New national football team head coach Jankovic: All out for the 2026 World Cup!
It seems that he is not the transitional manager that some thought he would be, but comes with specific goals and tasks. Chinese fans have heard of the World Cup goal countless times, but they only achieved it once more than 20 years ago. For Jankovic, he faces an even more difficult situation than his predecessor.
Coquette is a little shabby, and Yankovic is a little shabby.
At the 2018 World Cup in Russia, both Gao Hongbo and Lippi had several players. At the time, Zheng Zhi was still running and the likes of Hao Junmin, Feng Xiaoting and Yu Dabao were still in their playing years. Although they ultimately failed to qualify for the final, they can still compete with South Korea and are not afraid of Qatar, which is also a struggle.
When Li Tie led the national football team to the 2022 FIFA World Cup, there were several naturalized international players such as Ekerson and Jiang Guangtai, in addition to young players such as Wu Lei and Zhang Linpeng. Had it not been for Li Tie's employment, the national soccer team would still have had some chance. With naturalized players, we have the strength to compete with Australia and Saudi Arabia.
And when it comes to Yankovic?
The likes of Zheng Zhi and Feng Xiaoting have basically retired, and naturalized players like Ackerson aren't getting any younger. Apart from Wu Lei, Wei Shihao, Zhang Yuning and a few others who can be considered as stalwarts, they really can't find many players who can get their hands on them. Even if they find some young players with good potential, they are not good enough to carry the load right now. As things stand, Jankovic is worse than his predecessor.
The level of the Super League has dropped dramatically, and the level of international competition is difficult to guarantee.
During the decade-long golden period of the Chinese Super League, the level of foreign supporters was relatively high, with many of them being major players from the top five leagues, many international players from top soccer powers in Europe and the United States, and even current major international players, such as Augusto and Paolilio. When local players are "trained" by these high-level foreign aiders, their abilities will naturally improve greatly. At present, most of the foreign aiders in the Chinese Super League come from the second or third tier of European leagues or Asian national leagues, and their level is far different from that of the past.
As things stand, the Chinese Super League is unlikely to have high-level foreign players for some time, and Jankovic can't wait. As for the homegrown players studying abroad, it's hard to get a foothold in the second or third tier of European leagues, let alone the big five, and it's impossible to expect them to be at a high level.
As a result, Jankovic can only work out international players at the current level of the Chinese Super League, and the level of competition is difficult to guarantee.
The FA has just gone through turmoil and the new top brass is unknown.
Chen Xuyuan, Liu Yi, Chen Yongliang. The FA has lost most of its top brass, and is currently supported only by layman Lao Du. Although this situation is temporary, it is difficult to get on track immediately. The FA has experienced no small turbulence this time, and the new top brass will certainly be careful and need to wait and see for a while.
Also, most of the new soccer association executives will be parachuted in, how good will they be? Will it be like many of their soccer-ignorant predecessors? Will Jankovic's job be disrupted? These are all unknowns, maybe soup, everything is the same.
Perhaps, Jankovic will face a more complicated working environment, and off-field factors will become unknown for him to coach the national soccer team.
Yankovic should be clear about these difficulties, maybe he is still a novice national team manager and the so-called newborn calves are not afraid of tigers, so he will be complacent. Anyway, I hope he can bring changes to Chinese soccer and wish him good luck!
