The Chinese coach watches the team practice.
The Chinese coaches participated in the discussion.
A group photo of the Chinese Football Association delegation.
Picture: Premier League
As the Premier League draws to a close this season, competition in the table remains fierce. As the“Top-flight” League of World Football, the Premier League has always attracted the attention of the world. Out of the spotlight, a group of Chinese coaches have recently stepped into Premier League clubs’ training grounds and youth classes. They observe training at close range, participate in tactical preparation and post-match discussion, through immersive learning, “Learning” high-level league education.
“I learned a lot of valuable things.”
In April this year, the Chinese Football Association’s second group of Elite Youth Coaches completed a study visit in the Premier League, eight Chinese youth coaches were selected for the training program. Among them, Yu Hai, Dong Xuesheng and other retired international coaches as representatives into the Premier League, in the transformation of the solution, in the exchange of growth.
“The Premier League is one of the best leagues in the world at the moment. The last time I was in the Premier League, I learned a lot of valuable things about club operations, tactics and team management. After I returned to China, I used them to coach and got very good results,” said Yu, who currently teaches the club’s echelon.
The Premier League has supported the development of grass-roots football in China for 15 years. The Chinese Football Association and the Premier League signed a cooperation memorandum of understanding last year to establish institutional channels of co-operation in coach training, youth talent training, competition organization and refereeing system. As part of chinese-english football cooperation, last year, the first group of Chinese youth coaches went to English Premier League teams such as Brighton and Fulham to study and exchange.
After nearly a year, the Chinese coach went to the English Premier League again. The Nottingham Forest team and the Wolves team received the Chinese coach team at their respective top-rated youth training colleges, it provides them with an opportunity to gain insight into the elite player development system.
According to reports, during the visit, the Chinese coach team worked closely with the senior coach team of English Premier League clubs, deeply involved in the U18 and U21 Echelon pre-deployment and post-match recovery work. During the period, the Chinese coach also watched several youth league and first-team games, including the Premier League, and participated in the technical seminars held by the Premier League coaches.
Neil Saunders, head of the Premier League’s football development department, said that every Chinese coach can accept a personalized development and support plan, and can also visit several Premier League clubs’ youth training colleges, these academies produce some of the best young players in the Premier League today. I hope Chinese coaches can bring their learning results back to China and apply them to the future practice and concept of coaches.
“These are lessons that Chinese football can learn from.”
During the 3-week study visit, Chinese coaches not only observed the training and competition, but also participated in the training design and recovery discussion in depth.
Women’s football coach Wang Dongni“Perfect attendance” participated in two study visits to the UK. “The last time I was here, the idea of the Premier League players developing their individual abilities had a big impact on me. This time I came with a question, hoping to gain some insight into the design of the training,” she said.”.
Wang said she was first introduced to Nottingham Forest’s“Player Transition Support Unit”, which helps young players transition from youth to professional football, the realization ability and the psychological dual adaptation. “The club is particularly focused on promoting the development of young players, which is very inspiring for me.”
The English Premier League clubs Perfect Youth Training System and development plan, let the Chinese coach feel deeply. “Nottingham Forest have done very well in the Premier League this year. Through introduction and study, I can feel the team’s youth training values and concepts, through their own operations, to the first-team continuous supply of good players,” said Dong Xuesheng, the current coach of the national team echelon, in English Premier League clubs, the development of players from the age of 9 to 21 has a complete system, can step by step into the first-team, these experiences are Chinese football can learn and realize.
On this trip to the UK, Yu Hai coached a group of young players. “It was a challenge for me to train with a child this young for the first time. Although there is a language barrier, but I through the demonstration movements, on-site teaching, the children can fully understand. At that moment I really felt that football is a language,” he said.”.
Li Feiyu, head of the Technical Department of the Chinese Football Association, said that the Premier League clubs’ advanced ideas in the cultivation of young players and the professional operation and management experience of the youth training institute provide a valuable reference for Chinese football. “I firmly believe that the cooperation between the CFA and the premier league in areas such as youth development is of far-reaching constructive significance and full of positive prospects.”
The Premier League will continue to support the growth of Chinese coaches
Five of the Chinese coaches who participated in the event had played for the national team. The transformation from a front-line player to a youth coach brings about a double transformation of cognition and responsibility.
“Throughout my career, I’ve had the privilege of working with and learning from a lot of famous coaches,” Dong Xuesheng says, the development of modern football requires that high-level coaches have more abilities, from team management to team tactics, from communicating with the players, media and management to paying attention to the psychological state of the players and the coaching team, every job is important.
The Art of communication was one of the rewards of Dong Xuesheng’s trip to the UK. “As a coach, you have to think not only about the individual development of the players, but also about the development of the team. Premier League managers are very good at establishing effective communication channels with their players. They communicate in a way that makes it easier for the players to understand the intention of the training and that motivates them,” he said.
Yu Hai, who came to the Premier League for the second time to“Learn from experience”, used“Enjoyment” to express his mentality. “As a player, I have had a rich career, played in many different positions and have some understanding and experience of football. I want to learn in the premier league how to communicate ideas and ideas to players through specific training.”
Yu admitted that the most impressive part of the trip was the high standards of Premier League coaches in training. “The coach wants to train harder or challenge the players more than the game, so they have higher requirements and standards in training. I will also ask for more in my next coaching session to allow my players to show their form in training.”
The English Premier League coach was impressed by the seriousness of the Chinese coach. Shaun Reid, head of Premier League training, said that as the project progressed, Chinese coaches were thinking more deeply and integrating the learning experience into their own coaching roles. He said the Premier League would continue to support and monitor the growth and thinking of Chinese coaches, and arrange regular online checks to continue to guide their development and track their progress.
Neil Sanders said that the Premier League plans to welcome future Chinese coaches to the UK in the 2025/2026 and 2026/2027 seasons and will continue to support various exchange programmes. In terms of player development, the Premier League recently hosted the Chinese U15 team against the Premier League youth team, which includes Arsenal and Manchester United. The Premier League is exploring opportunities to continue such activities in the future.