On June 23, focusing on the discussion of the Chinese Super League schedule, various media have reported that the Football Association has still not announced the final adjustment plan. Zhao Zhen, a senior media person, provided his insights into the contradictions between the national football tournament and the league organization.
Zhao Zhen pointed out in the article: I think the key to the conflict between the Top 12 and the league lies in two major issues. First, the national epidemic prevention policy is strict, returning teams need to experience 14 + 7 days of isolation, which is almost equivalent to the national team away from home, the league therefore lost three weeks of the tournament.
However, this time when the national team returned, I also noticed that the players still insisted on training in the quarantine zone. Accordingly, if this strategy is adopted, is it then possible to organize the national team players to play closed matches in the quarantine zone, with no spectators but live streaming provided, so that the league can be played in a closed loop? Of course, this would require the joint efforts of all clubs and players.
Another challenge stems from our own perceptions. We have always believed that improved team performance is inextricably linked to more collective training. As a result, our national teams tend to train for far longer periods of time than those of other countries. However, years of facts and successes of various countries have proved that this view is not valid. If the league is suspended during the national team's training period, how can other players maintain their form? Does the national team have to gather all the players on the roster for training? But once the team practices with more than 25 players, training becomes chaotic. Increasing training time at the expense of the league is likely to trigger a vicious cycle that will ultimately result in damage to the league and the national team's inability to achieve good results.
Therefore, I think the ideal solution would be to implement a closed-loop league, while the national team would not have to increase their training time significantly. Making the league as complete as possible would be the most modest expectation for Chinese professional soccer this season.
