On February 19, Beijing time, although the Guangzhou team has not yet decided to assemble for winter training, they have been particularly lively recently. First, an unexpected salary cut was proposed, reducing the top salary of the first team to 600,000, and then a new team was formed to play in the central championship. Just now, Evergrande, as an investor in the club, made a statement, saying that it would continue to engage in football.
According to the news of reporter Feng Zhen, the Guangzhou team held a club management meeting today. At the meeting, Xu Jiayin clearly stated that Evergrande will continue to unswervingly do a good job in football and adjust the positioning of Guangzhou team to a "cradle platform".
This positioning is also in line with previous reports, guangzhou team will use a large number of young players from football schools in the new season. Previously, the young players in the team have stated that even if the salary cut to 600,000 will not have much impact on them, but will bring them more opportunities to play.
In addition, the club management of the Guangzhou team has also been adjusted, and Wang Yajun, the principal of Evergrande Football School, will serve as the chairman of the club, and Gao Han will serve as the general manager. The intention of this adjustment is to open up the road of talent training from football school to club, so as to open up a new path of self-hematopoietic and virtuous circle of clubs and football schools.
However, for Evergrande's statement, media people generally do not seem to be optimistic. Jia Yanfeng, a reporter of the "Football" newspaper, commented on his personal social account: Evergrande can do its best to contribute, but at least it should respect this market law and legal regulations. Jia Yanfeng's target is naturally the Guangzhou team's previous salary reduction plan of only 600,000 yuan.
Liu Wenchao, a reporter from the Oriental Sports Daily, also has a similar view, saying that the Guangzhou team should respect the laws of football and abide by the fundamental laws. Shen Wei, a reporter from Tianjin Daily, was somewhat surprised by Evergrande's statement, saying that he was a bit shocked after confirming that the news was now. Blogger @Bullsanball expressed concern, saying it would depend on how long the road would take.
For the matter of positioning the Guangzhou team as a cradle platform, it is necessary to worry. Although some players from the football school performed well last season, this is not enough to prove that the football school players are already capable of carrying the banner of Guangzhou. Moreover, the current Evergrande Football School is facing the problem of excellent players leaving.
According to The Sports Weekly reporter Wang Xiaorui, 3 U19 national youth players from Evergrande Football School have trained with the new club, and also taken away 2 U20 players, including the active national youth captain.
A sharp salary cut led to the departure of last season's main players, plus the elite players of the football school were also poached by other clubs. The "loss" that Guangzhou faces is much more than just a few naturalized players missing the second stage of the league last season.
Although Guangzhou still showed some competitiveness in the second stage of the competition last season, if they really follow this new idea in the new season, then they will only face one result, becoming the "point boys" of the new season and facing relegation after the end of the season. If there is no normal reinforcement work, then it is possible to be relegated to the middle B or even the middle crown.
In addition, contrary to Evergrande's statement that it will continue to engage in football, the operation of the women's football team in Guangzhou has stagnated. Sports blogger @Gangster Ming previously revealed that the Guangzhou women's football team could not solve the problem of funds, the guangzhou women's football team with stagnant operation had to miss the national women's football championship held this year, and Zhang Linyan, the captain of the Guangzhou women's football team who had previously made contributions in the women's Asian Cup, also submitted a withdrawal application.
It is really puzzling to form a team to let football school players play in the championship, but on the other hand, in the context of the Chinese women's football team winning the Asian Cup, it is really puzzling to ignore the club women's football team.
If Evergrande wants to continue to engage in football, it should do it well, rather than shouting slogans one after another. It would be sad if this Guangzhou team were relegated and disappeared from the top league of Chinese football, and even more sadly, the result was almost inevitable.