Hey, shanghai ultra, would I be able to have a link to that website of yours? The one you posted isn't working and I'd be interested in having a read...
Your'e right. There are good places, C's bar in Ding Xi Lu is my favourite nar, 10rmb drinks. yeah, its a dive but I dont care. It's got character and isnt so full of pretentious foreigners like Bar rude (rouge) is. Infact, thats another problem with Shanghai so many pretentious foreigners. Thing is, alot of the criticisms of Shangahi could be said of any big international city - just as you alluded to. Never goto Xiantiandi, its not my kind of place, way too expensive. Hong Kou - now that is my kind of place. Atmospheric, easy to get to with its own Metro stop, and NO RUNNING TRACK!!!! Yipee!
Cheers chengbo. Same link I think but it's working now... meh. It's all good! Hopefully I'll be off to Shanghai for my gap year next year
Nothing wrong with it, I just prefer to be myself - personal preference, you understand. I guess being pretentious can be fun sometimes. Anyway roll on Sunday C'mon Khans C'mon blue devils MAKE SOME NOISE LET'S EAT THE F88KING DUCKS FOR SUNDAY LUNCH!! (just joking, my Beijing Ganmar's )
Hey, i was just wondering if anyone could tell me what this is that's on the back of my brand new Shenhua shirt. I think it's a players name however I'd like to find out so if someone could help that'd be great.
That is a very good point. Anyway, been chatting with my Blue Devil mates, they are worried the attendance might be down because it is national Holiday on May Day, but many companies work this Saturday and Sunday instead of next Thursday and Friday so everyone can get Monday-Friday off rather than Monday-Wednesday. Silly of the CSL to schedule such a big game for 3.35 in the afternoon. Thankfully, I have sunday off.
Well, that was another boring Shenhua performance. The lads are just not firing on all cylanders this season at all. Hate to say it, but I think Shenhua can forget about the league title this season. Their problem is obvious - they can't put the ball in the net. I dont like to single individuals out, but Ramirez is shite. He's the worst foreigner I've seen in the CSL, and, lets face it, that means he is pretty bad. His only positive attribute is that he can be useful in the air. But he has done nothing to suggest he is any better than the chinese players. His ball control is poor, he doesnt seem to be able to create any chances and he generally looks out of his depth. Shenhua could attract a much higher calibre of foreign player than him. If he cant score goals at this level then he cant be much good. Something very interesting happened at the end of the game. Usually at the end of a match, the players do a mini lap of honour and come down and salute the blue devils then head off towards the Khans and the other fan groups. I have seen them do this at every game i have been to, and they always receive a good reception - even after some pretty piss-poor results, and even after the 0-0 draw with shanghai united. But this time, as the players approached, the Blue Devils started booing and waving them away with their hands. I had never seen this before. The players kind of stood around not knowing what to do. I guess it was a poor performance, but its not like they didnt get beat. Guess they are fed up with this seasons mediocre performances and not beating Beijing
To me it seems pretty obvious, you lot have no offense...Through 10 weeks, Shenhua's scored 8 goals and been shut out 6 times. I'm not sure if the problem is just the lack of skill up top or if its something to do with teamwork or the midfield. You would expect that having the veterans they do, it would help bring along the kids. How much has Zhang Yuning played this year? Shenhua needs a solid striker, which is what I've been saying since the start of the year, the 2 kids aren't ready yet and Xie Hui's done.
Right on all counts. Xie Hui seldom starts these days anyway, it's always Ramirez up front. Zhang Yuning, Im not sure how often he gets a game, I cant read Chinese and I can only recognise Shenhuas more famous players by face on the pitch, like Xie Hui, Da tou, the twins, Du Wei etc. Ramirez, as I said, is just shite. I cant believe Shenhua couldnt get someone better than him. Its such a damming indictment on Chinese football that someone of his limited talent can walk straight into the team. Shenhua also havent passed the ball around well. And three 0-0 draws against their rivals - United, Inter Xian and Beijing, how boring in that? Its like they are too afraid to get going. Jovanic is a good player though. I rate him, he's creative and a good passer and has a good touch, but I fear that his talents are being wasted, and he doenst impose himself on the team. Shenhua need someone to come in a and pick the team up by the scruff of the neck. They dont have an aggressive midfield general. They need one of those, and someone who knows where the goal is. Shandong for the title is my prediction, Dalian runners up, the ducks 3rd, Shenhua will finish top six but thats it.
losing Albertz and Martinez has really hurt Shenhua...If Zhang isn't playing and is fit, I really don't understand what Wu is doing, because he's the best striker Shenhua has. Wonder if it has anything to do with him being a "northern barbarian." A quick run through shows how truly bad Shenhua's offense has been this year. Out of 10 games, they've been held scoreless 6 times. I believe that is more than any other team as even Chongqing has only been held scoreless 4 times. Would it be too over the top to try switching one of their center backs to a defensive mid position? I think the problem is that neither Du or Datou is speedy or fit enough. If Li Tie were to come back, I can now see that Shenhua would throw loads of money at him, because he'd be the perfect fit as midfield general. Shenhua has a week to turn things around considering they're headed to Jinan next weekend. A win or a close game could go a long way towards lifting spirits. However, the way things have been going, I'm thinking a rested Shandong team is going to put up 2 or 3 and its unlikely Shenhua will have a response.
Albertz is probably one of the best players to have played in China, but Shenhua did not too bad last season without him. When Martinez left, he was moaning about the poor crowds and the fact that Shenhua v Dalian didn't get near to selling out at the end of last season. Fair points, but ironically for SHenhua Chinese football appears to be going through some sort of revival at the moment. I still believe it will be absolutely massive in the future here. Speaking of which, the crowd yesterday was very poor, easily the lowest of the season. Im not so good at estimating crowds, unless grounds are near capacity. But i would say there was around 10,000 there, possibly less. Why did the CSL schedule such a big game when it knew most people would be working at this time? Stupid, stupid, stupid. No wonder Chinese football struggles so much with such imcompetent decisions being made at the top.
Has attendance really been that strong this year as compared to yesterday? When I went down for the derby game 2 years ago, I would estimate around 10,000 showed up. From what I've heard from others and saw last year for most games, it was the same. I guess the league could take this weekend off, but would it really have made that big a difference? It feels like a lot more games are being played on sunday this year, perhaps this was done because many people work on saturdays...
Another boring tie involving Beijing...same comment as the one I posted after the Shandong game "I'm not surprised by the result. Shen Xiangfu's teams are always known for its defensive solidity rather than their attacking prowess. His game plan is to limit Shan dong's chances. Too many conservative coaches like him in China now!!! Just to name a few others: Qi wusheng, Guo Ruilong, Zhu Guanghu,Jia Xiuquan etc. " I guess I will continue to post the same comment as long as Shen Xiangfu is in charge. Shen Xiangfu's team looks like the liverpool team when Gerard Houllier is in charge. The team won't go anywhere unless someone like Benitez comes up.