Chinese Olympic team coach Jia Xiuquan has expressed his
misgivings about local soccer players losing character due to
misguided training.
Jia, an assistant coach of the Chinese Olympic team, was upset
to point out Chinese soccer is suffering from the dwindling of
players with special quality.
"We need this kind of players, but now it becomes increasingly
hard to spot them,” the former Chinese international said.
"If a player is good at every aspect, it usually means he is
outstanding at no aspect. If a team is made up by those players
with no characters, there is little scope for improvement for them
no matter how hard they would be trained.
"Only after you are equipped with special players in every
position can you possibly build up a team with character and
strength," he said.
The underlying cause for this Chinese soccer malaise is the
misleading training guidance at the grassroots, according to
Jia.
"If a kid is found to be good at something, for example, if the
header is his forte, he should be trained to strengthen this
specialty. With that, when he grows up, he could use it to its
advantage," he said.
"But if the coach fails to detect the kid's talents and train
him accordingly, his talents will be ruined," he said.
One thing to make Jia happy is he found the Chinese players are
becoming "streetwise" thanks to more exposure to international
games.
"Until now I never blamed my players brainless, indeed nearly
all of them are intelligent. They are very creative when playing,”
he said.
"In the past we used to play one or two international games,
every time it's like a festival for us. And now the players would
play many matches with foreign teams, they have become more
resourceful and open-minded," he said.
(Xinhua News Agency November 3, 2007)