Reporter Jia Yanfeng reported that on March 1, Shanghai Shenhua officially announced Wu Jingui as the head coach of the team, leading the team to compete in various competitions in the 2022 season.
The reporter first met Wu Jingui, when the old Peter was still coaching at the Shenhua Club, and more than twenty years had passed since then. Wu Jingui has been coaching in the front line of the Chinese Super League in recent years, and he has not only seen the prosperity and prosperity of the capital dance, but also personally felt the dismal bleakness after the retreat of capital.
"Being able to take over the Shenhua coaching whip at this moment is my pride as a domestic coach, a Shanghai coach, and a Shenhua person. To be trusted at this moment and to take responsibility, I will do my best. In the interview, Wu Jingui told reporters. Although this season may be the toughest season of Chinese football in Wu Jingui's career and the hardest season for Shenhua, he said that no matter what, he always believes that the dark clouds will eventually clear and everything will be fine.
"Ten years a cycle, I don't think the current situation must make everyone pessimistic, pessimistic and complaining can not solve the problem, on the contrary, at this time, we should do our own thing, as a Chinese coach, can we do things well under this crisis and accompany Shanghai Shenhua out of this most difficult road? That's what you really should think about. Otherwise, it doesn't make sense for us to think too much, and we can't decide. In the past we always compared to other teams, but now we have to compare ourselves and see if we can work harder than last season, than ever before. ”
Wu Jingui told reporters that the reason why he dared to take over this burden at this time, in addition to his own sense of responsibility, more importantly, he and Shenhua management have always had a very good cooperative relationship and mutual trust foundation, and the management has made enough early efforts to carry out work for him to the greatest extent.
"Whether it is Chairman Wu Xiaohui or General Manager Zhou Jun, there is not much rest during the Spring Festival, on the one hand, I maintain communication at work, while paying close attention to the dynamics of the players, I have been trying to do a good job in everyone's ideological work." In fact, Mr. Wu and Mr. Zhou were under more pressure than I was. In the training, I saw the effectiveness of the two leaders doing the player's ideological work, every lesson after the start of the training, 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 being brought into the training. I know it's not accidental, there's a lot of management behind it, there's a lot of gratitude and understanding from the players, and the cohesion and solidarity that the team has shaped over the years. ”
Wu Jingui said that cohesion and unity have always been the team culture that Shenhua has worked hard to build over the years, and now it reflects the value and role in this time of crisis, and unity is also an important prerequisite for Shenhua to overcome all difficulties.
The Shenhua team began training on March 1, with one day off every week and two days a day. With the change of the epidemic situation, starting this week, Shenhua began to carry out centralized closed training. Nearly 30 players are involved in the current training, and some players have been transferred to the national team and the U23 and U21 national teams.
The reporter asked Wu Jingui about his plans for the adjustment of the team lineup in the new season, after all, since the second half of last season, the call to promote the rejuvenation of the current lineup has become higher and higher, and shenhua has also consciously given more young players the opportunity to exercise in the second half of last year, so in the future, will Wu Jingui further promote the rejuvenation of the team?
"The players have just returned from vacation and our squad is not in order, so the focus is on adjusting the fitness of all the players at the moment and then making a comprehensive assessment of everyone's situation. This year, our situation may be a little special, and foreign aid has not been able to come back. It is not ruled out that this season will play in the Chinese Super League with the all-Chinese class. If it is a full-time Chinese class, it is necessary to first consider the relegation task, rebuilding a new lineup and playing style is the first priority, and for the new and old players, it is impossible to be exactly the same as when foreign aid is in place, so the adjustment of the new season lineup is definitely the result of a comprehensive consideration. Wu Jingui explained.
So does that mean that the lineup slimming program is coming to an end? Probably not either. After all, the Chinese Super League has restrictions on the number of final applicants, the total number of domestic players in Shenhua is definitely over-staffed, and when the registration starts before the season, corresponding adjustments will still be made, when the main and substitute lineups basically have relatively certain candidates, so that they can be more accurately selected. Some people may be worried that at that time, in case the transfer window closes, how will these players who have been cut by Shenhua find their next home?
As far as the current situation is concerned, all teams are laying off redundant players, especially high-paid players, if high-paid players have better choices, or worry about the future in case they are not in the registration list, they can also negotiate contracts with clubs in advance, I believe that clubs will not set obstacles in this regard.
The epidemic has brought economic difficulties to the entire football industry, and Shenhua has also struggled in this crisis, and the entire management and all personnel of Shenhua Club have been working hard to maintain a good atmosphere and positive mentality of the club and the team to face this crisis together.
The day without foreign aid is certainly not good, among several foreign aides who still have contracts with the club, it has been confirmed that it is defender Jonić who has confirmed to leave and join the Japanese league, and will there be other foreign aides who choose to leave like Jonić? It's hard to say for the time being. Bassogo, Dumbia and Shenhua Club all have contracts, they have not yet returned, how to solve the contract problem of these two foreign aides, whether it is to stay or terminate the contract early, it should require a large amount of money. Although the access to the league has not yet officially begun, it does not involve international disputes and properly resolve contracts with foreign aid, which has always been a threshold for access. Perhaps the principle of access has been adjusted this year, but it may not be easy to relax the foreign aid contract, and I hope that Shenhua can handle it properly.
In fact, within the scope of the Chinese Super League, there are more than one club that has a dispute with the salary of foreign aid, and some clubs have been sued to FIFA, and even FIFA has made corresponding penalties for this, and has been banned from introducing and registering new players.
If not a single foreign aid really comes back, and a foreign aid cannot be registered, this should be the first time in the history of Shanghai Shenhua since the establishment of the club, and it must be played in the Chinese Super League by the whole Chinese class. I have to say that this is a risky move, but as far as the current personnel reserves of other teams in the Chinese Super League are concerned, if Shenhua really does not have foreign aid, even if the target is only set on relegation, it is not easy to complete.
As far as the current transfer market is concerned, the Chinese players with the shanghai harbor rumors have the most names, and whether the scandal can eventually become a reality is still unknown, but the seaport of the same city has strengthened the team lineup and the pursuit of achievements in the new season, which is obviously difficult for Shenhua to reach.
The 2021 Harbour team lost the championship, and if nothing else, the 2022 Harbor team will still refer to the league championship. Shenhua positioned itself in relegation, and Harbor pursued the championship, which is probably the biggest gap between the two teams in the same city in the season since Harbor entered the Chinese Super League. Shenhua has not experienced difficulties before, in 2013, the club has also experienced a large area of wage arrears, investor Zhu Jun even plans to take the team to Kunming, Yunnan, leaving Shanghai, and in 2013, there was also a big move of foreign aid to collect wage arrears with a strike. Later, Zhu Jun could only sell Wang Dalei and Dai Lin to alleviate economic pressure. At that time, Shenhua also made fans worry that it would disappear from Shanghai, but in the end Shenhua was retained.
The one who completely solved the dilemma of that year and left Shenhua in Shanghai was Greenland Group, and has continued to invest since then, winning two FA Cup titles. Greenland has been a relatively rational investment in recent years, Shenhua is not the team that has spent the most money in these years, but it has also won the FA Cup twice in five years, which is the best return for the Greenland Group that helped Shenhua when it was in danger.
Greenland Group has been exploring a path for the long-term development of professional football clubs, Shanghai Shenhua Club has also been trying to promote its own brand, to create its own youth training system, but suffering from the overall imperfection of China's football consumer market, the lack of football talents and the ups and downs of the market, whether it is a commercial brand or a youth training brand, if you want to really have considerable benefits, it will take a long time.
Shenhua fans can generally look at Shenhua's situation this season rationally, and generally believe that as long as Shenhua retains the qualification of the Chinese Super League and can train some new people, it will complete the season task. As Director Wu said, the difficulties are only temporary, and everything will be fine. This difficult time is both a trough and an opportunity. Do what you should do, in order to bloom again at the moment when the light comes.