As we all know, the level of Chinese football is limited, but there have also been many "talented" players who have been pinned on high hopes. And the most regrettable of these may be Dong Fangzhuo, I have to say that his starting point is too high, and he joined the European giants Manchester United at the age of 19. At the level of the Chinese men's football team, it is a luxury to enter the World Cup, and to have players log in to the Premier League champion-level team is almost the existence of a jump from the silver squad to directly upgrade the king rank. This couldn't help but make the Chinese people have great expectations for this young general back then.
He signed for Manchester United at the age of 19
Dong Fangzhuo was born in Dalian, the fertile soil of Chinese football, and he had very few appearances in the senior team before his arrival in Europe, so little was known about him at the time. In January 2004, at the age of 19, he was selected by then-Manchester United manager Alex Ferguson, and officially joined the Premier League giants Manchester United for a record value of 3.5 million pounds for a Chinese player. At that time, it seemed that it was normal for a player who had just turned 19 to play less in the domestic senior team, and it was believed that there should be potential to be tapped if he could be favored by the well-informed Lord Fru.
Dong Fangzhuo and Ferguson
Because the Premier League has restrictions on players' labor certifications, Dong Fangzhuo can only be sent to Antwerp in the Belgian second division first. During that time, he scored 18 goals in a single season and won the league top scorer honor, when he was only 21 years old. I don't know if the competitive level of the B League is still high compared with our Chinese Super League, even if it is flat, it should be said that it is not easy for Dong Fangzhuo to achieve such an achievement at this age.
Represented Manchester United
In 2007, Dong Fangzhuo qualified to play in the Premier League and signed a three-year official contract with Manchester United. At that time, Manchester United strikers Ronaldo, Rooney, Saha and other world-class celebrities, Dong Fangzhuo was basically nailed to the bench, and he could only get a small amount of playing time in some painless games or friendly matches. I remember that once in an interview with the media, Rooney talked about Dong Fangzhuo's evaluation of him as "running fast, I can't catch up with him during training".
Dong Fangzhuo in the Dalian Shide period
Dong Fangzhuo, who rarely played at Manchester United, returned to Dalian in 2008, but disappointingly, despite his domestic performance, he still did not perform better. In two seasons of the Chinese Super League, he has made more than 20 appearances in the Dalian team, which is already in the middle of the river, and the important thing is that he is no longer young. After that, he traveled to the national leagues of Poland, Portugal, Armenia and other countries, but did not get the main position. In 2012, at the age of 27, he could only succumb to the domestic Chinese League, and his performance on the field could only be described as mediocre. In the end, at the age of less than 30, he was in a state of no ball to play, and had no choice but to retire.
Throughout Dong Fangzhuo's entire career, it may be more appropriate to describe it as "driving high and walking low". joined the giants at a young age, but suffered from no ball to play, and failed to integrate into the team when he returned to China, and once again embarked on the journey to wander away from the second- and third-rate leagues in Europe, and finally ended his playing career in the Chinese League. His performance and achievements on the pitch are in stark contrast to the expectations placed on him at the beginning. He has made just 13 appearances for the national team, scoring just one goal in competitive competitions, with his only standout performance coming at the 2008 Olympics.
Scored a goal at the 2008 Beijing Olympics
Looking back now, was Dong Fangzhuo really talented? Was he overestimated back then? Let me explain my views below.
Now there are many articles on the Internet saying that what ruined Dong Fangzhuo was an injury in 2008. In order to be able to compete at the 2008 Beijing Olympics, he missed the best time for treatment, which affected his entire career. There is no basis for how much the meniscus and cruciate ligament injuries affect an athlete. I would like to analyze his strengths and weaknesses from the few times I have witnessed his performance on the court, and summarize my own views from his characteristics.
Manchester United faced off against Wayne Rooney in training
First of all, it is necessary to determine that Dong Fangzhuo's athletic talent and physical fitness are strong, and Rooney's evaluation is proof. With a height of 1.85 meters, a speed of about 11 meters in 100 seconds, a strong jump, and a tough body, the editor has seen him force overtaking in the face of European defenders. In terms of physical talent alone, he is not inferior to his first brother in Asia, Sun Xingmin. There is an evaluation of a certain player, "below the head is world-class", in my opinion, it is more appropriate to use it on Dong Fangzhuo. Good physical fitness on the football field is naturally an advantage, but it is definitely not all, otherwise the national football team has already gone up by summoning a group of track and field athletes to form a team.
Dong Fangzhuo's foot skills are relatively rough, and his running awareness on the field is also very poor, as a striker to grab points and score is rarely shown, his goals or breakthroughs to create a threat almost rely on speed, to put it bluntly, it is "hard to eat". Xiaobian has always felt that Xiao Dong's characteristics are somewhat similar to another domestic striker "Li Yi the Great", but his speed seems to be faster. But although Li Yi is also a rough forward, he has the ability to actively run and intercept in the frontcourt, and the ability to head and grab points is also acceptable, otherwise he would not be called a "defensive striker", which can also make him have a place in the national team for a period of time.
In the editor's opinion, Dong Fangzhuo has a good athletic talent, but he does not have much football talent. Football talent is also divided into a lot, not to mention the world-class ones, as far as domestic forwards are concerned, such as Gao Feng's agility and agility, Li Jinyu's sense of grabbing points, Su Maozhen's header kung fu, Yang Chen's frontcourt running and ball, fulcrum role, Da Zhang Yuning's ball control and shooting crosshair. These talents or characteristics, Dong Fangzhuo has a blessing, I am afraid that the height of what he can achieve is far more than that. In my opinion, Dong Fangzhuo is more like "a track and field athlete running on a green field".