Asian Cup 2015: Former Chinese Super League player Rostyn Griffiths says China a dangerous opponent

ROSTYN Griffiths has played against China’s best players and says Team Dragon will provide a stern test against the Socceroos on Thursday night.

China insider offers tips to Socceroos

ALREADY the talk is of a semifinal with Japan, and the Socceroos’ route to glory. But standing in their way immediately is a Chinese side newly infused with self-belief - and studded with players who could do Australia some damage in Thursday’s Asian Cup quarterfinal.

That’s according to Rostyn Griffiths, the Perth and former Mariners midfielder whose transfer to Chinese Super League side Guangzhou R&F in 2012 was at $1.3m a then record fee for the A-League. Griffiths played against almost the entire Chinese squad, with every player based in the CSL, in a two-year spell during which former England coach Sven Goran-Erikkson took over.

Across town at Guangzhou Evergrande Marcello Lippi also took charge, illustrating the sums being spent on lifting the standard of the Chinese game - but it was certain of the Chinese players who really caught Griffiths’ eye.

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“The two danger men really are Wu Lei and Gao Lin - when I was in China I got a lot of calls from agents about Wu Lei, asking if he was good enough for Europe, which tells you how highly he’s thought of and the potential he has,” Griffiths said.

“He’s really dangerous in a one v one situation, and he’s always looking to attack. He scored a fair few goals in China too, and at 23 he’s still young. I remember talking to [fellow Australian] Daniel McBreen when he was at Shanghai East Asia, and a teammate of Wu Lei, and he said he was really dangerous, a pretty tasty player.

“But I think Gao Lin was my favourite player to watch when I was over there - he was a key player for Guangzhou Evergrande, and was the best player in China for me. He’s a good size with a physical presence, but he’s strong on the ball and also good when he’s one v one on someone.

“I just like the way he plays with his brain - he can drift inside, effectively act as a No 10, and gets a shot away quickly. The captain, Zheng Zhe, is a key man too, pulling strings in midfield.

“But you know there’s a lot to like about their back four too, they’re solid and Zhang Linpeng is a really strong character. He plays right back generally for Evergrande, but he’s looked good at centreback in this tournament.”

Griffiths predicted that China would play a similar strategy to South Korea in their win over Australia - sitting deeply with the forwards primed for a breakaway. Under Alain Perrin, he said, they have added positional prowess to that individual technique.

Gao Lin (L) is one of China’s most dangerous players, Rostyn Griffiths says.

“The thing I noticed straightaway when I moved there is the Chinese struggle for positional discipline - they have excellent technique, their pure ability is probably higher than we have here in the A-League. But their positional ability was way off, and I think that’s why so few of them have made it in Europe.

“They’re also making a lot of money in China, and for many of them financially it’s almost not worth their while to go overseas. But when Sven Goran-Erikkson came in at R&F and we had a few conversations about his plans, he said to me that all he had to do was organise the players because their technical ability was so good.

“That’s why you’ve seen a lot of foreign coaches brought in, right up to Alain Perrin in charge of the national team. He has set up a formation they’re comfortable with. If anything, I think they’ll be more dangerous than South Korea.”

Rostyn Griffiths makes a tackle for A-League club Perth Glory.

Originally published as Asian Cup 2015: Former Chinese Super League player Rostyn Griffiths says China a dangerous opponent