The Paper's reporter Pu Yaolei
The new Bundesliga season has already kicked off, and the Super Cup between Dortmund and Bayern is about to start on August 18. As a legendary star who has stayed in Germany, Yang Chen has always paid attention to German football.
But as the coach of the U16 national junior team, Yang Chen now needs to spend more energy on leading the team. Next year's Asian Junior Preliminaries will be the first big test he faces.
A few days ago, Yang Chen accepted an interview with the media, in which he talked about the current situation of the national football team, for the upcoming World Preliminary Round of 12, he believes that peace of mind and unity are the top priorities.
At the same time, he also talked about the gap between Chinese football and Europe. "At present, our players have not yet reached the level of the five major leagues in terms of ability, except for Wu Lei." He confessed to the surging reporter.
Yang Chen participated in the 2002 World Cup. IC Infographic
In the round of 12, all opponents are strong teams
As a member of the 2002 World Cup national football roster, Yang Chen's name has left a deep mark on Chinese football. Today, the national football team is still rushing to the qualification for the second time in the history of the team to participate in the World Cup.
In the round of 12, the national football team and Vietnam, Oman, Saudi Arabia, Australia, Japan are divided into Group B, the first round of matches will start from the beginning of September, the top two in the group can directly get the World Cup tickets, and the third place in the group will have the play-off qualification.
"No matter which group you are in, when you reach the round of 12, all the opponents you face are strong teams. Whether you hit Japan or Australia in that group, or Iran or South Korea in that group, each group is strong. Yang Chen said in an interview.
"First of all, we have to understand what our strength is, put ourselves in the right position, play one by one, and analyze the opponents in the next game, I think this is the most important."
Yang Chen specifically mentioned the importance of mentality, in his view, an important reason why the national football team can board the 2002 World Cup is that "Milu has put these players together very well, and everyone's mentality is particularly stable."
Therefore, for the current national football team, the same is true: "How to twist our players, including naturalized players, into a rope, when participating in the big game, put a stable mentality, and play every game with a normal heart, this is particularly important." We hope that the national team will be well prepared this time and strive to rush to the World Cup. ”
Yang Chen is one of the forerunners of Chinese football in the yang. CFP infographic
At present, only Wu Lei has reached the level of the five major leagues
In the current national football team, there are a number of naturalized players, but only Wu Lei is still the only one who stays in the five major leagues.
As the pioneer and leader of Chinese football staying in the West, Yang Chen frankly told the surging news reporter that this shows the gap between Chinese football and Europe.
"In fact, all of us, including the current Coach of China, are trying to change. We all know that at present, our players have not yet reached the level of the five major leagues in terms of ability, except for Wu Lei. ”
In addition to the technical level, the ability to adapt to unfamiliar environments is also crucial: "When we went to Germany, the culture was different, and the language also needed to be solved. Some players integrate quickly in the team, which is also related to personality, and players who integrate quickly can also have a good tacit understanding with foreign players on the field, which is very important. ”
"Chinese players play in Europe, and physically we certainly can't compare with European players, but what are our advantages? I think speed and flexibility are the strengths of Asian players. Why can Wu Lei gain a foothold in Europe? He has such characteristics. ”
"At the moment I only feel that Wu Lei has this ability, but I hope that in the future there will be younger players to train in Europe."
Yang Chen has not left Chinese football since retiring. CFP plot
Staying in the ocean for exercise can come step by step
Yang Chen admitted that at the moment when it does not reach the level of the five major leagues, domestic players, especially young players, do not have to expect "one step in place", and can slowly exercise from other leagues: "When some South American players entered Europe when they were young, they did not start to settle in the five major leagues, and sometimes they went to the Dutch League, the First Division or the Swiss Super League, which is a springboard for them to adapt to Europe. Including Ronaldo, who started out in Eredivisie in Eindhoven, it was also a great option. ”
"We can send some good young players to Europe early. Whether it's the big five leagues or the second tier league in Europe, I think that's all good. This is also what we in youth training urgently need to do. ”
At present, there are also rumors that more Chinese players are expected to go to the five major leagues to stay in the ocean, in Yang Chen's view, this is naturally good news: "Whether it is the five major leagues, or the Dutch league, the Belgian league or any league in Europe, there are Chinese players who look up to us, I think this is a very good thing." ”
"But the most important point is a nurturing in the early days of children, how to make them like to play football. This process requires our Chinese youth coaches to go step by step and learn step by step. I think that only by laying a good foundation can we produce more talents in the future. ”
Yang Chen led the U16 national team training. IC diagram
Youth training cannot be disconnected from the competition
Today, Yang Chen is also one of the key figures in the development of youth football in China. In April this year, he officially took over as the head coach of the Chinese U16 men's national football team, and next year's Asian Junior Championship preliminaries will be his first major test.
"It should be said that there is less and less time for themselves, because training with youth teams consumes a lot of time in grinding technology, training (planning) is more detailed and thorough, and our training cycle will be longer."
Yang Chen revealed that soon the U16 national junior team will start training again. His own experience as a player will also be communicated to these new generations of players in training.
"The situations I encountered when I played football would also be told to these children like stories. I hope it helps them a little, but I'm not sure how much they can really absorb after talking about it, and everyone is not quite the same as everyone. ”
"I've brought more children than the previous waves of kids, and the number of people I can choose from will be a little more." But I can feel that there are no particularly prominent players at the moment, or players with characteristics, and they still need some tempering. ”
In Yang Chen's view, compared with the youth players in developed countries in European football, the gap between Chinese players is mainly in the ability to play, which is also an aspect that he has paid special attention to after taking office.
"In terms of training and competition, I don't think the teenagers in Europe do as well. When we were young, we practiced the basic skills well, but there was no intensity and confrontation in the training, so it was still not very adaptable when the game was played. ”
"He does a good job when there is no confrontation, but as soon as someone forces the confrontation, the technical action will go out of shape." So we have to put the environment and rhythm of the game in the training, and be more realistic and close to the game. ”
Editor-in-Charge: Zhu Yi
Proofreader: Luan Meng