CSL Attendance Statistics

Now that we're 6 games into the season, I decided it was time to take a look at how attendance is going so far this year. The figures in Shaanxi and Beijing are very encouraging, and Jiangsu is very impressive for a newly promoted team. One wonders what is going on in Shanghai, however its mainly due to their weak attendance at their first game. Changsha is a joke and it was always expected to be that way, but hopefully Qingdao will improve after a few more home matches. Here's the list:

Shaanxi Zhongxin : Average = 37,196
Round 1 - 38,000
Round 4 - 35,000
Round 6 - 38,588

Beijing Guoan : Average = 35,000
Round 1 - 40,000
Round 3 - 30,000

Jiangsu Sainty : Average = 22,772
Round 2 - 21,000
Round 4 - 21,000
Round 6 - 26,315

Shandong Luneng : Average = 20,952
Round 1 - 18,000
Round 2 - 20,457
Round 4 - 21,735
Round 5 - 24,523
Round 6 - 20,044

Guangzhou Baiyunshan : Average = 19,000
Round 3 - 20,000
Round 5 - 18,000

Henan Construction : Average = 17,661
Round 1 - 23,000
Round 3 - 13,396
Round 5 - 16,588

Chengdu Blades : Average = 17,333
Round 3 - 18,000
Round 4 - 22,000
Round 6 - 12,000

Tianjin Teda : Average = 15,552
Round 1 - 15,000
Round 3 - 20,030
Round 5 - 11,626

Hangzhou Greentown : Average = 15,297
Round 1 - 15,000
Round 2 - 16,235
Round 4 - 14,656

Shanghai Shenhua : Average = 14,667
Round 1 - 11,000
Round 3 - 17,400
Round 5 - 15,600

Chongqing Lifan : Average = 13,867
Round 2 - 12,000
Round 4 - 14,000
Round 6 - 15,600

Dalian Shide : Average = 13,500
Round 2 - 12,000
Round 5 - 15,000

Shenzhen : Average = 12,750
Round 2 - 16,000
Round 3 - 11,000
Round 4 - 16,500
Round 6 - 7,500

Changchun Yatai : Average = 11,872
Round 3 - 12,000
Round 5 - 11,317
Round 6 - 12,300

Changsha Jinde : Average = 6,892
Round 1 - 8,000
Round 2 - 8,230
Round 3 - 4,200
Round 4 - 6,500
Round 6 - 7,532

Qingdao Zhongneng : Average = 6,500
Round 5 - 6,500

Matchday 6 Review : Shaanxi Zhongxin Early in the

Poor Lee!  With all the pressure on his team, this is just about the time fans will take a serious look at him and start questioning his managerial prowess.  In reality, we aren't that bad off through our 6 league matches and 4 Champions League ones, however expectations were a lot higher at the start of the year and inconsistent play has been killing us.

Lee can only seriously be blamed for his coaching errors, like not putting a taller defender on the pitch against Ulsan during Matchday 3.  This week, Lee had to deal with a highly depleted lineup, having Huang Bowen out for 3 months is bad, but Tao Wei missed the match with an injury as well and Yang Hao was out with a fever.  Guoan's lineup looked far different from what we've seen most of the season, with Sui Dongliang and Wang Hao both featuring in the lineup for the first time this year.  Further, missing Tao or Huang is okay, but missing both is extremely tough as there is a lack of creativity in the midfield.

That, and the nearly 40,000 screaming fans that showed up in Xian made for a very tough environment for Guoan.  Shaanxi was in control of the game early and was able to put together a number of great chances, getting unlucky a few times, before finally putting the ball past the keeper in the 17th minute on an unusual play.  The ball was swung in from the left, Paul and a Shaanxi player went up for a header and both missed it when the ball bounced off Zhang Yonghai and fell to a Shaanxi player whose shot on net was headed wide before Wang Erzhuo was left all alone on the back post and knocked the ball in.  

At the half Guoan was lucky to only be down by one and after the game Lee commented about how horrible the first half play was.  A major part of the problem had to be how unfamiliar the midfield was with each other and how they weren't up to match fitness.  Lee took off Wang Changqing at the start of the 2nd half and put Guo Hui on, then took off Sui shortly after that, giving Yan Xiangchuang a chance to work his magic again (unfortunately he wasn't able to).  Guoan had a few chances throughout the game, but nothing that was good enough to equalize.

Where do we go from here?  The first thing, obviously, is to hope that our players get healthy and come back soon, though we should be able to get by without him (them).  In 10 matches in all competitions, we have 3 wins, 4 draws, and 3 losses.  It is still early days in the league and no team has clearly jumped ahead and up to now no team has impressed, it still appears there is not a squad head and shoulders above the rest and that it's not time to seriously freak out, YET.

The China derby is coming up on Friday and Guoan has a few days to recover and prepare.  A packed house at Gongti, a holiday Friday, and best of all, Shanghai coming to town should be enough to motivate the squad.  The quicker we can forget this result the better in an overall crazy CSL weekend.

Matchday 6 Preview : Shaanxi Zhongxin

Guoan's two matches against Ulsan in the Champions League were pretty bad, two losses and losing Huang Bowen for much of the season. So far this year, the team has been able to regroup after Champions League struggles and hopefully this week will be no different. You have to want to win every competition you are in, but for the fans, winning the league is a far more important goal than Champions League success. We still haven't lost in the league and are only 4 points back of Henan at the top, who've played one more game than us.

The lineup is definitely going to be effected by Huang's loss and it will be interesting to see how Lee handles it. Our midfield is packed with many options. Matic is a must at holding midfield, but from there, you have the choice of Du Wenhui, Yan Xiangchang, Ryan Griffiths, Tao Wei, Yang Hao, and Martinez. Many of these players can play on the wing or in an attacking role, and a player like Yan or Du is in a position where its time to step up and be stars or just eek out a career as mediocre role players. They show a lot of promise, but its time that they deliver on it.

I've been hard on Huang all year, he's struggled this season, has yet to score a goal, and even missed a critical penalty kick. However, losing a player like Huang for the better part of the season is massive. Huang, best wishes from all us fans and hope you'll get well very soon. While the manager was having a hard time putting together a midfield that worked and his decision making now gets easier, it's tough dealing with this loss.

Back to this game and our opponents, the "Northwestern Wolves", Shaanxi Zhongxin. They are a fairly weak team with a bad home record, losing twice (to Shandong and Shenzhen) on their own pitch and drawing once. Yet this is a side that always seems to get at Lee Jangsoo, last year Guoan lost at home and drew on the road while in 2007 Guoan only managed 2 draws. The fans in Xian are famous for being rabid and can get a little wild, fans were allowed in for the practice and according to Lee the tense atmosphere influenced the squad's practice.

The behavior of Shaanxi's fans has served as a motivating factor for Guoan. Ryan Griffiths said that he definitely wants to score a goal after getting an idea what things would be like on Sunday, Du Wenhui declared that Guoan has to shut up the big Xian crowd and come away with 3 points.

I love Du's spirit and motivation, now let's hope he can deliver. Enjoy this beautiful Sunday weather in the capital and get ready for the action, kick off's at 16:00.