As the Chinese Super League (CSL) enters an intensive schedule, teams are facing a huge challenge: how to avoid missing the World Cup due to injuries to international players during this period, reports the Daily News. From the 9th round of the Super League, which starts today, to the 14th round on May 26th, teams will play 6 rounds of league matches in 27 days, with double matches almost every week, which puts a high demand on the team's rotations. The 9th round of Super League matches will end on May 1, while the 10th round will start on the 4th. Round 11 matches will be spread over the 10th, 11th and 12th, which the teams can still afford. However, with Round 12 matches starting on the 15th at the earliest, Shanghai Shenhua and Shandong Taishan will have a relatively short break, and fortunately they will be able to play at home, reducing the fatigue caused by the long trip. The 13th round will be played on the 21st, while the 14th round will be played on the 25th. Considering that the teams have already experienced two midweek matches in front of them, the fatigue level of the players can be imagined.
Teams such as Shenhua, Taishan and Seaport have relatively thick rotations and should not have too many problems dealing with the intensive schedule. However, some teams with relatively weak rotations may face quite a few difficulties, and ups and downs in results are inevitable. Experience from the past few seasons has shown that teams have a relatively high number of injuries before the halfway point of the season is over, which makes it a dilemma to avoid injuries to international players who will miss China's most crucial World Qualifying Tournament. The teams will face tremendous physical and psychological pressure under the intensive schedule, but they will also need to rationalize the rest and training of their players while maintaining their competitive status in order to be fully prepared for the challenges of the national team. For those teams with relatively weak rotations, they need to improve their overall strength as much as possible to cope with the test of the intensive schedule. The intensive schedule of the Chinese Super League is not only a test of the players' physical fitness, but also a challenge to the coaching team and team management. They need to make wise decisions and rationalize the playing time of their players to ensure that the team can maintain a stable competitive status at this critical time.
