On the eve of the national team's upcoming match against Saudi Arabia, veteran media commentator Liu Jianhong has expressed his views on the change in the national team's coaching position. He said bluntly, "The situation seems to be quite tricky, either coach Ivan must let go, or we immediately seek a new candidate. It would be a good idea for Ivan to take a backseat to a team of Chinese coaches to test the resilience of the FA. The three coaches in the running are those from Shanghai Harbour, Shanghai Shenhua and Shandong Taishan, who are not only familiar with club affairs but also have the ability to lead the national team."
Let's focus on Shanghai Harbour, whose head coach is Australian Muscat, whose coaching talent has won widespread praise in the industry. With Muscat in charge, the team has grown like a tiger, with core players such as Wu Lei returning to their former glory. Today, under Muscat's leadership, Shanghai Seaport is at the top of the Chinese Super League.
Turning to Shanghai Shenhua, its coach is Russian Slutsky. When he first arrived, Slutsky was under immense pressure and skepticism, but his steady leadership has gradually emerged, and Shenhua has now risen to second place in the CSL. Shandong Taishan's head coach is South Korean Choi Kang-hee, who is highly regarded for his controversial coaching style. Early in the season, Choi brought Taishan into the top eight of the Asian Champions League, but the team has suffered back-to-back losses this season. However, Taishan have gradually come out of the rut, winning the FA Cup, Asian Champions League and the league title. If these three coaches are in charge of the national team, they must know the strength and level of the players in the league. However, we must face up to a reality: our national team does not seem to allow coaches to work part-time. Taking basketball as an example, Du Feng was the coach of both Guangdong men's basketball team and Chinese men's basketball team, but in the end, he could only choose one of the two, and he chose Guangdong men's basketball team. This summer, Guo Shiqiang took over as the coach of the Chinese men's basketball team, while resigning from his position in the Guangzhou men's basketball team. If the FA is interested in inviting Cui Kangxi, Muscat and Slutsky to coach the national team, they must first resign from their clubs.
