Spotlight on youthful figures on the green field
As the U21 League, which was launched by the Football Association this year and is ranked by clubs themselves, is about to kick off, we have noticed that Jiang Shenglong, a star player for Chinese Super League rivals Chongqing, has been listed in the U21 Chongqing squad in a well-compiled list of teams. Similarly, Gao Tianyi, a stalwart of the Beijing Guoan team and an unchallenged U23 starter, is also listed in the U21 Guoan team's roster.
Jiang Shenglong was loaned to Chongqing Liangjiang Athletic from Shanghai Shenhua this season, and became an indispensable mainstay of the team after his eye-catching performance in the first three rounds of the league. Unfortunately, however, Jiang got injured in the warm-up match against Henan in the fourth round and had to miss the following two rounds.
Chongqing's inclusion of Jiang Shenglong in the U21 League roster may be just the thing to allow him to get more involved in the game and make up for the loss of athleticism due to his injury absence.
Gao Tianyi, who transferred to Guoan from Jiangsu, quickly established himself in the new season in the U23 starting position, and was even tasked by coach Bilic to play the whole game in some matches. Guoan's involvement of the overage youngster in the U21 league may also be a consideration to accelerate the development of a new generation of players.
Jiang Shenglong and Gao Tianyi, will undoubtedly show their unique strengths in the U21 league matches, but facing the high intensity of official matches, we have to be careful to avoid injuries that may affect their performance in the Chinese Super League.
