Liao Jintao: The most important thing is to improve ability

Reporter Deng Weijin reports In December 2024, Liao Jintao was a guest at the office of the "Football" newspaper in Guangzhou and accepted an exclusive interview with us, when he was 24 years old and was a "veteran" in the Guangzhou team in the Chinese League, playing a core role in the offensive and defensive conversion hub. Less than half a year later, Liao Jintao was invited to talk to us again in Dalian, and now he is 25 years old and a "newcomer" in the Chinese Super League team Dalian InBev. Time has passed 180 days and nights, from the Pearl River Delta to the Bohai Bay, from veterans to newcomers, the only thing that remains unchanged is that on the tactical board of InBev coach Li Guoxu, in the new offensive and defensive system, Liao Jintao is still the precise gear connecting the front and back courts.

Liao Jintao, who joined Dalian InBev, a promoted club in the Chinese Super League at the beginning of this year, has played 12 of the 13 rounds of the league so far, playing an average of 83 minutes per game, ranking fourth in the team. "The value of a player is not just reflected in the data," Liao said. However, the average pass success rate, key passes sent, steals and other data per game are at the forefront of the team, which is enough to see that as a newcomer to the Chinese Super League, he has quickly adapted to the rhythm of the top league.

Looking back on the growth of the past six months, Liao Jintao is still as steady, humble and low-key as ever: "Although I played in the Chinese Super League and got a lot of opportunities to play, after all, the league has just begun, and the continuous good performance is the best proof that I can stand in the Chinese Super League, let's take a look at it at the end of this season." ”

In 2017, after the task of building a National Games team with Evergrande Football School was completed, Liao Jintao, who played in the Provincial Football Association, was selected by the football school and directly entered the elite team of the football school. Two years later, Liao Jintao, who wanted to get more opportunities to play, left Guangdong, where he had lived for more than ten years, and came to Wuhan Three Towns, which was still in the second division, to officially start his professional football career. Even in the second division, the 19-year-old Liao Jintao still didn't get many appearances, that year, he only made seven appearances in Three Towns, averaging less than 50 minutes per game.

Liao's second outing came at the end of 2021 after his contract with Guangzhou expired. At that time, the team offered him an invitation to stay in the team, and said that he would have the opportunity to play in the Chinese Super League in 2022, but Liao Jintao finally chose to join Kunshan FC in the Chinese League. "I still want to grow step by step from the middle league, seek more opportunities to play, and then slowly improve my ability." For his career planning, Liao Jintao chooses to focus on stability. But it backfired, and he only played 6 games that year, and his average playing time per game was even far less than that of Wuhan Three Towns.

In the four years from 2019 to 2022, Liao Jintao only made 21 appearances in the professional league, and the rest of the time, he spent time in echelon competitions. Recalling his career in the past few years, Liao Jintao said frankly: "It is true that I went out twice with the idea of getting a chance to play, but in the end I didn't get too many opportunities to play, to be honest, I was really depressed." What healed him was the support of his family and girlfriend, as well as the purest love for football in his heart. He believes that as long as he works hard, he will definitely reap the rewards one day, and he also believes that no matter when, playing football will definitely bring him happiness.

Liao Jintao's road to "surpassing" is also full of twists and turns. In fact, he was infinitely close to his Chinese Super League debut. In addition to finishing third in the Chinese League in 2024 in Guangzhou, in the 2021 season, Liao Jintao played 6 AFC Champions League games and 1 FA Cup for Guangzhou, but due to the registration time constraints at that time and the fact that there were still several capable players in the team, he finally missed the first team list. In the 2022 season, Kunshan FC successfully surpassed as the champion of the Chinese Super League, and it was only a matter of time before it made its debut in the Chinese Super League, but it completely collapsed with the team's withdrawal from the professional league.

"Maybe it's not the right time", whenever the return of hard work is late, Liao Jintao will hint to himself, "It may also prove that the effort I have made is not enough." Well, that's how it can be understood. In the 2023 season, Liao Jintao's career ushered in a turning point, and he gradually became the main force when he returned to the Guangzhou team. As the tactical role of the role is becoming more and more important, Liao Jintao has become more and more noticed by more and more people, and he is still playing in the Chinese League, and he has been included in the "recruitment list" by many fans of the Chinese Super League team.

"I know that there is a time difference between effort and reward, and I believe that everything is the best arrangement. I landed in the Chinese Super League at the age of 25, and there may be players who have landed in the Chinese Super League at the age of 20, and the time for everyone to bloom is different. It's more important to see how I show what I'm capable of and then continue that good performance. Liao Jintao said.

This time gap was finally filled when he was 25 years old, and in the first stop of the Chinese Super League, Liao Jintao chose Dalian InBev. Dalian, from a transfer point of view, this is the farthest Liao Jintao has been from home. Adapting to the climate is a hurdle that every southerner needs to go through when he arrives in the north, not to mention Liao Jintao, who needs to live in Dalian for a long time, said: "Now that the weather is a little warmer, I am slowly adapting to life here." But when I first arrived, the weather was cold, and I really couldn't stand it. ”

As a child who has just come from the south, he will naturally get more care from his teammates and coaches, and everyone has not taken some unpleasantness of the 2024 Chinese League to heart, as Liao Jintao said, "After all, everyone is already teammates and has become a family." Liao Jintao is full of gratitude for the help of his teammates: "Everyone takes good care of me and often asks me how my life is. Is the weather still adapting? Is the food adapted? Even the coach of the team also acted as a "real estate agent" for Liao Jintao and gave him a lot of suggestions for renting a house. Eventually, Liao settled down in a community near the base and was only a five-minute drive away from training.

When he was in Guangzhou, Liao Jintao, as the older player in the team, had to take on more responsibilities and take care of the team's youngsters, and when he came to Dalian InBev, he had the opportunity to learn from the more experienced big brother around him. "Meticulous", Liao Jintao described his teammates' guidance to him. "From every movement I make, every kick I handle the ball, even if I use my left foot or my right foot to handle the ball, the veteran players in the team will observe it and give me the corresponding opinion." Liao Jintao felt the great patience and trust given to him by his teammates and coaches during his integration into the team.

Dalian InBev gave Liao Jintao the feeling that he was just like what the investors introduced to him before joining: young and energetic. This year's 47-year-old coach Li Guoxu is more like an older brother in Liao Jintao's eyes, he gives young players full trust and freedom, and also gives newcomers a lot of opportunities to play, he likes the vitality that young players bring to the team. Liao Jintao said: "I feel that Director Li has gotten along with young players a lot, and his own mentality has become very young. ”

After coming to Dalian InBev, Liao Jintao is finally no longer a spectator watching the Chinese Super League on TV: "I used to watch the game while fantasizing, what kind of performance would I have if I was in this position? Can you do better than others? The Chinese Super League debut did not make Liao Jintao wait too long, he recalled: "It was an away game, we were sent off, and when the coach changed me to play, I was really a little nervous, after all, Shandong Taishan is a very strong team. In my Super League debut, I really wanted to show my ability, and since I had the opportunity to play, I boldly did what I had to do, although I was nervous, but I still had to play as well as I could. ”

1-4 defeat to Shandong Taishan, a seemingly imperfect debut, but for Liao Jintao "not bad". "Experiencing a little setback is not necessarily a bad thing, at least it also suppresses me. Young people, if you come up with an easy victory, or have a very good performance, it is easy to drift, which is not a good thing. ”

A week later, in front of 60,126 fans, Liao Jintao and Dalian InBev returned to Barracuda Bay to claim his first victory in the Chinese Super League. Liao Jintao recalls that in his career, he had never tried to play under so much scrutiny. "I think these fans are the key to our ability to win the three points," Liao said, "it's the pressure and the motivation, after all, these 60,000 people are here to support us, and they don't want to lose points at home, so of course I hope to repay them with three points." The shouts of the home fans made Liao Jintao feel very excited, even a little excited: "Every time I come home from a home game, it is difficult to sleep at night, and I am immersed in the shouts of the home fans all the time. ”

Because of his long flowing hair and steady style of play, as well as his ability to always stand up at critical moments, Liao Jintao was affectionately called "Liao Mama" by fans during his time with the Guangzhou team. Now this title has gradually improved with his performance, and has been passed on by Dalian fans.

The pressure brought by attention is not only from Dalian fans, as Liao Jintao's performance becomes more and more stable, the call for him to be selected for the national team is getting higher and higher. Last year, Liao Jintao described in an interview that "the national team is still far away from him", "far away" is not only because he is still on the platform of the Chinese League, but also because of his perception of his own level: "I haven't been to the Chinese Super League to train, let alone prove myself in the Chinese Super League, how can I be selected for the national team just by empty talk?" ”

Now that he has come to the Chinese Super League, Liao Jintao feels that he is "a little closer to the national team", at least, his performance can be seen by more people, including the coaching staff of the national team. Chen Tao and Ivan of the national team's coaching staff successively went to Barracuda Bay to inspect the players, combined with Ivan's commonly used tactics, which made many fans directly associate Liao Jintao. When talking about the inspection of the national football coaching staff, Liao Jintao was very calm: "Actually, I won't pay attention to who is on the field today, I think what I need to do is to complete the tasks assigned by the coach on the field, how to play, whether there is a coach to watch the game or not." ”

Liao Jintao's national brand experience is not rich, and he has only played 4 games in the U20 under Jankovic: "Even if I didn't have many opportunities to be selected for the national brand before, it didn't prevent me from continuing to work hard and continue to improve my ability, I have always believed that improving ability is the most important thing." ”

This attitude is very "Liao Jintao", and this is reflected on the pitch and in his life. On the court, he has a clear mind, a big picture, is not afraid of confrontation when defending, and can be a "metronome" when organizing attacks, and his tactical position is very important. But he doesn't overdo it, and in his eyes, it's more important than his goals and assists to help his team win in a simpler and more effective way.

And Liao Jintao, who is off the court, is low-key and humble, gentle and elegant. He doesn't play any social media, but occasionally finds time to shoot short videos with his girlfriend, "I think as a player, I need to focus more on the court, and I can just return to my family." I don't want to get too involved on the web. But when my girlfriend is bored in Dalian, she will pull me to shoot short videos, and I am naturally happy to accompany her for entertainment. ”

From the second division all the way, Liao Jintao has precipitated his love for football into every step of his feet, not slow, not slow, not reserved. The long-term experience has taught him to reconcile with setbacks and live with pressure. In the future, he will naturally not deliberately pursue the time lag between effort and reward. For his career, Liao Jintao's most hope is just to "prolong my professional life as much as possible, because this is something that can bring me happiness." ”