On March 1, Shanghai Shenhua officially announced that Wu Jingui will take charge of the team's coaching whip and lead the team in the 2022 season.
I recall the first time I met Wu Jingui, when Peter was still coaching at Shenhua. In the blink of an eye, more than two decades have passed. Wu Jingui has been coaching in the first tier of the Chinese Super League for many years, witnessing the boom and retreat of capital and experiencing the ups and downs of the industry.
"To be the coach of Shenhua at this moment, as a domestic coach, a Shanghai coach and a Shenhua man, I feel extremely proud. Being trusted and taking responsibility, I will do my best." Wu Jingui said in an interview. Although this season may be a tough year for both him and Shenhua, he is confident that the clouds will eventually clear and everything will be fine.
"Ten years in a row, I don't think the current situation has to make people pessimistic. Pessimism and complaining won't solve the problem, instead we should focus on our own things at this time. As Chinese coaches, whether we can do a good job in this crisis and accompany Shanghai Shenhua out of the toughest road is what we should think about. It's pointless to think too much about other things, and we can't decide. In the past we always compared ourselves with other teams, but now we have to compare ourselves and see if we are working harder than last season and than ever before."
Wu Jingui revealed that the reason why he dared to take over this heavy responsibility at this moment, in addition to the sense of responsibility, but also because of the management of Shenhua has a good cooperative relationship and mutual trust basis, the management has also made full preparation for him.
"Both Chairman Wu Xiaohui and General Manager Zhou Jun didn't have a good rest during the Spring Festival, they kept communicating with me, paid close attention to the players' dynamics, and tried to do a good job on the players' thinking. In fact, Mr. Wu and Mr. Zhou were under more pressure than me. During the training, I saw the effectiveness of the two leaders in the ideological work of the players, and every player who participated in the training showed a high degree of professionalism and self-discipline. As the head coach, I did not feel any negative emotions affecting the training. All of this is not by chance, behind it are the efforts of the management, the gratitude and understanding of the players, and the cohesion and unity that the team has molded over the years."
Wu Jingui said that cohesion and unity has been the team culture that Shenhua has tried to build, showing its value and role in times of crisis, and unity is an important prerequisite for Shenhua to overcome all difficulties.
Shenhua began training on March 1, with one day off per week and two practices on two days. With the change of the epidemic situation, from this week, Shenhua began to centralized closed training. Currently the players involved in the training is close to 30 people, and some of the players have been drawn to the national team and the U23 and U21 national teams.
The reporter asked Wu Jingui about the plan to adjust the team's lineup for the new season. From the second half of last season, the call to promote the rejuvenation of the team is getting louder and louder, and Shenhua has also given more opportunities for young players to exercise. So, will Wu Jingui further promote the construction of team rejuvenation?
"At the moment the players have just returned from vacation and we don't have a full squad, so the focus at the moment is to get all the players fit and then make a comprehensive assessment of how everyone is doing. This year our situation may be a bit special, none of the foreign players have been able to return. We can't rule out the possibility that we'll be playing in the Super League with a full Chinese squad this season. If it is a full Chinese class, the first thing to consider the relegation task, re-establish a new set of lineup and playing style is the first priority, and for the proportion of new and old players, it is not possible to be the same as the foreign aid are in the exact same time, so the adjustment of the lineup of the new season is certainly a comprehensive consideration of the results." Wu Jingui explained.
So is the lineup slimming program about to stop? Maybe not. After all, the Chinese Super League has a limit on the number of final enrollment, and the current total number of Shenhua's domestic players is definitely overstaffed. When the pre-season registration begins, or will make corresponding adjustments. At that time, the main and replacement lineup basically already have a relatively certain candidate, and thus will be able to choose more accurately. There may be concerns about how these players cut by Shenhua will be able to find their next home by that time, in case the transfer window closes.
In the current situation, teams are cutting redundancies, especially for highly paid players. If a highly paid player has a better option or is worried about not being on the list in the future, he can renegotiate his contract with the club ahead of time, and I believe that the clubs will not put up any obstacles in this regard.
The epidemic has brought economic difficulties to the whole soccer industry and Shenhua is also struggling to hold on in this crisis. The management and all the staff of Shenhua Club have been working hard to maintain the good atmosphere and positive mentality of the club and the team to face this crisis together.
It's certainly not a good time to be without a foreigner. Of the few foreigners still under contract with the club, defender Jonić has confirmed his departure to join the Japanese league. Whether there will be any other foreigners choosing to leave next is still uncertain. Basogo and Dumbya have contracts with Shenhua and they have not yet returned. How the contracts of these two foreign aiders are going to be resolved, whether they stay or terminate their contracts early, may require a large sum of money. Although the league's entry process has not yet officially begun, the proper resolution of contracts with foreign aiders has traditionally been a threshold for entry. Perhaps the principle of access has been adjusted this year, but I'm afraid it won't be easy to relax the foreign aid contract, so I hope Shenhua can handle it properly.
In fact, in the scope of the Chinese Super League, there is more than one club with foreign aid salary disputes, some clubs have been appealed to the FIFA, and even the FIFA has been punished accordingly, prohibiting the introduction and registration of new players.
If it is true that none of the foreign aid is coming back and none of the foreign aid can be registered, this should be the first time in the history of Shanghai Shenhua since the establishment of the club, and it must be a full Chinese class to play in the Chinese Super League. I have to say, this is a risky move, but on the current situation of the personnel reserves of other teams in the Chinese Super League, if Shenhua really do not go on the foreign aid, even if the goal is only set at relegation, is not easy to accomplish.
As far as the current transfer market is concerned, Shanghai Seaport is rumored to have the most names of Chinese players, and it is not yet known whether the rumors will eventually become reality. But the city's seaport in the new season to strengthen the team's lineup and the pursuit of results goals, obviously Shenhua is difficult to reach.
In 2021, Harbour missed out on the title, and if nothing else, Harbour will still be aiming for the league title in 2022. With Shenhua positioned for relegation and Seaport pursuing the title, this is probably the biggest gap between the two teams in the same city in terms of seasonal goals since Seaport entered the Chinese Super League.
Shenhua has not experienced difficulties before, in 2013, the club has also experienced a large area of unpaid wages, investor Zhu Jun even plans to take the team to Kunming, Yunnan, and leave Shanghai. 2013 also had a foreign aid to strike training strike to recover unpaid wages of the big action. Later, Zhu Jun could only sell Wang Dalei and Dailin to ease the financial pressure. At that time, Shenhua also made fans worry about disappearing from Shanghai, but in the end, Shenhua was able to keep it.
It was the Greenland Group that completely solved the dilemma of that year and kept Shenhua in Shanghai. And since then it has continued to invest and won two AFC Cup titles. Greenland has been relatively rational investment in the past few years, Shenhua is not the team that spends the most money in these years, but also in five years, twice won the AFC Cup, which is the best return to Shenhua in times of crisis to lend a helping hand to the Greenland Group.
Greenland Group has been exploring a path for the long-term development of professional soccer clubs, and Shanghai Shenhua FC has been working hard to promote its own brand and build its own youth training system. However, due to the overall unsoundness of China's soccer consumer market, the lack of soccer talent and the ups and downs of the market, it will take quite a long time for both the commercial brand and the youth training brand to have a real sizable income.
Shenhua fans are generally able to rationalize the situation of Shenhua this season. It is generally believed that as long as Shenhua retains the qualification for the Chinese Super League, and can train some newcomers, even if the mission of the season is completed. As Wu said, the difficulties are only temporary and everything will be fine. This difficult period is both a trough and an opportunity. Do what you need to do to be able to blossom again when the light comes.
