The growth of Chinese domestic football continues to generate headlines around the world, but despite the great spending, immediate success on the continent hasn’t been forthcoming. Shanghai Shenhua’s home defeat to Brisbane Roar in the AFC Champions League playoffs illustrated that patience will be needed if the Chinese Super League is one day going to dominate the regional, continental and eventually global domestic scene.
With the big money signings comes the inevitable frustration, envy and resentment from those around you. It’s hard to find a league or at least top team in East Asia that hasn’t been negatively impacted in a transfer sense by the growth in expenditure. This alongside the seemingly astronomical salaries on offer that football fans rarely take to, when Shenhua lined up to face Brisbane last week, they had little in the way of neutral support rooting for their progression.
While they created a number of promising openings, Shenhua were wortherly vanquished by their underdog opponents, who crucially had a team shape, a well worked gameplan and the much needed unity to take on a newly assembled, disjointed setup. The same pitfalls of assembling a side in such a small time period were felt by fellow CSL club Jiangsu Suning last term, crashing out at the group stage despite the high profile signings of Alex Texieria and Ramires over the preceding winter. The good thing in terms of longevity (something that has often been questioned when considering the large transfer spending) is that Jiangsu haven't thrown the towel in after their false start in the ACL, prioritising retention of their global talent over another window of transfer chasing this outgoing period.
It’s a plan that is shared by current CSL champions Guangzhou Evergrande, who also fell at the first hurdle in 2016. Headed by Luiz Felipe Scolari, Guangzhou have instead looked to strengthen their core, bringing in ACL winner Kim Hyung-Il from Jeonbuk Motors and domestic left back Zhang Chenglin from Beijing Renhe, rather than splurging on an additional foreign star. A year further down the line, with less impetus put on their imports, rather into their squad depth, both sides look to be stable and in a much better shape to at least better their disappointing showings from last year.
In the other corner however, Shenhua’s city rivals Shanghai SIPG have taken the completely opposite approach, despite making it through to the quarter finals in 2016. SIPG have been the most high profile spenders in the window having bought in on paper some of the best talents to be seen in the whole of Asia. In addition to their already bulging attacking lineup of Hulk, Elkeson and Wu Lei, SIPG have acquired another Brazilian international in attacking midfielder Oscar from Chelsea alongside one of the finest Asian midfielders available in Uzbek international Odil Akhmedov from Krasnodar. Coupled with the addition of Andre Villas-Boas in the dugout, SIPG look the team (at least in terms of personnel) to beat, but as was the case with Jiangsu last year and Shenhua already this, nothing is ever won on paper.
Outside the Chinese assault on the title, the contenders in the East will likely come from the usual suspects. With last year’s champions Jeonbuk Motors having been disqualified from this year’s edition for match manipulation, reigning K-League champions FC Seoul will be many’s favourites to challenge their rich Chinese neighbours. They’ll have to do this however without the ACL’s top scorer from last year Adriano, who himself was tempted to China (all be it the second tier). They’ve replaced him with another Brazilian in Maurinho, a support striker rather than an out and out goal poacher, tasked to assist Dejan Damjanovic in attack, where the Korean capital club impressed greatly in last year’s run to the semi-finals.
Elsewhere, J-League champions Kashima Antlers, who pushed Real Madrid to extra-time at the Club World Cup in December will thusly be highly fancied, yet they’re another to have lost their ace in the pack, with Japanese international Gaku Shibasaki moving to Spain over the winter break. Gamba Osaka, who usually progress well continentally alongside the best squad in Japan on paper Urawa Red Diamonds are two others who have the capabilities to compete at the sharp end of the year. It'll however be a case of balance; with J-League clubs previously either buckling under the pressure of a cluttered schedule, or choosing to prioritise their domestic ambitions over a lengthy continental assault.
One name that won't be muted about in terms of title contention is that of Hong Kong’s Eastern, yet their presence in the group stage remains highly anticipated in the run up to kickoff due to it’s historic significance. Eastern are the first side from Hong Kong to compete in the group stage of the Champions League and will do so under the stewardship of the first female manager to clinch a domestic title in Chan Yuen-Ting.
The odds are stacked against them, emphasised by their opening week’s schedule pitting them away against former champions Guangzhou, however there is a glimmer of hope that all is not lost, given the last year has seen immense improvement from Hong Kong football in general. Two goalless draws with neighbours China in World Cup qualification illustrates the standard in which their home players are now competing at, while Eastern were so nearly joined by domestic rivals Kitchee who only lost out on penalties in last week’s playoff with Ulsan Hyundai. Eastern’s progress in the coming months will be undoubtedly keenly observed across the continent, to see if any nation can truly break the top table dominance in East Asia.
Similarly modest ambitions will be plotted by Muangthong United. The difference with this side compared to those who have come from Thailand before them, the most recent example being Buriram United who were continually on the wrong end of heavy defeats, is that last year’s Premier League champions are in a much better place personnel wise. Not only do they possess some reputable overseas talent, but their home contingent are arguably in the best shape of their careers. Much of the starting lineup have been part of Thailand’s successful national team picture over the last 12 months which included a draw against Australia in World Cup qualification and a Suzuki Cup victory in December.
With these two sides coming into the campaign with little being expected of them, the same can’t be said of those coming from the Southern hemisphere in Australia. Given their league schedule, (running from October through to May, opposed to year long) and the highly competitive nature of the A-League, Australian teams have often lacked consistency going into the Champions League and it looks to be the case again this year. Champions Adelaide United, seem a million miles away from the side that won the title 9 months ago, currently propping up the league table, while fellow Grand Finalists Western Sydney Wanderers are going through a tough time themselves, failing to win at their newly adopted home this campaign leading to growing pressure on the once fancied Tony Popovic.
Momentum is a key aspect to assess when considering any team’s chances to progress past the group stages in the Champions League, with much already being affixed to those in the middle of their seasons like the Australians, that they must grasp their advantage over those in the East who are still in pre-season training. If the playoffs were anything to go by, the group stage itself could provide some real upsets, with more than one neutral hoping the likes of big spending Shanghai SIPG don’t have it all their own way. How luck would have it they travel to many people’s tip for the title Seoul for their opening fixture this coming week; the important matches start early in the East.
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