Wu Jingui China Should Be Inspired by Germany’s World Cup Success

On the morning of July 14， the once-everyfour-year World Cup offered the most exciting match during the event. Germany and Argentina， two of the current best teams in the world， confronted each other in the football pitch for 120 minutes in the final. At last， Germany’s substitute Mario Gotze made a golden goal in the second half of the extra game， helping his team defeat Argentina with 1：0. Thusly， the German national football team got its fourth World Cup champion.

The success of Germany in the World Cup excited many loyal fans of Germany. Their victory also reminded many football experts in the world of the fact that what they can learn from Germany， which undoubtedly is the best team in the world？

Mr. Wu Jingui， a well-known football coach in China， is one of them. Before the start of this World Cup， he forecast that Germany would be the final champion. In the evening of the final， Mr. Wu， like millions of football fans in the world， also sat in front of the TV and watched the entire game.

But different from ordinary football fans that were excited by the goal， Mr. Wu， as a coach， paid more attention to the formations， techniques and strategies of the two teams. “The final between Germany and Argentina is a very exciting game and could represent the highest level of football skills and tactics in the world，” he tells China Business Focus （CBF）.

“Argentina adopts the defense strategy and seeks every opportunity to strike back. Argentine players Messi and Higuain made full use of their speed and German defenders’ slowness in turnaround to make attempting shoots， some of which are very close to scoring，” says Mr. Wu. “However， Germans are obviously ready for this situation. They have better stamina than their opponents thanks to the surprising 7-1 victory against Brazil in the semifinal and one-more-day rest. In addition， Germans never waver in their tactics despite being pressed by Argentines. They have more attack methods and they are intensively organizing attacks on both sides of the field. Germans are a better communal team. That’s why they are the winner of the game.”

Speaking of the team， Mr. Wu immediately shifted the topic to an unstoppable trend： the better a team is， the better they are able to perform in the football field. In his opinion， the German national team could be said to be the best team in the world. In addition， teams that are more focused on the teamwork， such as Holland， Columbia， Costa Rica and so on， all had good performance in the game. In comparison， those relying on one or two players all had nightmare performances in the game， especially when their No. 1 stars got injured and slumped. Uruguay， Brazil and Portugal all had seen the same plots.

But there were also teams that focus on teamwork but still got eliminated very early. Spain， which was considered the ruler of the soccer world in the last six years， did not even qualify the playoffs in a shameful way. Mr. Wu attributes Spain’s failure to the ageing of players and the outdated tactics. Even though Spanish could sweep the world with their “Tiki Taka” two years ago， their focus on controlling game has been somewhat turned to the excessive and unnecessary occupation of the football. Other teams have already fully studied this tactics and understood every defect of Spain.

“In comparison， Germans， who used to boast the strong body and unparalleled power in the past， absorbed the essence of ‘Tiki Taka’ and combined it with their own merits. They have made the most passes in the World Cup. The cooperation among three or four players in a small area is so smooth that the opponents are hard to get the ball back. In addition， Germans’ attack is so fast that they could pass the ball to the penalty area to shoot with several passes，” Mr. Wu says. “Control and speed are the new trumps the Germans have brought to the soccer world. They are the best team in the world.”

To Learn from German Soccer

Mr. Wu’s thinking highly of the German football team is based on his understanding of this country’s football. He once spent six years in Germany studying the football science and coaching. He always believes that Chinese football should follow the pattern of Germans， especially the youth training system of this country.

“Actually， the DFB decided to initiate the reform to their pattern of playing football after being eliminated in the 1994 World Cup. They paid more attention to the skills and set up scientific training model， shifting the focus from strength to the dexterity， balance and comprehensiveness. They made longterm plans for this，” he says.

According to Mr. Wu， Germans spare no efforts in building up its youth training system. All football clubs in the Bundersliga and the lesser league were required to build their youth training centers. By now there have been 46 youth training centers in Germany. Each club was also required to set up a dozen of teams for players at different ages apart from the first teams and reserves. With the setup and improvement of the youth training system， the teams of different ages of Germany had good performances in the matches for young players in Europe and they have brought forth Lahm， Schweinsteiger， Neuer， Ozil， Muller， Reus， Kroos and Gotze， who are the major players of the German national football team to win the World Cup in Brazil.

“Therefore， it is not accidental for the German football to get back to the peak after the fiascos in the 1998 World Cup and 2000 European Cup，” Mr. Wu says.

Admiring these merits and advantages， Mr. Wu says that Chinese football should follow both the concept and system of the German football if they want progress. He holds the opinion that the Chinese football focuses on the immediate gains too much. So far the youth training in China is none other selecting a group of potential kids and training them collectively in a place. However， this pattern is only a makeshift in the initial period of professionalizaion of football. In today’s society， the requests for overall development of football ask for a systematic project and a more diversified training pattern. The outdated pattern could impact the normal study and growth of young kids and deprived them of future choices. In addition， it hinders the development of local training programs for young football players in other cities.

In Germany， however， kids could go to the football schools which provide them with cultural education. These schools hold tests every year to eliminate the kids without football genes. These eliminated kids can continue their cultural education in ordinary schools and could go to universities if they want. In addition， many European countries forbid the young players under the age of 16 to join in the football clubs outside their hometowns， for the sake of parents’ watching and caring of their kids. This order is also good for the regional training programs for young players.

During his stay in Germany， Mr. Wu witnessed the German’s devotion to football. As he said， there are 26 thousand football associations and organizations in Germany. Among 82 million Germans in this country there are 6.3 million registered players the largest in the world or one registered player among every 13 people. The German government requires their communities to own a football field for a certain number of people. “All in all， there is a rich cultural atmosphere of football in Germany and the love for football is with the bones and blood of Germans even though you can not become a superstar， you could become an excellent person through the football，” Mr. Wu says.

The Problem of Chinese Football

The excellence of German football and its youth training system is worth learning， but it will take a long time. Germany， which has won the World Cup three times in the past， still needs at least 14 years to climb from the bottom to the peak again. In comparison， China’s football ha no glorious backdrop in the past and it will definitely take more time for China to see achievements if they follow the German pattern.

In recent years， Guangzhou Evergrande Football Club spent massively recruiting good players， especially foreign players and soon became the ruler of China’s Super League and even the Asian champion. The success of Evergrande has attracted many other businessmen into the soccer world. Someone criticizes that the massive investment would lead to the sole dominance of one or two football clubs， but Mr. Wu sees the benefits of this pattern.

“This is a shortcut for a football club to throw a lot of money to get the good achievements at the beginning of its development period，” he says. “Evergrande’s massive spending on players and its championship in Asia could draw a lot of attention and were also commercially rewarded. It could also encourage more young children to take part in the football game. However， a football club needs a long-term devel-opment plan， including the setup of its own youth training system.”

Mr. Wu was once the coach of Shanghai Shenhua， Hangzhou Lucheng and Shandong Luneng three football clubs in China. Therefore， he has firsthand experiences of the football development in China and knows the problems in the Chinese football clubs.

He prioritizes management issues when it comes to the problems haunting Chinese football clubs. “Many football clubs are managed with men’s will and passion. They naver have something continuous and lasting. Simply speaking， when a club has a new manager， the club’s policies and measures are replaced as well，” Mr. Wu says. “The general managers of football clubs usually play important roles in bridging the coaches and investors. However， many bosses only appoint people based on relations instead of capabilities， lead- ing to the shortage in standardized and professional management. This is also the biggest problem I’ve ever met in my coaching time.”

He directly points out that many of the 16 clubs in China’s Super League could not meet the requirements in the management level. He also lists Bayern Munich， the largest and best football club in Bundersliga as an example for“good management of football club”.“It has perfect corporate governance structure and its management positions are mostly taken by former football players. The club is managed by the presidium of registered association， Bayern Munich AG’s board of directors and its supervisory board. Among them， the registered association of the club is the largest shareholder while its supervisory board includes the directors from Adidas， Audi and other sponsors. They are responsible for supervising the operation of the football club，” he says.

The combination of football player-turned managers and professional businessmen lead to the success of Bayer Munich in both soccer and business. Mr. Wu sighs at the fact that few Chinese football clubs embrace that pattern.

The State and Individual Outlook

Despite his eagerness to change the situation of football in China， Mr. Wu admits that it cannot be done over night. The poor youth training and the lack of capable players almost make it impossible for the Chinese football team to get into the World Cup in the next 10-20 years. “Therefore， we need radical changes.”

However， the current system reveals no cracks. The “lack of professionals” is also shown in the administrative environment as the leaders of China’s football association the administrative body of football in China are not originally with football either.

Mr. Wu says it is OK for a nonprofessional to take charge of the football association， since these governmental officials know how to assign the detailed management work to football experts. However， there is an undeniable fact that many governmental offi- cials come to the football association to glorify their political careers. They hope to increase the football performance as quickly as possible to add more merits in their resumes for the promotion.

“This pattern has its own good points. If the governmental leaders attach importance to the football， the underlings are to be motivated to take measures quickly， but what the Chinese football needs is the thorough change covering the establishment of plans and setup of systems， including the ones for coaches and players，” he says

As an experienced coach， Mr. Wu also shares with us the ideas to improve the Chinese football. First of all， the league matches should tally with the global standard. Most of the league matches in Europe take place through the second half of a year to the first half of next year. It is set up with the physical conditions of football players. Secondly， the construction of football clubs should be standardized and each club should be required to set up teams for players of different ages with good training bases. Thirdly， the football fields must conform to the international standards， including the grass， locker rooms and audience seats.

After talking so much about the merits of football development pattern in Germany and defects of Chinese football， Mr. Wu speaks of his own efforts to build up a perfect youth training system and bases in the football clubs he once served as coaches. The efforts are not gone even though he is not working as a coach now. Being a specially-appointed professor of Tongji University， Mr. Wu is committed to building a team to study and translate some German professional football books.

“I hope to do something for the youth training of the Chinese football and I am committed to changing the current situation that the football is set against the cultural education. The football can find a way to be combined with the education.”