The Internet has sparked a debate about professional versus amateur youth soccer training. Amateur youth training camps have questioned professional youth training, pointing out that it is difficult to produce top players, while on the other hand, they are proud of their brilliant record overseas, winning numerous championships and even baffling some of Europe's biggest powerhouses, thus breeding a sense of superiority. However, some observers have pointed out that this argument is hardly tenable, and that the superiority of professional youth training is obvious. The central question in the debate is what specific shortcomings of professional youth training have been pointed out by amateur youth training?
They believe that players from professional youth training organizations, especially the Luneng Soccer Schools, suffer from a number of shortcomings, such as the fact that many players are fast but lack finesse and technique. This is mainly attributed to the convenient and safe strategy adopted by the Luneng Soccer Schools from the U13 and U15 stages more than a decade ago, i.e., a large number of healthy and fast players were selected, focusing on simple rough soccer and ignoring the basic skills and delicate techniques of the players. Despite the emergence of several featured players today, such as Liu Binbin, Liu Yang and Wang Tong, who have outstanding speed, their foot skills are slightly rough.
Sports commentator Huang Qiang pointed out that the controversy between professional and amateur youth training has been going on for many years, with both sides not buying into each other's ideas, especially the figure known as the "godfather of amateur youth training". The success they have achieved overseas has given some pseudo-fans the impression that they are professional youth training teams, even winning some so-called championships. However, this viewpoint has misled some soccer laymen. Real soccer connoisseurs do not agree with these so-called youth training achievements. Although Luneng Football School has produced many excellent players, it is still criticized by some people who think that it is deficient in some aspects, such as speed and physical quality are still good, but the foot skills need to be improved. This is mainly due to the excessive pursuit of short-term results in the past. If no reform is carried out, history may repeat itself.
