Shandong Taishan won this year's league title three rounds earlier, which is the team's second victory after a gap of 11 years. As the first local coach in the 14 years of the Chinese Super League to lead the team to win the league championship in its entirety, Hao Wei has set his sights on the upcoming FA Cup final on the 9th. Hao Wei said that after winning the league championship, the team has begun to make adjustments for the FINAL OF THE FA Cup, hoping to win the FA Cup again and draw a satisfactory end to the season.
1. The champion belongs to everyone
TITAN: After Shandong Taishan won the championship three rounds in advance, the pressure was much less?
Hao Wei: It's not about how much pressure is big or small. Of course, it must be admitted that at the moment when the team finally won the championship, I still felt a lot more relaxed, after all, as a coach, leading the team to win the championship is a very happy thing. And when I win the FA Cup in 2020, whether it is me or the club, the leaders and the players, everyone hopes to impact the league championship. After a year of hard work, it is certainly a pleasure to achieve this goal. However, winning this championship is the result of the joint efforts of all the people who have quietly paid for the club all these years, from the provincial and municipal leaders, the management of the club, the working team, and all the players who have worked hard for the team over the years. After 11 years, it's not easy to win this title. Over the years, too many people have worked hard to win the championship, and so many coaches in front of them have also paid. So, this championship is the best reward for all the hard work and efforts that everyone has ever given. Because it is a tournament system, and it is in a closed state, the players are particularly difficult, without the support of their families, it is difficult for the players to play well with peace of mind. So, I'm also very grateful to the players, to the families of the staff team.
Of course, we must not forget the support of Shandong fans for so many years, Shandong fans have waited too long for this championship! On the day of the championship, although the stadium scene was forbidden for fans to enter, many Shandong fans braved the rain to support us outside the stadium, which touched all of us. Winning is the best reward for them.
TITAN: A lot of people say that this year's champion should be Tarzan, because whether it's staffing or club stability, Tarzan is the best, what do you think?
Hao Wei: I think the main thing is that this year's reinforcement work is done well, the club management is very strong, and several positions have been strengthened, which makes the overall strength and level of the whole team improve compared with the past. Second, the understanding and implementation of the technical and tactical aspects of the team is very good. Everyone can form a unified understanding of the tactical requirements, and then on the basis of understanding, everyone can play some of their own strengths on the field, which also ensures the combat effectiveness of the team.
Third, I think it may also have something to do with this year's format. Affected by the epidemic, the league has changed to a tournament system, and the schedule is relatively dense. Because our team is relatively neat, especially the bench depth is good, which also allows us to boldly rotate in such a dense game, ensuring that the team's performance is relatively stable.
TITAN: At present, the Chinese Super League and even professional clubs, including the Chinese First Division, are facing many difficulties, and the Taishan team is relatively stable. What do you think about that?
Hao Wei: Actually, at the beginning of the season, I felt that all the clubs were stable and the competition was relatively fierce. Like in the first stage against Shenzhen and Guangzhou, we played very hard. However, when it comes to the back, some teams see the hope of achieving good results, and some teams seem to have little hope of achieving good results, so there is an unstable situation, including the situation that there are more salary arrears in the outside world. I personally feel that this situation is not very good, one is not conducive to the growth and construction of the team, the second is not good for the overall image of the professional league, and it is not conducive to the overall long-term development of Chinese football.
Fortunately, whether it is the previous Luneng or the current Taishan, our club has not had similar problems in this regard, and has always been in a relatively stable situation. So, that's a big advantage for our team, and it's a big reason why we were able to win the championship this time. As for others like the tournament system, closed management, etc., for all clubs, it is the same conditions and the same environment. So, not only me, but all of our players are proud or proud to play for Shandong, and it's not without reason.
2. The possibility of foreign aid remaining is very large
TITAN: Affected by the epidemic this year, many teams of foreign aid can not be in place, how does the Taishan team ensure that foreign aid is in place and maintain a good level?
Hao Wei: At the beginning of the season, we actually had difficulties, and Guedes and Moises did not come back. Before the start of the second stage of the match, Moises insisted on coming back, and he overcame many difficulties to finally join the whole team. After he returned, our staff was relatively neat. Guedes, on the other hand, did not want to come back, and of course, he encountered various situations. Looking back now, it seems that his absence did not have a great impact on the whole team, but if he returned to the team, the overall strength of the team should be better, and it could also become more diverse in terms of the tactical arrangement of the whole team. This is also a pity, but under the epidemic, the overall work of our club is still very effective, ensuring the combat effectiveness and competitiveness of the entire team.
TITAN: Next, will these foreign aides continue to stay in the team?
Hao Wei: From the perspective of the coaching staff, we definitely hope to all stay, and if conditions permit, we certainly hope to have better new foreign aid to join. But it is not very difficult to draw conclusions, because it is possible for various factors to cause the situation to change. I can only say that next year, these foreign aides are basically no big problems and will continue to stay in office. We've been talking to Moises for the past few days that his contract expires in July next year, which means that he doesn't have a full one-year contract, and from the player's point of view, he definitely hopes to have a full season. So, we're also talking, thinking about renewing his contract as early as possible. And then, there's Judson, because he's on loan on temporary loan, and we want to renew his contract now. As for Fellaini, Sun Zhunhao, etc., they are all in the contract period, and the problem is not big. Now, our coaching staff is just giving advice, and it is up to the club to decide. So, all I can say is hope.
From the perspective of the coaching staff, it is definitely hoped to continue to maintain a stable lineup, after all, there is a complete run-in period, and everyone understands each other, which is much simpler than bringing in new signings. Moreover, under the current epidemic situation, if you want to introduce new foreign aid, the things involved are more complicated.
3. Hope to further improve the business
TITAN: As the first local coach in 14 years to lead the team to a full season and win the Chinese Super League, how do you feel?
Hao Wei: I have always felt that local coaches have their own advantages, and the biggest advantage is that there are no obstacles in communicating with players. Of course, compared with many big-name foreign coaches who have coached in the Chinese Super League in the past, Chinese coaches definitely need to further improve themselves in terms of technical and tactical arrangements and applications. Personally, I began to take over the team in the second half of the league last year, and now, I have always hoped to further improve myself in terms of business and continue to learn. Most crucially, I actually have to thank the club for giving me such an opportunity, because if I hadn't been given the opportunity, I wouldn't have been able to have such an opportunity, and I wouldn't have been the first local coach to lead the team to win the championship in so many years.
Moreover, not only myself, but several young assistants in our coaching team this year, such as Han Peng, Zhou Haibin, jiaozhe, etc., have just completed the A-level certificate this year. The club has been focusing on the development of young coaches from the beginning, so it began to enter the first team this year. If you want to talk about coaching experience, it may be a little worse, but if you look at the sports experience of all three of them, they are actually good, they are all former internationals.
Because we are young, our entire coaching team needs to be further strengthened, especially in terms of overall tactics and position training, which need to be improved urgently. So, we found a Japanese foreign coach in the entire coaching team (Note: Japan international Kurosaki Bicha, who participated in the 1998 World Cup, now known as Kurosaki Hisashi), played the role of executive coach.
TITAN: Why did you choose a Japanese teaching assistant?
Hao Wei: As a coach, I've actually been paying attention to my peers, whether it's as an assistant coach learning from a world-class big-name coach like Scolari or going out to play, I'm very concerned about the coaching of each team. I started paying attention to the Japanese coach early on, and to be honest, it's been a long time. He has earned his professional coaching certificate as early as 2006 and has also coached professional teams in Japan. Putting aside other factors, in the whole Asian football world, I think Japanese football still has a lot of tactical changes, and the technical requirements are also very detailed and specific. Therefore, I think that from the perspective of improving myself or the whole team in terms of technical and tactical aspects, it is more appropriate to find an assistant coach from Japan, so I found him.
4, how to play the AFC Champions League has not been clearly stated
TITAN: With the FA Cup final, is the team's goal to fight for the "double"?
Hao Wei: It can be said that this is the clear goal of the club, so the last three rounds of the league are basically used to adjust the state, implement some personnel rotations, and prepare for the final of the FA Cup. Moreover, if you want to adjust, you are certainly not a person.
After the end of the whole league on the 4th, we may take a day off on January 5th, and then fly to Chengdu on the 6th, have a training session on the 7th, adapt to the venue on the 8th, and the final showdown on the 9th. Moreover, the need for isolation is also involved during this period, because during the anti-epidemic period, epidemic prevention is a top priority.
TITAN: Unfortunately, the team has not been able to participate in the AFC Champions League for various reasons over the past year. How will you face this time?
Hao Wei: It's really hard to say now. This also involves the arrangement of the Chinese Super League, if there is an overlap between the Chinese Super League and the AFC Champions League in terms of schedule arrangement, what should be done? The main thing is, what are the club's goals for next year? Including the goals of the Chinese Super League, the goals of the AFC Champions League and so on. In particular, there are large variables in the AFC Champions League, because once the schedules overlap, if the soldiers are divided into two roads, there will be great problems. Now a team is in a division, because the schedule is dense, it feels that the personnel are a bit rotated, if it is divided into two teams, it will be more troublesome.
In fact, after winning the championship, he returned to the hotel that night and mentioned this matter with the club leader. But the last statement is that the 2021 season is not over, first finish the FA Cup, and then after returning to Jinan, everyone will sit down again to discuss this matter. From the perspective of the club or myself, it must be the first thing to try to make a breakthrough in the AFC Champions League, after all, it represents the Chinese Super League.
As for the team's goal next year, in fact, the answer is the same, can only wait until this year's FA Cup is over, go back and sit down and study together. The most important task at the moment is to go all out to win the FA Cup.