Reporter Lu Mi reports Italian Lattanzio took over the handsome seal of Shenzhen Xinpeng City with three rounds left in the Chinese Super League last season, and finally led the team to complete relegation. The Italian coach, who once served as Capello's assistant, also won the trust of the club, received a contract, and became the official coach of Xinpeng City from acting coach. On the occasion of the start of the new season of the Chinese Super League, Lattanzio accepted an exclusive interview with this newspaper and shared with us his vision of Xinpeng City, the Chinese Super League, as well as his coaching philosophy and goals.

◆Football: It's great to see you continue to lead the team to the Chinese Super League, not long ago you led the team through winter training for the first time, how do you feel overall? Did you achieve the desired results?

Lattanzio: It's an honor to speak with you before the start of the new season. This is the first time I have led the team to participate in the winter training, and we have done a good job in the overall work deployment, and everything is going according to the plan. The club has given us a lot of help and support in terms of recruitment. The players' bodies and the team's skills and tactics are also doing well, and everyone is looking forward to the new season.

◆Your team assembled late this year, is it taking into account the final relegation stage last season, the overall consumption of the team is relatively large?

No, mainly I feel that there is enough time to prepare for the new season. Of course, we did have a lot of consumption in the final stages of last season, and it was not easy for the players to finish the relegation task in the end, and they did need to be more relaxed.

◆Soon after you met the "Provincial and Hong Kong Cup", many people in the team, including new players, are representing the Guangdong team, will this event help the team prepare for the new season?

First of all, I am very grateful to the club for being able to recruit very early, and new players such as Jiang Zhipeng, Ji Jiabao, and Zhang Yujie arrived early, so that I can work better, get to know them better, and let them integrate into the team better. They came from different teams, and they had experienced different coaches and game methods before, and through the experience of this "Provincial and Hong Kong Cup", they were able to better unify the way everyone played.

◆Xinpeng City has been led by the Spanish coaching team for a long time before, and the overall tactical style is more pass-controlled, will your team make major adjustments to this?

Every coach has a different philosophy and training style, and I think the most important thing is to understand the personality and characteristics of each player and help them to perform at their best. Whether it's offensive or defensive, we have some principles to follow, such as how I should position myself when defending and so on. Spanish football is of course very good and I personally like it, but it's important to know what the players can do and to tailor some tactics to their characteristics so that they can get the most out of them.

◆Your team's foreign reinforcement framework has not changed much, retaining the four foreign players from the second half of last season, and only bringing in 28-year-old Austrian striker Sakaria, can you tell us about the characteristics of this player?

Sakarya is an attacking player, he can play as a winger or as a number 10, and he is a left-footed player with very good technique at his feet. It's his first time playing abroad and it may take a period of adaptation. One of the big reasons we chose him is that he can bring continuity on the offensive end and support the team on a technical level. I think he's going to play well on both ends of the pitch and he's a player to look forward to and I'm sure the fans will love him.

◆Football: You went through a brutal relegation process at the end of last season, what did the team do afterwards?

Latnzio: There's a lot to sum up over the whole season, but I'm more about the last three. Actually, the previous coach did a very good job, I made some adjustments after I came, and we got the key points in the last three games, especially against the leaders at the time, Shanghai Shenhua, which was very important and difficult than we imagined, but in the end we got the points, which convinced the players that they could play well. I think the most important thing is to make the team a team with a lot of energy, both offensively and defensively, to have enough confidence to do well.

◆Wouldn't it be too risky for you to take over the team with three rounds left and all of them do-or-die battles? What kind of decision did you have in mind?

It did seem like a risky decision, but I was confident that I could help the team, I looked at the team before I took over, I looked at the quality of the players and I felt they were capable of doing what the coach asked them to do. I was very impressed with the team and with the support of the city group, I think we can achieve the goal of relegation. I've had similar experiences before and I believe our players and staff can do it.

◆There was a break before those three games, what exactly did you do to make the team turn the tide?

After taking over, the first thing I did was to give everyone a counseling on a psychological level. I know these players, who have lost a lot of games, who have lost a lot of points, who are in a dangerous situation and what I have to do is to help them regain their confidence. I talked to each of them a lot and brought them some positive energy. Secondly, I mainly emphasise their discipline on the defensive end, conceding as few goals as possible, at least not allowing the opponent to score easily, and on the offensive end, I encourage them to be patient and organised. As long as they do some basic things, it is easy for them to rebuild their self-confidence.

◆The main problem of Xinpeng City last season was that the offensive efficiency was not high, and the defensive holes were relatively large.

Nothing is 100 per cent perfect, but I'm happy with the team's work throughout the winter. Many coaches are tactically looking for a balanced system, especially between the offensive and defensive ends. That said, we need to create more attacking chances and at the same time reduce the number of goals we have and we are constantly refining that balance.

◆Last year, you led the team to relegation at the last moment, you and the team went through a very difficult moment, and then the club renewed your contract, what kind of agreement did you reach?

Our first goal is to establish ourselves in the new season of the Chinese Super League, followed by building a team that is not afraid of any opponent, and we are also building a long-term and stable development system for the team. My thinking and that the club are on the same page, this year the team has to finish relegation as soon as possible, and we can't fight for relegation in the final stage of the league like last year. As for the final target standings, I can't go into the details right now, but you'll see by the end of the season.

◆After a thrilling relegation moment together, what kind of connection have you formed with the players?

I feel very happy with the players now and this kind of good relationship can only be born if we go through the hardships together. I also feel that the players are trying to do their best every day, and that's what I want to build as a team and make people work hard for the city of Shenzhen. I'm very happy with what the players are doing now.

◆After last season's thrilling relegation, what do you know about the Chinese Super League?

I'm still familiar with the Chinese Super League, and before I took over the team last year, I had already been to many places to watch the games live, such as Changchun, Chengdu, Tianjin, Shanghai, Jinan, and Meizhou. I know the games of these teams and of course they have undergone some changes after a winter transfer period, like the two promoted teams in the new season, they have a lot of personnel additions, Beijing Guoan has also changed a new Spanish coach, and I can feel that every team is getting stronger. I feel that it is a great honour to be able to coach in the Chinese Super League, and our Chinese coaching team, our players, including players like Dugalic who have a lot of experience in the Chinese Super League, have given me a lot of advice. This kind of collaboration has also given me a lot of confidence.

◆The new season is about to start, what goals have you set for yourself?

My personal goal is, of course, to bring this team well, as I said earlier, to make the team stand firm in the Chinese Super League. At the same time, creating a sense of unity, both within the team and between the team and the fans, is key to every step we take in the future.