On September 9, China's U22 national Olympic team was in the midst of a fierce battle with India in Dalian, while Jankovic's men's national soccer team was in Chengdu to face Malaysia. Originally, the Chinese team was expected to win easily, but unexpectedly suffered a "downward spiral"! Had it not been for an offside call on a Malaysian goal shortly after the kickoff, China would have been down 0-2 and in an unthinkable situation. No one can give a definite answer as to whether or not the match will end in a draw. But at least judging from Jankovic's recent attempts, the result is not optimistic.
Failure #1: Ineffective formation switching!
From the former Lippi era to the Pelan era, the national team emphasized mastering at least two technical and tactical styles of play, in order to adjust according to the situation in the game. At that time, the national team often switched styles of play according to the situation, which was especially obvious in Lippi's era. When Yankovic took over, he also wanted the Chinese team to master at least two styles of play, but the results were not good in real life.
Against Malaysia, China's initial formation was 442, but in reality it was more of a three-guard. However, when one side of the flank position pressure forward, how to deal with the gap behind? The Malaysian team is precisely the use of the Chinese side players assisted by the gap left behind easy to break the goal.
During the game, the opponents repeatedly scored on counterattacks by utilizing the gaps left by the Chinese wingbacks after their assists. This reflects that when the Chinese team switches formations, the other players are not enough tactical skills such as standing position and complementary position. In addition, the Chinese Super League's "life ball" also makes players accustomed to standing and kicking, lack of initiative, and difficult to form effective cooperation.
When Jankovic coached the 99 age group team, the overall technical and tactical requirements for the team did not change fundamentally from what he requires of the national team now. However, the 99 age group teams were better executed because the U-series age group teams had a longer training period each year, allowing Jankovic more time for technical and tactical rehearsals and bonding.
However, the situation with the national team is different. Each training session is limited in time, training sessions are relatively limited, and technical and tactical drills are limited to targeted drills against opponents. This makes the national players' technical and tactical literacy low, and the problems are exposed in the real battle.
Therefore, it is not surprising that the Chinese team performed poorly against Malaysia, and even to some extent, the Chinese men's soccer team has not stepped out of the "comfort zone" after the epidemic. Yankovic's warm-up arrangements from June, although one more than one quality, but the players in the league to play "health ball" has been three or four years, on the development of world soccer is oblivious to the 1-1 draw with Malaysia seems to be expected.
Mistake #2: Not playing in the league for the National Football League?
In the China-Malaysia match, Jankovic let players who had not played or performed poorly in the league for some time to enter the national team or even the starting lineup, which triggered questions from the outside world. In the latest training list released by the CFA, as many as eight players from the harbor were included in the list, which caused dissent. Some players who have not played in the league for a short period of time or have not played for a period of time have also been selected for the national team, and the outside world has raised questions about the selection criteria.
In the match, five harbor players entered the starting lineup, but their performance could only be described as average, Jiang Guangtai was even replaced. Gao Zhunyi didn't play for many rounds in the league, but went straight into the starting lineup in this match. This raises questions about the significance of the Chinese Super League to the national team, and whether the coaching staff understands the players' performance in the league.
Jankovic surely has his own considerations, but choosing players he knows well, as well as those who have been called up before, with the national team together for a shorter period of time, can only be simply pinched in a short period of time. Had the WC been much later, he might have called up more new players to scout. But now there are only two months until the World Qualifiers, with three more international warm-up matches to go.
There are also problems with the running of players on the field. In the Chinese Super League, the "life ball" makes players used to standing and waiting to play, lack of initiative, and difficult to form effective cooperation. Players are afraid of taking responsibility, so they naturally run as little as possible. After getting the ball, more often choose to pass back, cross pass, in order to reduce the chance of error. But this is contrary to the nature of soccer.
In that sense, Jankovic and the national team are facing a huge challenge. It's no longer about the soccer itself within the soccer field.
Bold assumptions: a complete push back of personnel?
Jankovic and the national team can only focus on veteran players at this stage, and even continue to call in naturalized players. But from the June training in Dalian to the Chengdu training, the performance of the national team is getting more and more disappointing. Failure to beat Malaysia at home in this match has further heightened concerns about the World Cup away match against Thailand in November.
Jankovic's expression after the match and his speech in the post-match conference showed his dissatisfaction with the result. But as the head coach, he needs to come up with a solution. On the one hand, can he mobilize the desire of the existing personnel when they will welcome a stronger Syrian team in three days' time? On the other hand, Jankovic will no longer be subject to any restrictions in terms of personnel recruitment for the next training session. So, does he have the guts to carry out a "big revolution" on the existing Chinese men's national team, clearing out all the old players and selecting young players with more impact and desire to join the team? In the current Chinese men's soccer team is in the doldrums as a whole, there is a desire to have impetus, far more important than the so-called "rich experience in international matches".
Perhaps such demands and calls will be even stronger after the future battle between China and Syria.
