
North Terrace preview can feel the man-flu setting in — or is that close-season affective disorder? Either way, the end of a soap opera 2012 is almost behind Shanghai Shenhua.
Last Time Out
Shenhua held Dalian Aerbin to a torpid 0-0 draw up north in a game so dull and meaningless that no Shanghai TV channels even covered it, preferring to focus on Jinshan Shenxin’s fight to stay up.
Qingdao meanwhile continued their now-traditional late-season form to beat Guangzhou R&F and propel themselves ahead of Shenhua in the table.
Causes for Optimism…
Erm… have you seen Shenhua play in the last couple of weeks?
… and for Concern
Shenhua wrap up an abysmal 2012 campaign in which they mathematically can’t even achieve a top-half finish, having only escaped relegation worries due to results elsewhere last week.
Even without the Anelka and Drogba factor, this marks a second inexcusably poor season in a row, and one in which precious few bright sparks have been seen.
Shenhua round out their campaign having attracted a sub-10,000 crowd to their previous home game, and with huge question marks over which of their big-money imports will be seen either this week or next year.
The defence has begun to creak again after holding out so admirably for much of the season, the midfield revolves around a man who, while a great long passer and set-piece threat, is out of wind after 20 minutes, and the attack is lop-sided and one-paced which the side’s creative spark is benched more often than not.
And that’s before we start on the rumours of post-season exits…
Watch Out For
The atmosphere, as much as anything else — an end-of-season celebration is hardly appropriate, so expect another bizarre funereal quiet similar to the Changchun fixture.
The Verdict
A rotten end to a rotten season, likely to be played out without star players in front of a pitiful crowd. And against one of the league’s more in-form sides to boot.
The thing with football, though, is that there’s often no logic to the thing. And it’s the hope rather than the despair which always kills us fans. So North Terrace Preview is going for a 3-1 win masterminded by the stylings of Jiang Kun, with Cao Yunding and even Joel Griffiths popping up on the score sheet to paper over some cracks and leave us all with a false sense of optimism that 2013 will be OK.*
*2013 will not be OK.
Steve hosts the Chinese Football Podcast, having joined the WEF team as correspondent for Shanghai Shenhua, the side he has followed since moving to Shanghai in 2010. Exiled from the Victorian town-centre idyll of Feethams along with his childhood football team, Steve can now be found enjoying/enduring matchdays on Hongkou's North Terrace along with the rest of the infamous Shenhua Element Crew.

# | Team | MP | W | D | L | F | A | G | P |
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
1 | Shanghai SIPG | 6 | 6 | 0 | 0 | 21 | 4 | +17 | 18 |
2 | Guangzhou Ever… | 6 | 4 | 1 | 1 | 14 | 7 | +7 | 13 |
3 | Shandong Luneng | 6 | 4 | 0 | 2 | 9 | 4 | +5 | 12 |
4 | Beijing Guoan | 6 | 3 | 2 | 1 | 13 | 8 | +5 | 11 |
5 | Shanghai Shenhua | 6 | 3 | 2 | 1 | 10 | 7 | +3 | 11 |
6 | Jiangsu Suning | 6 | 3 | 1 | 2 | 10 | 9 | +1 | 10 |
7 | Guangzhou R&F | 6 | 3 | 0 | 3 | 12 | 14 | -2 | 9 |
8 | Chongqing Dang… | 6 | 2 | 2 | 2 | 11 | 10 | +1 | 8 |
9 | Tianjin Teda | 6 | 2 | 2 | 2 | 8 | 8 | +0 | 8 |
10 | Tianjin Quanjian | 6 | 2 | 1 | 3 | 9 | 7 | +2 | 7 |
11 | Hebei CFFC | 6 | 2 | 1 | 3 | 9 | 12 | -3 | 7 |
12 | Beijing Renhe | 6 | 2 | 1 | 3 | 5 | 10 | -5 | 7 |
13 | Changchun Yatai | 6 | 1 | 2 | 3 | 7 | 11 | -4 | 5 |
14 | Henan Jianye | 6 | 1 | 1 | 4 | 3 | 11 | -8 | 4 |
15 | Guizhou Zhicheng | 6 | 1 | 0 | 5 | 6 | 10 | -4 | 3 |
16 | Dalian Yifang | 6 | 0 | 2 | 4 | 3 | 18 | -15 | 2 |
Latest Shanghai Shenhua results
Sunday, April 15, 2018 | ||
Chongqing Dang… | 3 - 3 | Beijing Guoan |
Changchun Yatai | 3 - 0 | Henan Jianye |
Saturday, April 14, 2018 | ||
Shandong Luneng | 2 - 0 | Dalian Yifang |
Tianjin Teda | 2 - 1 | Guangzhou R&F |
Beijing Renhe | 2 - 1 | Guizhou Zhicheng |
Friday, April 13, 2018 | ||
Shanghai SIPG | 2 - 0 | Hebei CFFC |
Tianjin Quanjian | 1 - 1 | Jiangsu Suning |
Shanghai Shenhua | 2 - 2 | Guangzhou Ever… |
Sunday, April 8, 2018 | ||
Henan Jianye | 1 - 2 | Shanghai SIPG |
Guizhou Zhicheng | 0 - 1 | Tianjin Quanjian |
Guangzhou Ever… | 1 - 0 | Shandong Luneng |
Beijing Renhe | 0 - 2 | Shanghai Shenhua |
Saturday, April 7, 2018 | ||
Hebei CFFC | 2 - 1 | Changchun Yatai |
Dalian Yifang | 2 - 2 | Chongqing Dang… |
Friday, April 6, 2018 | ||
Beijing Guoan | 1 - 1 | Tianjin Teda |
Guangzhou R&F | 0 - 2 | Jiangsu Suning |
Sunday, April 1, 2018 | ||
Jiangsu Suning | 2 - 1 | Tianjin Teda |
Shandong Luneng | 0 - 2 | Guizhou Zhicheng |
Upcoming fixtures
Friday, April 20, 2018 | ||
Henan Jianye | 19:35 | Chongqing Dang… |
Saturday, April 21, 2018 | ||
Hebei CFFC | 15:30 | Beijing Renhe |
Guizhou Zhicheng | 19:35 | Changchun Yatai |
Guangzhou R&F | 19:35 | Shandong Luneng |
Sunday, April 22, 2018 | ||
Dalian Yifang | 15:30 | Tianjin Quanjian |
Jiangsu Suning | 18:00 | Shanghai Shenhua |
Beijing Guoan | 19:35 | Guangzhou Ever… |
Shanghai SIPG | 20:00 | Tianjin Teda |
Saturday, April 28, 2018 | ||
Beijing Renhe | 15:30 | Tianjin Teda |
Tianjin Quanjian | 19:35 | Hebei CFFC |
Guangzhou Ever… | 19:35 | Jiangsu Suning |
Sunday, April 29, 2018 | ||
Changchun Yatai | 15:30 | Shanghai SIPG |
Beijing Guoan | 19:35 | Guizhou Zhicheng |
Chongqing Dang… | 19:35 | Guangzhou R&F |
Shandong Luneng | 19:35 | Henan Jianye |
Shanghai Shenhua | 19:35 | Dalian Yifang |
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