A young attacking midfielder who I personally have high expectations for. He started his European club career this season at Stoke City, and has 1 goal and 3 assists so far this season. https://m.fmkorea.com/best/6757389903 He just scored his debut goal in European club football today.
We have over 30 Korean players of various ages in Europe now. Many will never pan out into the "big time." But, if I had to pick one player most likely to be a future star, it would be Bae. He has "huge upside" as scouts would say because he's a uniquely gifted kid. To me, he sticks out like Kim Min Jae did in China or the way Hwang Hee Chan looked in Austria. I'm not saying it's guaranteed. I'm just saying, considering all the youth players right now, my money is on him.
Positives: 1) Only 20 years old, and improving at a fast rate with each passing year. 2) Composed on the ball, and links up very well with teammates. 3) Fast and efficient decision making, especially for his age. 4) Good balance, and not that easily pushed off the ball. 5) Good ball retention skills. Negatives: 1) Lack of pace, and in my opinion is not that great an individual threat. 2) Lack of passing range, and over-reliance on short-passes. 3) Mediocre shooting. 4) In my opinion, more of a facilitator of attacks, rather than a difference maker. I think he can be like Lee Jae-Sung in the future, maybe even surpass him. Stoke City doesn't really seem to suit his playstyle, and I do not think left-wing is his best position. Even so, he seems to be functioning okay despite the suboptimal conditions, which makes me confident that he is not really a player that needs to rely on good fortunes to succeed.
He doesn't remind me of Lee Jae-Sung. Since Bae's a unique player it's hard to find a comparison, but watching Tottenham last week he reminds me of Brennan Johnson, especially when Johnson stole the ball and set up Werner. Bae flows graciously with the ball - almost floats- and he's strong and physical too. He needs to be called up.
Lee Kang-In aside, being the obvious outlier, Bae Joon-Ho for me ranks high in terms of his composure with the ball if you limit the comparisons within the confines of Korean football. So I can see why comparisons with an off-the-ball based player like Lee Jae-Sung may raise some eyebrows. However, for me, his path to success will rely more on retaining possession, releasing the ball at opportune timings, linking-up with teammates, and moving around without the ball with intent and purpose, and facilitating the flow of the attack via gradual contributions, rather than spur of the moment genius, the sort you might expect from someone like Lee Kang-In. Even with his current level of mediocre off-the-ball movement (for me at least), Lee Kang-In can afford to rely more on his individualistic attributes to see him throught the season, whereas the same cannot be said for Bae Joon-Ho. To be completely honest, there is a good reason why he didn't immediately set the K-League on fire with his electric individual plays. His level as an individual threat simply was not outstanding enough. His innate dynamism and one-versus-one dribbling threat may have been enough for the youth level, but he had to upgrade his tactical awareness and off-the-ball movement a lot to reach his current level in my opinion. His ball-striking abilities are nothing out of this world either, so he cannot succeed at the highest levels without having the basis as a really smart and efficient player. That is why I think Lee Jae-Sung is a good role model for someone like Bae Joon-Ho, and as talented as he may seem with the ball at first glance, there are faster, more dynamic, and more potent dribbling talents from all around the world. Lee Kang-In can have substandard movement all-game, but change the game at the flick of a switch with an out of this world dribble in tight spaces followed by a perfectly struck cross. He is truly unique in that sense, not Bae Joon-Ho. Lee Chung-Yong was also more gifted technically in my opinion, and much more of an individual threat. Many things can change, of course, but if I had to make a guess right now, Lee Jae-Sung is approximately my level of expectations in the future as a slower, smarter player succeeding in attack in one of the top rated European leagues through acute tactical awareness and great off-the-ball movement.
Thanks for these comments. You seem to have watched Bae a lot more than me. Having said that, his recent goal was very impressive. What I saw was great composure, strength, agility, and pinpoint finishing. It didn't look like Lee Jae Sung. The one Korean player that reminds me of Lee Jae Sung is Park Ji Sung.
It could just be the difference in opinion on the exact cut-off point where we decide a player is reliant on his off-the-ball attributes, in the vast spectrum of various styles. Hong Hyun-Seok is another attacking player I would categorize as a Lee Jae-Sung type, for example. Bae Joon-Ho is indeed the number one dribbler for his team Stoke City this season, and has been utilized as a left-winger most frequently. It is not that he is totally incapable in this regard, but I feel like this is not how he will succeed in the higher levels of European club football. It is not sufficient to be the best on-the-ball player for Stoke City, in my opinion. Lee Jae-Sung was also sometimes utilized as a left-winger for the second division German side Holstein Kiel, and as a result was also the top player within the team in terms of successful dribbles during the 2019/2020 season. Make the level of opposition low enough, and force more individualistic based attributes on an attacking player by isolating him on the left-wing, he will look more like a smooth dribbler. Lee Jae-Sung indeed is like a lesser version of Park Ji-Sung, who I believe to the the ultimate standard for Korean players incapable of making waves in top flight European club football via pure individualistic traits alone. His teammate Nani, is a player who I think would qualify as a player who can afford to rely on his individual traits like innate dynamism, one-versus-one dribbling, and shooting, to function in the English Premier League. Give Park Ji-Sung Nani's off-the-ball, decision making, and ability to link-up with his teammates, he would struggle to make waves in the K-League, nevermind the English Premier League.
After mostly watching PJS on United and thinking he was purely about off-the-ball, I would often get surprised at his on-the-ball skills on the KNT. So think you're right about there being a cap on individualistic skills if you're not in the top 0.00001%. That said, a PJS on-the-ball skill / Nani off-the-ball skill player would probably make it somewhere (just not at the top). With BJH, he has power/balance that I don't think we've typically seen with Korean wingers (and certainly more than LJS)? I wonder how that will translate at higher levels.
Pic) 배준호 어시.gif - 사커라인 (soccerline.kr) Bae Joon-Ho registers his 5th assist in the league against Plymouth. He is currently a single assist away from equaling Lee Chung-Yong's record of registering 6 assists in the Championship during the 2013/2014 season. Although WhoScored records only back as far as the 2013/2014 season, so Seol Ki-Hyeon may have had more assists (7 according to FBREF, and 8 according to Transfermarkt, during the 2004/2005 Championship season).
Bae Joon-Ho as of today, is 20 years 8 months 4 days old. He has secured a starting role (mostly on the left flank) on his team in his first season in Europe, and on top of that is a pivotal member of the squad in various aspects (most fouls drawn, most take-ons, most key passes, and most assists). He currently the joint-leader of the team, in terms of direct-goal-involvements with 2 goals and 5 assists in the Championship. This is a super rare phenomenon, a Korean export this youthful, being this crucial to how the team functions. Now, it must be stated that he is playing in the Championship, and if sources such as ClubElo are to be trusted, Stoke City ranks around 257th within the European club football scene as of today. By this stage of their careers (aged 20 years 8 months 4 days), here are the achievements of noticeable Korean exports to European club football: 1) Ji Dong-Won: same age as Bae Joon-Ho today, back in 31st January 2012 This was his first season in Europe. He amassed 2 goals and 1 assist up to this point in the English Premier League. He was limited to mostly substitute appearances. Sunderland at this point in time, was ranked around 63rd in Europe according to ClubElo. 2) Suk Hyun-Jun: same age as Bae Joon-Ho today, back in 3rd March 2012 This was his third season in Europe. He amassed 5 goals and 0 assists up to this point in the Eredivisie. He was limited to mostly substitute appearances. Groningen at this point in time, was ranked around 173rd in Europe according to ClubElo. 3) Nam Tae-Hee: same age as Bae Joon-Ho today, back in 7th March 2012 This was his third season in Europe. He amassed 0 goals and 4 assists up to this point in Ligue 1. He was limited to mostly substitute appearances. Valenciennes at this point in time, was ranked around 92nd in Europe according to ClubElo. 4) Son Heung-Min: same age as Bae Joon-Ho today, back in 13th March 2013 This was his third season in Europe. He amassed 17 goals and 1 assist up to this point in the German Bundesliga. He had secured a starting position within the squad, and was utilized as the team’s main source of goals, and shots-on-target. Hamburg at this point in time, was ranked around 45th in Europe according to ClubElo. 5) Hwang Hee-Chan: same age as Bae Joon-Ho today, back in 30th September 2016 This was his second season in Europe. He amassed 0 goal 1 assist up to this point in the Austrian Bundesliga. He was limited to mostly substitute appearances. Salzburg at this point in time, was ranked around 82nd in Europe according to ClubElo. 6) Lee Seung-Woo: same age as Bae Joon-Ho today, back in 11th September 2018 This was his second season in Europe. He amassed 1 goal and 0 assists up to this point in Serie A. He was limited to mostly substitute appearances. Verona at this point in time, was ranked around 251st in Europe according to ClubElo. 7) Lee Kang-In: same age as Bae Joon-Ho today, back in 25th October 2021 This was his fourth season in Europe. He amassed 3 goals and 5 assists up to this point in La Liga. He had yet to secure a starting position. He left his previous club Valencia, and joined a less prestigious club in Mallorca, who were at this point in time, ranked 82nd in Europe according to ClubElo. It would be a the season after this, where he would become a pivotal figure for his team. 8) Lee Hyun-Ju: same age as Bae Joon-Ho today, back in 13th October 2023 This is his first season in Europe. He amassed 1 goal and 0 assists up to this point in the German 2.Bundesliga. He is beginning to secure a starting position, and currently has 4 goals and 0 assists as of today, as well as being the club’s leading player in terms of successful take-ons and fouls drawn. Wehen Wiesbaden at this point in time, was ranked around 374th in Europe.
Stoke City FC - Bae Junho bags Player of the Season award He wins the Stoke City Fan's Player Of The Season award, the trophy for which will be handed out in the upcoming game against Bristol City. The award has been handed out since 1978, and I hope this is the start of a long list of individual accolades for this prodigy.