On June 3, the 2022 season of the Chinese Super League officially kicked off, and it will be staged in the three divisions of Dalian, Haikou and Meizhou. This year is the first year for the Chinese Super League to expand its army to 18 teams. Under the background of the epidemic and the economy, the Chinese Super League has also undergone great changes. Sports Weekly & Sports Plus will unveil the mystery of the 18 Chinese Super League teams one following another.
Sports Weekly All-media reporter Ye Hui reported from Guangzhou
In the past 2021, the Guangzhou team experienced the most difficult year in team history. Due to the financial crisis of Evergrande Group, the unprecedented salary arrears of the whole club, the dispatch of youth troops to play due to the new crown epidemic led to the defeat of the AFC Champions League, and foreign teachers and foreign aids have successively terminated their contracts and left the team… In this season of four empty seasons, the Guangzhou team finally won the third place in the league. After his return to the Chinese Super League, he ended the impressive record of maintaining a 10-year consecutive championship in the Chinese Super League. There is no most difficult, only more difficult. The Guangzhou team, which is regarding to embark on the journey of the 2022 season, will face more and more severe difficulties.
The achievements of the three generations of the old, middle and young are almost gone
Following a friendly breakup with the Italian coaching team headed by Cannavaro in September last year, the Guangzhou team officially announced at the beginning of this year that Alan, Luo Guofu, Exxon, Fernando and Goulart were all five Brazilian naturalized players. Terminate the contract and leave the team. In the transfer window of the Chinese Super League, which was closed at the end of April, the Guangzhou team, which had been in arrears for a long time, became a “free supermarket” for other Chinese Super League opponents to share. Zhang Linpeng moved to Shanghai Seaport, Liao Lisheng went north to Shandong Taishan, Gao Zhunyi, He Chao, Liu Dianzuo, Deng Hanwen, Liu Yiming joined the newly promoted Wuhan Sanzhen, Zhong Yihao, Liu Weiguo and others also decided to leave the team to seek better development. Most of them were able to leave as freelancers on the premise of giving up part of their back wages. In addition, three veterans, Zheng Zhi, Huang Bowen and Mei Fang, decided to hang up their boots and no longer renew their contracts with the Guangzhou team. So far, the three generations of the old, middle and young who have propped up the Guangzhou team’s dynasty in the past ten years have almost all gone, replaced by a 35-man lineup with an average age of only 20.7 years old, setting the record for the youngest team in the Super League.
The reality is so cruel. After the club’s share reform plan failed to pass, the Guangzhou team accepted the management plan of the investor Evergrande Group and adopted the route of low-cost operation. It is once morest this background that the team can only increase its efforts to complete personnel replenishment through internal potential exploration. , promoted new players from the echelon and Evergrande Football School.
Among the Guangzhou team players who signed up for the Super League in the first half, the eldest was 28-year-old naturalized central defender Jiang Guangtai, followed by 27-year-old Wei Shihao, 25-year-old Yang Liyu, Liu Shibo and Li Yang (from Portugal). The return of Gondomar is the team’s only signing in the new season) and 24-year-old Yan Dinghao. These “old players” will also play the role of the team’s big brother in the Chinese Super League this season. In addition, including Ling Jie, Hou Yu, and Wang Shilong, who had emerged last season, as many as 29 players in the first team came from the Evergrande Football School, and there were 24 post-00 players, including those born in May 2005. Defender Wei Suowei is the youngest registered player in the team.
It is worth mentioning that even if it is impossible to sign more foreign aid or domestic aid to enhance its strength, the Guangzhou team still has certain variables following the opening of the second transfer window. For example, Zhang Xiuwei and Li Xuepeng, whose contracts have not expired, have still not left the team, but they have not accepted the club’s request to re-sign the new contract plan, so they did not appear on the team’s Chinese Super League registration list. The Chinese Super League before the opening of the second transfer window. On the other hand, the Guangzhou team players who went to Malaysia to compete in the AFC Champions League might not catch up with the first two stages of the Chinese Super League due to reasons such as schedules and epidemic prevention requirements. The fastest time is to wait until the second transfer window opens in August before making a supplementary report.
‘Bad boy’ takes over as captain
Zheng Zhi, Huang Bowen, Zhang Linpeng and other veterans may retire or leave, who will take over the armband of the Guangzhou team captain? In the many warm-up games during the preparations for the new season, Wei Shihao, the core of the team’s offense, took on this important task. After Cannavaro’s beating and training in the past three seasons, the progress of the former “bad boy” on the court is obvious to all, and his mentality has become more and more mature. Putting the captain’s armband into his hands, in addition to affirming his personal ability, it is also out of making him bear more responsibilities, giving him a “tightening spell”, so that he can better play the old players in this young team The role of the belt. In addition to Wei Shihao, the new “team committee” of the Guangzhou team also includes Yan Dinghao and Liu Shibo, two team vice-presidents. In any case, from the club to the team’s coaching staff, this new trio has high expectations. After all, Wei Shihao and Yan Dinghao are both international players who have been baptized in international competitions. This season, Liu Shibo, who will be the last hurdle for the Guangzhou team, will be guarded. He was also entrusted with an important task because of the particularity of his position on the field. What kind of impact this new trio will bring on and off the court will largely determine the team’s trend in the new season.
In terms of full calculation, the players in this Guangzhou team who have experience in the Chinese Super League are the number of starting lineups. Even if they have experience in the Chinese League, the FA Cup and the AFC Champions League, the total number is only regarding 20. Regardless of the true level of these young players who occupy most of the Guangzhou team’s first-team lineup, it is certain that lack of game experience will become the fatal spot for this young team, and it is also insurmountable between Guangzhou team and other Chinese Super League opponents. The gap, this gap cannot be made up simply through one or two games or one stage of the game. I am afraid that it will have to pay a high tuition fee. For two consecutive years, the youth team played in the AFC Champions League and won 12 consecutive defeats. This is the best example and lesson. . Last year, he led the team through the AFC Champions League group stage and the final stage of the Chinese Super League. Liu Zhiyu, the head coach of the Guangzhou team who has been righted in the new season, of course knows how difficult the upcoming 2022 season will be. “I hope everyone can give the team a little time. , give some chance to make mistakes, following all, many people are playing professional leagues for the first time this year.”
Relegation is the top priority in the next few years
The championship has become a memory. If there are no accidents or miracles, relegation will probably be the top task of this young Guangzhou team in the next few years. The expanded Chinese Super League will have 3 direct relegation places, and there will not be a championship group and a relegation group as in the past two seasons, but the total points of all 34 rounds of the league will be used to arrange seats. How to face this huge psychological gap and pressure burden, from the perennial championship to fighting for relegation, will be a severe test for the young players of the Guangzhou team, and it is also a brand new topic for the coaching staff of the Guangzhou team.
Liu Zhiyu does not shy away from the realistic topic of relegation. He admits that being himself is the most important thing. He cannot always talk regarding relegation, but completes the goal of relegation through game following game. To be yourself, this (relegation) is our goal. Of course, there are higher goals, but there are some players in the team who are playing in the league for the first time, and their performance may be unstable, so our idea is to play a game In a kick, the goal is definitely to avoid relegation, but if you tell the players to avoid relegation every day, everyone may have a kind of pressure. Of course, there is pressure and motivation. This depends on two aspects. I think it is still necessary to have a game. One kick, do one well and then think regarding the next one.”
