Nov. 8 - In an interview with the media, Gao Hong, a famous Chinese women's soccer player and training director of Evergrande Soccer School, introduced the game and talent cultivation philosophy of Evergrande Soccer School.
Hello, Director Gao Hong. Since you became the competition director of Evergrande Soccer Schools, you have made a series of reforms in the professional areas related to soccer. How effective have they been so far? Which improvement has worked best so far and are you most satisfied with?
In the past 12 years, Evergrande Soccer School has employed a director and coaching team consisting of directors from Real Madrid, Brazil, England and domestic directors, accumulating and leaving behind a lot of rich and valuable "soccer legacy". Among them, under the cultivation of the youth training system in the past, they have become mature and excellent athletes at all levels of professional matches and national teams, which are all the results of the youth training of Evergrande Football School.
For a "rookie" who had just entered the position of Director, I was really uneasy and challenging when I accepted the position of Director of Evergrande Soccer School. I can't say that the reform is based on the past work, with some additions and a little change. Mainly in the choice of material: in focusing on individual skills, adding players' players, i.e. understanding of the game and some decision-making. In addition, it will check the learning ability of the players, their curiosity and willingness to accept new things and knowledge.
What were the considerations behind Evergrande Soccer Schools' decision to use the U17A team for the CYL U19?
We played well in the U19 last year in the CYC. According to the FA's schedule, we could choose a young team to participate in the U19 CYC as a whole team. Through evaluation and selection, we formed a team of good players consisting of 06-year-olds and 07-year-olds with the aim of training the players. The team started playing from Group C. The coach who led the team at that time was Salvador and played well. The young players dared to play. Salvador also showed great coaching ability and led the team to Group B.
In May, Salvador was moved to a team as head coach. After some discussion, the school decided that Juliwei, who was the head coach of the U17B team at the time, would be the head coach. In fact, Director Chu has been taking the team from B to the current championship bracket, which is the final stage of the tournament. Among other things, as the director, I took part in some of the team's work, but the main responsibility of the team was with Director Zhu. In October, Director Zhu attended a coaching level training course organized by CFA, and other coaches had their own team tasks. In this case, I temporarily took on the training and games for the U17A band.
Are there any players in this team that stand out to you? Do they have the potential and qualifications to break into the Guangzhou first team? According to the promotion mechanism, when will they make it to the first team?
The mechanism of selecting players for Guangzhou Football Club and Evergrande Football School is mainly through usual training and matches. The examination focuses on whether the player has a strong motivation, the desire to keep winning in the face of adversity, and the practical ability to understand and apply tactics in a complete tactical system. Currently, most of the U17A players have grown up through training in the U19 league. In the near future, they all have the opportunity to become the backbone of the club. Judging from the current growth trend, 6 to 7 players from this team have the potential to enter the Guangzhou first team in the future.
Our soccer philosophy, both at the club and at school, is to insist on passing and control, and on more aggressive defending; in terms of mental attributes, we promote aggressiveness and encourage progress and confidence.
What is your outlook and vision for this U17A team and youth training at Evergrande Soccer Schools? What will develop in the future is the ideal scenario and model you expect?
Our vision entails developing athletes in four areas: technical and tactical, player, physical and mental! These four areas can be developed in a balanced way or in proportion to age. For example, younger players may focus more on the development of skills and tactical ability, as well as habit development. after the age of 15, we should focus more on player, tactical and mental development. Secondly, I think the important thing is the development of players in key positions, i.e. the elite of the elite. This should also be the most important work in schools at the moment, as we are not only expanding the basic number of people playing soccer, but also increasing the number of elite players.
Another point is the competition, there are high-quality matches, matching high-quality match content, so that there is value and significance. We hope that the school can organize more high-level matches at home and abroad in the future, provide more growth platforms for children who love soccer and have soccer dreams, and share more for Chinese soccer. This is the vision of the school and the direction of our efforts.
