In this season's Central Championship
When the league started, a team called "Langfang Glory City" didn't attract much attention from fans. However, they beat the highly-anticipated Shaanxi Chang'an United and Guangzhou Shadow Panthers consecutively, and won the championship with an undefeated record!
of the championship, stormed into the professional league.
Liu Junwei hides in the corner as he celebrates winning the title
This is a very young team with most of the players on the team being under 20 years old. Regardless of the team's price, player name recognition, and financial investment, they are in the middle of this season's Champions League
It's all very unassuming amongst the team. At the start of the season, no one would have bet on them making it to the second division, let alone winning the title.
Although the team's head coach Liu Junwei is a native of Northeast China, he is usually a man of few words and appears to be very "quiet". What he is not good at is showing himself in front of the camera. When Langfang City of Glory won the Championship
Champions, the moment the team lifted the trophy, Liu Junwei just hid in a corner calmly watching the team members celebrating, seemingly unwilling to let anyone notice their presence.
Liu Junwei has mentioned to reporters, "One of the reasons for the rush to B this year is that teams don't take us very seriously."
And after getting the title, Liu Junwei still hides from the spotlight.
Want to open Liu Junwei's box, the way is actually simple: discuss business issues with him.
The reporter mentioned to Liu Junwei that the first time he watched a game coached by Liu Junwei was in 2017. At that time, Liu Junwei as China's U16 national junior team head coach (at that time, the team had Aifeldin, Liang Shaowen, Shi Yan and so on), held in Weinan in the "Silk Road - Huashan Cup" match 0-4 defeat Japan. Hearing this, Liu Junwei immediately came to interest:
"We still need to take stock of that game ......"
Hearing this, the reporter froze. It had been six years since this game, and Liu Junwei had changed two teams he coached during that time. But he still remembered the loss as if it happened yesterday. Liu Junwei summarized it in a gushing manner:
"Before we went to Weinan, we played a four-nation tournament in Jiangyin, and the players did quite well that time. The tournament in Weinan was also a four-nation tournament, and the tournament organizer asked me if I wanted to play Japan first or later. My idea was to take advantage of the players' good form and play Japan first. But I made the mistake of thinking too much about the mentality of the young players. The other thing is that after the Jiangyin Four-Nation Tournament, the players went back to their respective clubs, and the training and playing style of the clubs are different from that of the national team, so after re-centralizing, they have to start all over again and grind through the matches. But since it's a grind, you shouldn't choose an opponent like Japan right off the bat ......"
And this season, the Gallery City of Glory is in the middle of the Championship
In the final through the penalty shootout victory over Shenzhen young people, won the championship, Liu Junwei still do not forget to analyze the team's shortcomings: "Our previous games can often pass more than 500 feet, the success rate of more than 80%; but in the second round of the finals, our passes are only more than 200 feet, the success rate of only seventy percent. ......"
During the interview, most of the topics Liu Junwei talked about with the reporter were related to training, data, techniques and tactics.
Liu Junwei has had a rich coaching career in the Chinese Super League
China A
China Central B and China Central Champions League
He has coaching experience in both national and ladder teams. During his playing days, he played for Bayi, Qingdao Zhongneng and Nanchang Hengyuan. As early as the end of the 2009 season, he prepared for his future coaching career by attending C and D coaching courses, with Zhao Junzhe and Xie Hui as his classmates. 2010, Liu Junwei obtained a B coaching certificate, and later studied to be a professional fitness coach. 2011, he finished his career as a player and started to work as a fitness coach for Nanchang Hengyuan, while obtaining an A coaching certificate. 2013, he completed his studies as a professional coach, and then worked as a coach for Nanchang Hengyuan. In 2013, he completed his studies as a professional level coach, and later led the 1995 age group National Youth Football Team to the Asian Youth Championships as Zheng Xiong's assistant coach.
In 2015, Liu Junwei coached independently for the first time as head coach of Shanghai Shenxin.In 2016, he worked as an assistant coach at Wuhan Zhuoer, and later coached the Beijin reserve team, getting the Central League
Reserve League Championship; he coached China's U16 National Junior Team in 2017, and in 2019 he served as Suzhou Dongwu
Head Coach. At Suzhou Dongwu
During that time, Liu Junwei took a team that was once ranked just in the middle of the pack in Central B to the runner-up spot in the South Zone and through the recursion into Central League One
League; in 2022, during the final stretch of the Hebei team, Liu Junwei served as the team's acting head coach. After the Hebei team was disbanded, he then became the head coach of the newly formed Langfang City of Glory.
Langfang City of Glory Club did not give Liu Junwei any performance requirements at the beginning of the formation. At that time, there were only a dozen official members of the team, and the time for bonding was also very short. But from the first day of the formation of the team, Liu Junwei determined that he would bring the team into the professional league. He told his team, "It will be hard for us to start, but in the future it will be easier the more we play."
Liu Junwei is convinced that he can bring a leap to this team: "Now let's not talk about the mid-campaign
Even if it's a Chinese B, Chinese A
and even the Chinese Super League
, some clubs have the mindset that the owner brings in a number of marquee players, saves up a bunch of them and lets them play. They don't think the role of the coach is important. In fact, I think the coach is the most important, as long as the coach can knit a team together as a whole, he will give that team a huge boost."
There is a voice that Langfang team is essentially the Hebei team "small", by the former Hebei Football Club ladder team as the basis of the formation. Liu Junwei does not agree with such a statement: "After the dissolution of the Hebei Football Club, the players will also be dispersed. This Langfang team is actually put together from scratch, only part of the players are the original Hebei ladder players. This team cannot be simply understood as a Hebei ladder team."
If you want to participate in the Middle Championship
The Langfang team first had to play in the local Hebei league and had to form a team with mainly players from the province. They organized the Hebei players who had not yet found a home, many of whom were 18 or 19 year olds. Liu Junwei also wanted to bring in strong reinforcements, but was limited to the club's budget and was unable to attract any big names.
The beginning of the formation of Langfang City of Glory
For example, there is a Hebei-based midfielder who was originally highly favored by Liu Junwei, and this player has even been practicing with the Langfang team for a month. Liu Junwei had promised him: "I can give you the top salary in the team, but how much the top salary can get, I don't know. If the club's budget sets the top salary at 10,000, then I'll give you 10,000; if the top salary is 8,000, then I can only give 8,000." In the end, because Liu Junwei was unable to give the player a clear figure on the salary issue, he chose to leave and join another Chinese Championship
Team.
As this incident exemplifies: the Langfang City of Glory team doesn't have much appeal in the player market. Liu Junwei had to contact some of the players he used to bring in, and whether they could come or not depended on whether the other side could accept the Langfang team's salary. After a period of two-way selection, only to let this team gradually molded. Among the players introduced by Langfang team, including Liu Junwei in Suzhou Dongwu
Tan Fucheng and Chen Nancun, who coached him, as well as Gao Baihan, who coached him in the national junior team.
But the choice of who to bring in also depends on one key factor: he has to fit in with the Corridor's tactical style of play.
"If a player can pass two or three people in a row but his passing is not good, we won't bring him in because he doesn't match our style of play. For example, in the goalkeeper position, we chose Chen Nancun because he is one of the few goalkeepers in China who can play with both his right and left feet. A lot of times when facing forward pressure, he can distribute the ball very well."
The concept of organizing an attack from the goalkeeper's position is one that Liu Junwei first heard in 2013 from his own professional-level coaching instructor, Stephen. Therefore, even though Chen Nancun's height is not an advantage, Liu Junwei is still determined to choose him as the team's starting goalkeeper. In the middle of the game, he also asked Chen Nancun to organize the attack from the backfield.
Chen Nancun
Of course, this concept is not new nowadays, but in Europe, many "goalkeepers" are criticized by fans for their frequent mistakes. This tactical approach has also been questioned. But Liu Junwei has never doubted the correctness of this way of playing.
"We faced Wuhan Pony Crossing after our successful run to B, and the lineup was rotated. Our substitute goalkeeper made a similar mistake and conceded a goal. But I don't think it's a problem, the mistake was made because of sticking to our own way of playing. The fact that it was a mistake shows that we haven't trained enough accordingly, but it doesn't negate the path. A goalie's missed pass is essentially the same as a midfielder's or defender's, except that the goalie is in a special position, and the miss is likely to have obvious consequences and be noticed by everyone. What we have to do is continue to improve so that we can make quicker decisions the next time we are in a similar situation."
Langfang City of Glory team in the middle championship
The regionals made it through to the finals
The Finals
When the draw groupings were announced, many judged that the Langfang team was only a four to five place power in the group.
On paper, the strength of the rivals in the same group, Guangzhou Shadow Leopard, Shaanxi Chang'an United, Dalian Huayi and Guangxi Hengchen, are all above Langfang. But through the regional tournament games and weekday training, Liu Junwei is very confident in his players. He repeatedly emphasized with his players, "In this group, you have the ability to get the first place."
finals (of a competition)
In the first match, Langfang defeated Changle Vajra Legs 6-0. Facing Shaanxi Chang'an United in the second round was the first big test for Langfang.
The majority of Shaanxi Chang'an United's players, from the former Central League
Team Shaanxi Chang'an Athletic
. They have experienced domestic soccer players such as Ding Jie, Mi Haolun, Pang Zhiquan and Ma Xiaolei. When Liu Junwei saw this team at home, he recalled a scene from 4 years ago.
Before the start of the 2019 season, then Shaanxi Chang'an Athletic
was interested in inviting Liu Junwei to coach, but Liu Junwei had already accepted Suzhou Dongwu
The invitation, had to politely decline the Shaanxi. Recalling this brush with the past, Liu Junwei said without regret: "At that time, the Shaanxi team's personnel structure is very good, if the whole pinch good, there is the strength of the Super League. But after all, I have promised Suzhou Dongwu
, can't go back on his word, he'll just have to miss out on that."
Facing the "new Northwest Wolves", Liu Junwei thinks: "From the individual ability, game experience and physical confrontation, we are not as good as the other side. What can be compared is the overall tactical play, with the overall advantage to make up for the individual's disadvantage. Offensively, we start from the goalkeeper position to organize the attack, the ball transition to the forecourt to cooperate with the goal; defensively, we emphasize the 4231 formation four lines of distance to maintain, in the local formation of the two defense, three defense, immediately after the loss of possession of the ball on the opponent to carry out pressure."
In the end, Langfang, with the overall advantage at home, made Shaanxi kick hard, like a punch in the cotton, and had the strength to not make it. With a last minute goal, Langfang took the game 1-0. And then Langfang visited Guangzhou Shadow Leopard's away game and took it cleanly 2-0.
Two consecutive victories over the favorites made all the teams unable to underestimate the "baby soldiers", and also boosted the confidence of Langfang team itself. The players really believed in what the head coach said: they have the ability to get the first place in this group, and eventually they did.
"I've always been a firm believer that high-quality, high-intensity training is fundamental. It takes a lot of repetition if you're going to practice right. And the intensity of the competition is actually just sixty to seventy percent of the intensity of our training." Liu Junwei said, "As long as you practice in place when you train, in the middle of the competition, you will feel relaxed instead."
In addition to his own research, in the path of Liu Junwei's teaching, there are two people to help him is also very critical: one is his wife, one is his teacher.
Liu Junwei's wife used to be a member of the Beijing women's soccer team.
Player, retired
After studying foreign languages at university, he later became a CFA
Interpreter for Stephan Rotman, a German-born technical advisor and instructor of professional level coaches, who was hired. While studying with Stephan, Liu Junwei met his wife and eventually got together. The couple share similar interests and both have a great love for soccer. The two usually talk about soccer, and will even discuss the way to pass the ball at the dinner table.
"There are passes that are inverted triangular passes given after a ground match in front of the field", Liu Junwei's wife gestured with her chopsticks on the dining table, "So such a pass can be said to be the last pass of a ground match, not a purposeless 45-degree angle start, or a downward pass. So when counting the number of passes and the success rate of passes, such a pass should not be counted."
There are many other similar discussions between the couple. Liu Junwei's wife is not enrolled in the Langfang team's coaching staff, but she does volunteer to help by collecting and analyzing players' training and game data for her husband. She said, "We will train the players to pay attention to their own data. In the long run, the players will look at it after training and games: what their heart rate was and how much distance they ran. It's very positive, and the players can visualize their performance more."
In addition, Liu Junwei's wife will also help her husband to continue to communicate with his former teacher Stephen. Liu Junwei is always very touched by his mentor: "Stefan was also Klopp's teacher, and he gave me a lot of help during his time in China. Even when he returned to Germany later, he would seriously help me analyze and guide me on anything I needed to ask for advice, even watching videos of the teams I coached and giving some suggestions."
Liu Junwei translates through his wife and communicates with his mentor Stephen online.
For example, in the city of glory in Langfang to fight for the Central Championship
In the regional tournament, all the goals happened before 60 minutes, but at that time Liu Junwei did not notice this detail. Stephen said to Liu Junwei: "The fact that your team did not score after 60 minutes shows that the intensity of the training was not enough and the players did not have continuity."
Liu Junwei and Stephen discussed the situation and adjusted the intensity and method of training. By the time the middle championship
finals (of a competition)
The Langfang team has solved this problem, including against Shaanxi and Shadow Panther, the team scored in the last minute of the game.
Perhaps because of Stephen's relationship, Liu Junwei most concerned about the most admired coach is Jurgen Klopp, the background picture of his circle of friends is Jurgen Klopp commanding the game. 2013, Liu Junwei has been concerned about Jurgen Klopp's Borussia Dortmund team; and now the "Jagged Uncle" coaching Liverpool!
As long as it's not in the latter part of the night, Liverpool
Liu Junwei almost every game must be watched, will also put the Liverpool
The details of some of the offensive and defensive transitions and forward pressure are edited out and played to the players. The players will also implement his requirements very seriously in training.
One of Klopp's main characteristics is that he talks at length in the post-match press conference, summarizing the game in great detail, often talking about some of the technical and tactical details. Liu Junwei's wife will also select useful clips from them and translate them for her husband, so that he can understand Klopp's thinking more clearly.
Watch Liverpool
of the game, the starting point is actually to learn Klopp's tactical philosophy. But with the passage of time, Liu Junwei also gradually have the habit of fans. When Liverpool
When he wasted his chances, he would be anxious, regretful, and even call out. At this time, the lady would promptly remind, "You're not a fan, you have to watch the game from a professional point of view!"
