Chapter 700: Pioneer

"Uncle Zhuang, there is something I want to say, but I don't know whether I should say it or not!"

Yang Huan's words made Zhuang Mingyang slightly stunned. Why did he say it so seriously?

Old Master Zhuang snorted twice, "The three of us are drinking and bragging here, we can talk if we want to, why are we still fussing about it? Don't you think of this place as your home at all?"

The old man's tone was a little angry, but his words were very heartwarming.

"I'm sorry, Grandpa!" Yang Huan apologized quickly. He knew that his words just now were a little unfamiliar.

"In fact, I don't mean to say anything serious. I just want to say that we have made serious mistakes in the process of professionalizing football, just like the mistakes we have made in reforming many other fields."

At this point, Yang Huan paused and said clearly: "We are too superstitious about the market and professionalism!"

"What do you mean?" Zhuang Mingyang sensitively caught Yang Huan's meaning.

In the past, China has been overly superstitious about the market in many reforms, which ultimately led to many reforms becoming useless or even counterproductive. This has also caused reflection in recent years.

Is it the same for football?

"There is no doubt that the league is crucial and professional clubs are the general trend, but when the reform was first launched, we should not have blindly pushed youth training to professional clubs, because no investor would do such a thankless and far from rewarding stupid thing!"

Yang Huan's words were a bit harsh, so Zhuang Mingyang frowned immediately after hearing them.

Old Master Zhuang nodded thoughtfully, obviously pondering the deeper meaning of Yang Huan's words.

"The league is just a facade. The youth training system underneath is the real blood and bones!"

This statement is actually not new, but combined with what Yang Huan said just now, it made Mr. Zhuang and Zhuang Mingyang suddenly realize something.

"Throughout history, no matter which country or league, youth training has always been a business that loses money but gains publicity. Even in the four most developed and professional leagues in the world, if UEFA removes the youth training quota limit tomorrow, I guarantee that almost all the top teams will close their youth training camps!"

"? What? Because they don't need it. For them, investing so much money every year but training players that don't meet their requirements is a better deal than buying players that others have worked so hard to train."

"Money? I'm a wealthy club, I have money, why am I afraid I can't buy players? I don't have money to buy top stars, can I buy semi-finished products? I bought you when you were 18 years old and trained you for three years. You are considered my youth player, so why do I need a youth training camp?"

"Tradition? Heritage? Loyalty? I tell you, these are just high-sounding excuses for talking about it to the outside world!"

After Yang Huan paused for a moment, he saw that Mr. Zhuang and his son were listening very seriously without any objection, so he decided to say enough.

"Spain's youth training has been great in recent years. Everyone has their eyes on Barcelona's La Masia and Real Madrid's Castilla, but have any of them really understood or cared about the fact that as early as the 1990s, the Spanish Football Association began to launch reforms in Spanish football youth training?"

"At that time, Spain was determined to reform after the failure of the World Cup. Based on the characteristics of the Spanish race, they determined to cultivate technical talents and a small, fast and agile youth training concept based on passing and controlling football. They promoted it throughout the country, including those professional clubs. This led to the subsequent talent boom in Spain!"

"By the same token, Germany's youth training is even more recent. After experiencing a disastrous defeat in international competitions in the 1990s, football professionals led by Beckenbauer began to study it. After years of preparation, they began to promote the reform of Germany's youth training. They also launched a massive youth training revolution with the whole country's strength."

"So we have seen that in recent years, German football has produced a spurt of talent, with outstanding stars such as Toni Kroos, Thomas Muller, Ozil, Gotze, Reus and others emerging."

"It's the same in Germany and Spain, isn't it the same in Japan? We only see the prosperity of the Japanese league, but why don't we see that Japan and South Korea are promoting youth football training with their whole country's strength? But what about us? We only have the league but no youth training, which is like a castle in the air, shaky and ready to fall. How can we talk about progress? How can we talk about development?"

When Zhuang Mingyang heard this, he felt as if he had suddenly realized something.

He let out a long sigh and nodded at Yang Huan, "Yes, yes, now that you put it that way, I understand. You are right. We did do something wrong!"

There is nothing wrong with professional football itself, but the main reason for the current football dilemma is the rash professionalization without a solid youth training system to support it, and the entire youth training is completely pushed to the market!

Mr. Zhuang was indeed a shrewd man. After hearing what Yang Huan said, he figured out some things and immediately grasped the key link. "Hearing what Ah Huan said, the professional league is already irreversible. We can only move forward and cannot look back. However, youth training should be taken back and the government should initiate youth training reform."

Zhuang Mingyang also nodded continuously, saying that only the government could do this.

Because only the government has sufficient capacity to coordinate the interests and resource allocation of various aspects such as education and land.

To put it bluntly, the Football Association alone can't make any progress!

After hearing this, Yang Huan didn't say anything more, because he knew better than anyone that Mr. Zhuang and Zhuang Mingyang were both experienced politicians, and they knew how to operate in this way better than he, a layman.

"Uncle Zhuang, actually, I have been planning to organize a football youth training camp in China for a long time."

"Oh?" Zhuang Mingyang was a little surprised. He had never heard Yang Huan mention it before. "Tell me about it."

"I didn't plan to start this so early, but now, I think it's time to start," Yang said with a smile.

"You know, our Yang Group has two or three hundred commercial centers in China, and countless real estate projects, among which are also equipped with many famous local schools, so, what I mean is..."

Before Yang Huan could finish, Zhuang Mingyang's eyes lit up and he blurted out, "You want to combine the youth training camp with the famous school?"

Yang Huan nodded, "Yes, we have the most professional youth training coaches. At the same time, we can also arrange time reasonably and hire tutors to ensure the cultural courses of the players, because whether it is in Southampton or Atletico Madrid, we do this. In this regard, we definitely have experience!"

Southampton attaches great importance to cultural courses. If youth players do not reach a certain score, their training will be stopped immediately.

Because the facts have proved that modern football tactics are developing faster and faster, becoming more and more meticulous, and the requirements on players' brains are also getting higher and higher. It is no longer a simple matter of kicking the ball with your feet.

"All qualified players can enter the prestigious schools we cooperate with, which is a great advantage. I believe parents will be more receptive. At the same time, we will also make a promise that if the players perform well, we can arrange for them to go abroad and receive higher-level training, such as to Southampton, Madrid or Milan."

"We have partner schools in these places. For example, we have cooperation with famous primary schools, middle schools and universities in Southampton. They often interact with us, and the coaches of their schools are all from our club."

Zhuang Mingyang understood what Yang Huan meant. By building such an industrial chain, the concerns of parents could be alleviated to the greatest extent. Even if the young players were eliminated, they could continue to stay in prestigious schools and concentrate on their studies, which was also a kind of consolation.

"Not only that, there are too few professional coaches and youth training coaches in China, so I plan to hold coach training courses in China and invite the most professional coaches to teach, so as to improve the level of domestic coaches. If there are those who are interested, we can even arrange for them to intern in youth training camps abroad!"

Yang Huan's move is a two-pronged approach, but the effect will definitely not be seen overnight.

But if you can persist, I believe the effect will definitely not be bad.

"But I have a question!" Mr. Zhuang suddenly asked, "How do we solve the funding problem?"

Yang Huan smiled and said, "Sponsors, I believe that there will be many companies that are interested in sponsoring such a meaningful event. Moreover, we have the brand of the club to support us. As long as we are determined to operate it, we will definitely succeed."

Just kidding, for a company like Yang Group, it is easy to just spend some money on sponsorship, but the effect may not be inferior to spending a lot of money on advertising on major TV stations. It can be said to be good value for money.

Mr. Zhuang and Zhuang Mingyang looked at each other and both felt that Yang Huan’s idea was good and highly feasible.

This is a meaningful attempt for domestic football reform.

If the several clubs under Yang Huan can operate successfully, can we consider introducing more European teams?

You know, these European teams are very willing to develop the Chinese market and let them help improve domestic youth training and cultivate domestic players. Isn't that great?

Of course, this is just like introducing foreign investment back then. We must first consider all aspects clearly.

Therefore, it is undoubtedly a very good choice for Yang Huan to be the pioneer.

"Okay, have someone draw up a plan for this matter, and I'll help you check it. I believe it shouldn't be a big problem!"

Since even the old man agreed, Zhuang Mingyang felt that there should be no problem with Yang Huan’s plan.

Yang Huan nodded and said that he would start dealing with this matter in the next few days.

"Ah Huan, a few months ago, Spanish coach Camacho resigned as the head coach of the Chinese national football team. Now the higher-ups are also very concerned about the selection of a head coach. You are so familiar with European football, what do you think?"

No matter what you say, don’t you actually hope that Yang Huan can make a recommendation, or use his own connections to help the national football team select a coach?

"Uncle Zhuang, to be honest, I don't think those world-famous coaches today can be of any use to us."

"Oh?" Zhuang Mingyang was a little surprised.

"As our ancients said, a bad soldier can ruin a whole army. There is also a saying that an incompetent general can kill the whole army, but this is different in the field of football."

"What's the difference?" Even Mr. Zhuang seemed very curious and didn't understand.

"I remember talking to some coaches and asking them why it was so difficult for South American coaches to gain a foothold in Europe. The answer they gave me was that South American football was generally more than ten years behind Europe in terms of tactics."

Yang Huan couldn't help but smile when he said this. "That is to say, the tactics that South America is using now, Europe got tired of playing ten years ago. If it were in our country, I dare say, we are many years behind Europe."

"So, even if we hire a famous coach with the most advanced tactical concepts in the world, if we don't give him a lineup that can play to this concept, in the end it will only be incompatible. There are even many famous coaches who can't play with a lineup like ours because they are too advanced and we can't keep up!"

Yang Huan's words were indeed a bit hurtful, but they were the truth!

"So what you mean is..."

"Don't blindly pursue famous coaches, only pursue those who are suitable for us. No matter who you like, as long as there is a need, in a word, I will do my best. As long as it is not forced poaching, I believe there should be no problem!"

Zhuang Mingyang and his son both burst into laughter.

Yang Huan said this with full confidence. It can be seen that his connections and relationships in Europe are far beyond their expectations!