| Squad No. |
21 |
| Joined |
July 2002 |
| Loan Fee |
£200k (1 yr) |
| Signed by |
David Moyes |
| Debut |
v Southampton (h)
11 Sep 2002 |
| Born |
Shenzhen? (China) |
| Date of birth |
26 January 1978 |
| Height |
182 cm |
| Nicknames |
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| Honours |
64 Caps for China |
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STRENGTHS
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Reading the game
Breaking up attacks |
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WEAKNESSES
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| Not quite good enough? |
|
| Previous Career |
| Seasons |
Club |
Apps |
Goals |
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Shenzhen Pingan |
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Li Wei Feng previously played for Shenzhen Pingan — Pingan being the
club name and Shenzhen being the city in China where they play. That
city is right on the border with Hong Kong. But the club name
has now been subsumed to Shenzhen Kejian in honour of their current
sponsors, and source of this possibly ill-conceived loan deal...
Li Wei Feng recalls "I was in Shanghai with Shenzhen Pingan in
preparation for a Division A match against Shanghai SVA, And this
morning when I got up, I was told that I have been loaned to
Everton."
"Even now I cannot calm myself down," the 23-year-old
defender said, "you know when I was a child I dreamed that one day I
could go to play in the Premiership. And now it suddenly comes
true. I need some time to let it sink in."
Li's windfall move benefited from a sponsorship contract between
Everton and China Kejian Company, a mobile phone manufacturer. According
to the contract, Kejian should send a player to play with Everton in the
upcoming season. They picked Li (not the choice of David Moyes...
allegedly!)
Li Wei Feng is a pacey and disciplined
centre-half. His strengths are reading the game and breaking up
opponents attack, especially after breakdown situations. He's decent
in the air, but was beaten flat by Paolo Wanchope at the World
Cup.
He's at his best when the ball is on the
ground, and is especially good in the 1-on-1 situation where his pace lets
him run with the opponent and then nick the ball. He's
very drilled in "the system" and has got a good positional
sense. His best position for Everton would probably be as the left
sided centre-half in a back three as he can be vulnerable if the defense
is under pressure in a back four.
He is younger, much quicker, more agile and can pass better than most of
what we have now. He is also a superb defensive header of the ball - he
proved that in the constant pressure he put up with against Brazil.
Li Wei Feng has sound positional sense and is a good reader of the
game. He formed a great understanding with Fan Zhiyi in the centre
of China's defence and is strong in the air. Quick across the
ground, he is also a good organiser of his fellow defenders. Even if he
was not a player Moyes particularly wanted, it was thought that he had
some great potential.
But that potential would not be realized at Everton, as Wei Feng first
returned home with a bad nose injury, and then decided to stay in China,
rejoining his Shenzhen cklub (now no longer Shenzhen Kejian but Shenzhen
Jian Lia Bao, the new sponsor who is in to soft drinks).
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