Where’s PSG Lee Kangin when the KNT Needs Him?

Written by Paul Jeung.

A few months back I wrote this piece about Lee Kangin.

Not for a second did I think I’d be writing a piece with the exact opposite headline, but here we are. There is some building frustration, and some would say hate, towards Lee Kangin’s recent performances with the Korean National Team. In the 6 games he’s played under newly appointed Manager Hong Myungbo, our starboy has zero goals and zero assists. While goals and assists aren’t everything, his impact on the game has also been minimized. The irony here is that he’s been really in form with Paris Saint-Germain as of late, so you would think that would carry over to the Korean National Team, but sadly it has not. Let’s try and dive into why this may be.

Kangin’s role this season at PSG has changed dramatically. He’s gone from being used mostly as a midfielder last season to a more attacking player (false 9, right-wing, right-attacking midfielder), which has resulted in him playing way more up the pitch. In return, he’s bagged 6 goals and 1 assist in just 11 games. His assists should also be way higher, just considering the amount of key passes and big chances he creates for PSG.  They just haven’t been clinical in front of goal, but I believe those assists will come and we are in for the biggest G/A total of Kang-in’s career by a country mile. He’s really turned it around this year, following his trend of having a breakout second season at a new club, just as he did with Mallorca. He just needed to get comfortable, which he has looked all season. Even PSG fans who doubted his talent and ability to play for them are eating their words this year, unanimously in agreement that Kangin has been one of their best players to start the season. 

So why isn’t this translating over to the KNT? You would think this wouldn’t be a question, considering we were just asking ourselves a little while back why the KNT version of Kangin wasn’t showing up for PSG. However, things have changed drastically for Kangin under Hong, and opposing teams are also now targeting him, as they now recognize his danger and are making a game plan to minimize his impact.

At PSG, Kangin isn’t the player that opposing teams prepare for or gameplan around.  They have world-class players like Dembele, Barcola, Vithinha, and Hakimi, just to name a few. Kangin can kind of just slot in the lineup and do what we know he is capable of providing. Being in a more advanced role this season has upped his chances to score and provide chances for his teammates. He’s also able to take advantage of those said teammates, as his chemistry with the likes of Dembele and Hakimi is very apparent and it only accentuates Kangin’s impact on the games even more when he has weapons at his disposal. It’s been a great start to the season for Kangin at PSG, and I expect it to continue. So you might be asking, then how come we can’t have this on the KNT? The answer is pretty simple. Let me explain. 

Before Hong Myungbo took over as KNT manager, Kangin was flourishing on the right wing. He was scoring, assisting, dribbling, and just controlling the matches masterfully. Opposing teams have finally said, “Enough is enough! We need to neutralize this guy because he is taking over matches.” So what have teams done exactly? For one, they are now man-marking him. One defender is on his back, basically following Kangin around at all times, not allowing him time or space to get going. Also, opponents are now sending a 2nd defender when Kangin gets the ball, and this defender’s positioning is the key tactic. One defender is directly in front of Kangin, while the other defender prevents him from going left, taking away Kangin’s ability to get back towards the center of the pitch. They leave the right touchline open to him. Why? It’s very simple. Kangin is not a traditional right winger; he cannot run it down the touchline at pace. He’s actually an inverted right-winger who is best cutting in on his left foot. This defensive tactic severely limits what he can do with the ball, minimizing his impact on the game and not allowing him to get in dangerous positions. 

To compound this, the KNT’s current starting right back Seol Youngwoo (who I rate very highly) isn’t a burner himself, so teams are not worried about the right touchline. If you put a right-back who is dangerous with pace on the right touchline with Kangin, opponents would have to alter their strategy or get torched for it. Youngwoo is more of an underlapping full-back, not an overlapping one. Unfortunately, this doesn't mesh well with Kangin’s game.

At PSG, with burners like Dembele and Hakimi near him, teams have to respect the right touchline, which opens up Kangin’s trademark body feints to allow him penetration into the final third to do the things we all know he is capable of. This is not happening on the KNT, and it’s again severely handcuffing Kangin’s ability to impact the game.  

So what do we do now? How do we counter how teams are preparing for Kangin when he plays for the KNT? I have two plans in mind.

Plan #1: Change his position. Move Kang-in to the center attacking midfield role. This does put more pressure on him as far as defensive responsibilities, but in return, it will open up his options and allow him way more angles to attack and provide for this team. This will also put him closer to Son Heungmin and allow them to link up more frequently since currently, they are on opposite sides of the pitch. This may also require us to change formations and/or personnel in the midfield behind Kangin. However, if we are building our team around his talents, which we should be, this is an option that 100% needs to be considered.

Plan #2: Give him a burner of a right-back or right-winger. I’ve always stated that I much prefer Seol Youngwoo on the left side, as an underlapping full-back complementing our wide left wingers like Son or Hwang Heechan. Giving Kangin a speedster at the right-back position would allow him to impact games for the KNT as he currently does for PSG. The problem? The KNT doesn’t have a Hakimi. Our talent pool on that side is limited, to put it nicely. However, I do have two tasty options that I think (while experimental) might work. Let’s start with Yang Hyunjun, the rarely used Celtic player, who believe it or not, has been thrown into this role before with the KNT (albeit just once or twice in the Asian Cup). He’s the exact kind of profile that I think would mesh very well with Kangin as a touchline winger. It’s hard to know where his form is right now with his lack of playing time, but I do believe this option can work. I know this would put a hamper on the KNT defensively, but let’s be real, none of our fullbacks are defensive stalwarts. My second option would need a formation adjustment. If we put Kangin at the right midfielder spot in a 433 formation, we can experiment with the up-and-comer Yang Min-hyuk (another burner) at the right wing position. This happens frequently at PSG with Kang-in linking up with Dembele. They have proven a deadly combination, and I believe Yang Min-hyuk can provide a similar type of impact for the KNT. 

With our qualification for the 2026 World Cup almost wrapped up, I would love to see Hong Myungbo experiment a little to maximize what we can do come 2026. Kangin can’t just be some space-creating decoy for the other players. While the defensive approach by opposing teams has opened up things on the left side for players like Son or Bae Junho to freely do their thing, there has to be a way to combine that with maximizing Kangin’s impact on the pitch.  

One last thing: I do believe Kangin also needs to alter his approach as well. He’s doing what he can on the ball, but his movement off the ball needs to change. He’s doing a much better job of this at PSG as of late, resulting in a lot of his scoring from crashing the box. He seems to be content with dragging defenders to him and making a good pass or switching fields for the KNT. This isn’t good enough for me. Once he doesn’t have the ball, I’d like to see him move quickly into positions where he can be more dangerous, instead of just watching play unfold on the other side waiting for things to develop. He needs to take more initiative when the ball isn’t at his feet because with how teams are preparing for him and defending him, it’s the only current way for him to put his stamp on matches until Hong’s tactics and/or game plan changes. 

It has to be a frustrating time right now for Kangin, and probably even a little funny, considering he went from playing amazingly with the KNT and just okay with PSG, to playing amazingly for PSG and now just okay for the KNT. There is a lot of time between now and our next matches in March.  Let’s all keep our fingers crossed that Hong will make some adjustments to get the most out of our most important player, Lee Kangin.