Interview with Han Peng: Playing in the second team has improved greatly, and I have grown up with the players of Taishan B team

Reporter Chen Yong reports In 2022, Han Peng, Zhou Haibin and Wang Qiang will become the coaches of the Taishan echelon together, opening the "highly integrated strategy" of Shandong Taishan Football Club and Luneng Football School. Three years later, they won the championship, but in their opinion, more important than the championship is the development of the players, including their own growth.

In the 2024 season, Han Peng led Shandong Taishan B team to play in the China B League, and finally won the sixth place in the second division. "This year, I have grown with the players, and in my eyes, the players have improved more than in the last two years." Han Peng said in an interview.

◆"Football": Shandong Taishan B team started winter training more than a month ago, what is the overall situation of this winter training?

Han Peng: This winter training is divided into three phases. The first phase began on November 24 after the team was concentrated, during which the team tested their body, endurance, agility and speed, core strength, 30-meter sprint run and YOYO, as well as aerobic basic training combined with the ball. In the second phase, starting on December 9, we went to Haikou for training, mainly to strengthen physical fitness and conduct high-intensity confrontation training, gradually increase the distance of high-intensity running through training, and also conduct warm-up competitions. The third phase began on January 2, and the team traveled to Guangzhou. At this stage, the winter training is mainly warm-up matches, and seven or eight games are planned, and the playing time of the players will gradually increase, and the main players will play about 70 to 80 minutes in the last few games.

In Haikou, we have 38 players training, and after arriving in Guangzhou, due to the training camp of the national youth team and the recruitment of the first team, plus our optimization of the team, the team is now reduced to 255 people.

◆The training camp of the national youth team should have a greater impact on the team's preparation, right?

This training camp for the national youth team is for the U20 Asian Cup to be held in Shenzhen in February, and we have seven players selected, which will definitely have a great impact on our team's preparation, but we will fully support the preparation of the national youth team and hope that they can achieve good results in the U20 Asian Cup.

◆In the 2025 season, the B team will have eight Under-21 players who can play for the first team without restrictions, how will they be coordinated?

For us, whether it's training or playing, we have to obey the arrangements of the first team and focus on the needs of the first team. We both train in the club and it's easy to coordinate.

◆The intensity of the team's training during winter training was very high, how did the players adapt?

Our training always revolves around actual combat, training is for the competition, and our running distance and high-intensity running distance in training must be close to or exceed the data of the competition. At present, the effect of the Haikou training camp is still good. High-intensity training should also have high-intensity recovery, because the means of recovery are limited, so the coaching staff should have scientific training arrangements, interspersed with various interesting or game-based training content, and at the same time strictly detect the physical indicators and reactions of players through wearable devices to ensure that the players can train at high intensity and at the same time allow the players to recover better, otherwise the quality of training is impossible.

◆Football: Looking back on the 2024 trip to the second division, what is the coaching staff's summary?

Han Peng: We are the first Chinese Super League B team to participate in the Chinese Second League. Under the overall arrangement of the club, we have entered the 2024 season from the U19 field of the China Youth Championship in the 2023 season to the second stage of the 2024 season. In the initial preparations, we thought that it would be difficult to play in a professional league like the second division as a young team, but we didn't expect it to be so difficult at the beginning, all kinds of unexpected and unexpected difficulties appeared, and the start was a five-game winless game. It was a really stressful situation, the players were under a lot of pressure, and the coaching staff had to withstand the pressure to summarize and encourage the players.

But no matter how difficult it is, we have to persevere, we have made various adjustments, especially on the psychological level, to give more encouragement to the players, and finally we worked together to get out of the predicament.

◆Judging from the game at that time, in fact, the team was not bad, although it did not win, but three of them were draws, including losing to Kuncheng or suppressing the opponent in the whole game, and it was reasonable to lose to Shaanxi United. What were the difficulties that arose at that time?

You can see that the players are nervous and we have been encouraging them to relax, but in fact we have had more difficulties. The first is the lack of adaptation to the confrontation, because the confrontation in the professional league is completely different from the confrontation in the youth team competition, so the disadvantage in the confrontation makes it difficult for us to play. At the same time, the confrontation is the most physically exhausting, coupled with the nervous factor, after the first few games, the players generally reported that they were tired.

In addition, we are at a disadvantage in terms of competition experience. In the youth team, you can break through if you want to, and in the professional arena, the opponent's prediction will make your breakthrough fail, which will lead to a loss of confidence and problems at all levels such as the tactical system. Of course, there are other factors, including the fact that your opponent will always use the right moment to disrupt your rhythm.

This led to the first few rounds of our watching lively, but we just couldn't win the game, except for the game with Shaanxi United, we had a chance to win the other four games, but we just couldn't win.

In this case, we still focus on encouragement and motivation, telling the players not to worry about mistakes, to dare to face mistakes, especially as young players, but also to dare to make moves, dare to play creatively, and believe in themselves. At the same time, the players also took stock and reflected so that we were able to turn around the disadvantages step by step and start winning games and winning streaks.

◆In the second stage of the championship group, the team had a back-and-forth of results, but then won consecutive victories, what was the situation at that time?

The opponents in the second stage are different from the first stage, they are generally strong teams, and there are also teams like Guangdong Guangzhou Leopards that belong to the only level in the second class, and the overall strength and personal ability of most of the teams have surpassed us. But in this kind of strong matchup, the players have gained a greater improvement. In fact, growth is not a simple process achieved overnight, which also includes mistakes, such as losing to Hunan Xiangtao is the result of our own mistakes.

◆After a year of playing in the second league, how do you feel that the team has changed?

In fact, our team has been growing for the past three years. I took over the Taishan 05 echelon in March 2022, and the team played the men's U19 group of the Chinese Youth Championship at the age of 17, and reached the final round.

In 2023, we will continue to compete in the men's U19 category of the China Youth Championships, and we will also compete in the U18 category of the Youth Association, and we will win the championships in both categories. In the past two years, they have reached the finals in three competitions and won two championships at the same time, and the technical, tactical and psychological tests experienced by the players are needless to say, this kind of growth is very big.

And in my opinion, in 2024, the year of playing in the second division, the players have improved even more than the last two years combined. The reason is simple, because they play in a professional league and are playing against professional players who are more physical, more experienced, and more sensible in their use of skills, including some of the best players we know well.

This kind of improvement is an improvement in the psychological level, an improvement in game experience, and an improvement in the use of technology and tactical thinking. When we play junior games, we are basically in complete control of the pace of the game, but playing in the second division is different, there are games where we can be more in control, but more of a tug-of-war, there are a lot of transition scenarios, and of course there are games where we are at the bottom and defensive. The control of the game, on the one hand, is related to the individual ability of the players, whose foundation is not enough, and on the other hand, it is also related to the game situation, and it is necessary to reduce the mistakes and gradually improve in high-intensity confrontations and fast-paced games, which are not many opportunities in the youth game.

In other words, this year, the players have experienced a lot of technical and tactical scenes that they have never experienced before, in fact, the growth of a player is to be familiar with and respond to various game scenes, which is the real value of playing in the second division this year.

◆As a result, we saw that some players in the 06 age group of Team B participated in the three major ball games, performed very consistently and finally won the championship.

The players of the three balls are the players of our team in the 06 age group, plus the players of the (Zhou) Haibin team, half and half, they have played so many finals before, and they have played in the professional league for another year, and they have experienced everything. The players of Haibin are the champions of the 2022 U15 Youth Championship, the champion of the 2023 U17 Youth Championship, and the champion of the 2024 U19 Youth Championship. So in the face of the big three ball matches, including the final final, they didn't have much change psychologically.

◆Yi Mulan returned in the late stage of the league, and then played well in the national youth team, what aspects did he develop?

He's a very talented player, he's got a lot of overall quality, in my opinion he's the best player in his age group, he's come back and he's made a difference and he's been helping the team and he's finding his form and the coaching staff is always in touch with him to help him improve.

◆Who is the captain of the team?

Chen Zeshi, Shi Songchen and Peng Xiao. Chen Zeshi came to the first team relatively early, but he didn't play much in the first team, and he was chosen as the captain in the hope that he could shoulder more responsibilities. After a year of systematic competition, he has been able to deal with the Chinese Second League. The three captains of their three teams, Yi Mulan, Liu Qiwei, Qi Qiancheng and Wang Haobin, have all been selected for the national youth team, hoping that they will have excellent performance and better promotion in the national youth team.

◆There was also another situation this year, with the highest number of fans watching home games exceeding 10,000, and a large number of fans traveling from almost every away stadium.

In the beginning, the players were nervous to see so many fans, they hadn't played a game with fans before, so it was also a growth process. As the league progresses, a sense of identity is gradually established between players and fans. The interaction with the fans, the players were embarrassed at first, and then it turned into an active interaction. They also learn from the first team, "WE ARE ONE". The fans gave them confidence and courage, and more importantly, they established a sense of identity with each other and a deep affection for Shandong Taishan, and the fans have been accompanying the team and fighting together, which is very important for their future development.

◆How to predict that you will continue to play in the second league in the new season?

We are well prepared to face difficulties. On the one hand, we also have the task of the National Games, which is to fight on two fronts. On the other hand, the second division is also changing, there are four Super League B teams in the 2025 season, and they will also compete with each other, and the professional teams in the second division are changing very much, and there are many unknowns. Another point is that the opponent will take us very seriously, no matter what the game is, once the opponent starts to pay attention and study it carefully, the game will definitely not be easy to play. My idea is that in the new season, we will be based on relegation, but the difficulties that may arise will also help us grow better.

◆Football: As a top player in China, how does it feel to be rooted in youth training for three years?

Han Peng: In a word, I am tired and happy. Tiredness is very simple, take winter training as an example, you have to stay on the field for five hours just two times a day, not to mention making training plans, preparing analysis meetings, and communicating with players. It's also very easy to be happy, and it's very rewarding to watch them grow up little by little, and they have improved a lot, from a junior player to a good senior player.

◆From the age of 17 to 20, it is a critical period for the development of a player, but also a period of transition, and it requires more effort than training and games, right?

Definitely. For them, whether it is football or life, this age is a period of intense change, including their rebellion, for example, they may not communicate much with their parents. For me, I don't want the old tradition to lead the way, to discipline them, to order them. In addition to the overall technical and tactical requirements, I never ask them to do what to do individually, whether to break through or not, whether to shoot or not, let them decide for themselves. Of course, we will have analysis and communication after the game to find a more reasonable way together. On a day-to-day basis, we are strict and hope that there will be no external factors that will negatively affect them as they grow up.

In the past, when I played the junior competition, there was one game every two days, and the density of the game led to a rush in the analysis and summary. Playing in the second game is a game a week, and all aspects are very systematic, such as if the game is not played well, we will summarize the half time or even the whole game, and discuss while watching. The players can talk about their own problems, they can also talk about the problems of their teammates, they can also discuss with the coach, and different ideas and suggestions can be put forward, and the effect is very good. The most important thing in their growth is to give them the environment and competition scenarios they need to grow, and the second is to let them think, act and change in thinking and understanding.

◆How have you personally changed in the process?

It was my first time leading the team on my own, and then I played fully in the professional league for the whole season. I also told the players that we are actually going both ways and growing together. There were many difficulties in leading the team, and once the mood was also very low on the way back to Jinan from Zoucheng, but just as the players need to go through various scenes, the coach also needs to go through various scenes to get out of the trough, stabilize in the highlights, let the training combine with the game, and let the game perfectly present the training, all of which need you to lead the team independently.

◆Song Kai, chairman of the Football Association, said that he hopes that professional players will lead the team in the youth training first, what did you think when you made this choice three years ago?

At that time, the club started the integrated strategy of professional players to lead the youth team, I did not hesitate, I did not hesitate to work as an assistant coach in the first team, although it was comfortable, but I felt empty, only by really leading the team can there be real growth, while learning, while practicing. In fact, youth training is really difficult, you may see the highlight moment of winning the championship, but there are too many difficulties behind it. And the attention of youth training is not high, at this point Taishan fans are really powerful, to me, (Zhou) Haibin, Xiao Cui (Cui Peng) and Wang Qiang a lot of encouragement, but also to give us more motivation.

As a football person, in fact, each of us hopes that Chinese football will develop quickly, but in this process, we need every football person to do something in a down-to-earth manner.