Recently, the famous youth coach Tom Byer, who has been conducting youth training courses in China, was talking about the existing problems of the Chinese men's soccer team to the website "sports". According to Tom Byer, one of the main problems with the Chinese men's soccer team is that they don't know how to work together, and no player even dares to take responsibility, which ultimately leads to the repeated losses of the Chinese men's soccer team at all levels of competition.
Tom Beyer was once hired by the Chinese Football Association (CFA) to promote soccer in schools, but he quickly discovered the shortcomings of the CFA's youth training program. "In countries like Brazil and Japan, kids play soccer because they really like it and are interested in the sport; in China, soccer has become a way of disciplining kids." Tom Beyer said. "There are a lot of children who are forced to play soccer by their schools, not by choice. The fact is that a proper education model is more important than a youth training model."
"Chinese players don't seem to be educated in teamwork and this is reflected on the pitch. I call their soccer robotic; they pass the ball to their teammates but don't have the ball to run with, the players don't understand and have no concept of time and space on the pitch. More importantly, everyone is avoiding responsibility." Tom Beyer said.
Tom Beyer also expressed his opinion on this phenomenon: "Fear grips these kids, and it's a psychological problem for Chinese players. They are afraid of making mistakes because they are afraid that making mistakes will lead to accusations from others; they believe that it is better to do nothing rather than doing something wrong."
Tom Beyer was once known as the "godfather" of Japanese soccer youth training, having trained Japanese soccer superstars such as Keisuke Honda and Shinji Kagawa, and then worked in Chinese soccer for many years. However, the famous youth coach never found any impressive soccer stars in China, and eventually had to leave, which seems to prove that the current environment of the Chinese men's soccer team is really difficult to cultivate real breakthrough talents; because of this, Tom Byer's criticism of the Chinese men's soccer team is also more thought-provoking.
