Xu Genbao: Currently, Chinese football needs to focus on defense from top to bottom, leading the Shanghai U18 team to South Korea for training and losing their first game
On September 19th, the Chinese men's football team won 5-1 against the Indian team at the Asian Games, ushering in a successful start to the men's football event at the Hangzhou Asian Games. Key players Zhu Chenjie, Jiang Shenglong, Xu Haoyang, and many others came from the Genbao Football Base on Chongming Island.
On the same day, the Shanghai U18 All Games team, coached by Xu Genbao, lost 2-4 at the Ulsan Hyundai team base in South Korea. The opponent is the South Korean Ulsan Hyundai 2005-2007 mixed team, and the younger member of the team has just won the 2023 Shanghai Tomorrow Star Champions League championship.
Although South Korea suffered a loss in the first game of the training camp, the team did not feel too discouraged, but rather excited. Xu Genbao believes that the opponent's strength is very strong, and the value of competition training is great. This Korean training trip is very valuable.
High position pressure, facing a reversal at the last moment
For Xu Genbao, Ulsan is a very familiar city, and he has led teams to come here several times for training and practice. "In 2009, before Wu Lei's team won the National Games championship, we were here. In 2021, Zhu Chenjie's team performed very well and we also went to training." Xu Genbao revealed that another important reason was the opportunity to compete with the newly crowned Ulsan Hyundai team in the Shanghai Tomorrow Star Champions League. "Korean football has a high level of youth training, which is a good opportunity for learning and training."
The South Korean Ulsan Hyundai team sent a mixed team of age groups from 2005 to 2007 to compete in the Shanghai U18 All Games team.
On the second day of arriving in Ulsan, Xu Genbao coached the Shanghai 2005-2006 age group National Games team, which competed with the Korean Ulsan Hyundai team. The Ulsan Hyundai U16 team, which won the championship in Shanghai, consists of players in the 2007-2008 age group. It was learned that the visiting Chinese team is mainly in the 2006 age group, and Ulsan Hyundai has specially sent a mixed team in the 2005-2007 age group, with a total of over 30 players.
After the game started, the Shanghai U18 team adopted a high pressure kick method, strengthened the pressure in the midfield, and the team's defensive enthusiasm was high. The success rate of grabbing and breaking the ball was also not bad, and the distance between the three lines was maintained well. Taking advantage of a mistake made by the opposing goalkeeper, Shanghai U18 team took the lead in scoring and took a 1-0 lead in the first half.
In the second half, the coaching staff of the Ulsan Hyundai team almost replaced all the starting players. The members of the coaching staff of the Shanghai U18 team muttered, "The opponent should be starting now." In the second half, the Ulsan Hyundai team's attack was sharper, but the Shanghai U18 team persisted in oppressive play and maintained the formation. Although the opponent's possession rate was higher and the scene was better, the Shanghai U18 team still expanded the score to 2-0 through quick counterattacks.
After the game, Hyun Young min, the coach of the Ulsan Hyundai team in South Korea, paid tribute to the away team coaching staff, and Jiang Bingyao, the executive head coach of the Shanghai U18 team.
After the game, Hyun Young min, the coach of the Ulsan Hyundai team in South Korea, paid tribute to the away team coaching staff, and took a photo with Zou Chung wei and Feng Liang, the double leaders of the Shanghai U18 team.
Perhaps due to not adapting to the high intensity of the game, a member of the Shanghai U18 team suffered a slight muscle strain 60 minutes later. The coaching staff considered that there was still a second game the next day and began to mobilize their troops to ensure that more players had the opportunity to play. Unexpectedly, the two goal behind Ulsan Hyundai team went crazy in the last 30 minutes, scoring four goals in a row and ultimately achieving a 4-2 comeback.
After the game, Hyun Young min, the head coach of the South Korean Ulsan Hyundai 2005-2007 mixed team, walked up to the stands and greeted Xu Genbao, the head coach of the Shanghai U18 team. Seeing an 80 year old Chinese senior still on the front line of youth training, especially learning that Xu Genbao led his team to Ulsan, South Korea for training on the first day after Eryang's recovery, as a former South Korean national football player, Xuan Yingmin also kindly reminded the coach to "take care of his health".
A mirror, reflecting the gap in strength in youth training
Although it was just a youth level warm-up match, Xu Genbao, the head coach of the Shanghai U18 team, sighed after watching the entire game on the sidelines: "The level of the Chinese national team is currently far behind that of Japan and South Korea. Similarly, in the youth training stage, we also have a gap in all aspects, whether it is physical confrontation, technical control, football awareness, or fighting style, there are differences."
The Shanghai Tomorrow Star Champions League, the youth training echelon of South Korean and Japanese clubs, has shown a significant level higher than that of Chinese youth training.
Previously, at the Tomorrow Star Champions Cup held in Shanghai, coaches from Genbao Base carefully watched the semi-finals and finals. During business discussions and exchanges, everyone unanimously agreed: "The Japanese Osaka Sakura and South Korean Ulsan Hyundai teams compete for the championship, and the players from both sides rarely express dissatisfaction with the referee. After physical confrontation, they also do not fight or push. In contrast, some Chinese players seem to be unable to touch each other when playing football, and they argue at the slightest touch. In domestic matches, there are many cases of disobedience to referees and fighting, which are also factors that affect the development of Chinese football."
In the Qatar World Cup, both South Korea and Japan have shown impressive performances in football, which has made Xu Genbao sigh, "Asian neighboring Japan and South Korea's football is rising in all aspects, especially their understanding of football rules is better than that of Chinese football. Including the concept of victory and defeat, due to their continuous improvement in strength, they have a good mentality; some of our teams do not have this understanding, they always feel that they cannot afford to lose, and if they lose, they are in a hurry."
The internal circulation development of Chinese football is contrary to the world trend.
Returning to the laws of football itself, Xu Genbao believes that in terms of learning the application of techniques and tactics, Japanese and Korean football has always followed the trend of world football development. "Taking the example of the modern echelon of Ulsan in South Korea, their blind playing methods in matches are very few, and the rationality of their technical application is stronger than ours. Including the entire attack and defense rhythm, it is not blind playing, but designed and organized, and in terms of details, it is better than us. This is what we should learn and pursue."
Xu Genbao also admitted that the two goals that the team was overturned in the last moments were both related to the young goalkeeper's indecisiveness in attacking. "I don't blame the players, but I also remind the goalkeeper coach: the base has cultivated a large number of good goalkeepers such as Yan Junling, who react quickly and well in the goal. However, modern football trends require goalkeepers to be able to hit, control, and release the ball. At this time, our training philosophy during the youth goalkeeping period should also keep up with the development trend of football."
Focusing on the future, constantly exploring tactics and tactics
Although South Korea lost their first game of training, the coaching staff did not show any signs of disappointment during the review. On the contrary, they all felt that coming to South Korea was definitely the right choice. Xu Genbao believes that coming to South Korea for training is very worthwhile. Firstly, the warm-up matches have strong opponents and great value in training. "This training not only simulates the format of the next day's competition in the first Youth League, but also provides reference and inspiration for preparing for the 2025 Greater Bay Area National Games."
In May of this year, after deciding to teach the Shanghai All Games team again, Xu Genbao put forward a clear goal: "Having style, talent, and winning gold, these nine words cover the meaning of my leadership this time. I hope I can still do something practical for Shanghai football." Although Xu Genbao shouted the slogan of winning gold, the strength of the Shanghai U18 team is only in the top six levels in the country, and there is no absolute strength that is superior to others.
"Through this South Korean training and rally, perhaps we can once again verify that the technical and tactical tactics of our All Games team are based on improving defensive ability and strengthening overall defense." Xu Genbao believes that even Chinese football in Asia needs to follow this path. "In situations where our own strength is not strong, only by stabilizing defense can we have a chance. Otherwise, if our strength is not strong enough, we can still compete with our opponents in a tough and aggressive battle, which is adventurism. If the opponent's strength is similar to ours, it is about who has better defense and who has a stronger ability to seize opportunities."
Victory and defeat are common occurrences among soldiers. Losing is not scary, what's scary is not being able to come up with ways to learn, improve, and bridge the gap after losing.
In Xu Genbao's view, Chinese football, from leaders to players, coaches, and fans, all need to have an objective, rational, and truly pragmatic positioning and understanding of the Chinese football in their eyes. "Including fans, it is also important to understand the basic laws of football. When facing opponents with similar levels, if we always insist on winning, we are not satisfied if we don't win; if we don't understand the laws of football, how can we develop a football culture?"
It is reported that members of the South Korean Football Association also gave a friendly reminder during the banquet for the team: "The strength of the Ulsan Hyundai team is not the strongest, and the next team is stronger." In this regard, Xu Genbao is not afraid of strong opponents. "The important thing for overseas training is not the victory or defeat, but the process. Although we lost the first game, we exposed many problems, which need to be slowly digested and summarized. Regardless of whether we win or lose, as long as we can summarize the content that is beneficial to the preparation for the National Games, such training is worth it. Failure is the mother of success, the key is that we need to find the problem and come up with effective methods to improve the problem."
