How Can Tianjin Jinmen Tiger, Starting with -9 Points, Escape from the Bottom?

Written by Cheng Shan After three rounds of the Chinese Super League, Tianjin Jinmen Tiger firmly occupies the last place in the standings. They are also the only team in the league that has not scored a goal yet. In this situation, even in past seasons, Jinmen Tiger—a team with mid-table strength—would probably be troubled. Moreover, this year, before the league began, they were penalized with a 10-point deduction.

After the season started, the team only managed 1 point against three relegation rivals. Last weekend, they suffered a 3-0 defeat away to the newly promoted Liaoning Iron Man, putting head coach Yu Genwei under intense pressure. Now, Jinmen Tiger faces harsh realities: tactical system overhaul, new foreign players struggling to adapt, locked adjustment space for foreign players, and an unprecedented gap from the safety zone of relegation.

In the 2025 season, Tianjin Jinmen Tiger built their defense on a three-center-back system, with flexible formation changes as the tactical core. They finished mid-table with the third-lowest goals conceded in the CSL. However, everything changed in the 2026 season. Starting with a -10 point penalty, the team made rushed tactical and personnel adjustments. As a result, they lost the defensive advantages of the previous season, while the new offensive system failed to take shape, leaving no highlights in either attack or defense.

Last year, Yu Genwei’s system of switching between three center-backs and four defenders was the foundation of the team. The three center-backs formed a multi-dimensional defense line, supplemented by the positioning of wing-backs, aiming for overall balance between attack and defense. The midfield, anchored by Salgado and Hadas, ensured stable possession and rhythm. Offensively, the team relied on the individual abilities of Gilles and Ademi to finish attacks. The entire system, refined over a season, reached optimal levels of player默契 and execution.

This year, Jinmen Tiger switched to a dual-striker tactic, introducing Shetini to partner with Gilles, aiming to boost offensive firepower and quickly overcome the negative points. However, from the first three matches, this tactic completely failed to materialize. There was no positional coordination or stylistic complementarity between Shetini and Gilles; the dual strikers lacked presence. Shetini, a key signing for the team, recorded zero goals and zero assists in three matches. As a focal point, he failed to create opportunities for teammates and lacked personal finishing, being labeled by fans as the “most ineffective foreign player.”

On the other hand, to adapt to the dual-striker system, the team adjusted the positioning of midfield and defense, introducing Jaime Grau and Cordoba. These personnel changes disrupted the original possession rhythm, causing the midfield to lose control of matches. In the third round away to Liaoning Iron Man, the team’s possession rate was only 38%. Additionally, the defense, which performed well last season, has been error-prone this season, conceding goals in every match. Wang Xianjun’s red card and penalty incident in the final moments against Liaoning Iron Man exposed the defensive line’s mental collapse.

From practical observation, Jinmen Tiger’s recruitment and tactical adjustments this season have been ineffective. Not only did they fail to address squad weaknesses, but they also made the team’s on-field performance more chaotic.

After two consecutive losses, Yu Genwei admitted that the team originally planned to use “building attacks from the back, focusing on ground play” against Liaoning Iron Man, but was forced to switch to “long-ball and high crosses” due to pitch conditions. This explanation seems reasonable but actually exposes the fragility of Jinmen Tiger’s tactical system. A team that has been磨合 for five years should possess the tactical ability to adapt to different pitches and opponents. This adjustment seems more like a negation of the system built over the past five years.

Yu Genwei also stated that he would use the break to address detailed issues in both attack and defense. However, the reality is that the team has no room for adjustments, especially regarding foreign players—it is completely locked. Jinmen Tiger has registered six foreign players this season, meaning they cannot replace or add any foreign players throughout the 2026 season.

The 10-point deduction at the start of the season (the highest, tied with Shanghai Shenhua) placed enormous relegation pressure on the team from the beginning. The results of three matches—1 draw, 2 losses, zero goals, and -9 points placing them at the bottom—have completely destabilized the players’ mentality.

In fact, compared to the other eight penalized teams, Jinmen Tiger had an advantageous start in schedule. Their first three opponents were Chongqing Tongliang Dragon, Shenzhen New Peng City, and Liaoning Iron Man—all led by domestic coaches, with two being newly promoted CSL teams. Jinmen Tiger had advantages in both coaching and CSL experience. However, from this seemingly easy schedule, the team delivered zero goals and conceded 4 goals, not only giving Shenzhen New Peng City and Liaoning Iron Man their first wins of the season but also leaving all pressure on themselves.

Jinmen Tiger is currently the only CSL team without a goal; their offensive performance is disastrous. The team did create chances—against Liaoning Iron Man, they had a one-on-one opportunity within 3 minutes, and created multiple corner chances from set-pieces in the first half. However, the team only had 2 shots on target in the entire match, wasting all offensive opportunities. Yu Genwei attempted to improve offensive efficiency with the dual-striker tactic, but the team’s attack stagnated.

In the 2025 season, Jinmen Tiger conceded the third-fewest goals in the CSL. In the 2026 season, their defense has been shocking. In the first two matches, relying on Yan Bingliang’s steady performance, they conceded only 1 goal, seeming defensively solid. However, in the away match against Liaoning Iron Man, the absence of the main goalkeeper exposed all defensive problems: vulnerabilities in aerial ball defense, wing defense being overwhelmed, poor coordination among defenders, and frequent errors at critical moments.

Additionally, head coach Yu Genwei’s in-game指挥能力 has been heavily questioned during the first three matches. Faced with the team’s全面被动, Yu Genwei’s substitution adjustments yielded minimal effects, unable to alter the match’s trajectory. Against Liaoning Iron Man, the team was被动 in the first half. After Yu Genwei made systematic adjustments in the second half, the score worsened to 0-2.

The team’s original possession system has been broken, while the new dual-striker tactic has not taken shape. Facing different opponents and pitch conditions, Yu Genwei cannot formulate针对性 tactics and can only react passively. Attributing the loss to “pitch conditions” and “detailed issues” post-match seems reasonable but实际上是逃避客观问题.

This season, nine teams were penalized. After three rounds, some teams have “清零” their negative points, while others have turned their积分“positive.” However, Jinmen Tiger remains struggling at the bottom, and the gap with other teams has widened. Looking back at the past and comparing it with the present, Jinmen Tiger fans have mixed feelings.

What gives Tianjin fans some信心 is that, historically in the CSL era, teams that were bottom after three rounds have not necessarily failed to avoid relegation—even Jinmen Tiger and its predecessor TEDA each have experience of逆袭.

In the 2013 season, TEDA, penalized 6 points at the start, ranked last after three consecutive draws, with -3 points and a 3-point gap from the third-bottom team. However, under coach Giménez, the team later consecutively defeated Guangzhou Evergrande, Jiangsu Suning, Beijing Guoan, Guizhou Renhe, and Dalian Aerbin, miraculously escaping and最终 finishing 11th to avoid relegation. In the 2021 season, the first year of Tianjin Jinmen Tiger’s rebirth, the team ranked second-bottom after three rounds (that year, under a non-conference system, Jinmen Tiger was second-bottom in Group B, with points and goal difference worse than the bottom team in Group A). They最终 also avoided relegation by winning关键战役 in the relegation group.

However, the current Jinmen Tiger must清醒认识到 that replicating these two逆袭 is绝非易事.

In Giménez’s miraculous escape, team star foreign player Valencia was instrumental. This CSL Silver Boot winner contributed 16 goals, second only to Elkeson, and set TEDA’s single-season scoring record at that time. Additionally, mid-season transfers André and Bale, though not fully proving their worth, injected vitality into the team and further激活了 Valencia. Both a strong foreign core and mid-season transfer资格 are precisely the难题困扰天津津门虎 this season.

The 2021 season was an even more不可复制的特殊案例—because during the pandemic, the league was divided into two stages. Teams ranking lower in the first stage entered the relegation group. By winning关键战役 in the relegation group, they could complete the relegation task. At that time, Jinmen Tiger was重组, their tactical system not yet成熟, but the players’ fighting spirit and凝聚力 were strong. They最终 stayed in the CSL by performing well in关键保级战.

The current Tianjin Jinmen Tiger has almost zero容错率. More致命的是, in the first three rounds of direct relegation battles, they consecutively lost关键比赛. Subsequently facing strong teams like Shanghai Shenhua, Shandong Taishan, and Beijing Guoan, scoring points will be even harder. Direct confrontations with other relegation rivals also lack心理优势 due to the large early gap.

Besides the积分差距, Jinmen Tiger’s biggest difficulties currently are不合理的外援配置 and a collapsing tactical system. The 2021逆袭 under Yu Genwei’s亲自 coaching relied on players’ fighting spirit, foreign players’实力, and seizing关键场次—all critical factors that the current Jinmen Tiger urgently needs to找回.

Undoubtedly, Jinmen Tiger faces the most严峻保级考验 in team history. This relegation battle is a fight from the绝境 from the start. However, there are still 27 rounds left. Jinmen Tiger is并非毫无机会; after all, they have previously escaped from绝境.