Sanchez Flores eyes youth revolution at Shenhua
New Shanghai Greenland Shenhua manager Enrique “Quique” Sanchez Flores speaks to local media at the Chinese Super League club's training base in Pudong at the weekend.
It’s time for Shanghai Greenland Shenhua’s young players to impress their new manager as Enrique “Quique” Sanchez Flores is ready to look for the new David Luis, David de Gea and David Silva at the Chinese Super League club.
The veteran Spaniash coach made his first public appearance at Shenhua’s training base in Pudong, during which he said hello to local fans and media in Shanghai dialect.
“It’s my fifteenth year as a head coach. I want to bring my experience to the team. And achieve good results through hard work and training,” the former Espanyol and Watford boss said.
Asked about his goal for the club in the new season, the Spaniard did not give a direct answer.
“If it’s called a goal, it must be a big one. We want to lead the team to win more matches, build up ambition and then achieve the goals,” said Sanchez Flores.
“I have known about the club for long, and this time was the best opportunity. I have watched a few match videos already, and will make adjustments to the team during the winter training.”
The 53-year-old is bringing with him a five-member coaching team consisting of two assistant coaches, one goalkeeper coach, one stamina coach and a technique analyst.
“We are a coaching team that favors young players. I have witnessed the growth of a batch of young talents like (Spain and Manchester United goalkeeper David) de Gea, (Brazil and Chelsea defender) David Luis, (Spain and Manchester City midfielder David) Silvathey were young and energetic when I was coaching them,” Sanchez Flores recalled.
Shenhua finished seventh in the 16-team CSL last season, but the club boasts a batch of promising young players with potential like Jiang Shenglong and Liu Ruofan. Flores’ predecessor Wu Jingui also gave quite a lot of playing time to young players in the latter part of last season.
Given the background of the Chinese Football Association introducing new policies, including investment and salary caps to limit CSL clubs’ spending, Shenhua president Wu Xiaohui said an experienced coaching team is exactly what the club needs for sustainable development.
“The new policies by the CFA have a big influence on the clubs, as we can’t spend big amount of money any more. Therefore, it’s time to test the ability of a club’s coaching team as well as the club’s management.
“I hope the new coaching team will make better use of our existing foreign players, and help the club’s Chinese coaches to improve their ability,” he added.
Wu said the club has not set a specific target for the new coaching team for the 2019 season, so that they can have some time to fit into the environment of Chinese football and decide a playing style for the team.
Shenhua’s newly purchased domestic midfielder, Wu Yizhen, also showed up to greet the fans. The 24-year-old had been at second-tier Shanghai Shenxin since 2014 before the transfer.
Sanchez Flores and the three assistant coaches who came to Shanghai this time left the city for Spain on Sunday. They will meet with the players in Marbella on Friday to kick off the squad's one-month winter training.
