The 2019 CSL season is finally off the mark, with all of last season’s title contenders avoiding some potential banana-skin openers – we look back on easy wins for last year’s top two and some tight victories for Shandong and Guoan. We discuss the demise of the Shanghai derby as a competitive fixture and a promising start for some key new signings ahead of the first round of Champions League fixtures.
There’s time for a pod discussion on the media hype surrounding Wu Lei’s first goal in Spain – is the media and fan obsession unhealthy and patronizing, or an understandable source of pride? As ever, the answer isn’t black and white for the panel.
There’s a great undercover fanzine name which comes up in the Phenomenon of the Week discussion before we switch gears to explain and lament the CFA’s latest rule-switching confusion around newly-naturalized players and wrap up by looking forward to another tasty weekend of fixtures and the start of the continental campaign.
Don’t miss the chance to get involved in the discussion on Twitter at #chinafootypod – we love hearing feedback and do our best to field your questions and suggested topics every week.
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 spent many an (un)happy year on Hongkou's North Terrace along with the Shenhua Element Crew and Blue Devils before relocating to Sydney from where he continues to follow the Chinese game from afar.
This week the pod reviews a couple of high-drama CFA cup semi finals, and looks forwards to the prospect of a high-stakes Shenhua – Shandong final. How impressed are we …
The pod is back from a brief mid-season break and jumps straight into business by asking whether Guangzhou Evergrande have the title sewn up already after some prolonged patchy form …
Beijing Guoan’s surprise loss to a struggling Jiangsu is the lead story this week – with Evergrande back at the top and just a couple of points covering the top …
With fan protests escalating in Nanjing, the pod takes a deep-dive into the story to understand more. What are the key issues and why has the club’s response left fans …
The transfer season is in full swing – the pod gets stuck into how Marko Arnautovic will fit into the red quarter of Shanghai, and what to make of El …
We’re back with a discussion on the soul of Chinese football – are naturalized Brazilians the answer to World Cup qualification woes, or yet another example of the governing bodies …
We’re back with a discussion on the soul of Chinese football – are naturalized Brazilians the answer to World Cup qualification woes, or yet another example of the governing bodies …
In our latest “fan journey” special, we take the term literally – host Steve Crooks and regular pod expert Cameron Wilson are joined by a packed sleeper train compartment of …
We continue our series of in-depth explorations of the personal journeys taken by WEF’s leading contributors – this week host Steve Crooks speaks one-to-one with Brandon Chemers to learn more …
This week we wait until the dust settles on the AFC Champions League group stage before reflecting on the last-day drama – how disappointed will Guoan be to exit the …
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