How big is the gap between Chinese football, Korean football, and even European football?

This is the most frequently asked question in Gao Han over the past years.

The question is very broad and needs to be explained in a comprehensive way. Maybe it can be said for a few days and nights, but Gao Han often answers it in the simplest sentence. It is very big, but not as big as imagined.

This is indeed his truth.

If we look at the players' technical skills, the gap between China and South Korea is really not big. This can be seen from the performance of many Korean internationals in the Chinese Super League. Even some Chinese players who go to Europe are no less than European players.

But why can't you gain a foothold?

The reason is very simple. A player needs to integrate into a team not only by technology, but also by technical and tactical literacy, thinking of playing football, and various details of participating in the game. To a certain extent, technology is not important.

To put it simply, Chinese players have good technical skills, but they don’t know how to play.

This involves the supporting issues of the entire professional football industry.

Gao Han had mentioned the issue of running without the ball before, and in this key game between China and South Korea, the team exposed another problem many times in the first half, which was the lack of communication on the court.

Football is a team sport. Eleven players play on the court at the same time. How to maintain a consistent pace, effectively divide the labor, and coordinated protection requires each player to maintain good and effective communication with each other.

But to put it in the question, this kind of communication is not as simple as just shouting.

Everything on the football field is changing rapidly, and how to maintain timely and effective communication determines the outcome of the game to some extent.

For example, Zhang Linfan's mistake in the first half was indeed a mistake by the right-back himself, but the question is, is Huang Baiwen not responsible? He is obviously going to run over, so why didn't he pass on his intentions to his teammates in time?

What Zhang Linfan’s mistake in judgment reflected behind was the overall communication barrier of the national team.

So how to establish effective communication on the football field?

This requires the team to establish an effective and clear communication mechanism.

Is it very simple?

No, it's very difficult.

It was Zhang Linfan's mistake. If Huang Baiwen called Zhang Linfan's name when he retreated, and then shouted out his intentions, let alone whether Zhang Linfan could receive the signal in time in the crowded environment in the stadium at that time. Even if he heard it, he would still have to feed it back into his mind, then analyze it through his mind, and finally make a decision and make a judgment.

In fact, by the time he makes a decision, it is often too late.

From receiving the signal to making a decision, this period of time is called reaction time.

It is obvious that traditional communication methods cannot work on football fields because the reaction time is too long.

Therefore, we have to use a method similar to gestures and code words to ensure that the teammates can receive signals clearly, and at the same time, they must shorten the teammate's reaction time as much as possible to ensure that they can react in the shortest time.

This is somewhat similar to the gesture code used by special forces during combat.

But it is obvious that the way the Chinese team communicates on the court is very problematic, which Gao Han has been working hard to study and build for a while, but so far, he and all the players are still working together.

The same situation still exists in the club, but the club has introduced many famous foreign coaches, bringing advanced concepts and details. In addition, they have been together for a long time, so they are ahead of the national team in this area.

Gao Han knew very well that if the Chinese team could form a good communication mechanism, not to mention the goal conceded in the first half, even some Korean teams' threatening attacks could be resolved and contained in time, the scene would be much better than it is now, and there would be more threatening counterattacks.

Communication is just a detail that forms the competition. It is very basic and critical, but it is not eye-catching. There are many similarities to this type. Gao Han cannot say it in detail one by one. He can only slowly rely on time to improve these problems left over from many years.

And the problem reflected by these is the backwardness of Chinese football.

Then will the Chinese team really not be able to defeat South Korea?

The fear of Korea in the past few decades has made everyone lack such confidence, especially South Korea and Japan's outstanding performance in Asia and the World Cup have made everyone more confident.

But Gao Han concluded that no!

The Chinese football industry is backward. There are indeed a lot of problems in Chinese football, but the Chinese team is not unable to defeat South Korea.

But it is useless to say such words by shouting. Even the national team players are unsure, full of worry and uneasiness.

Therefore, competitions are needed to prove them through actual combat.

Looking at the performance of the entire first half, Gao Han believes that all international players, even all Chinese fans, should clearly feel that South Korea, which once arrogant and never takes the Chinese team seriously, is nothing more than that.

It turns out that under the pressure of the Chinese team, they will be at a loss and frequently make mistakes in receiving the ball.

It turns out that in the face of the orderly defense of the Chinese team, their seemingly invincible attacks will also hit the wall.

It turns out that in the face of the fast counterattack launched by the Chinese team after intercepting the ball, their seemingly iron-clad defense will be in a mess.

It turns out that Chinese football has been professionalized for so many years and has not made no progress.

It turns out that what we have always had before, South Korea is an invincible illusion, which is more due to lack of confidence in one's own strength, its own cowardice, and its blind elevation of its opponents.

It turns out...it turns out...it turns out...

…………

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When Gao Han walked into the visiting team's locker room, all the players raised their heads and looked at him.

The first half just passed brought them too many, too big and too strong impact, and it can even be said to have ruined some of their traditional impressions and illusions accumulated over the years.

At the time when they were behind zero to one, they were almost desperate.

But when they were leading one to one, they couldn't believe it.

Even at this moment, sitting in the locker room, they were still wondering whether they were dreaming.

But they felt confused and helpless again, not knowing what to do next.

One to one, it is acceptable to keep this score. If they return to China with such a result, they will become heroes in the eyes of all fans.

But for some reason, this mentality that should have been very natural in the past makes them feel guilty at this moment.

It was like they could get 100 points, but they only got 80 points.

So, they all raised their heads and stared at Gao Han in a daze.

Perhaps, this magical head coach can point them out a clear path and lead them out of the mud.

"Everyone did a very good job in the first half. The one-to-one score reasonably reflected the performance of both the enemy and us. Everyone does not need to underestimate themselves. The performance of our and Korean teams is just as good as each other. They have an advantage in their personal strength, but we are stronger overall, so we will continue to play like this in the second half."

Gao Han's words made everyone in the locker room nod.

Afterwards, Gao Han asked about the physical condition of several players with concern. Even though he had already gone to Buenaventura to obtain detailed analysis and data, he still understood the players' psychology.

For example, Huang Baiwen and Yin Hongbo had a large running range in the first half, and the protection of the two sides was indispensable, especially Huang Baiwen's protection of the right was even more critical.

But this also made it difficult for Huang Bowen to contribute in offense and organization. After all, he was on the left side where Sun Xingmin and Gu Zizhe were located. If he had not protected Zhang Linfan, the right side in the first half would have been beaten by South Korea.

"We have several things that we must pay attention to and strengthen. One is the harassment and suppression of the opponent's central defenders and the drag-back midfielder. The three players in the frontcourt must pay attention. You are the team's first line of defense, so you must always be vigilant."

Speaking of this, Gao Han looked at Gao Lin.

This center was pulled to the wing by Gao Han in this game, and he ran a lot and was more active in defense. It was a bit different from his usual laziness, but he also consumed a lot of physical energy.

But after feeling Gao Han's careful eyes, Gao Lin nodded heavily and said, "Don't worry, boss, grit my teeth, I can still hold on."

"Don't worry, the score is one-to-one now, and the situation is good for us. As long as we defend this wave of offensive from South Korea at the beginning of the second half, they will make adjustments soon, and at most it will not exceed 65 minutes. If he substitutions, I will also substitutions."

Gao Lin nodded heavily. He knew that Gao Han had practiced two different counterattack routines during the training camp in Shenyang. He was one of them. If Gao Han replaced him, he should be replaced.

Therefore, he doesn't need to worry too much about physical energy consumption after the start of the second half.

Gao Han knew very well that the high-pressure and attack in the last ten minutes of the first half consumed a lot of physical energy for the international players, but after fifteen minutes of rest in the midfield, they should be able to persist.

If he put the same attack to the opening stage, the Chinese team's physical fitness would probably not be able to hold on in the second half.

This is why he didn't start the game. Once he couldn't score the goal, the game would basically be over.

Gao Han would not do such a thing as this inconclusive and the risk was so great.

"I believe everyone should know after experiencing the first half of the game that the strength of the South Korean team is not as strong as we imagined, and they are not invincible."

Everyone nodded at the same time, and they still have a deep understanding of this.

"They have many international players who are studying abroad, and they are all rushing back from Europe. It takes only two or three days from landing to the middle of the game, and they may not even have systematic training. Physical fitness will definitely be a problem, especially as the game deepens, it will be exposed more obviously."

"So, they will be more anxious than us in the second half. The initiative advantage lies with us now. The key is that we must defend the little advantage we finally robbed in the first half and cannot concede the ball!"

Gao Han solemnly reminded that all the players also received it.

In fact, if the Chinese team did not concede the ball in the first half, the situation of the Chinese team would definitely be better than it is now and their physical fitness would be better.

But there is no regret medicine in this world. Since it has happened and cannot be changed, then follow the trend.

"In the second half, we still follow the strategy of the first half, defend and counterattack, mainly focusing on defense, and after stabilizing the start, our opponents will become more and more impatient, and our opportunities will also be more and more, but we must remember not to be anxious and stay calm at all times."

"You must always remember that only by relying on the whole can we have hope of winning."

If all the international players were a little worried about the game before the game, then now, after experiencing the first half, everything Gao Han and the coaching staff did, as well as the trend of the game, completely dispelled their last concerns.

They are now beginning to truly realize that this game can really win.
Chapter completed!