In the group stage of the U23 Asian Cup that ended on April 22, 2024, the Chinese Olympic team ranked third in the group with a record of two wins and one loss, missing the quarterfinals. Although this result is reasonable, it has once again aroused widespread attention and reflection on the construction of the youth training system in domestic football.
As the highest-level competition for young football players, the U23 Asian Cup has always been an important reference for measuring the level of youth training of a country. It can be said that the performance on this stage directly reflects the degree of development of a football system in terms of basic youth training. The poor record of the Chinese Olympic team in this tournament is a clear warning to the current situation of the domestic youth training system.
Caught in a passive dilemma
For the Chinese Olympic team, this U23 Asian Cup journey can be called a stumble all the way. In the first round of the group stage, they unexpectedly lost 0-1 to Japan; In the second round, it was overtaken by the South Korean team after falling behind, and finally lost regrettably; It wasn't until the final round against the relatively weak United Arab Emirates that he ended the losing streak with a 2-1 win with a last-minute kill.
Although the last win made the team somewhat decent, the overall record of this team is really not ideal. Compared with other strong teams in Asia, there is a big gap between the Chinese Olympic team in terms of squad quality, tactical coordination, and psychological quality, and the whole game process is more in a state of passive defense.
This is in stark contrast to pre-match expectations. Before the start of the game, head coach Cheng Yaodong confidently said that the team's goal is to strive to qualify from the group. However, under the cruel torture of reality, this self-confidence was quickly shattered. The lack of offensive strength and the lack of holes in the defense have revealed the various difficulties of the Chinese Olympic team, and even if they finally fight for a victory, it is difficult to cover up the various shortcomings and shortcomings revealed throughout the event.
Perhaps, coach Cheng Yaodong can pay for some of the team's detailed performances, such as excellent corner kick tactics, or scoring on this stage again after six years. But for a youth team that dreams of stepping onto the international stage and eventually preparing talent for the national team, this is clearly not enough.
Institutional barriers are difficult to solve
On the other hand, the performance of the Chinese Olympic team in this U23 Asian Cup, although it has suffered some criticism, is actually not unexpected. Because for the domestic football youth training system, the dilemma of lack of excellent seedlings has always been a heavy burden.
It is not difficult to find that none of the members of this national Olympic team are from the youth training system of the professional league, and the vast majority of players come from youth training institutions in their respective provinces and cities. This means that they lack a systematic training model that follows professional standards from an early age, and is at a huge disadvantage compared to players who come from prestigious football schools or professional club academies.
In fact, the current youth training situation of the Chinese professional league is also quite bad. Most clubs focus on star athletes and short-term interests, with little investment in the development of young players. In order to pursue the glory and commercial interests of the moment, they are often more inclined to bring in mature players directly, rather than slowly brewing seedlings themselves.
As a result, the Chinese youth training system, which is already short of resources, has another big hurdle that cannot be bypassed. Players are either dismissed by the club or are not given the opportunity to develop enough and simply cannot grow. In the end, the entire youth training channel seemed to be cut off by life, which was amazing.
This obstacle is not only at the professional level, but also at the grassroots level, and China is facing a similar dilemma. Due to the lack of a perfect management system and the difficulty of promoting campus football, the youth training work in most parts of the country cannot really be targeted, which seriously restricts the breeding and delivery of excellent seedlings.
From this perspective, the setback of the Chinese Olympic team in the U23 Asian Cup is actually just a microcosm of this institutional obstacle. With the individual efforts of the coaching staff and the players, it will be difficult to reverse this passive situation in the short term.
A tortuous road to youth training
It can be said that the youth training road of Chinese football is destined to be quite tortuous from the beginning. As early as the 80s of the 20th century, the state began to form a youth team in an attempt to reserve talents for the future. However, due to the failure to establish a scientifically complete system, this attempt was ultimately short-lived and did not fundamentally solve the problem.
Time flies, and at the beginning of the 21st century, with the full development of domestic football professionalization, the construction of the youth training system has been put on the agenda again. Disappointingly, even after generations of hard work, this vision has never been realized.
The reason for this is largely due to the fact that the domestic youth training work has not gotten rid of the top-to-bottom mentality. Whether it was the time when Uncle Yu Gen was coaching, or the subsequent era of Milu and Petroescu, the youth training work always passively catered to the manager's tactical philosophy and style of play.
As a result, the operation of the entire system lacks continuity and scientific regularity, and it is so repeated year after year that it is impossible to form a set of effective youth training methodology. Coupled with the frequent changes of those in power, the construction of the system is even more disorderly, which can be said to be rootless and unsustainable.
Not only that, taking a step back, the more fundamental problem is that China's youth training industry has always lacked a unified top-level design. From national teams to professional clubs to grassroots youth institutions, the goals, philosophies and standards of work between them are often separated. Without an effective connection between the upper and lower levels, the whole system cannot truly operate systematically.