Interview with Xie Hui: Strive to brand Yatai with German football and want to keep a low profile in a high profile

Special correspondent reports from the second strongest This was an interview conducted a month ago in Xie Hui's office, when he had just led Changchun Yatai to complete the relegation task. Regarding his 26 games in Changchun Yatai in six months (including 2 FA Cup games), Xie Hui did not rate himself, but described it as "beyond expectations", "I have received a lot of support here, and it only took two months to complete the integration with the team. ”

In April this year, when Xie Hui, who was close to the year of destiny, took over Changchun Yatai Shuaiyin, the team only won one victory, ranking at the bottom, and he understood that this was a firefight, and all the team's preparations were not carried out by him. For most of the season, without bringing in strong reinforcements, through the rapid integration of tactical ideas, he brought the team back on the verge of relegation. Next, Xie Hui hopes that through his own efforts, "Changchun Yatai will be branded with German football." ”

On April 14, 2024, Changchun Yatai triggered the change of coach procedure due to poor results. On the 15th, Chen Yang left, and on the 16th, Xie Hui entered the team, and the club stabilized the morale of the army with an efficient change of coach. Xie Hui then spent six months getting the team back on track, or finding his place in the Chinese Super League. As a northern team with a calm style of play, Changchun Yatai chose Xie Hui, who has an open style, which is a complement to the two sides. For a coach, the same time as the class means the countdown to the end of the class, however, based on the changes that Xie Hui brought to Changchun Yatai in the 2024 season, the club will still give him more support, hoping that he will help the team through the current difficult period.

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◆Football: It's great to see you lead Changchun Yatai back on track and complete the relegation task one round ahead of schedule! In the first six rounds of the season, this team has only 3 points, ranking first from the bottom. Becoming a poster in the middle of the job means that you will face greater difficulties, can you tell us what you thought at the time?

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Xie Hui: The reason for deciding to come to Changchun Yatai is relatively simple, because the team's heritage, configuration in all aspects, and the care of the leaders are all very good. Although we didn't play well in the first six rounds, there are injury problems, there are problems with opponents, but the team has good qualities and I am very confident when I accept the invitation from this team. Everyone knows that I have coached in Nantong Zhiyun and Dalian, compared to the difficulties encountered in these two coaches, I think that coaching Changchun Yatai is not the most difficult, and I am also very confident to lead the team to complete the relegation task.

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◆When you didn't take over Changchun Yatai, did you know anything about this team?

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First of all, I know the Chinese league, not only in the past few years as a head coach, but also when I was an assistant coach in Shanghai Port and Shanghai Shenhua; Secondly, when I took Nantong Zhiyun and Dalian people, I fought with Changchun Yatai many times. For a head coach, he must do his homework on the teams and players in the league, so that he can be competent for the current coaching work; Second, once the opportunity comes, you have the bottom of your heart; The third is that I am a local coach, and my familiarity with the league is natural.

◆He led Changchun Yatai to play a total of 26 games, of which 24 were in the Chinese Super League and 2 were in the FA Cup, and the coaching time was about half a year. In the past six months, how have you run in with the club and the team?

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In general, some of my coaching philosophy and coaching style are different from the previous Changchun Yatai, and it does take some time to run in. Under normal circumstances, in the field of football, it takes at least five or six months to form a certain style of play, but from a practical point of view, I think it only took two months to form in Changchun Yatai, which is relatively fast and exceeded my expectations. And, at the working level, I have a lot of support from the club, especially the trust of the club's senior leadership; At the technical and tactical level, I also have a very professional support from the key players, which makes it very easy for me to integrate with the team and develop our own style and style of play in a very short period of time.

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◆During your time in charge, do you think Changchun Yatai has developed a German football style?

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We're trying, and we've been doing that. After about half a year of running-in, we have initially formed a prototype, but we need to refine the details, and we need to improve it through a longer period of time or the addition of staffing. In the just-concluded 2024 season, we have played a very good attacking football for a period of time, when the personnel are neat, that is, the five foreign players and the main players are on the field, not only in the pressing style of play, but also in the attack. I think everything is going in a good direction.

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◆After you took over Changchun Yatai, the team's goals have increased, and the scenes are also relatively good, such as a 5-0 home win over Qingdao Manatee, a 4-0 win over Qingdao West Coast, and a 4-3 home win over Beijing Guoan, and a 3-4 defeat to Shanghai Port. When competing with opponents with a big gap in strength, Changchun Yatai will always play a big score. Of course, there was also a 1-8 away defeat to Beijing Guoan, what do you think is the reason?

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First of all, I would like to say that we have scored 46 goals, which is the sixth highest in the Super League goals list for the 2024 season, which is a very high position. Speaking of goals conceded, the 1-8 defeat to Beijing Guoan aside, our goals conceded are good in the bottom half of the table, because there are many teams that have conceded more than 50 goals in the bottom half. In addition, we have seven clean sheets and we are in first place in the whole bottom half, which is a very good statistic. I don't think we're a team that's strong in attack and weak in defence, but at both ends of the pitch I take it very seriously, especially defensively.

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As for the 8-1 defeat to Beijing Guoan, I communicated with all the players. If we talk about the two big scores that happened in the "Gongti" in history, I have the most right to speak. In 1997, Shanghai Shenhua lost 1-9 away to Beijing Guoan, I was a player; In 2024, Changchun Yatai lost 1-8 away to Beijing Guoan, and I am the head coach. Many times, failure is the best stepping stone to success, and if you use failure as a stumbling block, then you are a real loser. In the fiasco in 1997, many of our players on the pitch have been trained and have become successful players, such as Fan Zhiyi transferred to England, I transferred to Germany, and we were the main players who qualified for the 2001 World Cup in China. After the heavy defeat in 2024, we returned to Changchun's home stadium and ushered in a 4-0 victory over Qingdao West Coast and relegation ahead of schedule.

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I think defeat is a good experience for the players and I want them to remember the heavy defeat, but also to remember that the game can go in a good direction, so every game, everyone has to give it their all.

Fate is wonderful. On October 8, 2020, in the 8th round of the Chinese League, Changchun Yatai defeated Nantong Zhiyun 4-0. In that game, Chen Yang, who was the coach of Changchun Yatai at the time, defeated Xie Hui's team on his debut, but no one expected that 4 years later, Xie Hui took over the coaching whip of Changchun Yatai from Chen Yang, and changed Changchun Yatai with an oppressive style of play. On the morning of April 17, 2024, Changchun Yatai issued an announcement that Chen Yang would leave class. Just when the outside world was speculating about who would take over the team's coach, the club's second announcement that afternoon gave everyone an answer - Xie Hui became the 26th coach in the history of Changchun Yatai.

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◆Football: There's no denying that whether you're a player or a coach, you're the focus of the media, and there are some terms that have been labeled, such as "pressing and playing". What does it mean to "press and play" in your football thinking, is it at the heart of your coaching philosophy?

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Xie Hui: I don't think "pressing and playing" is a particularly complete concept, if you want to use professional tactical terms, "pressing and fighting" is actually "oppression", and there are many types of oppression, including anti-oppression, high-level oppression, local oppression, and full-court oppression. Pressing and counter-attacking are in conflict, which refers to the team's defensive line moving forward, pressing in the opponent's half, using teamwork to disrupt the opponent's offensive organization, and fighting for the opportunity to defend and attack. To be more specific, it's what to do six seconds after losing the ball and six seconds after stealing the ball.

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The clearest interpretation of pressing play in modern football should be German football, and Rangnick is the figure who leads the trend of this era. It just so happens that I have been in Germany for 5 years, and I still have an advantage in understanding and applying this style of play. I think the latitude and weather in Changchun are similar to those in Germany, and Changchun Yatai is more like a German team, which can use pressing style of play as the core idea.

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◆On your desk, there is a book called "The Fogg Model of Behavior", has this book helped you in any way in your coaching?

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Certainly helps. The behavior model, translated as micro-habits, is the superposition of micro-habits, and then forms your habits on the court and in the team. Repeating good habits and improving bad habits is a process of continuous improvement for coaches and players. Sometimes, when you look at football from a macro perspective, you can't see things so clearly, so you need to jump out and look at the changes in football from another dimension.

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◆In your coaching team, there are many foreign coaches, and you are often seen communicating with them directly in English on the training ground, what do you think is the biggest help that foreign coaches bring?

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Their role in this team is about football philosophy, they come from Spain, Brazil and other football powerhouses, football culture and heritage are still relatively thick. I learned a lot from working with them, especially their footballing mindset.

◆In the 2024 season, Changchun Yatai has a good home record, with an unbeaten record of 8 games, but the away game is not ideal, what do you think causes this home-and-away contrast?

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The most important reason for the big difference between home and away results should be the weather. In the summer, the temperature difference between home and away is quite large, and the players are not adaptable enough, especially when playing in hot areas, which is very difficult. For example, when we play Meizhou Hakka away, the humidity there is about 80 percent, while in Changchun it is only 40 percent, standing outside is like taking a sauna, so we will go to adapt to the weather a day in advance. In the same way, we also got the benefit, that is, when they came to Changchun, the temperature here dropped and the opponents were not very adaptable. For example, at the beginning of November, many cities were still around 20 degrees Celsius, and we are close to zero degrees Celsius here. For the northern team, it will take adaptation, and in 2025, we will do a little bit more homework on that.

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◆The outside world says that when you are directing a game, you are like a musical conductor, not only your dress, but also the passion you show on the field, sometimes the fans don't know what you shout, can you ask how you communicate with the players on the field?

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In the game, I speak some simple language, they can definitely hear, and they know what I mean. We train together every day and discuss tactics and sometimes a word, a look, the players understand what I mean.

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◆When you're impatient or angry, is that contagious to the players?

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It depends on how you look at it, and there are times when I want to pass that emotion on to the players, and of course, there are times when I want to be able to watch the game in peace. In terms of coaching style, there are many differences, Eriksen and Arsene Wenger are very few coaches in world football, I am not a coach of this style, I am more passionate.

After teaching in Changchun for half a year, Xie Hui's life focus also came to Changchun, where he rented a house, his wife and two children also came over, and he also attended an international school in Changchun. In addition, Changchun Yatai also has Liao Chengjian, Li Shenyuan, Zhang Huachen and several other players from Shanghai. It should be said that he is not alone in Changchun. However, for Xie Hui, who has been a family since he was a child, since he chose football, it means that he has chosen "travel". He admits that he is not an authentic Shanghainese, because Shanghainese love family and he is a football man with integrated cultural characteristics. Therefore, when many friends in Shanghai miss him, they make a special trip to Changchun to watch a game he commands, and then play with him.

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◆Football: There aren't many players in the football world who can get up early, and there aren't many coaches who can get up early to work in the office. The staff of Changchun Yatai Club often see you arrive at the office at 7 o'clock in the morning, drinking coffee, listening to music, thinking quietly, and watching the game alone, is this your habit? What do you think about during this time of the morning?

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Xie Hui: Waking up early is a habit that I have developed a long time ago, and I think I have had this habit since I was a player. After retiring, there was a period of leisure, and I would wake up a little later in the morning, but after work, I like the time in the morning, to be able to read books, to be able to think, to be able to sort out some ideas from all aspects and levels, I prefer such a quiet time, and my thoughts in the morning will be clearer.

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◆You have been to Changchun with the team when you were a player, but it is the first time to live in Changchun for half a year, what kind of city do you think Changchun is! Your wife and children have moved to Changchun, are they still comfortable living here?

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I always joke with my lover Daria, I say that it is closer to your house from Changchun than to mine, which is true. For her, it is quite suitable in Changchun, and the temperature is about the same as that in Russia.

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I have been a family since I was a child, and I traveled south and north because of playing football in my teens, so I am not a particularly family-loving Shanghainese, and my personality does not have particularly big local characteristics, but it is still relatively accommodating. Of course, I have a Shanghainese side of my personality, but it's not particularly obvious.

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In addition, I have lived in Europe for a long time, and the dry and cold climate of Changchun is also suitable for me, and the same weather is in Germany, of course, Changchun is a little colder than most German cities, but in general, there is nothing that is not adaptable.

◆When you were a player, you were very successful, playing for Shanghai Shenhua is an old team, and the main striker of the national team, and you have stayed in Germany. After the transformation, I became an assistant coach first, and then a head coach, what experience do you have in this process, can you talk about it?

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When I was a player, because I was a striker, I was always asked how many goals I wanted to score for the season. To be honest, I don't really like to answer questions like that because I've never had such a specific goal, my goal is to score goals in every game, the more the better. If you don't set this kind of special goal as a goal, I think that focusing on every day, on every ball, on everything, on every small action, this habit will bring you closer to success. If you let go of a lot of vague thoughts, it's like waking up in the morning and seeing the sun rise, it's a very happy thing. Playing football, I think Chinese players should learn Chinese culture, such as Zen science, to lower themselves, to get some happiness, and to chase some things they want.

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◆From your playing days to your coaching career, you have had a lot of intersections with Changchun Yatai, can you tell us about the most impressive Yatai player, or which game?

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Of course, the strongest foreign players are the strongest, such as Caballero and Odion Ighalo. In 2006, I was in Shanghai Shenhua and fought against Changchun Yatai. Later, he worked as an assistant coach at Shanghai Port and also played against Changchun Yatai. In 2018, I remember Changchun Yatai beating Shanghai Port 2-1 and Odion Ighalo scored two goals, he is very strong and a very good player, he has proven himself in the Premier League.

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◆When a team wins at home, you'll always go down with the whole team, and sometimes bring your kids with you......

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Maybe it's a habit! I think it's a habit to keep it, after all, it's doubly happy to enjoy the moment of victory with everyone. Actually, it's not easy to have such happy moments in every game, everyone has put in the effort, and with such a moment, I really want to enjoy it with the fans, it's my personal idea, it's pure.

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◆As a celebrity coach, your popularity and traffic are very high, what do you think are the benefits and disadvantages of star coaching?

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To be honest, in Chinese football, there is no benefit, our football culture, I don't like my style of coaching, in the coaching process, I try to be low-key and humble. In fact, low-key and flamboyant can be a good combination, from my own point of view, my life is a fusion of cultures, I am also such a fusion when I work, I want to keep some low-key in the high-profile.