Despite the overall mediocre strength of our country's soccer, however, the admiration of many players for the European and American soccer powers, as well as the longing for those soccer giants' coaches, has always lingered in their minds. This phenomenon is ubiquitous, from the selection of national team coaches by the Football Association to the selection of top foreign aiders by clubs.
Since the professionalization of Chinese soccer, many impressive European and American coaches have emerged. Their performance certainly makes us think whether a high-level foreign coach can push our country's soccer to take a leap forward? Or, should we continue to support teams to bring in well-known foreign coaches?
It has been suggested that ten or fifteen years ago, well-known coaches in Europe and the United States might have been suitable for us. However, that is clearly not the case now.
The reason for the lack of suitability in the last decade is that the overall ability of our players has seriously declined, not only in terms of technical and tactical understanding, but even the basic skills are quite weak. Under such circumstances, how to implement the tactical deployment of the coach? In addition, European and American soccer has developed rapidly in recent years, with numerous tactical innovations, while our soccer has stagnated. Relying on these players with poor skills, how can they play good soccer and understand the advanced tactics of foreign coaches?
Li Xiaopeng, the head coach of the national soccer team, has responded to the fans' concern: why always let Shandong Taishan team use such crude tactics as high-altitude bombing? After all, Taishan has many excellent players.
Li Xiaopeng admitted that the team has excellent players such as Pelé, Fellaini, Guo Tianyu and Liu Junshuai, but the high-altitude bombing tactics are most suitable for Taishan.
However, are big-name foreign aiders suitable for our country's soccer? Choosing foreign aid is different from choosing a coach. Whether the coach's tactics can be fully utilized depends on the ability of the domestic players. After all, most of the players on the pitch are Chinese.
For the national team, we don't want to see foreign aid too strong, resulting in a lower sense of responsibility for domestic players. Key moments or important chances are left to the decision of foreign aiders, which will undoubtedly weaken the competitiveness of the national team.
If this is the case for all teams, then the future of the national team will be hopeless. How do you select international players? Without competence and responsibility, even basic protection and passing are problematic. This year, our national team has not shown such signs.
However, is it true that there are managers and foreigners who can improve the performance of the national soccer team and strengthen the club at the same time? Of course there are! But our FA and domestic clubs may not be willing to accept this reality.
After years of experience, especially in recent seasons, Korean coaches and players fit us perfectly.
For one reason, the level of the Korean national team and its players, between our national soccer team and Europe and the United States, is not the strongest, but theoretically a better match.
Reason number two is that Korean coaches are very familiar with Asian soccer and it doesn't take much time to make a seamless transition. The same is true for Korean players coming to China.
The third reason is that there is no big gap in the psychological acceptance of our players. After the arrival of European and American coaches, our domestic players always respect them and are psychologically affected once they are criticized. While after the arrival of Korean coaches, the mentality of domestic players is very different, they will learn with an open mind and try to narrow the gap with the top level in Asia.
For example, Chengdu Rongcheng's Xu Zhengyuan, former Hebei head coach Jin Jongfu, and former Chongqing Liangjiang Athletic head coach Zhang Wailong have been recognized for their coaching ability and level.
In addition to coaches, the selection of Korean players as foreign aid may be no less powerful than European and American players. For example, Shandong Taishan midfielder core Sun Jun Hao, former Guangzhou starting center back Kim Young Quan, former Beijing Guoan center back Kim Min Ya, Kwon Kyung Won, and Jung Wo Yung, etc., all of them are worth looking forward to in terms of their performance level.
For the current Chinese soccer, choosing Korean coaches and players can not only strengthen the strength, but also reduce expenses and maximize the strength of the team.
Finally, our team really needs to think about team development. We should not only pursue the star effect, but also choose the right manager for our team. Foreign aid is the most correct business philosophy. Blindly signing big name foreign aid may look glamorous, but it's just a gimmick and will only end up in vain. Just like Shanghai Harbor now.
