Will Klinsmann show ‘offensive football’ against ‘1.5 group’ Wales, ‘comfort despite boiling criticism’?
Coach Jürgen Klinsmann, who will lead the elite Korean national soccer team, has the opportunity to showcase his ‘offensive soccer’ in earnest.
Korea, led by Coach Klinsmann, will have an A-match warm-up match with the Wales national team at Cardiff City Stadium in Cardiff, Wales, at 3:45 a.m. on the 8th (Korean time). On the 13th, the team moves to Newcastle to face Saudi Arabia.
Klinsmann has recorded 2 draws and 2 losses in the last 4 games, and is yet to win. Korea lost 2-2 to Colombia and 1-2 to Uruguay in March, then lost 0-1 to Peru in June and drew 1-1 with El Salvador. Korea is now aiming for its first victory in Europe in five years.
It is an extremely important match not only for the national team but also for Coach Klinsmann. With no victory yet, domestic public opinion has deteriorated rapidly. If public opinion is already so unfavorable and even grades are difficult to support, it may be difficult to keep up.
The reason is because of Director Klinsmann’s actions. Director Klinsmann promised to reside in Korea permanently when he took office. However, Coach Klinsmann is showing disloyalty to his position as coach to the extent that his stay in Korea lasted only 67 days.
In an online interview, Klinsmann said, “It doesn’t matter where you are physically,” and “The way I communicate and observe the players is different from before,” and instead showed an attitude of abandoning the promise he made when he took office.
Moreover, public opinion has worsened as he is more active as a panelist for various media outlets, as an advisor to organizations, and in his own personal business than as coach of the Korean national team, which is his main job, receiving an annual salary of close to 2 billion won.
In this atmosphere, this European away game is putting even more pressure on Coach Klinsmann. The British BBC also criticized Coach Klinsmann’s remote work as ‘remote control’ and reminded him that he could be sacked “if the results in the Wales and Saudi Arabia games do not improve.”
Nevertheless, Director Klinsmann has a relaxed expression. At the press conference on the 7th, Coach Klinsmann smiled his signature warm and bright smile and said, “I want to play a good game and win,” but also said, “The important thing is to grow and develop. I think I did well in the first four games.”
He also emphasized, “We didn’t get the result, but I’m happy with the way our team is going. We dominated the game. We didn’t score a goal because Son Heung-min and Kim Min-jae were missing. Of course, we want to win, but the important thing is to win in Qatar.”먹튀검증
In particular, regarding public criticism, he said, “That’s normal. Even if we win all of the first four games, there will still be criticism for the way we play, the team play, the replacement of players, etc. This is part of my job. I live with criticism every day.” And I calmly passed it off as if it was no big deal.
Fortunately, it is highly likely that the opposing Wales team will not go all out. “Honestly, I don’t want to play a friendly,” Wales manager Rob Page said at a press conference.
Wales will play an away match against Latvia in the Euro qualifiers group stage on the 12th, three days after playing against Korea. Wales, who are ranked 4th in their group, must win the game against Latvia.
As Coach Page is under pressure from public opinion in his own country, it is not easy for him to give his all-out effort against Korea. This is because he has to take into account the fatigue and injuries of key players. In the end, it is highly likely that Wales will face Korea with a 1.5 team without many of its starting players.
On the other hand, Korea can emerge as the elite. Although Lee Kang-in, who plays for Paris Saint-Germain (PSG), is out due to injury, European players including captain Son Heung-min (Tottenham), Kim Min-jae (Bayern Munich), Hwang Hee-chan (Wolverhampton), Lee Jae-seong (Mainz), and Cho Kyu-seong (Midtjylland) are still alive. This means that the probability of winning has relatively increased.
This is a golden opportunity to show the attacking soccer that Coach Klinsmann announced at his first press conference. Coach Klinsmann said, “I like to attack because I come from a striker background. I prefer a 4-3 win to a 1-0 win.”