Excellent piece. The only thing I worry about going forward is that the KFA never seems to learn its lesson. They focus so much on superstars and not enough on developing our weaker areas. It’s been 3 World Cup cycles where Son Heung Min is the entire focus of our team, and it is way too easy for other teams to shut him down. Lee Kang In looked awesome, and the future is bright for HIM, but not necessarily for him within the KNT if we don’t develop our ENTIRE team. I’m seriously worried that for the next 3 World Cup cycles, LKI will just be SHM 2.0 if the KFA doesn’t learn from our recent history. I cannot guarantee that we will go far with Lee Kang In. I can 100% guarantee that we won’t go far if we don’t fix our goalkeeper, overall defense, wingbacks, and lack of a killer #9 (maybe that will be Cho, but… remains to be seen. That doesn’t happen overnight). Maybe we should focus on developing other players besides attacking midfielders/wingers? It’s been the same story for the past 20 years. Sorry I’m being negative,… getting Kim Min-Jae as an excellent center back is a step in the right direction. Let’s get the rest of our team developed so that we have an all around solid and balanced team with talent all over the pitch
Thank you so much for this comment LJ and reading our articles.
You have a great point here. We need a goalkeeper upgrade because Kim Seunggyu is just average for sure. Song Bumkeun, the current #3, is about to be a free agent so hopefully he can challenge himself in a European league. We need a new, and younger partner for Kim Minjae that doesn't make mistakes like Kim Younggwon does. We need fullbacks or wingbacks. Cho Guesung does seem good and is going to Europe soon to improve. The team is improving, but you're absolutely right that we need to develop more complementary pieces to continue to do even better.
Thanks. Maybe I’m too harsh on the KFA? I know they can’t snap their fingers and get a goalkeeper to play in a non-AFC country. But we got to the semi-finals in 2002. It’s been 20 years and we haven’t developed into a strong nation that a semi-final appearance should warrant. How do you not have a single goalkeeper in Europe in 20 years after reaching the semi-finals? We need to inspire Korean kids who want to play professionally to develop their skills in different roles and not just want to emulate Park Ji Sung, Son Heung Min, and Lee Kang In. I really think the KFA needs to work with Kim Min-Jae to learn exactly how he broke through to an elite level in a non-midfield role (Koreans have had plenty of big guys who played center back, so it’s not just because of his size); they need to learn from it and do the same thing with every position on the pitch.
Nah, this is not too harsh at all. Always good to challenge KFA and make sure that the pressure is on them to improve our national team. Your point about working with Kim Minjae, examine his path to the pros, speak with his former coaches, is a good one.
Excellent piece. The only thing I worry about going forward is that the KFA never seems to learn its lesson. They focus so much on superstars and not enough on developing our weaker areas. It’s been 3 World Cup cycles where Son Heung Min is the entire focus of our team, and it is way too easy for other teams to shut him down. Lee Kang In looked awesome, and the future is bright for HIM, but not necessarily for him within the KNT if we don’t develop our ENTIRE team. I’m seriously worried that for the next 3 World Cup cycles, LKI will just be SHM 2.0 if the KFA doesn’t learn from our recent history. I cannot guarantee that we will go far with Lee Kang In. I can 100% guarantee that we won’t go far if we don’t fix our goalkeeper, overall defense, wingbacks, and lack of a killer #9 (maybe that will be Cho, but… remains to be seen. That doesn’t happen overnight). Maybe we should focus on developing other players besides attacking midfielders/wingers? It’s been the same story for the past 20 years. Sorry I’m being negative,… getting Kim Min-Jae as an excellent center back is a step in the right direction. Let’s get the rest of our team developed so that we have an all around solid and balanced team with talent all over the pitch
Thank you so much for this comment LJ and reading our articles.
You have a great point here. We need a goalkeeper upgrade because Kim Seunggyu is just average for sure. Song Bumkeun, the current #3, is about to be a free agent so hopefully he can challenge himself in a European league. We need a new, and younger partner for Kim Minjae that doesn't make mistakes like Kim Younggwon does. We need fullbacks or wingbacks. Cho Guesung does seem good and is going to Europe soon to improve. The team is improving, but you're absolutely right that we need to develop more complementary pieces to continue to do even better.
Thanks. Maybe I’m too harsh on the KFA? I know they can’t snap their fingers and get a goalkeeper to play in a non-AFC country. But we got to the semi-finals in 2002. It’s been 20 years and we haven’t developed into a strong nation that a semi-final appearance should warrant. How do you not have a single goalkeeper in Europe in 20 years after reaching the semi-finals? We need to inspire Korean kids who want to play professionally to develop their skills in different roles and not just want to emulate Park Ji Sung, Son Heung Min, and Lee Kang In. I really think the KFA needs to work with Kim Min-Jae to learn exactly how he broke through to an elite level in a non-midfield role (Koreans have had plenty of big guys who played center back, so it’s not just because of his size); they need to learn from it and do the same thing with every position on the pitch.
Nah, this is not too harsh at all. Always good to challenge KFA and make sure that the pressure is on them to improve our national team. Your point about working with Kim Minjae, examine his path to the pros, speak with his former coaches, is a good one.