From the World Cup 2002 and on, I think that Seol is probably the best overall player out on the Korea side. He takes a lot of criticism from the Korean media, but he is a real force out on the field. Not only is he fast, score goals, and put in a cross, he creates a distraction to the other defenders. With that distraction, I believe that it makes other strikers (Usually Ahn) seem like a much better player than they are. The only drawback I have with Seol is that he tends to mishandle the ball leading to a turnover. I also think that Eul-Yong Lee is an underrated player. Probably because of his penalty kick miss against the U.S. Lee has excellent control with the ball and is an excellent play maker, not to mention his excellent free kicks. People will probably think I'm crazy, but I would take Lee over Nakata who plays similarly to Lee. I think that Lee can be a real threat in the Next World Cup after he gains some experience in Europe. What do you guy's think?
Seol is definitely up there... he's one of the few members in the Korean team that can out speed-power dribble past solid European defenders. When he's on, he can definitely finish well, head solidly, be very strong physically, and create general havoc on opposing team's defense. He does need to work on his crossing though... I've personally never seen his crosses really get through, and this is the main reason why I don't like to see him play any other position other than Forward position. He does mishandle the ball and give the ball away embarrasingly sometimes, the prime example being that awful back heel clearance he tried in the Italy game (thank god for Lee WJ). But other than momentary lapses like that, he's not too bad in defense either (compared to other forwards, let's say Ahn or Lee DG...) As for Lee EY, he is a great passer and distributes the ball well, and good free kick taker, but honestly, that's all I can say for him. He doesn't play with that much energy or flair, not physical, and just an average dribbler/technician. My biggest gripe with him though, is that he is very poor in defense... I saw him make quite a few man marking mistakes in both Poland and USA games, and Joaquin just ABSOLUTELY took him to school and tore him apart number of times in the Spain game. He's a poor man marker, and often loses position of his opposition in defense. I can't see how you would take someone like Lee EY over someone like Nakata at all; in my humble opinion Lee's nowhere near Nakata's level of play in terms of offense. But hopefully, like you said, he can keep improving with more experience!
From the time's I've seen Eul Yong, he made some terrific plays. If it wern't for Choi Yong Soo's badly missed shot against the U.S., he would have had yet another assist in the World Cup. Going to Turkey is only going to make him better
Best Korean player(s) Hong MyungBo has more than proved himself over the past 12 years. In World Cup 2002, he showed he can still play with the best. Song Jongguk is an excellent player as well. No doubt in my mind he or Lee YungPyo will wear the armband in Germany. Seol Kihyun is a force up front, clearly shown in the game against the U.S., and he and Hwang Sunhong connected well against Italy. Yes, Lee EulYong is underrated, as are many of the other players from the 2002 squad. Lest we forget that Park JiSung scored the game-winner against Portugal and Lee YungPyo provided the cross to Ahn JungHwan against Italy... However, if someone pulled a gun and told me to name the top Korean player... Hong MyungBo, no question.
Yong Soo Choi..... definitely kidding. I think Song is the best player overall so far that Korea can offer. He is not particularly a good dribbler or passer, but he knows how to get the ball moving forward and get the play flow. His style of play is not really elaborate or elegant but he is a solid and consistent player. I also think he has pretty good at crossing. He is also a very good defender, not allowing his markers get by him. I think Song is not only the current best player of Korea, but he will be way up there in the future, too. I can really tell he's been improving alot at Feyernoord.(Damn that injury..) If he doesn't get cocky(like Lee Chun soo) and is willing to constantly improve, he will be a great player.
Top tier (can succeed anywhere) Song, Y.P. Lee, J.S. Park, Ahn, Seol, Yoo Second tier (would do well under certain conditions) E.Y. Lee, N.I. Kim, C.S. Lee, Y.S. Choi the rest (unproven or fallen stocks) T.W. Choi, Cha, S.G. Choi, D.G. Lee, Ko, Shim, J.G. Jung, B.G. Cho, S.H. Cho, M.S. Lee, S.S. Kim etc. These are only guys i think will factor in 2006. Whoever said Hong Id have to disagree. Hong from 1993-1999 was no doubt the best, but right now he's just too old and slow. Sure he's got K-League/MLS athleticism left, but I think the top tier of Korean players are better than him right now. That being said, I think only Kim tae-young or Choi Jin-chul are comparable to him as far as defenders go which is a bit frightening.
Most Valuable Korean Players 10. Hong MB 9. Park JS 8. Lee YP 7. Kim TY 6. Ahn JH 5. Kim NI 4. Song CG 3. Seol KH 2. Lee WJ 1. Yoo SC Best Korean Players 10. Lee EY 9. Kim NI 8. Choi SG 7. Hong MB 6. Ahn JH 5. Park JS 4. Yoo SC 3. Seol KH 2. Lee YP 1. Song CG
i mean value to the NT the best player on the team may not be the most valuable because there are other players who can fulfill his role adequately. meanwhile, players like Lee WJ and Yoo SC cannot be replaced (leadership & experience)
I wasn't aware that Yoo Sang Chul was that valuable a player in terms of leadership. I figured guys like Hong or Hwang would round out the top 3 or so.
I think Yoo Sang-chul is the best Korean player but also he's the most underrated player we have in the squad. Korea without him is just unthinkable. When it's time to hold the ball up, he is the one who does it. When our mid is being pressured, he comes from the deep and threatens the opponent's goal occasionally. And the best part of him is that he is the most versatile player in the squad. Tactics can be changed anytime because of his versatility.
Agreed that Yoo Sang-chul is the most underrated player. At the present, I don't think we have one player that we can single out as the best Korean player. Best all-around: Yoo S.C. Best player the past 10 years: Hong Myung-bo Best defender: Song Chong-guk Best offensive threat: Seol Ki-hyun Best goalkeeper: Lee Woon-jae Best clutch player: Ahn Jung-hwan Best ball control: Lee Young-pyo Best clown: Lee Chun-soo Best young player: (tie) Jung Jo-guk, Choi Sung-guk Best free kick: Lee Eul-yong (Ko Jong-soo before his injury) Some comments: Song has the potential to become the best player in the next 2-3 years. Seol is a star and will be a major force in WC 2006. Park Ji-sung has unbelievable skills. Ahn is as close as we have to a cold-blooded finisher. I never want to see Lee Min-sung on the national team again. Same for Lee Sang-hun and Lee Lim-saeng. Hopefully Coelho will uncover some more diamonds in the rough like Hiddink did (notably Song and Choi Jin-cheul).
I think Park Ji-sung is actually a more complete player than Yoo. Yoo's offensive skills are basically heading or launching long range shots. He isn't too fast with the ball. Park can play almost all positions, and if he had a power aspect to his game, he'd be unstoppable. Same goes for Song, although he isn't as quick as Park.
umm I agree with Lee Minsung, but dunno about the other two especially Lee Sang-hun. We need a physically threatening warrior-type defender who can be the Korea's answer for Stam. Lee's also pretty good in the air so he could be the only alternative for Choi Jinchul for now. He's 27 years old now, and I think we can tune him up to fit world-class.
Man... wtf is going on with seol. Seol dosn't start at Anderlecht anymore. If they don't start Seol why the hell would give him a contact offer. They're trying to stop the Premiership teams from taking him away from them
1. Ahn Jung Hwan - Great dribbling technician with the ball, his shots are powerful and sharp, when not thinking selfishly, he's quite brilliant in feeding ammunition for strikers with pin point through passes and long balls. He's one of very few Korean footballers who's a true thinker in the same token as a Totti or an Emre. As always his biggest weaknesses are his inability to time his attacks to great effect. He is either too impatient or too patient when unleashing a strike. He is also lame brained when it comes to positioning himself on the greatest and most efficient areas to strike the ball into the net. Occassionally he will bring himself to good positions but that's very rare. His stubborness to desire to dribble excessively inside or just outside the box is foolish when doing so sparingly in accordance to situations would be the better judgement, he just wants to handle the ball for long periods no matter what. He also doesnt seem to realize his excessive dribbling should only occur when on a good comfortable breakaway and he's picked up some rythm. Instead, he tends to think he can burn defenders without gaining a certain momentum. 2. Park Ji Sung - True multiplayer who is as great as an attacker as he is in defending. What gives him the edge over some of the other Korean MFs is his willingness to penetrate forward even when having several defensive MFs or defenders around him. Most Korean MFs usually refrain from pushing exccessively forward out of fear that they might break up formation, but Park is absolutely fearless and best of all spontaneous. He doesnt seem bogged down by tactical thinking. He seems to get bursts of spntaneity when it comes to him as Ahn is as well. So by that token, I think if he continues to improve, he will in fact be the best Korean offensive MF/Forward in the future. 3. Song Jong Guk - I think his performance at the WC speaks for itself. 4. Lee Young Pyo - Same with Song, his WC perofrmance speaks for itself. 5. Seol Ki Hyeon - Everyone's favorite source of schizophrenia. Either we love him or sometimes want to slap the shlt out of him. He is a marathon runner with endless amounts of energy. Very skillful at leaving defenders in the dust but he also aint th ebest thinker. I think he has everything in the world to make him a great striker, but if anything he is just lousy, and I mean LOUSY at positioning and reading the tactics and flow of the game. But there is still time for him to improve immensely as he is still young and I believe he'll get better with age and more experience.
I basically agree with the list above, but I think we can do just fine, if not better, without Ahn. Ji-Sung, Song, Yong Pyo and Seol are all excellent players who can do everything in their position. They also all have tremendous stamina to last 120 minutes. If Lee Yong-Pyo knew how to kick the ball, I bet he could sign $10 million contract someday.