Exclusive to Newsweek
By Yu Jiong
With the first phase of the Chinese Super League (CSL) coming to an end, the Shanghai Harbour team players, who enjoyed a two-week vacation, quickly assembled and put themselves into the preparation for the FA Cup in October and the CSL Champions League in December.
In a TV interview, Harbor head coach Leko shared various insights since he took over the team.
"I'm delighted with the progress the players have made."
Since arriving in China last fall, Leko has gained a deep understanding of soccer in the land, "I think soccer is an extremely important sport in China. There is no doubt that Chinese players love soccer, they are skillful and dedicated."
Talking about the Chinese players in the team, Leko said he is very sure that every country has great players, they all have flashes of brilliance and deficiencies, "We hope to help them improve through our efforts. The first thing is of course to play great games, and then to improve the overall level of Chinese players. After six months of hard work, I think the level of some of our players has improved significantly, which makes me feel very satisfied."
Joining Leko on the stage was Harbor veteran Yu Hai. Yu Hai returned to the starting lineup in the second half of the first stage of the tournament.
"Yu Hai is a person who is very cordial in his work, he is a role model in any position and is known to be very good. I think the most important thing in training is to trust your players, to believe that they are capable of playing high level soccer and that they always have room for improvement. Yu Hai is the best example." Leko said, "Of course, the other players are also very good, they also work very hard and have good soccer habits. All of this makes them outstanding on the field."
Focus on the opponent and prepare for the championship
With 28 points, the Harbormasters advance to the second stage of the Super League season in the championship group.
Leko revealed that the coaching staff had already started to pay attention and study the future opponents in the first stage, "We watched all the Chinese Super League matches. One game every three days is very tight and we were so pressed for time that we sometimes complained that there were only 24 hours in a day and wished we had more time every day. But anyway, we watched the matches of our rivals in the championship group."
For the second stage of the event, Leko remains confident, "I think we are very confident in ourselves with respect to our other opponents. We will focus on ourselves and train hard every day to improve even more."
High-intensity training has become the new normal for the Harbor team. Yu Hai said, "Our training running distance is even longer than the actual battle."
"As intense a training session as you can handle, you can handle an intense game." Leko sees it as a simple truth, "I don't think it's a secret that I'm strict or lax. Everything is simple for me and my guys know that if they train well, they'll get more chances to play."
Of course, Leko also thanked the team's logistical team, "Thank goodness we have had a very good medical team and other technical departments over the last six months, and we have worked together to safeguard the players from injuries and that our players can be stronger than the rest of the team."
Once again, Leko talked about his soccer training philosophy, "Simply put, the harder the players train, the closer they get to success, very simple."
The exemplary role of foreign aid is crucial
The Chinese players performed well in the first phase of the game with the untidy foreigners of the Harbour team.
In Leko's opinion, foreigners should play a more important role in the team, "They need to act as role models for the whole team on the pitch, on the training ground and in life. Usually, Chinese players learn from them spontaneously. Sometimes many Chinese clubs don't understand this modeling role, they think that as long as the foreigners can cross the field or score goals, nothing else matters."
"But the fact is that the role of the foreigners as role models is very important. Sometimes we say that domestic players pass the ball to the foreigners and then they can drink coffee on the field while waiting for them to score. This is the biggest problem Chinese soccer is experiencing right now, and I think it needs to change." Leko continued, "Because Chinese players are also at a good level, they can also score goals and play a nice game. How to help them build their confidence, how to make them believe that they are also very good, the foreigners need to play a role here to assist them to play better and better."
Regarding the new midfield combination of Oscar, Mooy and Paulinho, Leko said he is very much looking forward to it, "It is very important to have these three high-level players, but for various reasons we have not yet seen how the trio will perform when they are together. Hopefully, when the title race group starts in December, they can come on stage together and prove that our expectations are not in vain and, more importantly, can assist the team in getting results."
National soccer team has to have confidence in itself
Mooi will be part of the Australian squad to face China in the opening match of the World Cup qualifying Asian Zone 12 tournament.
On how to limit the Australian midfielder at the heart of the team, Leko smiled and said, "Muy is a very good player and I'm sure China's coaching staff has a good understanding of him as well. He will be a threat to the Chinese team, but I still say what I said before, what the Chinese team needs is to focus on themselves."
Leko believes that China has a good squad, "I think China has to have confidence in themselves while focusing on their opponents. I've been here for six months now and I've seen many good players, so I believe that even if I have to face Mui and other good players from the Australian team, China still has a good chance."
Feeling at home in Shanghai
How does Leko feel about the city of Shanghai?
I think the most important thing about Shanghai for me is the people in the city," said Leko. It's a long way from my hometown, but I feel like I'm at home and the people here are always friendly and want to help me out. The city is beautiful, but the people here are even better, and that's the biggest feeling I've had since I've been here."
