Cui Peng talks about youth training: Adhere to high-intensity training combined with actual combat, and players have more opportunities to show their attitude

Reporter Chen Yong reports In the 2024 season, when Han Peng led Shandong Taishan B team to perform well in the China B League, and when Zhou Haibin and Wang Qiang won the championship again, Cui Peng led Shandong Taishan U16 team to only one runner-up and one fourth place.

However, such achievements are also worthy of respect. The Taishan echelon led by Cui Peng is actually a team formed by the Taishan 08 age group echelon that took out the core players, plus the remaining players after the selection of the 07-age National Games team, and the U17 league and the U17 group of the Chinese Youth League in the 2024 season, they are all small and big.

At present, the team is undergoing winter training under the leadership of Cui Peng, and in the two weeks of training that has been conducted, he has focused on large exercise volume and high intensity, and the training can be called brutal. "The players know their situation better than anyone else, and the reason I told them is very simple, if you want to prove yourself, you have to work harder than others." Cui Peng said.

◆Football: Let me tell you about this winter training first, right?

Cui Peng: We arrived at the Zhangzhou Happy Island Football Base on December 29 last year, and started the first training session on the 30th. The current training schedule is similar to the winter training of professional clubs, with five practices in three days and no rest on weekends.

Some time ago in Xi'an, Song Kai, chairman of the Chinese Football Association, mentioned that "technology is king" and "three from one big and one strong", which is a concept that our youth coaches are very recognized. For example, in training, our team has always insisted on combining large exercise volume and high-intensity training with actual combat. The current arrangement is that the first two weeks are dominated by physical fitness and strength, and the data shows that the average daily running distance in the first week is more than 10,000 meters, and the high-intensity running distance is more than 1,500 meters. On January 11, the all-day training running distance reached 20,253 meters, and the high-intensity running distance reached 2,321 meters. But we are not running laps, but combining various scenarios in actual combat, constantly interspersed with jogging, sprinting, emergency stopping, changing direction, as well as passing and receiving the ball and shooting. In order to ensure the freshness of the players, we set up a variety of training programs that are not repetitive as much as possible, and for this reason, we have also purchased some equipment on our own to increase the variety of training programs.

Looking at it now, the players reacted more in the first week, but they were able to persevere. We will continue to insist on a combination of high exercise volume and high intensity, and then move on to the warm-up stage, which is very important for us.

◆Can you tell us about the combination of high exercise volume and high intensity?

There are many kinds, and generally do not run laps on a fixed line, but training with the ball in the field. For example, one of the ways is for players to sprint back to the halfway line after shooting, and then sprint back to the goal to shoot, simulating a quick return to the halfway line after the attack is completed, and then a quick counterattack to complete the shot after the midfield steals and gets the ball. This is a high-intensity training that also includes technical training under high loads.

There is also a way to play a full-field offensive training of two people, the whole process includes sprint running, there is a combination of fast and slow, and finally sprint to the goal to complete the shot, and then sprint back to the midfield, a trip down about 150 meters. The simulation is the attack from the back court to the front court, this process has high-intensity running, there is also cooperation, and finally complete the offense and then quickly return to defense, which is also a high-intensity combined with high-load technical action application.

These are the embodiment of high-intensity training, while at the same time fully simulating actual combat. Very simple reason, most of the technical actions in actual combat are high-load, when the physical fitness is good, the technical actions will not be deformed, and we want to exercise the technical actions will not be deformed under high loads.

◆What are the monitoring and rehabilitation measures for fatigue?

At the Xi'an meeting, Chairman Song mentioned strong recovery, and a large amount of exercise and high intensity must have a good recovery. First of all, the stretching after training every day must be ensured, although this is the easiest, but the amount of exercise is not much when the players often ignore it, now, everyone has formed a habit; Then there are auxiliary means such as ice therapy, and the simple swimming pool you buy for ice therapy; There is also the prevention of illness after heavy exercise.

In terms of the application of technological means, not to mention wearable devices, we also monitor heart rate, running distance and high-intensity running distance, so that we can better grasp the situation of the players. In addition, we also have a monitoring program through the bracelet, which monitors the player's sleep, what time to sleep, how long he sleeps, how long he sleeps, and how long he sleeps and how long he sleeps, so as to determine their recovery.

◆Football: Some time ago, you went to the Netherlands with Zhou Haibin to study, how did you feel?

Cui Peng: This time I went to the Netherlands, from 8 am to 5 pm every day, and at the same time constantly watched the game. I watched a lot, thought a lot, and chatted a lot with the seaside during this time, and had a lot of inspiration. Thanks to the Chinese Football Association for giving us coaches such a good training opportunity.

We need to try to change some of the training methods that we think are right but are not. For example, a training session for our professional team, we think that 70 minutes to 90 minutes is the most appropriate, and our echelon naturally thinks that it should be like this, and as a result, the duration of a training session for U14 is 120 minutes, and I took a look, and 100 minutes is a large amount of exercise combined with high intensity. At the time, we thought it was a lot of classes, but they said it was a daily routine.

For example, we used to do shooting drills where we would just stand there and hit and find a feeling for the shot, but when Fellaini came we were asked to keep shooting, sprinting and shooting. Modern football requires a lot of pressure and return from a striker, and it is impossible for you to shoot well.

Therefore, what we didn't know and couldn't do before, we must understand and practice now. For example, in confrontation training, the number of people from 1v1 to 2v2, 3v3, etc., as the number of people increases, the intensity will inevitably decrease, at this time, I require the half-court attack and defense must be completed within 15 seconds, so that it can be effective. For example, one of the basic concepts of football is to leave your position after passing, but we Chinese players are used to standing and watching after passing, so my training subject requires that you must step forward or sprint after passing, and constantly strengthen and eventually develop their habits.

These large amounts of exercise and high-intensity training are combined with actual combat, which is actually the basis of tactical training, in other words, running tactics. The foundation of football is running, including passing and control, which is also based on running, and there can be no passing without running. Our team is the remaining players after the selection of the National Games, and there are naturally various deficiencies in ability, but if you have abundant physical fitness, more running, and more high-intensity running, the passing space will naturally become larger and simpler, and after sixty or seventy minutes, if you have more physical fitness, it is possible to control the rhythm on the field. On this trip to the Netherlands, I found that a lot of kids don't bounce the ball very well, but their observation, receiving, passing and running are all on point.

◆What about player awareness-raising?

Or this time I went to the Netherlands, watched a game of AZ Alkmaar U14, they conceded a goal about 20 minutes in the first half, the coach did not give them any instructions at this time, as a result, AZ Alkmaar's players formed a circle by themselves, and after that, I found that their formation had changed, the position of the players had also changed, the players made their own decisions and adjustments on the field, and in that game, AZ Alkmaar finally scored 6 goals in a row and won 6-1.

In fact, our coaches all hope that the players have the ability to think and make decisions independently, but they do not have this awareness and habits, in addition to the early training, I feel that today's children are too "closed", their ways to receive information are the Internet, the algorithm recommends to them what they like to watch, their living habits, playing habits, including the habit of receiving information are in the comfort zone, unwilling to change. Reflected on the football field, there is no team spirit, unwilling to change, and poor ability to resist pressure.

There are many examples of this. For example, there was a player who was a substitute in the seaside team, and he took it for granted, but when it came to my team, he thought he should be the main team, because he thought I was in the second team, and I was even younger; Also, I arranged for the player to play a different position, and he said that this position is not suitable for me, and I was confused, did I ask you to change the position? I'm just trying to make you adapt to more positions and improve your overall ability; Before the winter training, we carried out military training, and as a result, their queue was not neat, so I told them, have you thought about it, the queue needs you to observe the position of your teammates with your spare eyes, and pay attention to the pace of your teammates, which is the same as the observation on the football field.

For example, in the back position, I don't dare to take the ball and turn around, first of all, the body's ability to resist pressure is not enough; The second is the habit of not observing; Again, the coach scolds the coach as soon as the player makes a mistake; And public opinion also likes to magnify mistakes. In the end, the midfielders are all playing safe, growing up in this environment, how can you cultivate a good midfielder? Football is risk-taking, and the safest way is not necessarily the right way.

◆Football: So, what do you do or what are the principles for your players?

Cui Peng: First of all, my core job is to train the players and let them grow. Through brutal training and more difficult games, let these players change themselves, improve themselves, and become professional players or even international players, during this period, we have 3 players selected for the national training camp, and several players have been promoted to the National Games team, all of which have proved that their efforts and efforts have not been in vain. Later, when my parents chatted with me, they also said that it was not easy for these team members to win a fourth and first runner-up. Of course, the results of this team are beyond imagination, and Haibin has also put in a lot of effort, including the previous games, which gave these players a lot of opportunities and allowed them to have a height, and what I hope or do is that the players will continue to challenge themselves, not be willing to accept their own destiny, and fight for their own world. Our parents are happy with our results last year, but we coaches and players shouldn't be satisfied.

Secondly, there is no taking it for granted in my ranks. If you want to play more games and have more chances, you have to show your attitude and I will give more opportunities to the players who give 100 per cent. Also, those who don't run and don't shout in training will be punished, you don't run after passing, you run laps by yourself, you play dumb football, and you go to laps by yourself. Including daily life, I also ask them to dare to express themselves, dare to motivate themselves, and dare to motivate their teammates.

Again, in addition to the matter of principle, I encourage the players to dare to play and show themselves, not to be afraid of mistakes, and I think the best way to make up for mistakes is to work as a team.

◆What about day-to-day management?

First of all, it is strict management, unified management, and the principle of issues must not cross the line; Then it's more communication with the players, I'm used to going to the players' dormitories when they have nothing to do, formal communication, they will be stressed, but feel free to chat, talk about their hearts, analyze with them, remind them, and also make jokes, which can liven up the atmosphere. What I hope is that we must be a cohesive team that dares to fight.