Since he was appointed to take over the Guangzhou team on July 12, Salvador, the new manager, has taken the team, which has lost many battles, to show amazing strength in the Central League, realizing a good record of four wins and one draw. In an interview with Football Daily, Salvador revealed his thoughts on the team's transformation and future ambitions.
Since his appointment, the team has scored 3 wins and 1 draw in the league and a win over Shanghai Harbor in the AFC Cup. Guangzhou has surged from eight consecutive unbeaten rounds to four consecutive unbeaten games, accumulating 10 points. How has the players' confidence changed in these five games?
The players have been in pleasing form during this time. The players in our team are not only skillful but also talented. At the same time, I am deeply satisfied with the players' training attitude and quality. Although the recent results are quite fruitful, the players still need to work hard to improve the technical and tactical level.
My tactical philosophy is centered on high confrontation and pressing the opponent, with an emphasis on teamwork. The players know this by heart. What other new ideas have I conveyed to the team since taking over?
The first thing is the building of self-confidence. Due to the team's previous poor record, I focused on building the players' self-confidence and winning mentality in training, so that they would believe in themselves, their coaches, the team, and our common goal.
In Spanish soccer, the mentality of the winner is crucial. International powerhouses like Manchester City and Liverpool have this mentality, which puts enormous pressure on their opponents. I hope this soccer culture can be integrated into the Guangzhou team.
How can you develop this winner's mentality in your daily training?
Through targeted training, we gradually develop the players' mental temperament and build up their confidence in winning. Fortunately, I knew them when they were in soccer school and knew them like the back of my hand. Therefore, after taking over the first team, we were able to integrate quickly and shorten the break-in period.
The team has had a great run of results recently, jumping from the relegation zone to the current 10th place. What are the next goals or plans?
Through the efforts of the coaching team and all the players, we will strive to move further up the table and try to succeed in relegation. As a coach, I hope the players achieve better results within their ability.
The club's owner has set out the goals of relegation this year and overtaking next year. The only principle of signing in the summer window is the U23 players developed by Evergrande Football School. He also emphasized that core starters must be three years before the transfer. How do you feel about the owner's decision?
I think this goal is both good and scientific, and is conducive to the virtuous cycle of the Evergrande soccer school and the Guangzhou club. The soccer school can cultivate outstanding players and then transport them to the first team, after three years of training, they will become more potential players or get more opportunities in terms of transfer and economic value.
You became a head coach of a professional team at a young age, how does this experience help you coach the Guangzhou team now?
That was in 2014, I was 35 years old and had gained a lot of promotion experience in Colombia by leading the team from the lower leagues to the top. Now the owner has set the goal of overtaking the team next year and we will do our best to accomplish that. Of course, the addition of foreigners or star players will add more possibilities. But I believe the players in our youth training system also have the strength and they will become better professional athletes. China has a large number of excellent players and will definitely be able to produce more excellent players in the future.
