“Is our coach a spectator?”
Jürgen Klinsmann, 59, the head coach of the South Korean national soccer team, seems to be losing the trust of his fans.
On Aug. 8 (KST), the South Korean national team played a goalless 0-0 draw against Wales at Cardiff City Stadium in Cardiff, England.
With the result, Klinsmann’s men have now recorded three draws and two losses since he took over. It was their first loss in five games. This is the first time in the history of Korean soccer that a foreign manager has failed to win a game.
It was the first time the South Korean national team has traveled to Europe in a long time. It’s been five and a half years since March 2018, when they faced Northern Ireland and Poland under Shin Tae-yong.
Although the Welsh were a tough opponent, the atmosphere was right for Korea to win. To put it in perspective, South Korea is ranked 28th in the FIFA rankings, while Wales is 35th.
[Photo: Courtesy of the Korea Football Association
[Photo: Courtesy of the Korea Football Association
Despite the absence of Lee Kang-in (Paris Saint-Germain), South Korea called up most of its European players, including “captain” Son Heung-min (Tottenham), Cho Kyu-sung (Mitwylan), Hwang In-beom (Tsubena Zvezda), Kim Min-jae (Bayern Munich), Lee Jae-sung (Mainz), Hong Hyun-seok (Hent), Hwang Hee-chan (Wolverhampton), and Oh Hyun-gyu (Celtic).
In particular, the forward line was in top form. Son Heung-min scored a hat trick against Burnley in the Premier League and Hwang Hee-chan scored his second goal of the season against Crystal Palace. Hong Hyun-seok also scored a multi-goaler against Club Brugge, while Cho Kyu-sung added an assist and produced an offensive point.
Wales, on the other hand, have made no secret of the pressure they are under against South Korea, starting with their head coach. “To be honest, I don’t want to play (a friendly against South Korea). We have a lot of injuries.”
Wales open their Euro qualifying group against Latvia on June 12. The Welsh are fourth in Group D, which also includes Turkey, Armenia, Croatia, and Latvia, so they don’t want to put all their energy into the match against South Korea.
It won’t be easy, but expectations are high for Klinsmann’s first win. At the very least, it was a good atmosphere for Klinsmann to outline what the fiery “attacking soccer” he talked about in his first press conference after his appointment could look like.
[Photo]Courtesy of the Korea Football Association
[Photo]Courtesy of the Korea Football Association
[Photo: Courtesy of the Korea Football Association
[Photo: Courtesy of the Korea Football Association
But the game was creaky from the start. The buildup at the back, which had been so heavily criticized under former coach Paulo Bento, was missing. The midfield was invisible, a monotonous affair that relied on the long ball. They failed to threaten the Welsh defense at all. Something needed to come from the bench.
Luckily, a 25-minute first-half cooling off period was called. Time for the players to cool off and drink plenty of water. It was a window of opportunity to correct some of the problems from the first half. Most coaches take advantage of this opportunity to ask their players to do a lot of things.
But Klinsmann’s face on the TV screen was different. He barely moved from where he was standing when the players came in. The players gathered around him, but he just stared off into the distance, wiping his mouth or putting his hands on his hips.
바카라사이트Right in front of them was ‘captain’ Son Heung-min. It was a moment when Klinsmann could have told the players what they couldn’t do on their own. But Klinsmann didn’t – he just stood there.
Of course, a coach doesn’t necessarily have to approach his players during a cooling off period and give them instructions. However, it was clear that the atmosphere in the first half was not going well, and the fans were disappointed to see Klinsmann standing there for 20 seconds on camera.
[Photo]TV Chosun
[OSEN Reporter Kim Sung-rak]
Fans who saw Klinsmann’s behavior expressed criticism through various communities, such as “Is it a foul if the coach gives instructions to the players during the cooling break?”, “Is he hitting the ‘water hole’ while watching the players drink water?”, “It’s too calm, unlike the cooling breaks I’ve seen so far”, and “I wonder if he really has no tactics?”.
The reason for this decline in fan confidence in Klinsmann is that the problems that have been pointed out are coming to light. As a player, Klinsmann is considered one of the best players in the history of German soccer, but as a coach, he is rated at the bottom.
Klinsmann was criticized for being a managerial coach with no detailed tactics. In his autobiography, German national team legend Philipp Lahm wrote about Klinsmann as Bayern Munich coach: “We practically did physical training under Klinsmann,” he said.
[OSEN=Busan, Lee Seok-woo].
It was also one of the criticisms of the KFA at the time of his appointment. The assessment was that Klinsmann was not the type of coach who could continue the foundation laid by Bento. That’s why the criticism of Klinsmann was eventually directed at the KFA.
Klinsmann’s credibility was further eroded during the cooling off period of the game. The self-described “workaholic” was nowhere to be seen, even though it was only for a minute or so. If you didn’t expect a passionate coach who would use the short cooling down period to give a speech to his players, it was enough to make you feel disappointed.