[2015 AFC Asian Cup Australia: Finals] Korea vs Australia 2015/01/31 [R]

How's everyone feeling about Stielike sticking with 4-2-3-1 against the Aussies and their narrow 4-3-3 lineup? No doubt we'll once again lose midfield dominance (among other things).

 

I don't mind it, our attacking outlets are all on the flanks anyway. I worry that NTH might not be the best fit for this match... perhaps LMJ might be better but I doubt we'll see him

 

haha our victory will taste so sweet and juicy

 

It seems to me that asian teams in general have detriorated. Quality of KNT is no where near 02, 06, or '10 WC teams. Not even '11 AC. The only reason we are in the finals this time is that the nation is finally giving some weight in asian cup and that other teams suck balls. And I bet this sudden interest in asian cup is temporary as a consolation for horrible WC results.
Let's be serious. Look at our passes. Maybe one out of 10 passes are good pass to a space where the receiving player runs to receive the ball. We are just passing to each other and the only means to move the ball forward is by dribble. It's like watching my son's elementary school soccer. Only one that is giving space winning passes is Ki.
We were lucky to win against Aus in group stage. We will need a lot of it again tomorrow.

 

One thing I think he's going to do at some point of the game is to bring JHS as DMF and move KSY up more forward. He may not come out with this right from the start, but longer the game goes and more tired Ki gets, the more I think we'll see this happen again as we did in past two games. JHS sub seems to have become our "go-to-closer" of sorts.

Basically our only option from the start at OMF right now is NTH, KSY, and LKH (Lee MJ seems to have completely fallen out of favour after the Kuwait match), and besides currently struggling NTH, Ki's probably currently our next best option at that position as LKH can't keep possession well and is better suited for wings anyway.

Not sure if he would be daring enough to try a different formation at this point when what we have done thus far has reaped results for him. I'm not ready to comment on his flexibility in terms of tactics just yet, as we still haven't had to come back from behind so far in this tourney. If the worst case ends up happening and we go down a goal, I think Stielike would then make the necessary changes to the formation, etc. to make more of a push.

 

Cant really expect good performance from our NT when stupid KFA changes our manager every single year for the past 10 years except for HJM and CKH.

2 years and 7 months was the longest time given to our manager, HJM.... smh....

And wtf. HMB's win rate was 26%.........

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_South_Korea_national_football_team_managers

 

I actually agree somewhat with you. Relative to how well we've played, I think we've overachieved to have made it to the final without conceding a goal. I hope Stielike doesn't take this success as a sign that we're all fixed (and I don't think he will), because we still have major issues in the first and final third.

But you have to take into account how little time he's had and all the major players who are injured. And as you've said most of the other teams have been poor.

 

How are we going to contain Cahill? Any idea?

 

Hack em at his legs. Latin american style

 

Cut off the supply. Press the wings and cut off the overlaps to limit crossing opportunities. Force them into the middle and make them play through the centre playing the ball on the deck. Watch PJH and KSY clean up their passing errors. Counter quickly via SHM dropping back to collect in the space between midfield and forward and release him to run at the aussie defence. No silly fouls to limit set piece opportunities. Press high. Don't give them time on the ball. I question their techincal adeptness.

 

곽태휘 선수 인터뷰
-호주가 조별리그 때와는 공격진이 완전히 바뀌어서 나올 텐데요?
아니 뭐… 그때 몇 명 빠졌었는데, 걔들 빠졌다고 특별히 뭐, 호주 걔들이 완전히 플레이가 다 바뀐다고 생각하진 않습니다. 걔들이 얼마나 실력이 뛰어나길래. 그건 중요하지 않고. 우리가 했던 거, 준비한 거, 안된 게 있으면 고치고 우리 플레이 집중하면 걔들이 나오는 건 크게 개의치 않습니다.

-주장 잘하고 있나요?
밖에서 보시면 어때요? 허허. 성용이가 결혼하고 나서, 1년이 지나고 나서 보니까 성숙해진 거 같아요. 책임감 있게 하고요. 생각도, 하는 것도 잘해요.

-실점하지 않은 게 여기까지 온 원동력 중 하나인데, 결승전에도 우리가 무실점을 해야 승리할 거라고 보시나요?
아니요. 우승을 앞두고 잇잖아요. 스포츠는 끝나고 잘했다 수고했다 말은 하지만 2등은 기억하지 않아요. 이길 수 있다면 무슨 일이라도 해서 이겨야 한다고 생각합니다. 무실점을 한다면 완전히 금상첨화지만 그게 이기는 것보다 중요하진 않죠. 이번 경기는 내용은 어쨌든 이겨야 되는 겁니다.

‪#‎남자중의남자‬

 

That sounds about right. Tim Cahill is an aerial predator that relies on headers and volleys that he has to jockey for position to get. The necessary space that made the bicycle kick goal he scored against China possible was a result of him bowling through a Chinese defender that stayed on the ground, and Davidson's goal was set up by Cahill tugging down a UAE defender in the box. The key to containing will obviously be keeping a tight, sturdy mark on him. I really hope Kim Young-Gwon comes of age in this game and plays to his potential as a solid centerback because he's big and strong enough to stay with Cahill without getting pushed around.

The defense will also have to account for Australia's wingers Robbie Kruse and Matthew Leckie, who have played in this tournament. Our wingbacks, Kim Jin-Su and Cha Du-Ri, are obviously the bastion of the backline, so they will likely have them covered, but Cahill's presence could also be used as a decoy to free up other targets in the box like against UAE on Sainsbury's goal. Our 2 defensive midfielders Ki Sung-Yueng and Park Joo-Ho have obviously been instrumental in setting up offensive movements and controlling possession with their precise passing and sharp, crisp tackling, but their defensive efforts could be better, and they won't be able to afford any cheap giveaways like they've done a few times in this tournament.

 

The translator jogs with the team too, haha.

 

British newspaper, The Telegraph, published a tribute piece to Tim Cahill.

Tim Cahill has had quite a productive career, and his workrate is admirable, but I think the author of that piece is overlooking a certain former ManUtd winger of unrivaled stamina if he really thinks no one has done more with less than Cahill.

 

How did you go? Cat3 has been exhausted and Cat1 and Cat2 are almost sold out.

The stadium will have around 77 000 capacity and half the tickets had been sold prior to the aus uae game. I hope to see over 20 000 korean supporters as we booked our final one day in advance.

 

Iran's Alireza Faghani will ref the game.

 

While Cahill is certainly a threat, let's not forget that we've been able to contain him effectively in the past. Lee JS and Hwang JW were able to contain him during his prime in 2011 and that pairing wasn't exactly known for its stellar defence. He didn't do overly much when he came in as a sub in the group stage game, Kwak TH was able to completely contain him in the air. Just minimize situations where we have KYG alone with him and I believe we can shut him down effectively again. I give him a lot of respect and he's certainly a 정신적 지주 of his team, but there is no reason to be overly scared of this guy either. If anything, guys like Leckie and Luongo need just as much attention from us IMO.

 

The problem with playing Ki higher up either as a OMF or on the left wing are multiple:
1) we will lose his ability to organize the attack through his distribution;
2) we will further cede midfield control -- neither PJH or JHS has Ki's ability to keep possession and composure on the ball;
3) we will miss his defensive presence (can't believe I'm saying this him!) in front of our CBs, and almost as the third CBs as needed. This is especially important because if we have untimely turnovers in midfield as we did against Iraq the Aussies will punish us dearly.

So I would leave Ki in the middle (unless we find ourselves behind in the second half).

As to our attacking line, this is where we sorely miss LCY whom I would have played as a OMF. NTH's problems have been discussed extensively here already. But on top of that we can use all the height available against the Aussies (esp with PJH and KJS starting), esp on set pieces. So, I know no one wants to hear this but I think our best option may be to start C1C as the OMF.

 

The article about arranging a special military exemption has popping up through the media. One article below is a poll about the issue and majority of the poll agree for a special exemption.

http://m.sports.naver.com/general/news/read.nhn?oid=056&aid=0010122596

Edit: I'm personally all for it if our people in homeland agrees with it.

I'm looking at our asian cup squad, and those who would benefit from the exemption will be

JuYoung
Minwoo
Youngcheol
Kyowon
Kookyoung
Myungjoo
Jeongheoup
Jinhyeon <-----I have read that he has a prior medical condition he may already exempt

And finally, heungmin

 

Regarding the starting lineup, I'm particularly curious about how the right side of the field will look for us. Will Han KW get another start? From the way he's been playing as well as how it's been stated on couple of news articles out there, he's been playing more as a defensive winger, and have been a tremendous help in tracking back and helping out KCS/CDR. This would also leave open for us to inject Lee KH as a super sub once they (and us) start to tire and expose them with his typical runs behind their defence (and the Aussie defence has been quite suspect in leaving a lot of space behind the flanks). As for RB I'm quite sure that CDR would probably start and get full time here, but at the same time we could also use him as a spark off the bench as we did in the Uzbek game... I know not many are fond of Kim CS here but I'd think he'd still do a capable job of holding them off for 60 minutes or so then CDR can come in... we are going to need a trump card off the bench that is of a legitimate threat to them IMO, and I can't think of a better card here than CDR (or perhaps NTH is he doesn't start and comes off the bench, but those two are about all I can think of).

This game is also Son HM's best chance to shine in this tournament IMO. As I stated already they do leave some space in behind them in the flanks and this something that SHM can definitely expose. It remains to be seen how high of a defensive line Aussies will play from the start, but I'm assuming it'll likely be higher than all the other teams we've faced thus far. This is when SHM can be at his best, making those darting runs in behind them in a counterattack, especially if they happen to be pushing forward at lot. I just hope that he calms his nerves and play like how he usually does, and not to try TOO hard or force things too much (kind of like how he was in the Russia game in the WC when he kept skying shots he usually would have put on target).

 

Australia are weak at FB, and their starting RB Franic is injured!

 

Why are we so worried about Cahill when we have the superior attacking talent in SHM? As long as we play smart, our talent will win us the match.