Jia Xiuquan, the former head coach of our women's soccer team, has quietly left his post and bid farewell to the leadership of women's soccer. For him, these three years have been both torture and relief. Despite his efforts, what he got in return was chaos, and the development of women's soccer has hit a low point. Since the 2000 Olympics, China's women's football has been reduced to second-rate in international women's football, and successive coaches have followed the old path and lacked a sense of change, which has led to the 2018 women's football team being reduced to second-rate in Asia.
When Jia Xiuquan took over, he sought to change the status quo. He first adjusted the traditional tactics of the women's soccer team, abandoning the ball player tactics and shifting to an overall playing style. From Sun Qingmei to Wang Frost, the era of the ball player no longer exists, and the gap between China's women's soccer stars and the international powerhouses has widened. Japan and Australia in Asia have also abandoned the ball-star tactics and shifted to overall play. Jia Xiuquan's efforts have allowed women's soccer to begin the transition to a holistic style of play.
He also changed the criteria for player selection from seniority to strength by recruiting a large number of players who had performed well in the league. This change allowed many new stars to emerge, such as Peng Shimeng and Luo Guiping. However, it also led to problems of inexperience and inconsistent play in the team.
Jia Xiuquan's reforms achieved some success in the early stages, such as winning silver at the Asian Games and getting out of the World Cup group. However, it also pushed him into the limelight as the fans were used to watching the stars and were disappointed with his changes. Some stars were marginalized, which was unacceptable to the fans.
Despite the poor performance of our women's soccer team at the Olympics, Jia Xiuquan's departure seems to be beyond the understanding of the fans. The new head coach, Shui Qingxia, who was a silver medalist at the '96 Olympics and is now the head coach of the Shanghai Agricultural and Commercial Bank women's soccer team, stepped in. Only defender Zhang Xin has voiced her thanks for Jia Xiuquan's departure.
Zhang Xin, as the main left forward of our women's soccer team, is fast, fierce in defense and sharp in offense. She had been Jia Xiuquan's trusted player and the only one who publicly thanked him. Her words sparked thoughts about the team's atmosphere: why did the other players remain silent when the coach left? Is this human heart paving the way for the new coach by tacitly recognizing the mistakes of his predecessor?
