Liu Ruowan Van's Road to Staying in the Ocean: Shenhua's Senior Staff's Voices and Worries
As the East Asian Cup came to an end, Shanghai Shenhua striker Liu Ruofan, who was on the substitute list, was left without a particle, which sparked a fervent debate among the Chinese media and fans. And one La Liga club, Cadiz, is quietly keeping an eye on him - the La Liga side, which narrowly escaped relegation last season, has thrown an olive branch to Liu Ruofan and has already sent invitation papers to Shanghai Shenhua FC. The document was also copied to the National Football Association (NFA) in the framework of the cooperation between the NFA and La Liga.
As Liu Ruowan vanadium with the national selection team to participate in the East Asian Cup, the matter has been pending. So, what is the official attitude of Shenhua on this? Recently, the reporter contacted the management of Shenhua, he said that he supports the young international players to stay in the ocean, but put forward their own requirements.
"Before 2002, we had a number of international players who stayed overseas and were able to achieve good results. But as the national team's performance declined, the competitiveness of the players weakened, and we are getting farther and farther away from the mainstream European leagues. The Football Association also realized this point, in order to promote the stay in the ocean, has done a lot of work, we recognize this. But we should also think, what kind of stay in the ocean is meaningful, rather than using the player's youth to bet on tomorrow?" Shenhua senior mentioned some examples of international players going abroad to stay in the ocean, such as Artemisia Junmin, Zhang Xunzhe, he believes that these players have not reached the expected height.
What are the factors behind the unsuccessful cases of staying in the ocean that we should think about? "There are two ways to stay in the ocean, one is to force the player to go out, and the other is to get the recognition of the other head coach after recommendation. At present, it seems unrealistic to try to get foreign clubs to take the initiative to poach our players. If the core players are forced out of the country just to fulfill certain needs, it may do more harm than good to them." The Shenhua executive said.
It is reported that the Chinese side are actively marketing their international players due to the cooperation between La Liga and the National Football Association (NFA), and it is against this backdrop that Liu Ruowan was selected by Cadiz.
In this regard, Shenhua senior said, "If this is true, I am proud and honored for Liu Ruofan. But we also have a small request, I hope that the relevant parties can help us to pull the strings, so that the Cadiz head coach personally communicate with us, to express the player's recognition and expectations, which is our attitude of responsibility to the player." Shenhua senior management do not want this to be just a personal act of a department or management of the other club, but hope that Liu Ruofan can be recognized by the head coach of Cadiz.
"When young players stay in the ocean, they face two major challenges: one is to integrate into the team's technical and tactical skills and soccer culture; the second is the life and language barrier. People should not think that professional players will not be able to take care of themselves, do not understand the Japan and South Korea behind the success of the stay in the world, they will be sent to the staff for life care and ideological counseling, Japan in this regard to do a particularly good job." The Shenhua senior raised the two major problems faced by Chinese players staying abroad.
He also added: "If we just throw the players abroad and let them face it alone, it may bring bad consequences. Western societies are very open and players may be subject to shocks and temptations in their private lives, we cannot ask every player to be a willow. If problems arise in this regard, who should be held responsible? There have been negative cases before and the authorities concerned should know better. Therefore, if you send a player out, you have to have a responsible person to accompany you for a long period of time. If the relevant departments bear the costs, Shenhua can consider sending a staff member to do a good job of logistical support services for overseas players. Sending players abroad to stay in the hope that they can face the competition and unfamiliar environment without worries." Shenhua executives said that this is not because Shenhua players are delicate, but based on an in-depth understanding of the experiences and encounters of Japanese and Korean players.
The Shenhua executive raised his concerns, "In fact, over the years, there are often agents who say, give me your so-and-so player and I'll be responsible for sending them abroad. I have connections at so-and-so club, I have a good relationship with the general manager or technical director of so-and-so club, or so-and-so manager is my friend. These words make me laugh it off, because these are typical Chinese thinking, thinking only for themselves and not considering the position of the players."
"When you have connections yourself, you send players there, but no one has shown me any technical reports, no in-depth discussions with me about whether the clubs they intend to send them to really need the type of players we have, what kind of competition the players are going to face when they go there, and how competitive the players themselves are, and what percentage of them have any hope of playing. People can say whatever they want, but statistics don't lie. Therefore, if the relevant departments of the FA are really optimistic about our players and have a goal for the players to go, then please give Shenhua a technical analysis report, at least let us know that sending players to a certain team is completely out of professional technical and tactical considerations, no one can guarantee that the players 100% have a position, but at least there must be more than half of the feasibility, right?" Shenhua executives said that this is because of the fear that the significance of players going abroad to stay in the world is greatly reduced.
Liu Ruowan vanadium in the past year, in Rongcheng (loan) performance can be remarkable, now he returned to Shenhua, also by the club has high expectations. Shenhua's senior management said that for players of this age group, it is undoubtedly more crucial to play more high-level matches and accumulate real-world experience. Going abroad, even in the European high-level league, only training and not playing games, may not be as good as staying in the Chinese Super League to play games. Therefore, Shenhua senior management hope to send young players abroad to stay in the ocean, is based on rational, scientific basis, so that it makes sense.
Of course, it is undeniable that from the club itself, Shenhua also has difficulties. With the opening of the second phase of the tournament, as well as the drawbacks of Shenhua can not attract reinforcements, Liu Ruofan for Shenhua, is by no means dispensable players, once he left the team, Shenhua will inevitably have to replenish the players, so it must be prepared early.
