National U16 Team Coach Kenichi Uemura: Chinese Players Have Strong Execution but Lack Independent Thinking Abilities

On September 27, recently, Kenichi Uemura, the head coach of China’s U16 national team, compared the characteristics of Chinese players with Japanese players. He believes that Chinese players have prominent strengths and weaknesses.

The 50-year-old Japanese football coach, Kenichi Uemura, has been working in China for five years, coaching several youth training teams, and is currently the head coach of China’s U16 men’s football team, well-versed in the characteristics of Chinese and Japanese players.

Coach Uemura believes that Chinese players have strong execution abilities and excellent physical conditions; however, relatively speaking, they lack independent thinking skills.

Strength One: Strong Execution, Uemura believes that the strength of Chinese players in execution makes them particularly suitable for playing the currently popular high-pressing tactics.

Strength Two: Excellent Physical Conditions, Uemura believes that Chinese children have outstanding physical conditions, but if they do not receive scientific training, this advantage can backfire, causing irreparable damage.

Weakness: Lack of Independent Thinking Ability, Uemura believes that many Chinese players rely on the guidance of coaches during games and are unable to make judgments based on the situation on the field. “Most of the players I’ve seen since coming to China are like this.” The lack of independent thinking among many Chinese players is related to their living environment, educational background, and training methods. In specific football training, opportunities for players to think independently should be created. It is better to teach players the criteria and methods for making decisions than to make decisions for them.