China Super League (soccer league)
What is the power on which the battle for supremacy rests? If we look back to the past, many people may immediately associate it with the magical role of super foreign aid, however, today in 2021, such a judgment no longer seems accurate. In today's Chinese Super League, not only has the caliber of foreign aid declined, but the number of foreign aiders has even plummeted in the second phase. It is no longer realistic to dominate the title race with the power of foreign aid alone. In the future, the performance of Chinese players and the tactical adjustments of the head coach will play a crucial role in the championship.
There is no denying that in the past ten years of the Chinese Super League, the key to deciding the winner often lies in the caliber of foreign aid. Since Guangzhou Evergrande brought in Konka for 10 million dollars, they have maintained the highest level of foreign aid import in the Chinese Super League, which is also an important reason why they have been able to win 8 league titles.
In 2018, Paulinho returned at the halfway point, and Shanghai SIPG managed to win the title thanks to the excellent play of superb foreigners such as Oscar and Hulk, as well as super scorer Wu Lei. The now-defunct Jiangsu Suning was able to win the title in 2020, and in addition to the change in the tournament system, the team's foreigners at the time - Eder, Teixeira, Vaccaro, Miranda, and Santini - were strong and in top form, which was a key factor in the championship.
However, with the successive departures of big-name foreign aiders and the inability of many of them to enter the country for the 2021 season of the Chinese Super League, the decisive role of foreign aiders in the ownership of the title has been greatly diminished.
As of July 14, there are only five teams with five foreigners in the top 16 of the Chinese Super League: Shanghai Shenhua (Moreno, Adrian, Jonic, Bassogogo, Kim Shin-wook); Shenzhen (Caldecott, Achimphon, Quintero, Vakasso, Praliganji); Wuhan (Evra, Baptiste Don, Cariso, Anderson Lopez, Akin); Cangzhou Lions (Suzou, Mouriqi, Sangol, Oscar, Ahmedov); Changchun Yatai (Eric, Junior, Serginho, Okore, Bifuma), with Ahmedov still in quarantine and Bifuma on a pending signing status.
There are 3 teams with 4 foreign aiders, namely Guangzhou City (Dembele, Guilherme, Caldona, Thiago); Guangzhou (Fernando, Luo Guofu, Alan, Gaolat); Henan Songshan Longmen (Dorado, Karanga, Shunyiqi, Toure), of which Guangzhou are all naturalized players registered as foreign aiders, Fernando is recuperating from an injury, and Toure on the Henan side has not yet recovered. In the second phase of the Chinese Super League, these two teams actually have only three foreign aiders.
The rest of the teams, the foreign aid situation varies, Shandong Taishan, Beijing Guoan, Qingdao and Chongqing Liangjiang Athletic, in the team are three foreign aid, but only Shandong Taishan's trio of Fellaini, Leonardo, Sun Junhao name, if Ulvestad ultimately fails to enter the tournament, Qingdao is left with only two foreign aid Alessandrini and Radonic.
Beijing Guoan looks to have Biela, Baccambu and Lucas Sousa in the team, but with Biela injured and coming back in August, he'll be lucky to make it to the end of the second phase, which is effectively still two foreigners; Chongqing Liangjiang Athletic has Fernandinho, Bolaños and Tursunov, but with nine months of unpaid wages, it's not clear if the foreigners will want to be in the division.
The remaining four teams, all are two foreign aid, Hebei team originally had Sernas, Memishevich, Malcolm, small Paulinho has been training with the team, but also because of the problem of unpaid wages, "Paul Ma" did not enter the race, I do not know whether it can make a difference; and seaport because of the Arnautovic, Mui to participate in the national team games have not returned, Maisto Rovic is still recovering from injury, the second phase of the Chinese Super League only left Oscar and Ricardo Lopez two people to play; Dalian is Danielson plus Boateng two people, Tianjin Jinmen Tiger is still Kadar plus Iroquois, rumored to be supplemented by foreign aid, is still in the "air flying".
Comparatively speaking, teams with five foreign aiders have more advantages in the championship, but with the obvious decline in the strength of foreign aiders, their contribution to the team can hardly play a decisive role. Moreover, with such an intensive schedule, how to avoid player injuries has become a top priority, which tests the head coach's ability to make tactical adjustments.
"It's very difficult to play 10 games in 28 days and it's very important to rotate between players and to get the timing of the rotations right. You will see that we make many rotations, not that we don't pay attention to the results of the matches, but it is sometimes more important to rotate while keeping the players healthy. I believe that the coaches of all the teams are not ready for this, especially the eight teams in the Guangzhou tournament. Recovery after each of the next matches is important, it's difficult to recover quickly in Guangzhou with the temperature and humidity." Cannavaro has already made a statement about rotating his lineup, and even with Shanghai Shenhua, who have five foreign players, I believe Cui Kangxi will not stop rotating his lineup.
It is foreseeable that under the intensive schedule of one round in three days in the second stage, the all-Chinese classes will keep appearing and the competition for local players will be extremely fierce.
