Last time out our progress was hampered by injuries, I would love to tell you that this time around things were different but we had more occasions where we couldn’t even name a full bench again. Squad depth in terms of the numbers will be a key part of what I do in the transfer window after the season ends.
The biggest news coming out of South Korea though, was a huge deal taking Son Heung-Min from Spurs to Real Madrid for £87m. A 17 league goal season at Spurs being enough to tempt Real to splash out. I guess it is a good thing to have a Korean player at a top club, hopefully it means more quality players come through our academies.
Not sure how I feel about it, but the takeover rumours are coming more frequently. The chairman is quashing the talk so far, but things can change in an instant. The club have backed me to rebuild the squad, but a cash boost wouldn’t be the worst thing. There is also the chance the new owner sacks me as he walks in the door too which, given the effort that has gone in to the squad building, would be devastating.
Slightly off topic openers aside, there’s a season ongoing, so let’s get to the games! First up was a local derby with FC Seoul, I’m definitely settling in to the club because I feel the rivalry and want to get one back over them after they beat us last time out. I told the boys that was what I expected and that we needed to avenge the loss for our fans. Do-Hyeok was out but I was thinking of giving Jong-Seong a game at defensive midfield anyway, so that worked out. Otherwise it was a strongest fit 11 out.
A flying start and 2-0 up in 20 minutes, Mugosa is absolutely flying and Ho-Nam showing that even my third choice left winger is capable of having an impact. A really good result and a performance to go with it. Less possession than we normally have but all the clear cut chances to us, that’s the balance I have been looking for the whole time I’ve been at the club. I’d happily sacrifice a little possession and control in order to create a better quality of chance.
A massive change from last season that we already have 8 clean sheets in the league. I still want to tighten up the defence a bit, but we are making real progress which is nice.
I figured with our ongoing injury issues that getting more medical staff in couldn’t hurt. Although the level of injuries we are getting is making me think that I will clear out a lot of the coaching and medical staff to start again at the end of the season. The majority of injuries come from training, so I am thinking better coaching staff will set better schedules and execute with less risk of injury. Then clearly a better medical staff can bring any already injured players back to fitness in the shortest possible time, both elements key to have a settled team.
Back to the games though and we faced newly promoted Gwangju away from home next. Tabanou was suspended so my last minute loan signing Han-Bin came in at left back, otherwise the team was unchanged.
We allowed a sloppy early goal, albeit one from 25 yards but the closing down wasn’t good enough. A good reaction and tidy finish from Min-Kyu got us back level and from there I expected us to kick on. We couldn’t get over the line but an away point isn’t the end of the world.
In great news for our squad depth and numbers, we had 2 players complete their military service with league leaders Sangju Sangmu and immediately return to the club. Even though we were outside of the registration window for the league, there is an exception for players coming back from the army and so let me introduce you to our 2 new players.
Dae-Jung adds depth at centre back and cover at right back too. A solid performer, he won’t be first choice but I think he’ll rack up a few appearances as needed.
Suk-Jong is the better of the 2, natural as a defensive midfielder and a central midfielder so he gives us more options in a few areas. He played 24 league games this season for the team running away with the league and so definitely can contribute.
Funnily enough having got those 2 back from Sangju Sangmu, you’ll never guess who we are playing next!
At the pre-match press conference, it was highlighted that they are on a 15 match unbeaten run. It’s a big chance for us to really close the gap on the top 3 if we can win this one. Ju-Ahn was suspended, so Jeong-Hyup came in for a rare start. Tabanou returned at left back and Do-Hyeok came in for Jong-Seong at defensive midfield.
We dominated every metric, except the one that counts. Three times the number of shots on goal, over double the number of shots on target, 2 clear cut chances to 0, yet somehow we managed to lose. I can’t be too disheartened though, there are a lot of positives to take from how we played.
On a brighter note Min-Kyu ranked third in the player of the month award, good recognition of his increasing importance to the team. I brought him in as a sub and utility man but he has cemented a place in central midfield.
A side note, just on a crazy signing that Manchester City made. Ivan Cavaleiro is a decent player but to splash £58m on him seemed more than steep! Fulham will be laughing with that.
To carry on our wretched injury record, it has started to impact on the players we have that aren’t even at the club! John Ogu does his cruciate ligaments while out on loan, which means that we won’t be able to shift his wages at the end of the season. This will limit what we can do to rebuild in the summer which is frustrating.
Next up was a home game against Ulsan Hyundai. They are one of the top 3 in the league, playing well and one of the teams we need to be looking to bridge the gap with. Ju-Ahn returned from suspension up front, Ho-Ik came in for a rare start in place of the suspended Man-Hwan in an otherwise unchanged lineup.
What a back and forth game this was, taking an early lead, then going 2-1 down before equalising and having our main man Mugosa snatch the win in the 87th minute! Ju-Ahn was on a bit of a goal drought and so getting him back in the groove was useful. We dominated the game against a much bigger club and I am very proud of the boys for that. It shows that on our day we can compete, we just have to find that consistency.
Post match, Ulsan sacked their manager, the result was that I was placed in the running to take over. I must say that it was quite tempting, being a bigger club that can push on but I decided to honour the new contract I signed and stay put. I want to see how far I can take these players, I think we are 2/3 players away from a real challenge for continental football and I want to see the job through.
The board were pleased with my commitment and hopefully it bonds the club together even more and helps us push on to the next level.
Injuries struck once more, this time my entire first choice midfield 3 being ruled out for our visit to Gangwon. I decided to pay a half fit Garcia anyway with Jong-Seong coming back in to defensive midfield and Suk-Jong coming into central midfield. Mun-Hwan returned from suspension at right back but the remaining players are pretty familiar at this point.
We deserved more again, a completely even game where a 0-0 would have been fair and a decent ending. Somehow we managed to throw it away in injury time though. We need to sharpen up but I’ll take my share of the blame for being naive. I decided with 10 minutes to go that I wanted to push for the win rather than settle for a point, without that we may have held on. Something for me to think about.
We had an instant chance to make amends against Daegu. Do-Hyeok and Min-Kyu came back into the midfield for our 2 changes from last time out.
Another dominant performance that doesn’t get the reward it deserves. I have no idea how we conceded 2 goals to a team that never got near our goal but we found a way! This match cemented for me that the idea of Do-Hyeok as a defensive midfielder to use his technical ability simply doesn’t work in the way it did with Barry Maguire in Singapore. The demands are increased here in Korea and as such I will be using more physical, screening players in that role moving forwards.
Along those lines I decided to restore Jong-Seong to defensive midfield in the only change to the team for our visit to Gyeongnam.
Jong-Seong rewarded my belief in him with a man of the match performance in a very welcome away win. The goal was a penalty but if we can keep clean sheets away from home then we give ourselves much more of a chance.
That result had a very welcome impact on the club plans too.
It puts us 2 years ahead of the schedule the board have for us and secures our top 6 finish. I said I wanted to get top half of the split before the season started and despite us flirting with the top 3, we never really looked likely to hold on to it in truth.
Garcia’s first goal for the club was a great strike in the loss against Daegu, enough for second in goal of the month but not much consolation.
After a patchy run of form we headed into a home derby against Suwon Bluewings, I wasn’t holding out much hope of a result in all honesty. I went with the lineup that I now see as my strongest 11 available players. What is clear though is that Ju-Ahn needs a rest, I really need more competition for places up front next season.
A much needed win recorded and with Jeong-Hyup coming off the bench to clinch it in injury time. He has done ok but I really don’t want to rely on him next season, I need better to challenge higher up. Still, we got ourselves back in form and I was pleased with that.
So, after 33 games is where the league splits in half. I said I wanted top half and we currently sit 5th. That means we cannot come any lower than 6th now, even if Suwon get more points than us, due to the split format. To end up 10 points clear of 7th, and a whopping 24 points clear of relegation is a huge improvement on last season, where we were not mathematically safe until the second to last game of the season. We are 7 points from 3rd, so in the ballpark of what is needed, just not quite ready this season but that’s ok. Mugosa is the top scorer in the league, Min-Kyu has the best average rating which is more than I expected him to do when I bought him as a depth player. We are also the team with the highest average possession which shows control in games. We’ve created the most chances but only scored 3rd most, highlighting the need for more firepower next season.
With our objective for the season from the board being to avoid relegation, we have smashed that one out of the park. My own objective was top half and so we have met that too, so this feels satisfactory rather than reason to celebrate. We now have 5 games, one each against the other top 6 teams to determine our finishing position. In my next update I will round up those games and the transfer window, as there won’t be anywhere near as much business to report as there was before this season started.
Kick it in the Goal 