In the first half of the season, Shanghai Shenhua performed well, leading the league standings all the way. However, Shanghai Port came from behind, beating Meizhou Hakka in the supplementary match to successfully overtake Shenhua and become the new league leader.
The main reason why Shenhua were overtaken by two points by Harbour was that the team's forward line lacked enough attacking power, and they are currently scoring 16 fewer league goals than Harbour. Speaking of which, I have to mention the foreign striker of the Shenhua team, Malelai.
Since joining Shenhua last season, Malele has shown great quality. In Shenhua, whenever the game is deadlocked, Malele is always the first to step up and turn the tide. Especially in the FA Cup final against Luneng, he sent an assist at a critical moment to help Yu Hanchao score a stunning goal, and finally helped Shenhua defeat Shandong Taishan 1-0 and regain the FA Cup championship trophy.
However, Shenhua fans were not satisfied with Malele's scoring efficiency. The Swiss striker has great physicality and a nimble movement, but he is always a little bit off the last shot, often squandering good chances and sometimes failing to score even a simple one-on-one shot. Some fans even said that if Shenhua wants to win the league championship, they must replace Malele.
And some time ago, Shenhua Club has renewed the contracts of Amadou and Teixeira. However, Malele, whose contract is about to expire, did not receive the same treatment. Faced with the imminent expiration of his contract, Malele did not give up.
Instead, he has exploded in his last four games, scoring five goals in total. At the moment, Malele has scored eight goals and provided two assists in 14 league games. In addition, he also scored one goal in the FA Cup. The performance of 9 goals and 2 assists in 15 games is a good proof of Malele's value in the team. Such an efficient performance also made Shenhua have to reconsider rethinking the renewal of the contract with Malele. After all, Malele's annual salary is not too high, and it is worth the price to have such a performance.
Judging from the current situation, it should only be a matter of time before Malele signs a new contract with Shenhua in the summer transfer window. While Malele does have a problem with scoring inefficiency, any player will have ups and downs in form and should be taken seriously by the team as long as he is capable.
Over the past season and a half, Malele has proven himself in the league and he is more than capable of helping the team achieve better results. Shenhua FC should also be more proactive in renewing the contract with Malele to avoid the renewal problem affecting the player's form.
In addition, those fans who have called for the club to replace Malele should also be given more understanding and tolerance to the foreign striker. Every player has their own shortcomings, but as long as they work hard to improve, they should be respected. The renewal of Malele's contract is not only a personal matter for him, but also a common concern for Shenhua Club and fans. Only by working together can Shenhua achieve better results in the Chinese Super League.
Here, we also hope that Malele can perform even better after the contract renewal, and help Shanghai Shenhua achieve better results in the Chinese Super League and FA Cup competitions, and win the league championship trophy.