Reporter Chen Yong reported that on June 7, China First Division officially announced that Qingdao West Coast head coach Zhou Xin became the best coach of China First Division in April/May. Under the leadership of head coach Zhou Xin, Qingdao West Coast ranked second in the table with an undefeated record of five wins and two draws, trailing only Guangxi Pingguo, which has the same record, on goal difference. Qingdao West Coast conceded only two goals in the first seven rounds, making them the best defensive team. Zhou Xin has also rejuvenated Tian Yong, Liu Spectrum and Ge Zhen in the defense. Zhou Xin has been the team's head coach since 2017 and has been with the team through its charge from the amateur league to the China First Division." Here's the official commentary from the China First Division.
At the end of the ninth round of the Central League on June 11, Qingdao West Coast defeated Liaoning Shenyang City 3-1, winning six and drawing three and remaining undefeated.
When Zhou Xin took over the team six years ago, Qingdao West Coast was just a team in the Qingdao City League. The team then went through the Qingdao City League, the National Amateur League Final, the Championship League, the Second Division League, and up to today's First Division League, where they are aiming for the top league of Chinese soccer, the Chinese Super League.
◆Football: With the season already completed, what are your thoughts on the team?
Zhou Xin: this year, the team made a big change, added many good midfielders and front players, but in the pre-season and the league, many players were injured, at the same time, taking into account the foreign aid, the internal aid and the team grind, the early league I focus on the midfield and backfield, if the team wants to achieve better results, the first thing is to do a good job of defense, and then in the process of the league to gradually improve the attacking ability of the team. So now we show the result, very few goals, but the defense is very good, the defense Tian Yong, Ge Zhen and Liu Spectrum Jin are relatively old, but they are doing better than last year. Of course, through the game, we also found that there are more details to improve.
◆ What is the current injury situation in the team?
First is Guo Yi. He was injured in the second game against Guangxi Pingguo. So far, he hasn't played. Gui Zihan was also injured in that game, and then Chen Bo Liang was also injured. Guo Yi is the key player we brought in. His movement on the side and his ability to set up the ball, including organizing the link-up, is very important to our team. At that time, he and Chen Bo Liang as well as foreigners Ramirez and Lanier formed many attacks in front of the field. Unfortunately, he has not participated in the game recently.
◆Just now, I mentioned Tian Yong, Ge Zhen and Liu Spectrum, three veterans of the defense, are you satisfied with your performance?
All three of them are local Qingdao players, but Ge Zhen and Liu are out all year round, but they always want to play for their hometown team. Although Tian Yong goes out to play soccer, he spends most of his time playing in Qingdao. All three players are very self-disciplined because they are local Qingdao players who have a strong sense of honor in their hometown and never care about anything. For example, Ge Zhen could have found a better contract in the Chinese Super League, but he finally chose to play back home. They give all their energy to the team and also play the role of passing and helping. I just need reasonable training to adjust their condition so they can play a central role.
◆ Captain Tian Yong used to play in the amateur league and then returned to the professional league. Any stories in between?
Tian Yong and I have basically been together forever. After Qingdao Hailifeng was disbanded, I went to work as an assistant coach at Zhongneng (now Qingdao Hainiu) with Zhang Weilong, and he went to a second division team in Yunnan.In 2013, we joined Qingdao Kunpeng, which was the top amateur team in the Qingdao City League. I became a coach and he became a player and stayed together for three years.In 2017, we came together and we were still a team in the city league.From 2017 to 2019, we played three years together in the national amateur league
