At the end of the trip to Suzhou, the national football team took a short break and immediately went into a new round of preparations. For Li Tie, this period of isolation is a rare opportunity for intensive training. However, for the Chinese Super League, time is running out and the schedule has to be shortened, making the future of the game a mystery.
Last year's season was riddled with questions
The superimposed effects of the epidemic and the World Qualifiers have prevented the league from going ahead as planned from September to November. Before the first round of the 12-team tournament is played on September 2, the national football team needs to gather and prepare for the game in advance. In other words, this year's Chinese Super League only from mid-July to mid-August, as well as the time in December. Even if the league across the year, the longest can only continue to the middle of January next year, because immediately after the national team training period.
A short window of two months is simply not enough to complete 25 rounds of league matches. Therefore, this year's Super League had to be reformed. There are two main options for reform: one is to follow last year's format and complete 20 rounds of matches; the other is to skip the second phase based on this year's three-phase format and play a total of 22 rounds. It was also suggested whether the league could be changed to a single round robin, which could be completed in just 15 rounds.
Last year's format was most unsatisfactory from the point of view of keeping the league competitive. While the first stage was a double round-robin within the group, the second stage was turned into a cup competition. Under this system, some teams only need to win one game to be relegated; others only need to misplay one game to lose their chance to compete for the title.
Although it may seem fair under the same system, there is too much chance for the results to accurately reflect a team's true strength and season performance. Last year, Tianjin Teda finished relegated after winning only one game, and after winning another, they finished 10th in the Chinese Super League, exposing the flaws of the system. With such a precedent, the possibility of the FA continuing with last year's system this year is almost nil.
Simplified league better than cup
A two-stage, 22-round tournament should be the best option. After the 14 rounds of the first stage of the double round robin, the top four of the two groups go into the title contenders' group, the bottom four go into the relegation group, and each team then plays a double round robin against teams they haven't played before, with the final rankings of the top eight and bottom eight based on point totals, respectively. While it can't be as perfect as the 30-round format, a simplified version of the league format is better than the cup format.
The problem is that the 22 rounds of matches are also difficult to schedule. Taking into account the needs of the epidemic prevention work, the first phase of the game must be completed before the start of the 12 strong, wait until December, the Super League directly into the second phase. This means that from mid-July to mid-August, in just one month's time, the remaining nine rounds of the first stage must be completed, and the teams need to play a week of double matches consecutively. With the summer heat, such a high density of matches is a serious test for every team.
It would be a much simpler job if the league was actually changed to a single round robin, which would only take 15 rounds to complete. But doing so would hurt the Chinese Super League too much. Chen Xuyuan said in an interview with Xinhua News Agency, can not sacrifice the league because of the national team, the Football Association is studying three specific programs, but also to consult the views of the clubs, and ultimately form a league program that we generally accepted.
