Chinese soccer is sometimes poorly run, and a big part of that is actually due to overstaffing! There is an old Chinese saying that too many people make a house crooked! For example, the FA often arranges a large team of Chinese assistant coaches while inviting foreign coaches to coach. This increases the cost of communication between the two sides, and may even lead to disunity, with players not knowing whose instructions to listen to, creating an awkward situation. For example, during Yankovic's coaching of the national soccer team, Zheng Zhi instead took the tactical board to explain the tactics to the players at the Asian Cup, which made Yankovic appear to have no presence.
However, to the surprise of fans, the new head coach of the national soccer team, Ivankovic, has pressured the Football Association (F.A.C.) to say that he may distance himself from the Chinese coaching staff after taking office. In particular, assistant coaches like Zheng Zhi may remain with the national team in the future only as assistant coaches.
▷ The new coach of the national soccer team will clearly delineate the boundaries of his duties with Chinese assistant coaches such as Zheng Zhi.
According to media reports, Madsing said that Ivankovic has agreed to all of the FA's demands, such as leading the national team to the 18th round of the World Qualifying Tournament and retaining the Chinese assistant coaching team. At the same time, Ivankovic also put forward his own requirements.
Ivankovic made the request that he needs to bring his team of assistants with him to coach the Chinese national soccer team. It is reported that when coaching the Oman team, he had a total of six assistants, including physical fitness coaches, psychotherapists, goalkeeper coaches and so on. But this time in the Chinese team coaching, Ivankovic only selected four assistants, of which the most critical is the physical fitness coach.
Ivankovic actually has his own considerations when he carries four assistants to coach the national team. Many supporters speculate that he may not want to involve too many Chinese assistant coaches in his training program. After all, he himself once coached a Chinese Super League team (Shandong Luneng) and knows the characteristics and overall situation of Chinese soccer very well.
If one's authority is interfered with by the Chinese assistant coaches in situations such as coaching the national team, for example, in terms of tactical arrangements, personnel selection and physical training, then it will certainly be much less effective.
Zheng Zhi is the most visible figure in the current team of assistant coaches in the national soccer team. Given Zheng Zhi's previous overstepping of his duties at the Asian Cup, Ivankovic may focus on clarifying the responsibilities of Zheng Zhi and others, and clarifying what the Chinese assistant coaches should and should not manage. There must be clear rules. Otherwise, Ivankovic is likely to repeat the mistakes of Jankovic.
