From the "Six Little Swans" to the champion coach, can Hao Wei open a new era of Tu Shuai?

On December 19, 2020, Shandong Taishan defeated Jiangsu 2:0 to win the FA Cup after six years, and on December 26, 2021, Taishan defeated Hebei 2:0 to lock in the league three rounds in advance. Hao Wei, who has been the coach of Taishan since October 2020, has become the first local coach of Taishan to lead the team to win league and cup championships.

From the head coach of the Chinese women's football team to the executive head coach of the national Olympic team to the coach of the Taishan team, Hao Wei, who can still be called the "young marshal", has a very rich coaching resume. From the "six little swans" in the player period to the current champion coach, Hao Wei continues to write his personal football career, and may also bring new changes to the coaching pattern of the Chinese Super League.

Nearly ended his career

Hao Wei was born on December 27, 1976, the day after Taishan won the fifth league title, which coincided with his 45th birthday. In his playing career, Hao Wei has played for Shandong Taishan, Shaanxi Guoli, Beijing Guoan, Changsha Jinde and other clubs, playing as a right-back. In 1999, Hao Wei won the A League and THE FA Cup with Shandong Taishan.

Born in Zibo, Hao Wei showed an excellent talent for playing football in elementary school, rising all the way to the Shandong youth team coached by Yin Tiesheng. In 1993, Hao Wei was selected for Jianlibao's list of students studying in Brazil. However, in those years in Brazil, Hao Wei almost ended his career early.

In 1996, Hao Wei, who suffered from lung bubbles, had his lungs compressed to only 30 percent, making it very difficult to breathe. However, before the formal diagnosis, Hao Wei himself did not know the condition of his body, and insisted on training for four days after feeling unwell. It wasn't until the 6th day that Hao Wei was in pain and couldn't sleep, and he realized the seriousness of the problem.

In a previous interview, Hao Wei said: "The doctor told me that after I finished the operation, I probably wouldn't be able to kick the ball. Thinking that he would not have a chance with football in the future, Hao Wei's heart was very sad. As a guardian, Zhu Guanghu's hand also trembled when he signed the surgical form.

Fortunately, the operation was very successful. In 1996, the national team recruited six Jianlibao players to return to China to prepare for the top ten matches, and Hao Wei was listed. This also means that Hao Wei's career can continue.

The starting point of the manager's career is quite high

After winning the "double crown", Hao Wei underwent three surgeries for lung abnormalities at the end of 2000, the first two of which ended in failure. After that, Hao Wei strained the muscle of his left thigh in the national team and surgically cut off a muscle. Multiple injuries had a huge impact on his form.

In 2007, Hao Wei began the road of transformation. He joined Kinder, where he also served as head coach as a player. Although he announced his retirement in the middle of the season, Hao Wei's coaching career began here. In 2009, Hao Wei became the head coach of the Hunan National Games team. Although he failed to lead the team to the final, the tactical level he showed was impressive.

In fact, Hao Wei showed a certain coaching talent when he was a player. Among the active teammates, Hao Wei looked a little different. He loves quiet and likes to practice writing in the room, and some people say that he is "a teenager and an old man". In fact, Hao Wei, who is now the coach of the Taishan team, is still as steady as ever at the press conference and the coaching bench.

In October 2010, Hao Wei received a call from Li Xiaopeng, the head coach of the Chinese women's football team, asking him to come and help. At the same time, Kinder is also inviting Hao Wei back as head coach.

"I thought it was important to help my brothers, so I went to women's football, and I didn't expect to be able to become a manager later." When talking about his "yin and yang mistakes" becoming the coach of women's football, Hao Wei once said so. In the face of the trough of the Chinese women's football team, Hao Wei boldly used new people, bringing fresh blood to the women's football team. In the 2015 Women's World Cup, Hao Wei led the team to reach the top 8 - the best result of women's football in 16 years.

Seamless coaching of Tarzan

After leaving the women's football team, Hao Wei served as the head of the Chinese coaching team of Guangzhou Evergrande. During this period, he accepted the order of the world famous Coach Scolari, and the income was very good. In 2017, Hao Wei returned to Taishan as an assistant coach and technical director. In the following years, Hao Wei twice went out to the mountains to "fight fires", successively serving as the executive coach of the national Olympic team and the coach of the Taishan team, and led the Taishan team to win two championship trophies.

In the second half of 2019, the then national Olympic coach Hiddink was dismissed due to poor performance, and Hao Wei was transferred to become the executive head coach of the U22 national football team. At that time, there were still 3 fierce battles left in the National Olympic Games to fight, so many people believed that Hao Wei's trip was to "carry the pot". In the end, Hao Wei ended his brief trip to the Olympic Games with a record of 3 consecutive defeats. But his platooning and on-the-spot adjustments, as well as his humility at the press conference, were impressive.

On October 5, 2020, the Taishan team officially announced that Li Xiaopeng would no longer serve as the head coach of the team due to physical reasons, and Hao Wei "in the line of fire" took over the coaching whip. With rich coaching experience and understanding of the Taishan team, Hao Wei achieved "seamless connection". At the same time, he did not fully follow Li Xiaopeng's leadership style, bringing new changes to the team, especially the offensive end.

In addition to the difference in technical and tactical styles, Hao Wei's external image is also quite different from that of former coach Li Xiaopeng. Both are Shandong local coaches, and both coaches have the simplicity and humility of Shandong people. However, compared to Li Xiaopeng, who spoke wittily during the interview and coached passionately in the game, Hao Wei is more stable, just like when he was a player.

At the post-match press conference, Hao Wei's first words were always to thank the players and the fans who supported the team, but he always took responsibility for the team's mistakes. After Taishan won the Chinese Super League, Hao Wei showed his awareness of the overall situation. "The Taishan team won the Chinese Super League championship, the credit is not my Hao Wei or a certain team member, but all aspects of the club's dedication, including provincial and municipal leaders, the club's new and old leaders, Peng Ge (Li Xiaopeng), this championship is the result of everyone's love for the club and their efforts." Hao Wei said in an interview.

Hold up the hopes of the local manager

Once upon a time, the Chinese Super League was completely the world of foreign handsomeness. Under the leadership of Jinyuan Football, it is easier and more straightforward to bother to train local managers, obviously not directly looking for a foreign coach to coach. For a long time, "foreign coaches" have become popular, and the growth of local managers has almost stagnated.

In the 2019 season before the beginning of jinyuan football, only 3 of the 16 teams in the Chinese Super League were led by local managers, namely Shandong Taishan (Li Xiaopeng), Henan Jianye (Wang Baoshan) and Wuhan Zhuoer (Li Tie).

In 2020, affected by the promulgation of the Football Association's "salary restriction order" and the epidemic, a large number of foreign aid and foreign teachers have fled the Chinese Super League. The proportion of local managers in the league is also increasing. However, there are many temporary firefighters, such as Qingdao coach Yang Weijian and Guangzhou player and coach Zheng Zhi.

However, the Tarzan team is not among the teams affected by external factors. Since Magat left Taishan at the end of 2017, Li Xiaopeng has sat in the managerial position for nearly three seasons. Although the coaching of Li's coaching has been questioned by the outside world, the club has never taken the initiative to replace the local coach, which can also show the support and tolerance of the club for the local manager.

A healthy local league not only needs to cultivate local players, but also the cultivation of local managers. With Hao Wei winning the league title, Taishan's trust in the local manager is likely to spread to the entire Chinese Super League. Next, Hao Wei is likely to lead Taishan to the FA Cup final, when he will become the first manager to achieve a "double champion" in the era of players and coaches.