Xu Genbao has been training in Chongming Island youth training for 26 years, why can’t he save the national football team?

In 1999, Xu Genbao founded Genbao Football Base on Chongming Island, Shanghai, at his own expense of tens of millions. His goal is to train Chinese players who can play in the five major European leagues in 10 years. Over the past 25 years, the Chongming Island base has trained many international players such as Wu Lei, Fan Zhiyi, Zhang Linpeng, Jiang Zhipeng, Wang Shenchao, Yan Junling, etc. It is the only successful case in the history of Chinese youth training that has lasted for more than 20 years.

But Xu Genbao couldn't save the national football team. All the players trained by Chongming Island combined cannot allow the national football team to advance to the World Cup. The success of this youth training base reflects the systemic failure of Chinese football, and individual heroism cannot resist the collapse of the entire system.

Who is Xu Genbao

Xu Genbao was born in Wenzhou, Zhejiang in 1957. He has been an assistant coach of the national team since 1988 and the head coach of the national men's football team from 1992 to 1994. He has coached many clubs such as Shenhua, Shenxin, and Shanghai COSCO.

Xu Genbao's most famous quotation is "Qiangpuwei", which sums up his football philosophy in three words. He believes that Chinese players are physically inferior to Europeans and Americans, and their skills are inferior to South Americans. The only way to win is through hard work and unity. This simple football philosophy was very influential in the Chinese football world in the 1990s.

The establishment of Chongming Island Base

In 1999, Xu Genbao rented a piece of wasteland on Chongming Island in Shanghai and spent 10 million yuan out of his own pocket to build a football base. The base covers an area of ​​about 150 acres, including 6 standard courts, dormitories, restaurants, and training halls.

Xu Genbao's enrollment standard is boys aged 8 to 10, and it recruits about 50 people every year. All students are fed and accommodated at the base, and cultural classes and football training are combined. Xu Genbao personally handles the training and takes the children for a morning run at 6 a.m. every morning, and comes back for additional training at 7 p.m. This full boarding model makes the training intensity at the Chongming Island base three times that of other youth training institutions in China.

The success of the first batch of disciples

The first batch of about 30 Chongming Island disciples entered the professional league from 2003 to 2005. Wu Lei is the most famous among this group of people. Wu Lei joined the base at the age of 8, entered the adult team of an East Asian club at the age of 15, became a Chinese Super League player at the age of 17, and joined La Liga at the age of 27.

Other talented disciples include Zhang Linpeng, Chinese men’s football national defender, Jiang Zhipeng, national football defender, Wang Shenchao, national football defender, and Yan Junling, national football goalkeeper. This group of disciples formed the core lineup of the Chinese men's football team from 2010 to 2020. The Chongming Island base provides about 1/3 of the national football resources for the Chinese men’s football team.

Wu Lei’s special training

Xu Genbao's training of Wu Lei is a typical example of teaching students in accordance with their aptitude. When Wu Lei was a child, his skills were not good but his running ability was outstanding. Xu Genbao asked him to specifically practice running and shooting without the ball, and gave up excessive dribbling training.

This kind of targeted training has made Wu Lei the most efficient shooter in the history of Chinese men's football. The 38 goals scored by the national team are the first in the new era. Xu Genbao said in the interview that Wu Lei is not a genius but he is the most obedient and hard-working player in Chinese football. This master-disciple relationship lasted for more than 20 years. Wu Lei would go to Chongming Island to visit Xu Genbao every time he returned to China.

Base's financial woes

The Chongming Island base has been a money-losing business from the beginning. Xu Genbao’s early self-financing of 10 million was quickly spent. After that, the base relied on him to take out loans, borrow money from friends, and sell players signing fees to maintain operations.

Around 2010, the base was on the verge of bankruptcy. Xu Genbao sold his house in downtown Shanghai to subsidize the base and publicly asked for corporate sponsorship many times. It was not until Shanghai SIPG took over the East Asia Club in 2014 and took a stake in the base that the financial difficulties were slightly alleviated. But the core problem of the base is not money but the break in the youth training talent pipeline.

Failure of conveyor channel

Although there are many disciples trained in the Chongming Island base, they can only be sent to the Chinese Super League. The level ceiling of the Chinese Super League itself has determined the upper limit of base players. Wu Lei's courage to study abroad is an exception. Most of the other base disciples are in the comfort zone of the Chinese Super League.

This conveyor chain has allowed the efforts of the Chongming Island base to be diluted by the low level of the Chinese Super League. Xu Genbao has repeatedly said that he wants to train players who can play in Europe, but in practice only Wu Lei has reached this standard. Although other disciples can enter the national team, the level of the national team is not enough for the Chinese men's football team to advance to the World Cup.

Limitations of Xu Genbao’s model

The core of Xu Genbao's model is personal heroism plus full boarding and closed training. This model can only cultivate a small number of elite players and cannot solve the population base problem of Chinese football.

The Chongming Island base has trained about 500 professional players in the past 25 years, of which about 15 have actually entered the national team. Although this output rate is already top-notch among Chinese youth training, it is not at the same level as Japan's capacity to train 100 professional players a year. What Chinese football needs is not one Chongming Island but 100 Chongming Islands, but in fact none of them have been successfully copied.

Failed to copy Chongming Island

Many domestic clubs and companies tried to copy the Chongming Island model but all failed. Wanda Football School was established in 2011 and used to send players to Spain for training. It ceased operations in 2018. Evergrande Football School was established in 2012 with an investment of 2 billion, but in 2024 it also announced a significant reduction in scale.

The reason for the failure of replication is that there is no core figure like Xu Genbao who is willing to spend 20 years at his own expense. 70% of the success of Chongming Island can be attributed to Xu Genbao’s personal persistence and feelings. This model cannot be replicated industrially and is destined to be an isolated case.

Xu Genbao’s reflections

Xu Genbao publicly reflected on his youth training achievements in 2019. He said that the problem in Chinese football is not the lack of youth training but the lack of real stage training for players after youth training. He believes that the low level of the Chinese Super League has become a ceiling for the growth of local players.

This reflection sparked discussion in China’s youth training circles. One group agrees with Xu Genbao's view that league reform is more urgent than youth training reform. The other group believes that youth training is still the foundation, and league reform without youth training reform is a castle in the air. This controversy has not yet been concluded.

The real reason why Xu Genbao couldn’t save the national football team

The fundamental reason why Xu Genbao cannot save the national football team is that youth training can only solve 10% of the problems. The remaining 90% are systemic factors such as system, culture, social environment, and Football Association policies. No matter how hard Xu Genbao tries, he cannot change these general circumstances.

The success of the Chongming Island base has become a comparison for the failure of Chinese football. An old man can only change the fate of 15 players in 25 years. What Chinese football as a whole needs is to change the environment of 150,000 players. Xu Genbao is a hero in China’s youth training but he cannot save the national football team. This is the cruelest truth about Chinese football.