For a long time, people went to Chengdu to see the pandas, eat hot pots or visit the shrine of ancient warlord Liu Bei. Now there is another reason. John Aloisi has been in the capital of Sichuan province for just a few months now but is already being hailed as the next Ange Postecoglou.
After eight games of the Chinese Super League season, huge crowds are flocking to the Phoenix Hill Sports Park Football Stadium to see the Chinese Super League leaders, who have dropped just two points, scored 23 goals and have fans dreaming of a first title just eight years after the club came into existence.
“We know that this is very early in the season but we have never played like this,” says Chengdu Rongcheng fan Li Chen. “We believe we are going to win every game, score every time we attack and we actually think this could be the year. What Postecoglou did in Japan and [Kevin] Muscat did in Shanghai, Aloisi can do here. There is confidence in the team and we are all behind him.”
Whatever the exploits of those Australians who have won titles in Japan and China, they never had a game like Aloisi did on Saturday. It was billed as a “brotherly derby”, a battle that would not have been out of place in any ancient Chinese epic. Ross Aloisi brought his Zhejiang team to Phoenix Hill for a family reunion; it ended with a 4-0 win for the leaders in front of 41,428 fans. The only downside for the winning coach was so convincingly beating his older sibling, who looked disconsolate as they shook hands at the final whistle.
After a solid start down in Hangzhou, Aloisi senior has had an awful April, collecting just one point from five games, 14 fewer than John. After investment in the squad ahead of this season, he is in danger of dismissal, which would leave just three Australians in the Chinese Super League (Muscat is at Shanghai Port and Nick Montgomery at Beijing Guoan).
The story is, however, Chengdu Rongcheng, and the weekend’s game was another example of a team firing on all cylinders. “We witnessed the essential qualities of a team that can win the title,” proclaimed one report. “It was a perfect balance between control and explosiveness.”
It was striking that the four goals came from the four forwards. Wellington Silva – who signed for Arsenal as a teenager in 2009 but left without playing a game – opened the scoring after 17 minutes. Soon after fellow Brazilian Felipe added a second, his 12th of the season, before Wei Shihao effectively sealed the win before the break. Behram Abduweli completed a miserable evening for the visitors just before the end.
“When the club first brought in Aloisi, many fans were sceptical: could this Australian coach handle it?” reported media giant Sina. “Now it seems that not only he can but under him the team is sharper going forward and plays with a more stable tempo.”
Chengdu had previously played five at the back but Aloisi is more fluid with the formations, employing a 4-2-3-1 or 3-4-3. The forward line takes the headlines but the coach has helped revitalise the career of the likes of Han Pengfei, a 32-year-old centre-back who struggled last season but with more responsibility on the ball, and more movement around him, now looks a different player. Rômulo has looked a class above as the No 10 pulling the strings and the team’s work-rate and energy has moved up a level. Those sceptical fans now gather around the team’s training ground hoping for a selfie with the boss.
Aloisi has something else going for him – a bit, or a lot, of luck. Before the season started, nine of the 16 teams in the top tier were hit with points deductions for various financial violations. Muscat at Shanghai Port is going to struggle to make it three titles in a row as the champions started with a five-point deficit. Last season’s runners-up Shanghai Shenhua lost 10 (and the five that Zhejiang were deducted makes Ross Aloisi’s position far more precarious, with just three points, instead of eight, from eight games played). It means that Chengdu, third last season, are four points clear and, now, favourites to win the title. The city has never been a football hotbed to rival the likes of Dalian, Shanghai or Guangzhou, but things can change.
With the season just over a quarter done, there is a long way to go and bigger tests lie ahead. Next up on Friday, there is the small matter of a game on a national holiday against Shanghai Shenhua. If Leonid Slutsky’s side had not had points taken off them, they would be just two behind. If they win against Chengdu in front of what should be a crowd of over 60,000, things could look a little different. It is a huge game but then John Aloisi, like Muscat and Postecoglou before him, is in an East Asian title race. It has already been thrilling, but it could become something historic.
