Recently, former national team player Xu Liang discussed the current physical conditioning issues of Chinese players during a livestream.
Xu Liang said, “I find it strange that current players seem to cramp up so easily. I’ve played in Beijing too when it was just as hot, why didn’t we have players cramping back then? You say one match is hard to get through; I ask, how is this so difficult?
Back then, I started every game and ran 10,000 to 11,000 meters per game on average, how come I didn’t cramp up? How do they train these days? How did the standards drop so low, and why is the fitness level so poor now?
If you say the skill level is not there, that’s understandable, but if you can’t even run, if you can’t endure the hardship, how are you going to play football? This is something I genuinely cannot comprehend.”