Interview with Li Tie: Actively face difficulties and play well in the top 12

In the early morning of Beijing time on the 7th, the Chinese men's football team will once again depart for Sharjah, The United Arab Emirates, to participate in the World Cup qualifier round of 12 matches with Oman and Australia. At present, the Chinese team ranks fifth in the group with one win and three losses, and the situation of qualifying is not optimistic.

Loss of home, performance pressure, employment controversy, injury troubles... A huge challenge is in front of Li Tie, the head coach of the Chinese team. Before leaving, Li Tie said in an exclusive interview with Xinhua News Agency that the team is indeed facing many difficulties at this stage, but the whole team is working hard. I am confident that I can lead the team to play at a high level in the follow-up matches, fight hard against the opponents, and strive for better results.

Losing home: Facing challenges positively

Affected by the new crown epidemic and other factors, the two matches of the Chinese team at home against Oman and Australia were adjusted to Sharjah, UNITED Arab Emirates. Li Tie's team once again lost its home field.

"Everybody knows how important home field advantage is in football. After returning home from a closed training camp in West Asia, the players are looking forward to playing these two home games in the country, and many players plan to let their families come to see the ball, but the reality is that they are not satisfied. Li Tie said, "In the end, we can only face it positively, how to play better results on the basis of facing reality and let the players have better form is the only thing I can consider." ”

Li Tie admitted that this result has caused many players to have greater psychological fluctuations. "When I first got the exact news, the psychological gap between many players was large. The biggest difficulty we had during this time was to do the mental work of the players, and every player thought differently and had different adjustment capabilities. None of us have experienced anything like this, and I can only find a way to give the players some help through my previous knowledge. I always tell the players that this is something that must be experienced, and that they can only actively adjust themselves. ”

"What touched me was that the players were still able to persevere and train very hard. From that point of view, I have nothing to complain about with the players. But in this closed environment, they certainly haven't reached their highest level. The coaching staff is also continuing to help the players adjust, hoping they can do a little better. Li Tie said.

Although it is impossible to play in China, Li Tie believes that the adjustment of returning to China in the past month is still of great help to the team. "The players have been closed since March this year. On these two days, we lifted the quarantine and the players were able to meet their families. You can clearly feel that the players are happy and don't have to do extra work. I hope the players can go to Sharjah with a good mood and fight. ”

Personnel Adjustments: Respect for player choices

On November 5, the Chinese team announced on official social media that Guo Tianyu, Wei Shihao, Wang Shangyuan and Yin Hongbo left the team due to family reasons, and Gao Zhunyi could not accompany the team due to injury.

"As a coach, I hope to bring all the players to Sharjah. All four of them are due to extremely special family reasons, not because I am not satisfied with the training attitude of certain players, or because they are not qualified to represent the national team. The team has also been communicating with the players, family is extremely important to everyone, I can only respect their choices, I must also protect the privacy of the players. Li Tie said.

Li Tie introduced that Gao Zhun Wing was a thigh strain in the internal warm-up match on November 3, which took about two weeks to recover and could not catch up with the next two games.

In the warm-up match on the 3rd, goalkeeper Wang Dalei also suffered injuries. "Big Ray's injuries are not so serious and need three to five days to recover. In fact, he could have chosen not to go to Sharjah due to injury, but when we asked the players for advice, he expressed a strong desire to fight with the coaching staff, saying that as long as he can contribute to the national team, even if it is just to train, he is willing. I am very happy with this attitude of the players. Li Tie said.

"We also thought about recruiting other players, but because a lot of Chinese Super League teams are on holiday, the players are not in good shape and the options have become very limited. The only thing that works is to select people from the teams that play in the FA Cup, but we also have to think for the club and at the same time understand the physical condition of the players. After communication, we decided to take our existing team to Sharjah. Li Tie said.

Employment controversy: Face doubts calmly

In the warm-up match on the 3rd, the Chinese team defeated Shenzhen and Zhejiang 3:0 and 2:1 respectively, and Li Tie expressed satisfaction with the state shown by the players. "At present, it is impossible to judge whether the players will be able to maintain this state after the climate change in West Asia, which requires going to Sharjah to continue to observe. At the same time, it's a game without stress, and it would be great if the players could still achieve such physical stats and mental state in the official game. ”

In the warm-up match, naturalized players Alain and Lo Guofu both played 90 minutes and scored one goal each. It was also the first time in a long time that the two players had played the full game. "In these two months of training, Alain and Luo Guofu trained very hard, and their physical functions have been greatly improved." Li Tie said.

"The coaching staff has been using technology to monitor the players' physical data in real time. I believe that no one knows the situation of this team better than I do, and no one wants to win the game more than I do. No matter which player, as long as he meets the requirements of the game and can help the team, I will not hesitate to send him to the game. Li Tie said.

For the outside world's employment questions, Li Tie said that he would face it calmly. "As a manager, it's inevitable. In the past, when I was a player, there were times when I didn't understand the coach's decision. Many friends in the industry, including Fan Zhiyi, Zhu Guanghu, and some media are communicating with me, and they think that the team has something to improve and will tell me. I am very willing to discuss these issues with professionals and our coaching team is very open. ”

Wrap up the game: Insight into problem solving

In the first four matches of the round of 12, the Chinese team first lost consecutively to Australia and Japan, then defeated Vietnam in stoppage time, and then lost to Saudi Arabia 2:3. Summarizing the first four games, Li Tie believes that the overall state of the team is on the rise.

"In these four games, the team has really exposed a lot of shortcomings and we have been trying to improve. If we had to sum it up, we could have done better in the first half of the first game against Australia. In the first two games of the entire round of 12, the team did not perform well. Li Tie said, "Under the special Chinese Super League system, the players are very tired. Due to the epidemic, players have also long lacked high-quality warm-up matches to improve (level), and they are not very adapted to the rhythm of the round of 12 matches. ”

Li Tie does not think that the team has any idea of contempt for opponents. "There are no small matches in the national team matches. Even in a warm-up game, if the player has a little bit of laxity on the field, I will lose my temper. If you take the enemy lightly, you will definitely be punished. ”

"But you can also see the hard work of the players on the pitch, the hard work of the whole team and the positive attitude towards the game, including the spirit of not giving up at any time on the pitch, which has improved a lot after a few games. In fact, we have always hoped to make the players have a more positive attitude and play positive football as much as possible. This requires players to have a good physical and mental state, as well as a good preparation environment. The problems that can be solved, we are trying to solve them. Li Tie said.

"In fact, the team's current unconventional way of preparing is not in line with the laws of football. It's better to be able to play three or four league games, then two national team games, after which the players go home and play in the league. But because of the pandemic and various other reasons, we have to overcome difficulties. No coach has experienced such a long period of closed training, and these three months have also made me grow a lot, and the team is also growing. ”

For the difficulties of the team at this stage, Li Tie said that he had long been mentally prepared. "From the moment I took over the team, I was always prepared to face difficulties. From being a player to being a coach, I have experienced hundreds of national team matches, I have experienced the peak and lowest point of Chinese football, and I know too well the ups and downs of national team matches. In 1997, Dalian Jinzhou (fans shouted 'change Li Tie'), and in 2001 in Xi'an, I experienced the same thing again, and these experiences are my most valuable assets. I can now fall asleep with a pillow every day, and I can face any situation with a relatively peaceful attitude. ”

"Four games down, there were a lot of critical voices, there were also supportive voices, and I could accept it. In Shanghai these days, I have met many people who know or don't know, and they are telling me to cheer up and try to play every game. This is all I can really feel, they all sincerely hope that Chinese football is good. Li Tie said, "Our team will definitely get better and better, and I have such confidence." ”

Performance pressure: Strive to play at a high level

In the current group points situation, if the Chinese team wants to retain the hope of qualifying for the World Cup, the match with Oman is crucial. Li Tie said that he would not consider the points situation at this stage.

"I've always treated every national team game as the last game of my life. I just have to think about playing every game well. As long as you are ready, you will naturally achieve good results. The next game is to let the team move forward little by little in our direction, pass on the message I think is correct to the players, solve the team's problems step by step, and strive for better results. ”

Li Tie said he understood the fans' expectations of the Chinese team. "From my point of view, it is to face reality, put yourself down, and fight every opponent."

"Since I took over the national team, my main direction of work has been to hope that we can play relatively normally in the game, no matter how strong the team is, instead of only playing 60% to 70% every time I go to the field, which I care about. What I think about now is to throw away all kinds of bad objective factors, grasp the player's thoughts, and let the team play normally. Li Tie said.

Team Development: Players are encouraged to stay abroad

Talking about why some players can't play at a normal level in the round of 12, Li Tie believes that this is because they have experienced too few high-level games.

"When I was a player, I played in the Premier League, and every day I was playing against players of the level of Vieira and Scholes. When I go back to the national team and face the midfield of Asian teams, I don't feel nervous at all. (Sun) After Playing at Manchester City, he came back to face the Asian winger, will he be nervous? Li Tie said, "Only when you have experienced a high level of competition, can you get improved." ”

"Staying in the west is the best way to promote players, and it is also one of the most important means to solve the problem of Chinese football in the past decade, because youth training takes time. So I'm now particularly encouraging players, especially young players, to go abroad. I told them that the sooner they can go out, the better, and I will give you the greatest help. Don't be afraid of not being able to kick up, you must try to experience, this is the way to go in the future. The same is true for Wu Lei, no matter how difficult it is, we must persist. Li Tie said, "We went to Sharjah this time, if there are more than a dozen players from Europe, like Wu Lei, playing the league normally to maintain their status, then many problems will be solved." ”

"Send out the young generation with relative potential as early as possible, and in the future they can reach the level of the national team." In fact, it is not necessary to go to the five major leagues, to Switzerland, Sweden, Scotland, as well as the Championship, Bundesliga and other second-tier leagues can be improved. Hopefully, all of today's young players have such ideas and goals. Li Tie said.