Xu Shang, an investor from Qingdao West Coast: Eighty percent of his energy is invested in the club, tired and happy

Reporter Chen Yong reports When it comes to the construction of the team on the West Coast, Chairman Xu Shang is very happy, but when it comes to operation and future development, he can't help but sigh many times: I'm too tired!

This second-year club of the Chinese Super League does not have a prominent financial background, but a private enterprise investor persevered and worked hard out of feelings, and finally stood on the Chinese Super League field, and played a very good performance in the second year of the Chinese Super League.

Behind it is the club's rapid transformation and improvement of professionalism, including the choice of a correct path in strategic decision-making: a dynamic and influential local coach Shao Jiayi, a very good coaching team and work team, and more importantly, this year's focus on excellent foreign aid and young ideas have achieved very good results.

◆Football: After the 2024 season, how did you prepare for this season?

Xu Shang: At that time, the main consideration was the personnel structure of the team, last season we were inexperienced, two foreign aid was decided at the last moment, and there were deficiencies in the run-in and state, so after the end of last season, we set a few principles: first, find more young players, they have more room for growth, and it is more conducive to the management of the team, including our choice of Shao Dao (Shao Jiayi) as our head coach, also for this level of consideration, he is more familiar with young players, in addition, we do not want to see the Super League are foreign coaches; Second, experienced veteran players should also be introduced appropriately to play a role in helping young players; The third is to find good foreign players and identify them as early as possible, which is the key to the team's results this season, we kept Nelson Luz and Mateus, and then first finalized Aziz and Davidson, which were tested in the Chinese Super League, and finally finalized the central defender Riccellly. We combined the input of the club to make such a decision. In this process, Director Shao and Mr. Shen (Shen Jun, the general manager of the club) worked closely together to complete our set plan, which is very much in line with our expectations in terms of the team's current performance this season.

◆Which of the young players are on loan and which are on transfer?

The three young players of Harbour are on loan, Xu Bin, Li Hao and Yang Xi are all transferred, and our rejuvenation has a long-term plan, including loan players and loan transfer plans, and we also have players who are on loan to train outside such as Abdu. We have officially announced more than a dozen players before the trip last year and this year, which is normal as a new army, but as a Chinese Super League club, we must not always be like this, through the introduction of young players, we also have to build a stable squad.

◆"Football": High pressure, conversion, moderate control, technical and tactical requirements have you communicated with Director Shao?

Xu Shang: Actually, the choice of Kurosaki Hisashi has something to do with my liking of pass-and-control play, after Director Shao came, I told Director Shao, everything is handed over to you, support you unconditionally, you can play how you want, and I will do my best to guide you to whoever you want. Director Shao told me that he would not spend money to attract players, and would consider it comprehensively. He will also communicate with me how he wants to play, I don't need to tell me this, but in fact, the team's style of play is also what I like: there is pass control, high pressure, anti-counterattack, very comprehensive and three-dimensional. Including the game against Harbour, I thought it would be counter-attacking at first, but it turned out to be high-pressure and played a classic game. In fact, I only know who started before I got the roster before the game.

In the past, I also went into the lounge, Kurosaki Hisashi has been inviting me to motivate the players, after Director Shao came, I said that I don't go to the lounge and don't speak, but Director Shao still invited me over, saying that everyone is down-to-earth when you come, so now I go to the lounge to take a look and come out. I think the club has to keep moving in the direction of the profession.

◆Football: In the second year of the Chinese Super League, the team has better results, the team is better, compared with two years ago, there have been earth-shaking changes, have you reached your ideals?

Xu Shang: It hasn't been fully reached, and now there are no Qingdao people in the team except for a young player who has just been promoted to the first team, and there were Ge Zhen, Tian Yong, and Liu Pujin in the past, but now no one is in charge. Maybe that's how professional football is, but it's a little regrettable after all. I still hope that Qingdao players can join at the end of the second transfer or the end of the year, for the sense of honor and belonging of this city.

◆At present, Qingdao football talents seem to be a bit out of gear, from your point of view, from which age group will Qingdao emerge again?

The development of Qingdao's social youth training system has been very good, and there may be players in the next few years, but on the whole, there may be a better development in the 2013 age group and beyond. In addition, our 13-year-old team will regularly train in Japan and South Korea, and this summer will also go to Spain, and I want high-quality competitions. At present, our 15-year-old and 18-year-old team has also been formed.

◆The investment in youth training is not low.

Our investment in all youth training is seven or eight million, and my idea is that it will be higher in the future, including in the future, we will go abroad for a long training camp of about a month in the summer, and we will also cooperate with foreign clubs, their coaches will come to train regularly, our coaches will study abroad regularly, and the team will continue to train abroad, which is the inevitable road. This is the responsibility of the Chinese Super League clubs, we just started playing in the professional league and did youth training, since we have done it, we can't be fooled. I was touched by the fact that the parents were also very supportive and took the initiative to bear some of the expenses for the warm-up competition.

◆Football: How has the cooperation with Qingdao West Coast New Area been in the past two years?

Xu Shang: The West Coast New Area is very supportive of us, whether it is the government or the fans, especially in terms of hardware, we have a very good guarantee, we used to rent a space to run around, and now the base is very good in terms of venues, offices and other security facilities, including some renovations suitable for professional clubs such as hot and cold pools, we proposed to renovate immediately, this part makes us feel at home, and we can devote ourselves to training and games. At the moment, the base is a bit far away from the stadium, and we spent a lot of money to go there the day before the game, and we have been looking for a permanent apartment near the stadium.

◆In the future, the new district may also need a professional football stadium.

In fact, our home stadium in the University City Sports Center can improve the amateur life of the residents there, and I am still very satisfied with this venue, including the future growth of the ball market, the stadium can increase the number of seats to 32,000 people. With the improvement of fan construction, we will gradually increase measures such as bus connections for fans in the old city.

◆Along the way, it is now the second season of the Chinese Super League, how do you think of the competitiveness of the league?

Any league is very cruel, especially our amateur team to the second division, to the first division, and then to the Chinese Super League, in fact, it is very cruel. Including in the Chinese Super League, we have achieved good results this year, and all walks of life have given us more expectations, which also puts me under more pressure.

◆Football: Do you feel tired after working as a club for a few years? How much of the focus is on the club at the moment?

Xu Shang: I'm too tired, the main business has fallen off a cliff, but fortunately, a few years ago, we are tightening our belts and watching the money in our wallets, for the clubs of private enterprises, I still hope to have more support. In the previous questionnaire in the city, I also made a suggestion, can we give some support to the main business, we can promise to invest all the profits in football, I can accept any audit. As for the energy invested in the club, it can be said that it is 80% now, after all, the main business has dropped too much.

I am glad that my family is very supportive, especially my wife, who is very supportive, both in good times and bad. She understands my love for football and that being a club is not easy. She basically took care of the affairs at home silently, so that I could pounce on the team without worries. This kind of spiritual support is more important than anything else. It can be said that without the unwavering support of her and her family, I might not have been able to walk this road today. They are my strongest support.

◆Do you feel that after the West Coast entered the Chinese Super League, foreign fans quickly learned about the West Coast, but the cultural construction of local fans felt a little unable to keep up.

Yes, I went out and talked to the fans from out of town, and they all knew about the West Coast team, so they learned about the new West Coast team, and they had a good impression of us. Fan culture is the focus of our work, InBev, Guoan, Rongcheng these clubs, the income brought by the ball market is very large, we must also be based on the cultivation of the West Coast's own fan culture, not to mention that we also bear the responsibility of promoting the West Coast New Area———— four business cards of the West Coast, the film and television capital, the island of music, the city of beer, the coast of exhibitions, these international business cards are the confidence of the new area.

Actually, the West Coast is a real treasure place! Beaches, beer, music festivals, international exhibitions, movie locations, and cherry blueberries from Dazhu Mountain are all real features. Our club is rooted here, and we want to make the team the "fifth business card" of the new district.

Therefore, in terms of fan culture construction, we have a series of plans, and we also want to deeply integrate with relevant resources: cooperate with our fan station in Fushan; Use the characteristic RV pop-up store to "take the business card", do pop-up activities in Hisense Plaza, May Fourth Square, Olympic Sailing Center, Zhanqiao and other places, etc., and package them with the characteristics of our West Coast Club; There are also plans to launch our rights and interests members, and the annual pass is bound to the rights and interests members, and give back to fans through cooperation with more merchants; We have already launched shareholder membership, and exclusive rights and interests have gradually achieved results. Of course, there are many plans, and we have been working hard at this level, step by step, but the direction is clear: football has to become the new pride of the new district, and together with those four business cards, the name of the West Coast will be even louder!

◆What are the future plans for the club?

My idea is that after the three-year adaptation period, the first thing to do is to develop the fans, and of course improve the operation; In terms of the team, it is necessary to have a fixed team through youth; Then there's the expectation that we'll be in the academy and that talent will really emerge and get into the first team, like the 2013 age group that we're focusing on. Of course, these plans also require the stability of the club's funds and operations, which is also the core of our work.

As the foundation of the club's and its development, the club's first team, youth and fans are three important components. First of all, as a young force in the Chinese Super League, we plan to first form a relatively stable main personnel structure of the first team through two to three years of supplementation and experience under the condition that the main structure of the first team coaching staff is relatively stable, and further improve on this basis. Through targeted reinforcements and its own hematopoiesis and other functions, the first team has gradually become the backbone of the Super League to gain a foothold and even achieve some results.

In terms of youth training, relying on the solid foundation of the West Coast New Area and Qingdao Football City, we have steadily promoted the construction of our football campus and echelon, as well as the training of youth coaching staff. On the existing basis, by further improving the level of coaching, participating in various competitions, and targeted selection and expansion, a relatively stable youth training coaching system and training structure will be formed, as well as the transportation links and paths from campus football to the club's youth training system, and the overall structure of the scientific and healthy development system of youth training from entering the campus to selection, and then to promotion and delivery will be initially constructed.

In terms of the development and cultivation of fan organizations, through the expansion and expansion of the existing fan fundamentals, while doing a good job in serving the existing fans, the influence and appeal of the club will be further expanded, and the influence of more fans and the image of a more healthy and upward club will be established without being confined to the West Coast and Qingdao.

These three aspects are complementary and at the same time closely linked. The key is that the club's league includes the results of all fronts, so we still have to focus on the overall healthy development of the first team at this stage.