A few days ago, in an in-depth interview, Du Zhenyu, a famous Chinese football player, expressed a clear view on the coaching ability of Chinese local coaches. He firmly believes that the level of Chinese coaches is not inferior to that of his Japanese and South Korean counterparts, and the key to the problem is that mainland football lacks a complete and efficient system to support. Despite his remarks of confidence in the Chinese coaching community, fans have taken it with reservations, calling for more convincing facts to prove this assertion.
Du Zhenyu said in the interview that although there are differences in the content and form of training between coaches in China, Japan and South Korea, this cannot be a standard for judging their merits. He cited his experience as an assistant to foreign coaches such as Antonio and Gabri, and pointed out that there is no essential difference between their basic requirements, goals and final results in training. This means that Chinese coaches are not at a disadvantage in terms of professional skills and knowledge, and have the strength to compete with Japanese and Korean coaches.
Du Zhenyu also said frankly that there is still a certain gap between the status and influence of Chinese coaches in Asian football compared with their Japanese and South Korean counterparts. He believes that this gap does not stem from the lack of individual ability, but is due to the imperfection of the continental football system. In his view, Chinese coaches often work in their own styles, and lack of unified and systematic training and guidance, which makes it difficult for them to form a joint force in the process of coaching, maximize their potential, and show the overall strength of Chinese coaches on the international stage.
In this regard, the reaction of the majority of fans was quite rational and prudent. They generally agree with Du Zhenyu's view that the individual ability of Chinese coaches is not inferior to that of their Japanese and Korean counterparts, but they also point out that the current performance of Chinese coaches in Asian and even world football does not seem to strongly confirm this assertion. Fans are looking forward to seeing more Chinese coaches able to lead teams independently in top Asian leagues such as the K League and J League, and prove through practical results that Chinese coaches have the strength to compete with or even surpass Japanese and Korean coaches not only at the theoretical level, but also at the practical level.
The demands of the fans are essentially a call for the reform of China's football system. They hope to see that Chinese football can learn from the successful experience of neighboring countries such as Japan and South Korea, and establish and improve a complete system covering coach selection, training, assessment, promotion and other links, so as to provide fertile soil for the growth of Chinese coaches. Only in this way can we truly realize the vision of "Chinese coaches are no worse than Japan and South Korea" put forward by Du Zhenyu, so that Chinese coaches can win the respect and status they deserve in international football.
For Du Zhenyu himself, his bold words are not groundless. As a player, he won the love and respect of the majority of fans with his excellent skills, tenacity and persistent pursuit of victory. Now, he is continuing to fight for the football career as a coach, and is determined to gradually enhance the influence of Chinese coaches in Asian and even global football through his own efforts, and prove the strength of Chinese coaches with tangible results.
Du Zhenyu's affirmation of the strength of Chinese coaches has undoubtedly injected a shot in the arm for Chinese football. However, in order to truly change the outside world's perception of the Chinese coaching community and reverse its position in Asian and even global football, in addition to the unremitting efforts of Chinese coaches themselves, it is inseparable from the in-depth reform and improvement of China's football system. Only when Chinese coaches can show their collective strength and wisdom with the support of a unified and scientific system can they occupy a place in the competition with Asian football powers such as Japan and South Korea and win wide recognition from fans and the world.