You don't really need a great man-marking ability if you're in the middle of this 3-men backline we're using. All you need is a knowledge of how to lead the defense which Choi Jin-cheul lacks IMO. He's a monster when it comes to marking strikers, but I think he's too quite and charisma-less to lead our defense. I think using him as the stopper is the best way to utilize what he brings to our team. Yoo Kyoung-youl and Kim Young-chul on the other hand are both far from having that man-marking ability to mark world class strikers, but they're smart enough to play in middle of our 3-men backline. They both play smart and like to communicate with others on defense. Remember how Kim Young-chul kept on forcing Iran, Sweden and S&M to commit offsides? That's exactly what we should expect from our man in the middle.
He sucks now. I've watched plenty of Seongnam games this season and he blew nuts. He wasn't even a starter.
yeah Cho Byung Guk had potential but after the injury I hear he is just plain sucking... I hope Kim Nam Il and Song Chong Guk don't make the same turn, we need those two guys badly
I think if we play the way we did againt Serbia with short passes and constant movement, itll be very hard to shut down our midfield.
for the french game, it'll be quite interesting for kim nam il to mark zidane like he did durin the friendly game in 2002. also, ahn jung hwan should score the winning goal and boost korea to the round of 16s
sky, i dont like Dong-jin he is not good enough for a NT start. Lee Young-pyo_____Kim Jin-kyu or Yoo Kyoung-youl _____Choi Jin-cheul_____Cho Won-hee
Those two centrebacks are slower than turtles. I know Kim Young-chul is far from being fast, but he is a better option than Kim Jin-kyu especially if we're using a 4-back defensive line. He did a great job leading Seongnam's 4-men backline while rest of our centrebacks are from teams that used 3-men backlines.
He scored against Sweden didnt he? Maybe Korea have discovered a new good centre back before WC!? The biggest problem is this, wich player that should play next to Jin-Cheul.
You don't really need fast CB's, they just need to play smart football - stall the opposition (force them to an angle, most likely to their weaker foot), good man marking skills so the players can't turn around with the ball, be aware of the other players, know when to tackle, read players/formations, etc. I don't really care who plays in the CB/FB position as long as they can play smart. Hong Myung-Bo better train them good...
^Agreed. If we're using a 4-men backline, two centrebacks don't need to be all that fast. BUT if we're using 3-men backline in the World Cup like we are right now, our RB and LB need 'enough' speed to keep up with players like Henry and even Adebayor. I do agree with you that we won't need any super fast defenders in the middle if we're using a 4-back, so that's why I would settle for Kim Young-chul and Choi Jin-cheul in the middle since Choi Jin-cheul is an excellent marking-man who plays smart defense and Kim Young-chul proved with Seongnam that he can be a leader in a 4-men backline. But Kim Jin-kyu, I don't know because this man doesn't play smart defense as of now and gets burned by his man way too often. He DOES remind me a lot of Kim Tae-young with his fighting spirit on the pitch, but the difference is that Kim Tae-young during his days was about 5 times faster than Kim JK right now. Don't get me wrong tho, because I like Kim Jin-kyu and what he brings to our team. I love him as a set-peice taker and his "fvck-off-this-is-my-house-bitches" attitue on the defensive end. I just don't think that he has what it takes to become a starter for our team in the World Cup. There's no doubt in my mind that with more experience after going through 2006 WC(on the bench), 2006 Asian Games, 2007 Asian Cup, 2008 Beijing Olympics and etc, he'll become a focal point of our defense. His accurate long passes and strong long range shots are already VERY valuable for our team.
81% of Togolese Team Playing O'seas Interesting Stat. 81% of Togolese Team Playing O'seas http://english.kbs.co.kr/news/newsview_sub.php?menu=7&key=2006010227 81% of Togolese Team Playing O'seas Monday, January 2, 2006 15:40:47 Most members of the Togolese soccer team play for pro teams overseas. The African nation's soccer association Web site says 31 of the 38-man squad for the African Cup of Nations tournament play abroad, including 16 in France's Ligue 1. Togo on January 22nd faces Congo, followed by Cameroon and Angola at the tournament. South Korea and Togo are in World Cup Group G with Switzerland and France.