Cultivate young coaches and strive for inheritance. Exclusive interview with Shenhua coach Wu Jingui: Xu Genbao’s guidance is responsible for the championship
On December 3, one week has passed since Shanghai Shenhua won the 2023 Football Association Cup. The author called Wu Jingui, the head coach of Shanghai Shenhua, and the voice on the other end was a little tired: "Although the season has come to an end, the coaching staff and the club are still summarizing carefully these days. Everyone has reached a consensus that this championship must be successful every step of the way." Thank you Xu for your guidance.”
On November 25, Shanghai Shenhua players threw up their head coach Wu Jingui to celebrate winning the championship. hair
The 62-year-old local Shanghai coach Wu Jingui and the 80-year-old senior Xu Genbao are the "only two" local championship coaches in Shenhua's history. Wu Jingui said: "Thank you to Director Xu for delivering another batch of young talents such as Zhu Chenjie, Jiang Shenglong, Xu Haoyang, etc. to Shenhua. This is not only for Shanghai, but also for China's national team. In terms of football professionalism, learning and development, etc., I respect and admire Director Xu from the bottom of my heart.”
Wu Jingui: After the competition, there are still press conferences, awards and other processes. I only look at my mobile phone after everything is done. Director Xu left a message on WeChat: "Congratulations to Jin Gui for winning the championship." I quickly replied: "Thank you, Director Xu! You have contributed to the championship! Sorry, I am so busy now and the reply is late." I also clicked 3 thumbs up in a row. . Unexpectedly, Director Xu immediately replied: "It's worth celebrating! I'm happy for you! I'm proud of you!" He also added three exclamation points.
In December 2001, the Shanghai Shenhua SVA Wenguang Club held its founding ceremony in Shanghai. The club once again hired Xu Genbao as the head coach, and Wu Jingui served as the assistant coach at the time. Photo by reporter Fan Jun
Wu Jingui: I think this is the fate between me and Director Xu. At the end of 1996, I started working as an assistant coach at Shenhua. After assisting 6 foreign coaches, I welcomed the first local head coach in 2002 - Director Xu, the former Chinese national team coach, is the best local coach in the country. Due to various reasons, Director Xu was under great pressure to coach Shenhua at the time, so he decided to return to Chongming Island midway through the season to train new players such as Wu Lei and Yan Junling.
At that time, Shenhua Club held a meeting at Jinjiang Hotel to discuss who would pick up the team. Before Director Xu left, he specifically suggested to the club leaders that after he stopped coaching, Shenhua would not need to find a foreign coach at all. "Wu Jingui is very good and very good at learning." I will never forget Director Xu’s kindness and magnanimity in supporting him as a young coach at that time.
Wu Jingui: I think this subtle respect and support are also mutual. The Chinese Super League will end on November 5th, and the Football Association Cup final will be held on the 25th. There will be a 20-day break in between. Real-life warm-up matches and confrontation matches will definitely be needed to maintain the team's actual combat feeling and competition intensity, so as to play well in the Football Association Cup. cup final. At that time, other Chinese Super League teams were on holiday, and there were only three teams left that still had AFC Champions League missions. Shandong could not play with us, and Greentown would not be able to play either. We originally made an appointment with the three towns of Wuhan, and in November A warm-up match will be played on the 18th. However, there were temporary problems in the three towns and the trip was not possible.
Before the FA Cup final, the Shanghai National Games team, where Xu Genbao was the head coach, was coaching the Shanghai Shenhua team.
After much deliberation, I could only trouble Director Xu. The Shanghai National Games team coached by Xu originally had a holiday on the 15th. During that time, his health was not very good and he was still in the hospital undergoing saline treatment. When he learned that we lacked suitable warm-up match opponents, he immediately decided to postpone his three-day holiday and play with Shenhua in the last warm-up match before the FA Cup. Director Xu also said: "It doesn't matter, as long as Jin Gui opens your mouth, it's just a matter of words."
In the end, we won the warm-up match 2-1, but Xu guided this young team to make great progress and played very seriously. There are many good players in the team, and we also achieved the results of testing training and simulated games. After the game and dinner at the Kangqiao base, Director Xu led the team back to Chongming Island and the team had another holiday. I was very moved at that time.
Wu Jingui: From the original Dewey, Sun Ji and Sun Xiang to the current Zhu Chenjie, Jiang Shenglong, Xu Haoyang and Wang Haijian, these young Shenhua players are first of all the top players in their respective age groups. The coaching team guided by Xu also pays great attention to basic skills. of craftsmanship, so when the opportunity arises, they can seize it.
On November 21, Chinese team player Jiang Shenglong competed with South Korean team player Zheng Youying. He and Zhu Chenjie can also play in the national football team. hair
In addition, the growth of these young players such as Zhu Chenjie and Jiang Shenglong also owes special thanks to the club for its support. Chairman Gu Jiqing told me at the beginning of the season that these two young central defenders must be given opportunities and must be used continuously. This is not only Shenhua, but also the central defender combination of the national team for eight to ten years in the future. Now, the two of them can already start in the national football team, which also proves that they have been well trained in the club and are constantly growing and improving.
According to my experience, when using young players, the team sometimes has to pay some tuition fees, and the results may have ups and downs. At this time, whether it is the coaching staff, the club or the outside world, they all need to have appropriate mental endurance. Fortunately, both the team and the club attach great importance to the use of young players and are willing to provide them with a stage. This is also an exploration of the club to train, cultivate and transport talents for the Chinese national team.
Wu Jingui: In July this year, Mr. Gu and I paid a special visit to Director Xu to express our gratitude. It is probably rare in Shenhua’s history that the club’s boss and head coach went together to thank Xu for their guidance. The Shanghai Shenhua team has always had a relationship with Director Xu. The players in the 1999-2000 age group transferred from Genbao Base, especially Zhu Chenjie, Jiang Shenglong, etc., were also boldly used by our first team.
In July 2023, Shenhua Club management and head coach Wu Jingui and his party went to Chongming Island to visit and thank Xu Genbao.
Shenhua won the Football Association Cup this time. I believe that Director Xu will be very happy as Shenhua’s first head coach; seeing Zhu Chenjie and other disciples trained in the base continue to grow and make progress, and the base has produced another group of champion disciples, Director Xu will definitely do the same I am very happy; especially, some of the players have been able to represent the Chinese national team in the World Cup preliminaries. This may be what Director Xu wants to see the most.
Wu Jingui: For me, it is a process of continuous learning and continuous tribute. Director Xu was very successful as a player. He was the captain of the Chinese national team and had a very high starting point. After transforming into a coach, he is still the only head coach to lead two teams to the top domestic leagues. The key is that Director Xu is always learning and studying business.
In addition, Director Xu is not only a head coach, but also a manager and an investor in the base. He pays attention to the details of youth training in terms of team development, base planning and design, and has a comprehensive development vision. The key is that Director Xu and I have a common language on the football business level. We all believe that Shanghai-style football should follow the route of technical schools. We also have a common understanding of the shortcomings and strengths of Chinese players. For Chinese football, we must learn from Europe’s advanced techniques and tactics. The style of play also resonates.
Xu Genbao now serves as the head coach of the 2005-2006 age group of the Shanghai National Games and has begun training a new batch of disciples.
In the past few years, we have been constantly learning from Europe's advanced technical and tactical trends, and we are still only in the imitation stage, but it is also an attitude of learning with an open mind. I have always believed that business communication between coaches should not be hidden in any way and can be shared. I also had no reservations and packaged and copied some internal training materials and videos from Arsenal, Barcelona, Chelsea, Liverpool and Manchester City recently, including Naples in Italy, to the coaching staff at Genbao Base.
Of course, whether Director Xu was an athlete in the past, a coach or a boss now, he is a very successful and rare senior. I always keep this respect in my heart. Director Xu may also recognize my attitude towards learning. When we exchange business, he often says, "Jin Gui, you are right!" Regardless of Director Xu or I, it is actually the city of Shanghai and Shenhua that gives It gives us a stage so that we can display our professional football talents.
Wu Jingui: We are both Shanghai coaches. We both focus on techniques and tactics, and also pay attention to learning advanced concepts and trends. Therefore, when I was a coach, I often communicated and interacted with Director Xu, and we often played warm-up matches when leading the team. .
In 2007, Wu Jingui, who was temporarily putting out the fire, led Shenhua to the Genbao base to play a warm-up match. At that time, the team was completely disorganized and lost 2-4 to the East Asian team in the Chinese League One. The two teams played 5 warm-up matches this year.
In 2008, when I was leading Shenhua, I played several games with Wu Lei, the team coached by Director Xu; when I was a coach in Zhejiang and a technical director in Shandong, Director Xu and the team also came to Greentown many times. Discussion and exchange at Luneng Base. I always feel that domestic coaches should strengthen communication, learn from each other, and learn from each other's strengths, so that the overall level of Chinese local coaches can be improved.
Wu Jingui: That’s right. Perhaps more people only saw Shenhua winning the FA Cup. Several players including Zhu Chenjie and Jiang Shenglong were all trained by Genbao Base. In fact, from the perspective of our coaching staff, we must see that this is not only for Shenhua, but also for Shanghai and the national team to cultivate and reserve talents. Including Shenhua now has many members of the Olympic team, several of whom were originally from Genbao Base. At that time, I served as the youth training director of Shenhua, and there were many young players in the 2001-2002 age group who were transferred to Shenhua from Genbao Base.
In 2018, the 1999-2000 age group of Genbao Base was transferred as a whole to join the then Shanghai Greenland Shenhua.
Wu Jingui: At that time, Director Xu was busy training Zhu Chenjie and other players in Spain to prepare for the National Games and win the championship. The Genbao base has a younger age group, and there are 6 team members including Qi Long and Fernando who are cooperating with the Kangzhen base. At first, Director Xu felt that he had no energy to take care of these young players. Due to various reasons, maybe some of the practices at that time made Director Xu a little emotional, so he appointed me to talk, "No one else should come, just ask Jin Gui to come."
On behalf of the club, I went to negotiate the transfer of several young players. The time was very tight. If I could not complete the registration with the Shanghai Football Association that night, I would not be able to play on behalf of Shenhua in the National Games. At that time, the team transfer contract was not signed and the money was not transferred. The base staff felt uneasy and a little hesitant. Xu, who is far away in Spain, conducts video remote control and makes decisions directly. He said: "I believe Jin Gui, just give him your participation certificate!"
Wu Jingui: Because of my age, I just retired from my position as a professor at the International Football Academy of Tongji University. We have already graduated 5 graduate students, and there are 7 more who need further guidance. As for the AFC lecturers, they are really busy leading the team, so they have no time to fly around giving lectures.
The picture shows Zhu Chenjie and his team members hanging the gold medal around their mentor’s neck after winning the National Games. This has become a habit and tradition for Genbao base disciples.
I feel that just like Director Xu taught me through words and deeds, I am now also giving some guidance to young coaches and giving full play to the expertise of the lecturer. In the last warm-up match, Director Xu praised our Shenhua coaching staff for their different figures and aura, "They have a good accent and they will be different when they come out."
In fact, training coaches is more difficult than training athletes, and there are not many good coaches in the country. Our coaching team cannot remain stable without the support of Shenhua Club. Li Shuai's transformation has been very successful. I think a young team can not only train athletes, but also select some veterans who have feelings for the club to help them transform into coaches.
I am a lecturer, so I have some experience in explaining techniques and tactics, and I also have certain requirements for details. Including, our coaching staff also follows the strict management of the team under the guidance of Xu. The assistant coach has a very tight grasp on the young players and even watches them practice.
Wu Jingui, the head coach of Shanghai Shenhua in the 2003 season. Photo by Gu Lihua
Wu Jingui: In the warm-up match before the Football Association Cup, I told Director Xu that after Wu Lei and Zhang Linpeng won the championship, they would hang the championship medal around your neck; in this Football Association Cup, we Shenhua must also strive to do well. We strive to let you win the gold medal again! Director Xu was very happy at the time and said: "Shenhua has a chance!" When the club leaders come back from their overseas inspections, I believe we will also formally express our gratitude to Director Xu in person!
