Thread for people with a brain to discuss all things Korean football. Can't wait for World Cup to end and everyone to leave, when the number of dumb people will actually be manageable.
IIRC Huh first employed his 4-2-3-1 against Spain as an experimental formation did he not? With talk of 'I don't care how many we concede,' presumably as a safeguard against the formation going horribly awry. So why is it that Huh chose to employ this formation in nearly every match? When LDG finally came on today to revert us to a true 4-4-2 there was a huge difference and I think Lee actually played well in winning balls, holding up play for advancing teammates etc. Basically acting as the target man that we've been missing; a role PCY has been trying to fill but to little effect. Either way it seems to be common knowledge that PCY needs a strike partner to thrive...except to Huh that is. I have to wonder how the tourney, or at least this R16 match, would have went if Huh went with an attacking 4-4-2 from the get-go. People say Uruguay were sitting back and letting us have possession, they were soaking up pressure, etc. But the truth is we were overwhelming them with our attack and thus causing their counter to start much higher up the pitch, away from our defensive third. The effect this had on their offense was quite telling, and our defense looked very composed and proficient. No team, regardless of how defensively sound might be, allows shot after shot on goal and 1-on-1 opportunities with the GK for the opposing team. So I don't buy that Uruguay let us press forward in the 2nd half or score that goal, it was something our offense earned for itself. I get the sneaking suspicion that we did not make it to the knockout rounds because of Huh, but rather in spite of him. I think that more than KJW or even JSR, Huh lost us this match. He reached his goal of R16 for the first time on foreign soil, but obviously his aspirations did not reach much higher. Instead of playing to win, Huh played not to lose. Even when our team battled back to equalize, Huh focused on how not to concede the winning goal rather than how to go out and score it. What say ye?
I felt the same after watching our group stage matches. Huh was too focused on being defensive, you can get away with it against the likes of Greece and an uninspired Nigeria side, but it showed what a suicidal blunder it was against Argentina. When our game plan was solely focused on defense we always seem to concede foolish goals. Suarez' second goal was peach but his first goal was ... yeah. I think what Korea FC needs besides a reliable goalkeeper is a bona-fide sweeper. Too many times we had to chuck the ball up field because we were either nervous about oncoming attackers or we simply lacked ideas. I was hoping that Ki would be employed as an attacking MF with play making roles this WC but Huh preferred to use him to track back, at least his FK's were money. Then again that's just my opinion.
Haha are you accusing me of plagiarism? Those were observations I made watching the game live, but of course I come on here to confirm my suspicions regarding tactics/flow-of-game. I'm still baffled at Huh's decision to bring LDG along and make such a fuss about getting him fit, only to leave him unused until today. And he didn't even get a full 90! People might rag on LDG for that one miss but that's only because it came at the end of the game. If LDG had been knocking down balls for PCY and getting those kinds of opportunities all game long we would have been praising his performance even if he never scored.
Is Yoo-Byung Soo decent? Merit consideration for the NT post-WC? Will one of Yoon Bitgaram, Ji Dong-Won, Suk Hyung-Jun or Nam Tae-Hee make it to the senior squad? Should Kim Seung-Gyu consider other clubs than Ulsan? Can one of Jeju, Gyeongnam, or Ulsan finish top three this year? Just some random questions for thought.
I haven't seen him a whole lot, but I always thought he still needs a lot of fine-tuning. Nam Tae-hee should. Yes, unless he can convince Ulsan with his performance for the Olympic side to keep him and ship out Glory Khan. I'm not sure if any of them can, but I have a soft spot for Gyeongnam. Take back everything I said about Cho Gwang-rae. The man can coach.
Yoo Byungsoo is good, but far from amazing, nor having a ridiculous ceiling. There aren't any star-ness in him that you can see in guys like Park Chuyoung and Lee Chungyong. Neither players dominated in the K-League like Yoo BS has (with exception to Park CY's first season), but in the back of everyone's mind, we all knew they would succeed. If Park CY and Lee CY were in the 'talented' and 'gifted' criteria of players, then Yoo BS would be in the same criteria as Lee Keunho in the sense that he is 'excelling in K-League', 'hard working' and 'well disciplined'. If Nam Taehee and Kim Seungkyu were playing for the right clubs, they would be competing for a place at the senior team right now.
just my opinon but Huh having to go with a 4-2-3-1 had to do with experimenting and his judgemental decisions of our opponents, the man does not quit and we are not a defensive team to begin with, only if Huh had realized earlier going into the WC that our strongest point was to attack would've been a different story but then again he did not want to risk it until our last match against Uruguay but eventually that only lasted some 30 minutes of the second half until everything stopped after the equalizer before our defense were folded by Uruguay's attack taking advantage of us going back to D mode then being down 1-2 on Suarez's goal which costed us the match and our chances to advance to the quarterfinals. 4-2-3-1 simply does not work if you don't have the right tactics and the right players to have it executed and clearly going with a lone striker was not our strongest point as you've mentioned that it is best we have someone, a targetman to link up, win the ball and create spaces/chances for other players to go through in which LDG should have started and or played a bit earlier and looking back at our previous matches under Huh, we've been more stronger in a conventional 4-4-2 formation with a two top striker/forward partnership, how do you think LKH were able to score all his goals during the WCQ's?, definately wouldn't have happened without his partnership and if he was the lone man upfront. we may have had a fantastic display against the Greeks but they were already the weakest team of the group and that being said when the draw has been finally made, it was clear that we were going to beat them without a doubt. I have to agree with you SOT that the suspicion of our lost was not only due to some of the players on the pitch but also Huh, not starting or using LWJ, LDG and taking the chance to use our younger prospects of LSR and KBK, not having the better judgement/decision, Huh wasted a lot of opportunities, well just my two cent and I apologize for interrupting you smart people's discussions/conversation.
I think this is about right. Yoo Byung-Soo has had a good return this season and last but penalties contribute significantly to his comparatively high numbers -- something that can't be said for Kim Young-Hoo. Not to mention, he (Yoo BS) usually flops like a fish out of water to win them in the first place. He does have decent pace and very good strength, enough to consistently trouble K-League defenders, but it really does remain to be seen if he can translate these skills to the next level (IMO, I'm skeptical). Also has a mean Ronaldo-type FK. He's also a bit of a d*ck on the field and needs a new goal celebration. Despite Nam Tae-Hee's limited playing time, every time I have had a chance to watch him he's usually brimming with confidence in his dribbling and passing (the kind of confidence that Lee Chung-Yong exudes on the ball) and he has the kind of electric pace to blow past defenders. Really good balance considering his size and has a willingness to mix it up with much bigger guys although I think this might have worked against him with his foot injury. He's got a terrific range of passing and is equally comfortable with his left or right. I really hope his potential is realized and comes to fruition.
Hope Nam Tae-Hee gets more playing time as I really have high hopes for him and hopefully Montanier starts him a lot more often. I need to find a way I can watch the K-League on a weekly basis seems like theirs a lot of up and coming quality talent coming up through the K-League. It's great to see the K-League producing more and more talent.
I think our recent successes at the WC youth tournaments says it all. Before our U 20 WC squads consisted of mostly if not all university players, now we see kids signed by K-League clubs routing the USA 3-0, Paraguay 3-0 and narrowly losing to eventual champions Ghana 3-2 on their home turf. I'm excited about this year's AFC Youth Championship.