Taishan officially announces the addition of two foreign coaches, blending Chinese and Western styles into a new trend.

Reported by journalist Chen Yong. On January 9th, Shandong Taishan Football Club officially announced the addition of two foreign coaches, Moreno and Barrena, to the team’s coaching staff. Moreno will be the tactical coach, and Barrena the fitness coach. This completes the 2026 season coaching lineup, with Su Maozhen as the official head coach, Han Peng effectively managing head coach duties, and the two foreign coaches supporting Han Peng in the upcoming season.

Over the past several years, domestic coaches in the Chinese Super League have experienced ups and downs. This season, out of 16 coaching positions in the league, domestic coaches hold seven. Additionally, in the national teams including the senior, U23, U19, U17, U16, and U15 squads, domestic coaches occupy two positions. Domestic coaches are gaining renewed attention, with the “domestic head coach + foreign assistant coach” model gradually becoming mainstream.

On January 9th, Shandong Taishan Football Club officially announced the recruitment of two foreign coaches: Spanish coach Abel Moreno has been appointed as assistant coach of the first team, and Spanish coach Roberto Barrena has been named the first team’s fitness coach.

Abel Moreno, born on October 19, 1974, has over ten years of experience as a tactical assistant coach for professional teams. He has worked with clubs such as León Deportivo, Reus, Tokushima Vortis, Tarragona, Ulsan Hyundai, Olympiacos, Deportivo La Coruña, and Incheon United, and also served as tactical assistant coach for the Spanish women's national team, with coaching experience spanning multiple countries.

Roberto Barrena, born on September 17, 1988, possesses extensive experience in football fitness training. He has served as fitness coach for Osasuna’s U19 youth team and reserve squad, later becoming the fitness coach for Ecuadorian powerhouse LDU Quito’s first team, helping the club reach the Copa Libertadores final, demonstrating strong practical expertise in fitness training.

Currently, both coaches have traveled to Haikou to join the team and have quickly engaged in daily training and preparation. In the 2025 season, after the 16th round of the Chinese Super League, Han Peng began acting as Taishan’s interim head coach. At that time, his team included a foreign coach, Eric, who was the youth training director at Luneng Football School but only served temporarily in the coaching role, with his main job remaining at the football school.

For the new season’s Shandong Taishan coaching staff, Su Maozhen will hold the title of head coach, but this is mostly nominal. The real head coach role is fulfilled by Han Peng, who currently lacks a professional-level coaching license and therefore cannot officially serve as head coach. However, Han Peng has obtained an A-level coaching certificate and is currently studying for the professional-level license.

During the 2025 season, Shao Jiayi was one of the most successful domestic coaches, and his team exemplified the “domestic head coach + foreign assistant” model, with chief assistant coach Morel playing a particularly important role.

In fact, even earlier, when Gao Hongbo was coaching, he had a foreign assistant coach named Arie Scho, who followed Gao during his time at Xiamen Blue Lions, then in 2007 coached with him at Changchun Yatai to win the Chinese Super League title, later coached the Namibia national team, and subsequently worked with Gao Hongbo coaching China’s national team and Guizhou Renhe among others.

This season, Tianjin Jinmen Tiger also upgraded their coaching staff. The head coach remains Yu Genwei, but the coaching team added three Spanish coaches, filling roles as technical analyst, goalkeeper coach, and fitness rehabilitation coach.

Some domestic head coaches still prefer to choose an all-domestic coaching staff, which certainly provides more opportunities for local coaches. However, foreign assistant coaches remain a vital supplement. Besides selecting foreign assistants with rich experience in top European and American leagues to support domestic head coaches, the greater importance lies in specialized assistant coaching roles—areas where the structured systems of European and American football have clear advantages, especially in technical analysis and fitness rehabilitation. Although domestic research on these specialties has increased recently, the challenge remains in effectively combining academic study with practical application, whereas Europe has a close integration of these aspects, directly benefiting Chinese coaching teams.