‘Horror movie’
Dalian club suffer brutal opener despite cash injection and big-name signings
After Dalian Wanda Group bought a controlling stake in the newly promoted Dalian Yifang FC late last month, the club’s squad were immediately strengthened by new signings. Among the purchases were Atletico Madrid star duo Yannick Carrasco (winger) and Nico Gaitan (midfielder), as well as West Ham United defender Jose Fonte along with several Chinese players.
According to German website Transfermarkt, with the new signings, the total market value of the Chinese Super League (CSL) new boys went from bottom of the 16-team league straight to the top. With a total value of $79.64 million, they’re currently the most valuable soccer club in Asia.
Dalian soccer used to be a dominant force in the 1990s and early 2000s. Dalian Wanda FC, owned by Wanda Group, won four Chinese top-flight titles from 1994 to 1999. After being renamed Dalian Shide FC in 1999 when Wanda Group sold the club to Dalian Shide Group, they won another four league titles before being disbanded in 2012.
Fright night
Now with the cash-rich Wanda Group as owners, Dalian fans have every reason to dream big and have high hopes that the club will one day become a top side in the country. The club even invited thousands of fans to the city’s Wanda cinemas to watch their opening CSL game away at Shanghai SIPG for free last weekend. Little did they know that they would be watching a “horror movie,” as Yifang were thrashed 8-0 by last season’s CSL runners-up. The eight-goal losing margin is a new record in CSL history. Beijing Guoan’s 9-1 victory over Shanghai Shenhua in the Jia-A League – the predecessor of the CSL until 2003 – in 1997 is the all-time record in Chinese soccer. The Dalian Daily called the heavy loss a “tuition fee” that the club had paid for their CSL journey. “As a newly promoted team, losing the first game is not unacceptable,” wrote the paper. “Both the physical requirements and match rhythm are much more demanding than in the second tier. “Yifang were still not used to the rhythm and toughness of the top flight and they were dominated by SIPG throughout the whole game.” The Dalian Evening News agreed, saying a heavy loss in the opening round was not all that bad. “Many problems were exposed through this one match,” the paper opined. “Perhaps we can find solace in the fact that we don’t have to spot the problems game by game.” The paper believed Dalian soccer still has a long way to go before it can once again become a dominant force in China. “What Dalian soccer needs to do right now is to forget our glorious past and get better step by step.”
Coach to blame?
Many fans are not so understanding and are already calling for the head of coach Ma Lin after only one game. Ma himself is no stranger to such a heavy loss, witnessing his Liaoning Whowin side go down 8-1 to Shanghai Shenhua last season. The club dropped to the second-tier League One after finishing at the bottom of the CSL.
In Shanghai last weekend, Ma played Carrasco as a striker in the starting lineup even though the Belgian star has always played as a winger, and also changed his formation twice in the second half. He even put center back Fonte up front alongside Carrasco late in the game, explaining afterward that he wanted to strengthen their offense.
“We have to accept the fact that there’s a big gap between the two teams, but I don’t think the gap is really as big as the scoreline showed,” the coach said.
Titan Sports writer Jin Shansong thinks Ma should not have trialled new tactics in such an important game. “He really has a big heart,” the writer commented.
“Ma Lin is not good enough for a top team, which has already been proven,” wrote one fan on soccer site Dongqiudi. “We have to replace him with a star coach.”
Tough start
Lots of fans are still keeping cool heads despite the heavy loss.
“We just got the three foreign players days before the opening game, and they didn’t even have enough time to get to know their new teammates. There is no way this team could perform well immediately,” said another fan. “We need to be patient with the players and the coach. I believe we will fare well as the season unravels.”
But the fixture schedule might not be on the club’s side, as they will have to face the league’s best teams in the opening rounds.
This weekend, they travel to Guangzhou R&F, who beat defending champions Guangzhou Evergrande in a 5-4 thriller on the opening day of the new season. And in the third round they’ll host another tough team in Beijing Guoan. Starting from the Round 6, they’ll have to take on five of the best sides in the league one by one: Shandong Luneng, Tianjin Quanjian, Shanghai Shenhua, Guangzhou Evergrande and Jiangsu Suning. With the new season just 2 months old, Yifang may already find themselves dead last in the league.
The return to the top of Chinese soccer will not be easy. Their most important task right now is to stop dreaming and find their form as soon as possible. If they can retain top-flight status by avoiding finishing in the last two when the season ends in November, that could be considered enough of a success.