With the opening of the new Champions League season, a team called "Langfang City of Glory" didn't attract much attention from fans. However, they beat the highly-anticipated Shaanxi Chang'an United and Guangzhou Shadow Leopards in succession, winning the Champions League title with a clean sweep and successfully advancing to the professional league.
While winning the championship celebration, Liu Junwei silently hid in the corner.
This is a youthful team, with most of the players on the team under the age of 20. From the perspective of team value, player popularity, and financial investment, they appeared to be obscure in this season's Champions League. At the beginning of the season, no one favored them to break into the Central B, let alone win the championship.
The team's head coach, Liu Junwei, is a Northeasterner, but he is introverted and appears "quiet". He is not good at showing himself in front of the camera. When Langfang City of Glory won the Championship, the moment to celebrate the cup, Liu Junwei just quietly hiding in the corner, watching the players celebrating, seemingly unwilling to attract too much attention.
Liu Junwei has told reporters, "One of the reasons for the rush to B this year is that teams don't take us seriously."
After winning the championship, Liu Junwei still chose to avoid the flash.
If you want to open Liu Junwei's box, in fact, is very simple: discuss business issues with him.
The reporter mentioned that the first time he watched a game coached by Liu Junwei was in 2017. At that time, Liu Junwei as China's U16 national junior team head coach, led the team in the "Silk Road - Huashan Cup" match 0-4 defeat to Japan. Liu Junwei is very excited about the incident:
"We still need to take stock of that game ......"
The reporter was slightly stunned. This tournament has been the past six years, Liu Junwei also changed two coaching team. But he remembers the loss as if it were yesterday. Liu Junwei began to summarize:
"Before we went to Weinan, we played a four-nation tournament in Jiangyin and the players did well that time. The match in Weinan was also a four-nation tournament, and the tournament organizer asked me if I wanted to play Japan first or later. My idea was to take advantage of the players' good form and play Japan first. But I made the mistake of thinking too much about the mentality of the young players ......"
This season, Langfang City of Glory won the title in the final of the Central Championship through a penalty shootout against Shenzhen Youth, Liu Junwei still did not forget to analyze the shortcomings of the team:
"We could often pass the ball over 500 feet in previous matches, with a success rate of 80 percent or more; but in the second leg of the final, we passed the ball just over 200 feet, with a success rate of just over 70 percent ......"
During the interview, most of the topics Liu Junwei discussed with the reporter were related to training, data, techniques and tactics.
Liu Junwei has an experienced coaching career, having coached in the Chinese Super League, Chinese First Division, Chinese Second Division, Chinese Championship, National League, and Echelon. During his playing days, he played for Bayi, Qingdao Zhongneng, and Nanchang Hengyuan.After the 2009 season, he began to prepare for his future coaching career by attending C and D coaching training courses, where he was classmates with Zhao Junzhe, Xie Hui, etc. In 2010, Liu Junwei obtained a B coaching certificate, and then studied to be a professional-level physical coach.In 2011, he finished his playing career as a physical coach of Nanchang Hengyuan, and obtained an A coaching certificate.In 2013, he completed his coaching career as a professional-level physical coach. In 2011, he finished his playing career as a physical fitness coach for Nanchang Hengyuan and obtained his A-level coaching certificate.In 2013, he completed his studies in professional-level coaching and then led the 1995-age National Youth Football Team to the Asian Youth Championships as an assistant coach to Zheng Xiong.
In 2015, Liu Junwei made his independent coaching debut as head coach of Shanghai Shenxin.In 2016, he worked as an assistant coach at Wuhan Zhuoer before coaching the Beijiang reserve team, which won the Central League Reserve League title; he coached China's U16 National Junior Team in 2017, and was head coach of Suzhou Dongwu in 2019. During his time at Suzhou Dongwu, Liu Junwei took the team from mid-tier Central B to runners-up in the South Region and recruited into the Central League A. In 2022, Liu served as acting head coach of Hebei during the team's final days. He then became head coach of the newly formed Langfang City of Glory after the Hebei team was disbanded.
Langfang City of Glory Club did not set any performance requirements for Liu Junwei at the beginning of its formation. At that time, there were only a dozen official members of the team, and the bonding time was short. But Liu Junwei was convinced from the first day of the team's formation that he would take the team into the professional league. He told the team, "It will be hard for us to start, but in the future it will be easier the more we play."
Liu Junwei firmly believes that he can bring a leap for the team: "Nowadays, not to mention the Chinese Championship, even the Chinese B, Chinese A and even the Chinese Super League, some clubs have this kind of thinking: the boss brings in a number of famous players, sets up a group of people, and then lets them play on the field. They don't think the role of the coach is important. In fact, I think the coach is the most important, as long as the coach can knead a team into a whole, he will make this team's fighting strength get a huge boost."
There is a voice that Langfang team is essentially the Hebei team "small", by the former Hebei Football Club ladder team as the basis of the formation. Liu Junwei does not agree with such a statement: "After the dissolution of the Hebei Football Club, the players are also scattered. This Langfang team is actually cobbled together from scratch, only part of the players are the original Hebei ladder players. You can't simply interpret this team as a Hebei ladder team."
To play in the Central Champions League, the Langfang team had to play in the local Hebei league and form a team with mainly players from the province. They organized the Hebei players who had not yet found a home, many of whom were 18 or 19 year olds. Liu Junwei also wanted to bring in strong reinforcements, but was limited to the club's budget and was unable to attract any big names.
The beginning of the formation of Langfang City of Glory...
For example, there is a Hebei-based midfielder who was originally highly favored by Liu Junwei, and this player has even been practicing with the Langfang team for a month. Liu Junwei had promised him: "I can give you the top salary in the team, but how much the top salary can get, I don't know. If the club's budget sets the top salary at 10,000, then I'll give you 10,000; if the top salary is 8,000, then I can only give 8,000." In the end, because Liu Junwei was unable to give the player a clear figure on the salary issue, he chose to leave and join another team in the Central Champions League.
As this incident exemplifies: the Langfang City of Glory team doesn't have much appeal in the player market. Liu Junwei had to contact some of the players he had brought in, and whether they could come or not depended on whether the other side could accept the Langfang team's salary. After a period of two-way selection, only to let this team gradually molded. Among the players Langfang brought in were Tan Fucheng and Chen Nancun, whom Liu Junwei coached at Suzhou Dongwu, and Gao Baihan, who coached at the national junior team.
But the choice of who to bring in also depends on one key factor: he has to fit in with the Corridor's tactical style of play.
"If a player can pass two or three people in a row but his passing is not good, we won't bring him in because he doesn't match our style of play. For example, in the goalkeeper position, we chose Chen Nancun because he is one of the few goalkeepers in China who can play with both his right and left feet. A lot of times when facing forward pressure, he can distribute the ball very well."
The concept of organizing an attack from the goalkeeper position is one that Liu Junwei first heard about in 2013, from his own professional-level coaching instructor, Stephen. Therefore, even though Chen Nancun's height is not an advantage, Liu Junwei still firmly chose him as the team's starting goalkeeper. In the middle of the game, he also asked Chen Nancun to organize the attack from the backfield.
Chen Nanbu...
Of course, this concept is not new nowadays, but in Europe, many "goalkeepers" are criticized by fans for their frequent mistakes. This tactical approach has also been questioned. But Liu Junwei has never doubted the correctness of this way of playing.
"We faced Wuhan Pony Crossing after our successful run to B, and the lineup was rotated. Our substitute goalkeeper made a similar mistake and conceded a goal. But I don't think it's a problem, the mistake was made because of sticking to our own way of playing. The fact that it was a mistake shows that we haven't trained enough accordingly, but it doesn't negate the path. A missed pass by a goalie is essentially the same as a missed pass by a midfielder or defender, except that the goalie is in a special position and the misses tend to have obvious consequences that are noticed by everyone. What we have to do is continue to improve so that we can make quicker decisions the next time we are in a similar situation."
The Langfang City of Glory team made it through the Central Championship Regionals and made it to the finals. When the finals draw grouping was announced, many judged that Langfang was only a four to five place power in the group.
On paper, the strength of the rivals in the same group, Guangzhou Shadow Leopard, Shaanxi Chang'an United, Dalian Huayi and Guangxi Hengchen, are all above Langfang. But through the regional tournament games and weekday training, Liu Junwei is very confident in his players. He repeatedly emphasized with his players, "In this group, you have the ability to get the first place."
In the first game of the finals, Langfang defeated Changle Vajra Legs 6-0. Facing Shaanxi Chang'an United in the second round was the first big test for Langfang.
Most of the players of Shaanxi Chang'an United come from Shaanxi Chang'an Athletic, a former Central League One team. They have experienced domestic soccer players such as Ding Jie, Mi Haolun, Pang Zhiquan and Ma Xiaolei. When Liu Junwei saw this team at home, he recalled a scene from 4 years ago.
Before the start of the 2019 season, the then Shaanxi Chang'an Athletic intended to invite Liu Junwei to coach, but Liu Junwei had already accepted Suzhou Dongwu's invitation at this time, so he had to politely decline Shaanxi. Recalling this brush with the past, Liu Junwei said without regret: "At that time, the Shaanxi team's personnel structure is very good, if the whole pinch good, there is the strength of the Super League. But after all, I have promised Suzhou Dongwu, can not go back on their word, can only be missed."
Facing the "new Northwest Wolves", Liu Junwei thinks: "From the individual ability, game experience and physical confrontation, we are not as good as the other side. What can be compared is the overall tactical play, with the overall advantage to make up for the individual's disadvantage. Offensively, we start from the goalkeeper position to organize the attack, the ball transition to the forecourt to cooperate with the goal; defensively, we emphasize the 4231 formation four lines of distance to maintain, in the local formation of the two defense, three defense, immediately after the loss of possession of the ball on the opponent to carry out pressure."
In the end, Langfang, with the overall advantage at home, made Shaanxi kick hard, like a punch in the cotton, and had the strength to make it work. With a last minute goal, Langfang took the game 1-0. And then Langfang visited Guangzhou Shadow Leopard's away game and took it cleanly 2-0.
Two consecutive victories over the favorites made all the teams unable to underestimate the "baby soldiers", and also boosted the confidence of Langfang team itself. The players really believed in what the head coach said: they have the ability to get the first place in this group, and eventually they did.
"I've always been a firm believer that high-quality, high-intensity training is fundamental. It takes a lot of repetition if you're going to practice right. And the intensity of the competition is actually just sixty to seventy percent of the intensity of our training." Liu Junwei said, "As long as you practice in place when you train, in the middle of the competition, you will feel relaxed instead."
In addition to his own research, in the path of Liu Junwei's teaching, there are two people to help him is also very critical: one is his wife, one is his teacher.
Liu Junwei's wife was a former Chinese women's soccer player who retired from the game and studied foreign languages at the university, and later became an interpreter for Stephan Rotman, a German-born technical advisor and professional-level coaching instructor hired by the CFA. Liu Junwei met his wife while studying with Stephan and eventually came together. The couple share similar interests and both have a great love for soccer. The two usually talk about soccer, and will even discuss the way to pass the ball at the dinner table.
"There are passes that are inverted triangular passes given after a ground match in front of the field", Liu Junwei's wife gestured with her chopsticks on the dining table, "So such a pass can be said to be the last pass of a ground match, not a purposeless 45-degree angle start, or an underhand pass. So when counting the number of passes and the success rate of passes, such a pass should not be counted."
There are many other similar discussions between the couple. Liu Junwei's wife is not enrolled in the Langfang team's coaching staff, but she does volunteer to help by collecting and analyzing players' training and game data for her husband. She said, "We will train the players to pay attention to their own data. In the long run, the players will look at it after training and games: what is their heart rate and how much distance did they run. It's very positive and players can visualize their performance more."
In addition, Liu Junwei's wife will also help her husband to continue to communicate with his former teacher Stephen. Liu Junwei is always very touched by his mentor: "Stefan was also Klopp's teacher, and he gave me a lot of help during his time in China. Even when he returned to Germany later, he would seriously help me analyze and guide me on anything I needed to ask for advice, even watching videos of the teams I coached and giving some suggestions."
Liu Junwei translates through his wife and communicates with his mentor Stephen online.
For example, when the City of Glory in Langfang was playing in the Central Championship Regional Tournament, all the goals happened before the 60th minute, but at that time, Liu Junwei didn't notice this detail. Stephen said to Liu Junwei: "The fact that your team didn't score after 60 minutes shows that the intensity of the training was not enough and the players didn't have continuity."
Liu Junwei and Stephen discussed the situation and adjusted the intensity and methods of training. By the time of the Central Championship finals, Langfang had solved the problem, including against Shaanxi and Shadow Leopard, where the team scored late in the game.
Perhaps because of Stephen's relationship, Liu Junwei is most concerned about the most appreciated coach is Jurgen Klopp, the background image of his circle of friends is Jurgen Klopp commanding the game. 2013, Liu Junwei has been concerned about Jurgen Klopp's Dortmund team; and now the "Jagged Uncle" coaching Liverpool, as long as it's not in the middle of the night, the Liverpool games Liu Junwei Almost every game must be watched, but also some of Liverpool's offensive and defensive conversions, the details of the forecourt pressure edited out, put to the players to see. The players in the training, but also will be very serious to implement his requirements.
One of Klopp's main characteristics is that he talks at length in the post-match press conference, summarizing the game in great detail, often talking about some of the technical and tactical details. Liu Junwei's wife will also select useful clips from them and translate them for her husband, so that he can understand Klopp's thinking more clearly.
Watching Liverpool games, the starting point is actually to learn Klopp's tactical philosophy. But with the passage of time, Liu Junwei also gradually have the habit of fans. When Liverpool wasted their chances, he would also be anxious, regretful, and even call out. At this time, the lady will promptly remind: "You are not a fan, you have to watch the game from a professional point of view!"
