barely able to maintain their five foreign aiders. Many teams are facing salary arrears and operational difficulties, and the tight schedule, with a game every two days and nine rounds of matches completed in 26 days, are factors that have greatly diminished expectations for the Chinese Super League by the start of the sixth round of the tournament. Some fans have already been lost, and the remaining ones have no hope for the quality of the matches in the Chinese Super League, saying, "As long as the international players don't get injured, it's a blessing", and have no expectation for the Chinese Super League to reproduce the classic matches of the past years, when the powerful teams faced off against each other.
However, the Guangzhou Derby on the night of the 24th has awakened people's memories of the super-high quality matches in China. The whole game was tightly paced, intense confrontation, pleasing offensive coordination, wonderful goals and passionate naturalized players, tactical adjustments by the two coaches showed wisdom, and the 101-minute game was fast and furious, and the excitement far exceeded the 3-3 score. There were also goals at the reading time, which was unbelievable. Although Guangzhou is no longer the luxurious eight-champion team, and Guangzhou City has replaced 10 people, starting with only one foreigner, with Guilherme's substitutes coming in later, the two teams still played one of the most exciting duels since the start of this stage of the league. Without powerful foreigners, both teams relied on overall tactics, showing that the Chinese Super League still has the potential to play at a higher level.
In fact, before the Guangzhou derby, there were already teams showing quality tactics. Due to the business crisis, Hebei only had three foreigners with the team in the tournament, but their ground game and offense coordination impressed the fans. In the seven rounds of league matches they have completed, they have won three, drawn two and lost two, with both losses coming on penalties. River head coach Kim Jong-oh said, "Our biggest highlight was the smooth arrangement of the offense, unfortunately we lacked a striker." It was entirely possible for the Riverhounds to have a better result due to the final moments when senior center Malcolm Malcolm left the team due to unpaid wages. Despite the partial payment of back wages, Hebei is still the team with the worst existential crisis in the Chinese Super League right now. Due to the slow progress of the shareholding reform, they even had the possibility to withdraw from the competition. Yet they have played their best and are still among the league's title contenders. The reason is that in every minute of the Chinese Super League matches, they give their best and faithfully execute the tactical arrangements of the coaches. It is not an exaggeration to say that Hebei is now the most watchable team in the Chinese Super League.
Both the Guangzhou derby and the Hebei match proved that, despite the many practical dilemmas and the fact that the ecology of the Chinese Super League has been turned upside down from the previous era of gold-dollar soccer, we are still capable of pursuing high-quality competitions, we can still pursue more aesthetically pleasing tactical matches, and we can even expect more from our local players.
It is worth noting that there are three other top matchups to look forward to this coming week. They are the match between Guangzhou and Shandong Taishan on the 27th, the match between Beijing Guoan and Shanghai Harbor on the 28th, and the Shanghai Derby on the 31st.
Taishan and Guangzhou are the top two teams in Guangzhou respectively. Taishan shut out Guangzhou in the first round against them with Fellaini's goal, but Guangzhou's offense has opened up after the start of the second stage. In the three league rounds from the sixth to the eighth rounds, both teams won two and drew one, but Guangzhou scored 12 goals, showing a horrible attacking power. With three points separating the two teams on the table, the competition and chase will make this a very exciting contest. The match between Beijing Guoan and Shanghai Seaport has also been the highlight of the Chinese Super League in past seasons. If not for the rescheduling of the eighth round of the Chinese Super League match in Suzhou due to a typhoon, Beijing Guoan would have had to play Shanghai Shenhua with a full complement of five foreign aiders before touching Shanghai Seaport, and I am afraid that it would have been difficult to have a chance to win. But the rescheduled match gives Guoan a good breathing space and adjustment, as long as the rest in place, the same two foreign aid teams, there will be a comparable game. Knowing that Guoan is already in the relegation zone in Suzhou, this match is the best time for them to get back to the championship zone. Finally, the Shanghai Derby is never short of classic matches, and now the two teams are only separated by one point. Shanghai Shenhua, who have five foreign aiders in the team and have been in good condition recently, will face Wuhan on the 28th, and their consumption will definitely be less than that of Shanghai Seaport, who will face Beijing Guoan. This time the Shanghai Derby, should be able to play than the Guangzhou Derby more exciting duel, 1-1 obviously can not satisfy the fans.
Refuse to suck, we can do better! It shouldn't be just a slogan; after all, we have no choice but to pull ourselves up by our bootstraps. Self-exile in a quagmire can only lead us deeper and deeper into the league and beyond.
