Home » Opinion » Foreign Views
China Super League faces long road before it can score
By Bivash Mukherjee |
December 23, 2011, Friday
|
Print Edition
Print Edition
COME January, and the fans of Shanghai Shenhua can be forgiven for being sanguine about a very fulfilling New Year. It is not always that their club gives them much reasons to cheer, but they will be hoping that the arrival of Nicolas Anelka, and possibly other star names, will change all that.
It may be too early, although not impossible, to expect immediate results when the season kicks off with a new-found optimism, but the presence of a star, or stars, in their midst should generate enough fodder for headlines and microblogs - hopefully only stuff from the pitch.
While Anelka's signing should justifiably be celebrated - at 32, he is still not past his prime -- -it can in no way be seen as a statement of confidence in the management of the Chinese Super League (CSL). Not just yet though.
The clubs may be stashed with the cash - most of them unaccounted for - but the CSL has also not been able to wipe itself clean from allegations of corruptions and scandals with some of the top bosses already in the dock.
The game itself needs a fresh impetus to make it attractive or even face up to the continent's powerhouses Japan and South Korea, and now Qatar. Only then can it expect to build a national team of some quality and repute, regularly challenging for regional honors.
Right now that seems to be decades away.
The CSL can, however, do well to gain some insight from the Major League Soccer in the United States, rather than blindly ape the hyped English Premier League or other European leagues, if commitment to the game remains its prime objective.
Indeed, one has only to look at the MLS, which lined up Pele, Franz Beckenbauer, Thierry Henry, Robbie Keane, and the biggest star name among them all David Beckham, over the years to shore up the status of American soccer globally. That hasn't quite happened exactly, but they have done enough to generate enthusiasm in their part of the world to win the crowds over.
That may just be the first step for CSL.
Remember also, soccer is seeking a foothold in North America, unlike in China, where the game remains enormously popular despite the scandals and high-profile corruption cases, and winning the crowd back to the stadiums should not be as difficult as in the United States.
Despite that, the Americans have already made nine FIFA World Cup appearances, albeit helped by local demographics, but the role of the Major League Soccer in ensuring that they remain competitive at all levels cannot be disregarded. The country is currently ranked 34 when the FIFA world rankings were released on Wednesday. That is still a climbdown from its April 2006 high of 4th place. China sits way below at 71.
According to the Los Angeles Times, Major League Soccer attendance in the US was up 7 percent to 17,872 per game this year, better than last season's NBA (basketball) and NHL (ice hockey) averages, and falling just behind American Football (NFL) and baseball (MLB) among the US-based professional leagues.
Nearly one-third of MLS' regular-season matches sold out this season.
Patience needed
One thing the MLS hasn't been able to work out in its favor so far is to turn the game into a profit. But given the marketing resources at its disposal, it may simply be a matter of time when it starts raking in the dollars.
But Beckham did indeed - something that would also be expected of Anelka - win the MLS honors with his club Los Angeles Galaxy, but only after five long years. His on-pitch performance may not have lived up to the hype but he fulfilled his contract despite the regular doses of controversies, innuendoes and even blatant accusations by teammates. Critics may argue that he was well looked after - reportedly earning US$250 million in five seasons - but one would believe that for a global brand name such as Beckham, respectability and proprieties should be of equal measure as much as boosting his bank balance.
That said, however, patience is not a virtue of Shenhua owner and businessman Zhu Jun. Since 2003, the club has had 12 coaches with only the fans favorite Wu Jingui returning to enjoy two stints with the club but with little success. It is to be waited and seen if Zhu can successfully retain the services of both Anelka, nicknamed "The Incredible Sulk," and the new coach, former French international Jean Tigana, until at least the season lasts.
Experience counts and Tigana will have his wits tested against the likes of former Japan coach Takeshi Okada, who joined Hangzhou Greentown around the same time as him and guided Japan to the knockout stages in the World Cup in South Africa last year.
Shenzhen has also kept faith in Frenchman Philippe Troussier, while another big-spending club Guangzhou Evergrande has a South Korean, Lee Jang-soo, managing its stable. That promises a competitive year and with Didier Drogba and even Park Ji-sung linked with a possible move to China, it may just be the momentum needed for change.
As the Beckham experiment showed, star names sell. In the seventies, Pele won over the crowd in New York even when Steve Ross, the owner of his club, Cosmos, "didn't know a goalkeeper from a zookeeper". In the last five years, no other US professional league has grown as much as the MLS.
Having the fans back and buoyant is a battle half won and the CSL cannot but not deliver on the soaring expectations. It may still not be a destination of choice for high-profile footballers but it's an experiment worth trying in the build up to the future.
It may be too early, although not impossible, to expect immediate results when the season kicks off with a new-found optimism, but the presence of a star, or stars, in their midst should generate enough fodder for headlines and microblogs - hopefully only stuff from the pitch.
While Anelka's signing should justifiably be celebrated - at 32, he is still not past his prime -- -it can in no way be seen as a statement of confidence in the management of the Chinese Super League (CSL). Not just yet though.
The clubs may be stashed with the cash - most of them unaccounted for - but the CSL has also not been able to wipe itself clean from allegations of corruptions and scandals with some of the top bosses already in the dock.
The game itself needs a fresh impetus to make it attractive or even face up to the continent's powerhouses Japan and South Korea, and now Qatar. Only then can it expect to build a national team of some quality and repute, regularly challenging for regional honors.
Right now that seems to be decades away.
The CSL can, however, do well to gain some insight from the Major League Soccer in the United States, rather than blindly ape the hyped English Premier League or other European leagues, if commitment to the game remains its prime objective.
Indeed, one has only to look at the MLS, which lined up Pele, Franz Beckenbauer, Thierry Henry, Robbie Keane, and the biggest star name among them all David Beckham, over the years to shore up the status of American soccer globally. That hasn't quite happened exactly, but they have done enough to generate enthusiasm in their part of the world to win the crowds over.
That may just be the first step for CSL.
Remember also, soccer is seeking a foothold in North America, unlike in China, where the game remains enormously popular despite the scandals and high-profile corruption cases, and winning the crowd back to the stadiums should not be as difficult as in the United States.
Despite that, the Americans have already made nine FIFA World Cup appearances, albeit helped by local demographics, but the role of the Major League Soccer in ensuring that they remain competitive at all levels cannot be disregarded. The country is currently ranked 34 when the FIFA world rankings were released on Wednesday. That is still a climbdown from its April 2006 high of 4th place. China sits way below at 71.
According to the Los Angeles Times, Major League Soccer attendance in the US was up 7 percent to 17,872 per game this year, better than last season's NBA (basketball) and NHL (ice hockey) averages, and falling just behind American Football (NFL) and baseball (MLB) among the US-based professional leagues.
Nearly one-third of MLS' regular-season matches sold out this season.
Patience needed
One thing the MLS hasn't been able to work out in its favor so far is to turn the game into a profit. But given the marketing resources at its disposal, it may simply be a matter of time when it starts raking in the dollars.
But Beckham did indeed - something that would also be expected of Anelka - win the MLS honors with his club Los Angeles Galaxy, but only after five long years. His on-pitch performance may not have lived up to the hype but he fulfilled his contract despite the regular doses of controversies, innuendoes and even blatant accusations by teammates. Critics may argue that he was well looked after - reportedly earning US$250 million in five seasons - but one would believe that for a global brand name such as Beckham, respectability and proprieties should be of equal measure as much as boosting his bank balance.
That said, however, patience is not a virtue of Shenhua owner and businessman Zhu Jun. Since 2003, the club has had 12 coaches with only the fans favorite Wu Jingui returning to enjoy two stints with the club but with little success. It is to be waited and seen if Zhu can successfully retain the services of both Anelka, nicknamed "The Incredible Sulk," and the new coach, former French international Jean Tigana, until at least the season lasts.
Experience counts and Tigana will have his wits tested against the likes of former Japan coach Takeshi Okada, who joined Hangzhou Greentown around the same time as him and guided Japan to the knockout stages in the World Cup in South Africa last year.
Shenzhen has also kept faith in Frenchman Philippe Troussier, while another big-spending club Guangzhou Evergrande has a South Korean, Lee Jang-soo, managing its stable. That promises a competitive year and with Didier Drogba and even Park Ji-sung linked with a possible move to China, it may just be the momentum needed for change.
As the Beckham experiment showed, star names sell. In the seventies, Pele won over the crowd in New York even when Steve Ross, the owner of his club, Cosmos, "didn't know a goalkeeper from a zookeeper". In the last five years, no other US professional league has grown as much as the MLS.
Having the fans back and buoyant is a battle half won and the CSL cannot but not deliver on the soaring expectations. It may still not be a destination of choice for high-profile footballers but it's an experiment worth trying in the build up to the future.
- About Us
- |
- Terms of Use
- |
-
RSS - |
- Privacy Policy
- |
- Contact Us
- |
- Shanghai Call Center: 962288
- |
- Tip-off hotline: 52920043
- 沪ICP证：沪ICP备05050403号-1
- |
- 互联网新闻信息服务许可证：31120180004
- |
- 网络视听许可证：0909346
- |
- 广播电视节目制作许可证：沪字第354号
- |
- 增值电信业务经营许可证：沪B2-20120012
Copyright © 1999- Shanghai Daily. All rights reserved.Preferably viewed with Internet Explorer 8 or newer browsers.
