Hangzhou Greentown's relegation last season was indeed a blow to those who shouted that "youth training can save Chinese football".

The club, which had as many as 10 players in the national youth team at the peak of its history, was finally relegated at the end of the season because it was reluctant to invest in the first team, and what awaited them was only the poaching of the quality players in the team.

This is not only a kind of irony for Chinese football, which has been shouting about the need for youth training. Similarly, it is also announced that the youth training of all Chinese Super League teams is not a "gold medal for avoiding death".

It can't be said that because Greentown has engaged in youth training, it can't be relegated, but the case of Greentown's relegation is really worth studying. A club run on a small budget can only survive by selling people, and it is understandable that it finally chose to stick to the path of youth training. But when opponents are increasing investment and their competitiveness in the Super League is extremely declining, whether to continue to hold on or turn the ship around immediately is a difficult problem for anyone to give an accurate answer.

Last season's Longteng team relied on a stronger bench and had the last laugh on the battlefield of the protracted battle of the league, but in a cup competition like the AFC Champions League, it is not an exaggeration to say that the Longteng team lost not to Guangzhou Evergrande, but to Guangzhou Evergrande's three foreign aids.

A veteran of the sports front like Zhang Zhijun can see the trick at a glance, so in order to ensure the competitiveness of the club and avoid a situation similar to Hangzhou Greentown - not relegation, but losing the championship - he proposed that buying strong foreign aid is an old-fashioned practice.

"I'm still holding my point, Dad. Zhang Sheng was very sincere, "It is important to have top foreign aid in the Chinese Super League, but a stable and thick lineup and correct tactics are the key to the final victory." This year, our three foreign players are all in the attacking line, and the midfield and backfield are the top teams in the country and even in the whole of Asia, so the league should not be a problem. ”

"If you're not at ease, I"

Before Zhang Sheng finished speaking, Zhang Zhijun shook his head helplessly and stopped, "Is it another military order?"

"Dad. You have been at the helm of the group for so many years, and it is said that the experience of managing and running the company is definitely several notches higher than mine, but do you think the current Chinese Football Professional League is in a healthy state?" Zhang Sheng asked his own question.

As an industry insider, Zhang Sheng introduced the introduction of foreign aid from domestic capital in recent years and the crazy acquisition of football clubs overseas, and roughly introduced Zhang Zhijun "China has always liked overkill. Football was disliked like stinking shit before, but now it's fragrant again. I know the group has benefited a lot from football over the years, but I would say that this is not a sustainable model. ”

Zhang Sheng is indeed not wrong, since the Longteng Club entered the Chinese Super League, the Longteng Group has relied on the reputation of the club to stage a commercial miracle. Although there are twists and turns along the way, Longteng Group has developed from a local real estate developer to a national large group across real estate, sports and education industries, and frequently acquires land in Beijing, Shanghai, Guangzhou and Shenzhen, and football plays a role in this that cannot be underestimated.

At that time, Zhang Zhijun was still suppressed by Zhuo'er's Yan Zhi in Hubei Province, and now the wealth of the two is no longer on the same level.

In October 2016, Zhang Zhijun, as the CEO of Longteng Group, ranked 16th in the Forbes 2016 list of China's richest people, with personal assets of $6.9 billion, and the development of Longteng Group is still in the fast lane.

With the current capital of Longteng Group, the continuous annual investment of about 500 million yuan in the club is simply fun, but Zhang Sheng knows that this situation will do more harm than good to Chinese football.

How the bubble of domestic real estate has risen, the bubble of the domestic football market is even worse.

The capital can pat his ass and leave at that time, but the football market is definitely a chicken feather, or even directly into the abyss, which is by no means what Zhang Sheng wants to see, but now he has a feeling of being a mantis arm as a car.

What Zhang Sheng doesn't know is that in real history, the Chinese Football Association, under the leadership of the state, launched the financial supervision regulations for professional clubs of the Chinese Football Association in 2019, and the core idea of this regulation is very simple, which is to cool down overheated capital.

The specific content of the implementation is the four caps - "capital cap", "salary cap", "bonus cap" and "transfer cap", from the club to the player to reduce the operating costs of professional football clubs in an all-round way.

"Maybe I'm a little conservative with my cautious approach now, but I believe that in the football market after that, it will be the mainstream. Zhang Sheng gave his own conclusions.

After thinking for a while, Zhang Zhijun sighed softly, "I know that you are a person with your own ideas, but the team's results must be guaranteed, if the club does not have a championship at the end of the season, the group will increase investment." ”

This pre-season family meeting was again followed by Zhang Sheng's insistence, and the club failed to increase the first-team input.

Zhang Sheng can insist on his own point of view so much, in addition to his very advanced European overall tactics, the main confidence comes from a group of players who can realize his complex tactics.

Although there are no players with an ability value of more than 120 in the team compared to last season, the growth of the overall strength has made the team more balanced.

Three foreign aids, Chavez came to his peak value of 112/112, De Paul's absolute main polish for a season, the growth of 108/117 shows that in the Chinese Super League, foreign players still have an environment for growth, and Fernando 94/105 (?) in the transition period of playing proves that the Chinese Super League can thoroughly improve the potential of players, whether you are a local player or a foreign aid.

Rockgill's departure has left the team with one less player over 100 and above, but Nie Jiang's current 100/120 performance has pulled that number back.

Maybe after this season, the small pond of the Chinese Super League will not be able to accommodate Nie Jiang.

Compared with the main force on the field last season, the current Longteng team has been slightly weakened, on the back line, although Ma Yongli is still 83/83, and Liming has increased to 83/89, but Du Zhenyu's departure, the three central defenders are finally no longer all 80 or more players, but Lu Zhihui's level of 78/78 is still trustworthy, especially as the oldest and oldest player in the team, and the captain of the team, he makes people feel extra relieved on the field.

After Nie Jiang broke through to 100 and left 90 strata. Among the local players, Tao Wentao took over this position, and his 90/90 attribute is really rare among domestic players.

In the midfield position, after Rockgill left, Qi Ming took over the responsibility of connecting the front and back fields with an unstoppable momentum, and its 86/120 attribute value, super rapid growth, made countless people look sideways, and foreign clubs' inquiries about him were about to fill the club's drawers.

In addition to these players, after the winter training, there is another player whose ability value has exceeded 80, and that is Xiang Tiange, 80/82 is the reward for his absolute main force last season.

Coupled with the 78/78 Ni Kai who was given a heavy responsibility by Zhang Sheng this season, and the 78/78 Huang Dawei who has been playing steadily in the goalkeeper position, this lineup is basically the main lineup of the Longteng team this season.

However, in the rotation lineup, this season's Longteng team is stronger than last season in terms of players' ability and potential. Including Xiang Tiange with an ability value of more than 80, like Huang He of 77/92, Zhang Hao of 77/77, Cao Jinghao of 76/88, Shen Jun of 76/88, Zeng Fanfang of 75/85, Tang Jin of 74/88, Qu Wenming of 73/78, these substitute players, in other Chinese Super League teams, it is absolutely no problem to play the main team.

In addition, people like Peng Langjun in 68/120, Tian Qijie in 68/120, and Wang Xing in 66/91 can also play their role as substitutes when the team is short of manpower, or when playing the FA Cup.

The only thing that worries Zhang Sheng may be the substitute goalkeeper Jiang Mingming with an ability value of 70, the two central defenders with an ability value of just over 60 Lu Yangyang who substituted 65/95, and Chen Yinuo who is 62/130.

In the two positions of goalkeeper and central defender, the ability value of the substitute is still very important, and once someone is injured, Zhang Sheng will have a headache.

In addition to these players, people like Wu Qingmin, Gong Yuzhe, Ahmat Maimat, and Gao Yiyan were all loaned out.

In view of the performance of the previous Longteng team players in the loan team, these absolute main forces of the national youth and national youth have become the sweet and sweet spots that the Chinese A and Chinese B teams compete for, and the Western Xinjiang Tianshan Snow Leopard, which has always had a good relationship with the Longteng team, loaned Ahmat Maimaiti to the past, ready to let the 17-year-old boy play the main force; Wu Qingmin and Gong Yuzhe went to Qingdao Huanghai, which played very similar to the previous tactics of the Longteng team, and Gao Yiyan went to Sichuan Annapur, which was determined to rush to the first class.

So far, after drawing a few players from last season's reserve team into a 27-man squad, this season's Longteng team has finally completed the deployment of personnel.

On February 21, the Longteng team began its journey this season, and the AFC Champions League group officially began.

In this season's AFC Champions League, the Dragons are in a group with Kashima Antlers in the Japanese J League, Ulsan Hyundai in the South Korean K-League, and Mongthong United in the Thai Super League, which is a good sign for the Dragons.

Although Montton United beat Buriram and a number of strong rivals to win the championship last season, and is now unbeaten in the league (the Thai Super League is New Year's Eve), but during the winter transfer period, Monttone United's leading scorer, Brazilian striker Clayton transferred to Shanghai Shenxin, the scorer was the biggest contributor to Monttone United's Thai Super League championship last season, and his departure had a certain impact on the team's attacking line, as evidenced by the fact that the number of goals this season is not as good as last season.

Ulsan Hyundai was lucky to catch the last train to the AFC Champions League as the fourth place in the K League after Jeonbuk Hyundai was punished by the AFC for bribing referees and disqualified from the AFC this season.

The only thing that can make the Dragons wary is the Kashima Antlers, although they won the AFC Champions League in history, after easily eliminating the Copa Libertadores 3:0 in the Club World Cup, Real Madrid almost capsized in the Club World Cup final, which gave them the reputation of "Asian Barcelona", Kashima Antlers were eliminated in the middle of last season, but the strength of the team and the thickness of the bench are still very good.

In the pre-season AFC Champions League prediction, the Dragons and Kashima Antlers have basically booked the right to qualify for Group E, and the suspense is only who can win the first place in the group.

In actual competitions, the same is true.

The Longteng team at home relied on strong pressing, and easily led Mengtong United 2:0 in the first half, and Nie Jiang completed his first hat trick in the AFC Champions League in the second half, plus Chavez's goal, the Longteng team easily swept the Thai champion team 4:0 at home.

The commentator's summary of the game is that "this is not a team game at the same level, whether it is the individual ability of the players or the overall tactics of the team, the gap is too big." The Dragons, who missed out on reaching the AFC Champions League final last season, told all Asian clubs through this game that we are back. ”

A week later, the away side won the AFC Champions League again, this time beating the home side 1-3 in an away game against Ulsan Hyundai.

Before the race, Ulsan Hyundai's hopes were dashed.

Ulsan Hyundai, which has the same name as Jeonbuk Hyundai, is actually quite far behind Jeonbuk Hyundai. The former is owned by Hyundai Motor Group, the most powerful of the Hyundai Group, and Ulsan is owned by Hyundai Group (in addition to Hyundai Hyundai, which is owned by Hyundai Group's construction subsidiary in the K2 League), and the latter's investment is much worse than the former.

After entering the AFC Champions League by luck, the club hurriedly bought foreign aid, although it quickly bought striker Charles from Vienna, Austria, bought Australian midfielder Peteras from the Brisbane Roar of the Australian Super League, and bought Orsic of Changchun Yatai, so that he could "enter the palace" and return to the K League, but such temporary reinforcements made the team's run-in not smooth.

Especially this season, the replacement of the head coach of Ulsan Hyundai, the resignation of Yoon Jinghuan, who coached the team, and the arrival of new head coach Kim Do-hoon, this arrogant coach highly admires "wolf football", and wants to change the tactics of defending and counterattacking under the command of Yoon Jinghuan, focusing on offense and increasing pressure and aggression is his purpose.

Kim Do-hoon said before the game: "It was said that we were lucky to enter the AFC Champions League, and tonight we will prove that we are an AFC Champions League team." ”

I don't know where he got the courage to lose 0:2 to Kashima Antlers in the first round, and the 1:3 score of the Longteng team made him sober up again.

After Kashima Antlers was defeated by Mengtong United 2:1 in this round, the Longteng team has taken a step ahead in the group, and it will be difficult for the teams behind to catch up with such an AFC Champions League "nail household" to lead the way.

Longteng team in the group, other Chinese Super League teams have also shown excellent competitive form, the defending champion Guangzhou Evergrande consecutive 7:0, 3:0 swept the Oriental team and last season's knockout opponent Shuiyuan Samsung, as if this season's AFC Champions League has been certain, Jiangsu Suning also won two small wins and steadily got 6 points, these three teams have won the first place in the group.

Compared to these three teams, Shanghai SIPG won two in a row, including an away win over K-League seeded Seoul FC, but finished second in the group due to goal difference, which became the worst result.

When some fans complained in the forum that Shanghai SIPG had dragged the Chinese Super League back, someone replied, "There are still people who are not satisfied with such results, think about the AFC Champions League a few years ago." In the end, the fans of the Chinese Super League have floated, or the teams in other leagues have not been able to lift the knife. ”

"Now if you dare to stab in front of the Chinese Super League team, it will really become a big knife in front of Guan Gong. ”

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