The Chinese national soccer team has officially announced that it will welcome the New Zealand soccer team for two intense warm-up matches in March.
This news reveals that the coaching selection for the national team seems to be in its infancy, after all, with less than two months left before the warm-ups, the existence of a coaching team is a given. The debut of the new coach is just around the corner, perhaps at the end of this month, we will witness this historic moment.
So who exactly will be at the helm of the National Football League? At the moment, there seem to be only two candidates.
Following Horton's example, Jankovic coaches both teams at the same time.
Looking back to last year's East Asian Cup, Jankovic had led the "second team" appearance, which was regarded as his promotion to the head coach before the water test. Now, the Asian Games team is also not to be ignored, and Jankovic's position as head coach of the national football team seems to have been finalized. He will lead both teams at u23 level in the New Zealand warm-up. At the moment, it looks like he may be wearing two hats as the joint head coach of both teams.
However, this two-pronged strategy has obvious drawbacks. The experience of Horton, the former head coach of the national soccer team, is clear evidence of this. Horton coached both the national soccer team and the Olympic team at the same time, but neither was pleasing to the eye, and he was eventually dismissed due to the loss of the Olympics. If he had focused on the national soccer team, he might have been able to write a new chapter in Chinese soccer instead of Milu.
For Jankovic, the risk of splitting two roles in one person is huge, and I'm afraid most people would find it hard to accept. Even if he agrees, it will be a last resort.
Keep the status quo with Li continuing to coach the National Football League.
There is no word yet that Li has found a new job, so it is more likely that he will stay on, at least as an assistant coach. As the national soccer team searches for a new coach, Li Xiaopeng may continue to play an important role, especially in helping the players find their form in the upcoming warm-up matches in New Zealand.
Strictly speaking, Li Xiaopeng is not a new coach, as he has not yet announced his departure. But the fact that he has completed his mission after the last 12 games can be seen as a transition to a "new coach". Although Li Xiaopeng is no longer considered suitable to coach the national team, he has accumulated international experience after the last 12 matches and can fulfill the role of a temporary transition coach.
If no suitable replacement can be found, Li Xiaopeng may once again lead the national soccer team in these two warm-up games, which is not contradictory to the continued search for a new coach. Compared with Yankovic's plan to lead both teams, it is more realistic for Li to remain at the helm of the national soccer team.
Of course, the FA's decision to select a manager for the national soccer team may hide a deeper secret. It was previously rumored that the FA had not reached an agreement with the likes of Queiroz and Ola Royo, but perhaps they have already reached an agreement with one of them. Perhaps the new national football manager who will be unveiled soon will be an unexpected candidate.
