The "West Coast Phenomenon" of 13 Unbeaten Games: A Model in a Year of Adjustment

Staff reporter Chen Yong reported After beating Shanghai Port 2-1 on the night of July 4, Qingdao West Coast rose to fifth in the CSL standings with 5 wins, 9 draws, and 3 losses for 24 points (level on points with Yunnan Yukun but behind on goal difference). Over the 8 matches of Zheng Zhi's suspension, the team recorded 4 wins and 4 draws, leading to online jokes that teams in the relegation zone could imitate the "West Coast Phenomenon" by having their coaches get banned.

In fact, during those 8 rounds, Zheng Zhi remained the key decision-maker for Qingdao West Coast, covering tactics, starting lineups, and substitutions. However, assistant coaches like Huang Bowen also played a vital role, handling real-time on-field adjustments that required immediate presence during matches when Zheng was unavailable. In other words, this period was a valuable growth phase for both Zheng Zhi and his assistants such as Huang Bowen.

The 2026 CSL season is widely regarded as a year of restructuring for many clubs, with nine teams deducted points and Chengdu Rongcheng far ahead. Qingdao West Coast, as a small-to-mid-sized club, has demonstrated exemplary survival and development wisdom during this adjustment year.

The "West Coast Phenomenon" is marked by four notable features: an unbeaten run of 8 matches while the head coach was suspended, 13 unbeaten matches this season, 11 unbeaten home matches across seasons, and the emergence of young players.

In Round 9 of the CSL, during an away match against Shandong Taishan, Zheng Zhi was banned for 6 rounds by the Chinese Football League for abusing referees. Combined with one round for accumulated yellow cards and one for a direct red card, his total suspension reached 8 rounds, covering Rounds 10 to 17.

Over those 8 matches, Qingdao West Coast achieved an impressive 4 wins and 4 draws, making the team's strong performance during a head coach's suspension a hot topic in the CSL. It should be clarified that Zheng Zhi still controlled the tactical arrangements, starting lineups, and substitutions for these matches, as well as the team's training sessions. He remained the decisive figure in the team's preparation and execution.

The assistant coaching staff also contributed significantly. During Zheng's suspension, on-field command was generally handled by Huang Bowen. Although Zheng decided major issues, real-time details—such as managing the team's emotions and making immediate tactical adjustments—required the assistant coaches to act independently. Before joining Zheng's coaching team, Huang Bowen served as an assistant coach for the U23 national team under Antonio. Transitioning from the U23 national team to West Coast's assistant role over the past two years has been a crucial development phase for Huang.

Qingdao West Coast's excellence isn't limited to these 8 matches; they have actually gone 13 matches unbeaten this season with 4 wins and 9 draws. In the first 4 rounds, after a major coaching staff overhaul, the team lost 3 matches. Starting from Round 5, they optimized their defensive system and entered an unbeaten streak, although Rounds 5 through 9 saw 5 consecutive draws. That string of draws likely contributed to Zheng Zhi's emotional outburst in Round 9, as the team desperately needed a win to boost morale despite not losing.

The 13-match unbeaten run is the longest in the 2026 CSL season. Chengdu Rongcheng had a 12-match unbeaten streak. With only 3 losses, Qingdao West Coast has the second-fewest losses in the league, behind Chengdu Rongcheng's 2. Their 21 points from the 13 unbeaten matches rank as the third-best in the same period, behind Chengdu Rongcheng's 31 and Beijing Guoan's 22, tied with Shandong Taishan's 21. With 13 matches remaining, no other team currently has a long active unbeaten run—the closest is Beijing Guoan with just 3 matches unbeaten. This suggests Qingdao West Coast could set the season's longest unbeaten record.

The turning point for the 13-match unbeaten streak was the tactical adjustment after Round 4, which made the team more solid defensively. Data shows that in the first 4 matches, Qingdao West Coast scored 3 goals and conceded 11; in the following 14 matches, they scored 19 and conceded 14. Over the 13 unbeaten matches, they conceded the second-fewest goals in the league, behind only Chengdu Rongcheng.

In contrast, Qingdao West Coast's goal tally is relatively modest. Their total of 22 goals ranks joint third-lowest in the CSL. Clearly, due to limited squad depth and resources, they cannot fully enhance their attack while maintaining defensive quality. A different case is Yunnan Yukun, who are level on points with West Coast. Yunnan Yukun have scored 31 goals (third-most in the league) but conceded 29 (fourth-most).

Qingdao West Coast also boasts a remarkable record: 11 unbeaten home matches. They were promoted to the CSL in 2024, focusing on survival that season. In 2025, under Shao Jiayi, they finished ninth. In the final three rounds of that season, they drew 2-2 with Chengdu Rongcheng and beat Changchun Yatai 1-0 at home, ending with two unbeaten home matches. This season, all three of their losses have come away from home, while at home they have 3 wins and 6 draws—the only team in the league with such a record.

Unfortunately, as a newly established club, Qingdao West Coast faces significant challenges in building a strong local fan base, which is an area for future growth. However, there is no doubt that the team has become an iconic symbol of the Qingdao West Coast New District.

In the 2025 season, three young players from Qingdao West Coast performed exceptionally well: Xu Bin (born 2003), a defensive midfielder, earned a call-up to the national team and successfully moved abroad. He suffered an injury but is now close to recovery; Yang Xi (born 2005), who excelled at right-back, was poached by Shanghai Port and has secured the starting right-back position for the national team; and goalkeeper Li Hao (born 2005), who remained at Qingdao West Coast for further development and also made the national team.

This season, while Qingdao West Coast may not have unearthed young gems who can immediately become national team regulars like before, several of their promising youngsters have shown great potential. Wang Gengrui (born 2008) has started 12 of his 13 appearances since Round 6; Yang Zhanpeng (born 2007) has played 13 matches (7 starts) since the first round, scoring 1 goal. Additionally, 19-year-old Jia Weiwei has made 9 league appearances; 23-year-old Liu Xiaolong has 7 appearances with 1 goal and 1 assist; 23-year-old Aifeiding has 8 appearances with 1 goal; and 22-year-old Meng Jingchao has made as many as 13 appearances. The club also signed 17-year-old Liu Zhicheng, who stands 1.93m tall and helped the U17 national team finish as runners-up in the U17 Asian Cup and qualify for the U17 World Cup.

Qingdao West Coast's commitment to developing young players serves two purposes: first, selling players can replenish the club's finances; second, a structure of "veteran players + young players + quality foreign signings" helps control costs. Both strategies reflect the wisdom of running a small club.