On the evening of April 15, Beijing time, in the first round of the 2022 AFC Champions League East Asia Group Stage, Shandong Taishan and Guangzhou from the Chinese Super League played with youth teams with an average age of less than 20 years old, respectively, with a 0-7 loss to Daegu FC and a 0-5 defeat to Johor DT team. Among them, Shandong Taishan's youth army lost by a big score, equaling the record of the biggest defeat in the AFC Champions League of the Chinese Super League team.
Behind this painful answer, the purpose of the Chinese Super League to participate in the highest level of Asian league training teams with youth troops may be difficult to achieve. Here I can't help but ask, if the next big score is still such a big defeat, is it good for the future of these young players?
For well-known reasons, the Chinese Super League has chosen to play mainly with young players in the past three years in the AFC Champions League. If the previous AFC Champions League in 2020 and 2021, the Chinese Super League team can still save some face, then this year's AFC Champions League is difficult for the Chinese Super League team with only two teams left to participate in the AFC Champions League. Look at the teams facing Shandong Taishan and Guangzhou, they are all powerful teams from all over the world, and they all have good foreign aid. In the face of such a strong team, the two youth armies of Shandong Taishan and Guangzhou have exposed many low-level mistakes, such as the goalkeepers of both teams have given big gifts, and the big score defeat is also a real experience of the strength of both sides.
In this way, the name of the training team is actually to pull out seedlings and promote growth. Although the young players of these two teams have a certain degree of strength, very few of them can gain a foothold in the Chinese Super League and even in the first team of the professional team. Standing at the highest level of Asian clubs with such mentality and strength, many people must be playing drums in their hearts. If the goal is really to train the team, then at least a certain level of players should be configured to lead this "baby army" to experience the rhythm of the AFC Champions League and really improve their own level. Otherwise, after 90 minutes of muddled nightmares, I'm afraid I'm going to think more about how to lose a few less goals in the next game...
It is unbearable to see, which is the most intuitive idea of many insiders and even fans after watching two games. Then in the next game, we can only hope that the boys of Guangzhou and Shandong Taishan can watch the game video repeatedly, find the reason for the mistake, at least improve themselves personally, and thus improve their overall strength. Otherwise, what awaits them is likely to be an endless fiasco, and the purpose of the training team will only stay in words.
Text/Oitu
Photo: Xinhua News Agency, Weibo
Video editor/Hubei Daily reporter Hu Yuwei