The vacuum in taking the helm of the Korean national soccer team is getting longer. Still, fans are waiting for news of the new coach.
In February, the Korea Football Association replaced former coach Jurgen Klinsmann. About five months have passed since then, but the head coach of the Korean soccer team is still vacant.
Currently, a question has been raised over the system for appointing a coach. The committee, which seeks to find candidates for a new coach, is a half-sized organization that does not have the actual authority to appoint a coach. It even gathers candidates and presents them to the Korea Football Association.
Previously, Chairman Chung Hae-sung visited Europe and met with candidates for supervision, but he was unable to present specific proposals because he did not have the authority to negotiate.
The Korea Power Reinforcement Committee, which decided to continue with the temporary manager system from March to June’s A-match, was expected to hire a new coach until the third qualifying round of the World Cup in September, but Chairman Jung Hae-sung suddenly offered to resign, and several members of the Korea Power Reinforcement Committee also returned their seats soon after.
In response, the Korea Football Association assigned technical director Lee Im-saeng to find a new coach.
On the 2nd, director Lee Im-saeng left for the UK. Earlier, there were domestic reports that Graham Arnold of the Australian national team had emerged as a strong candidate due to Guus Hiddink’s strong recommendation, but recently, Lee Im-saeng met with Gustavo Foyet, the former Greek coach, and David Wagner, the former Norwich City coach, to continue negotiations.
The face of the national team’s new coach candidate, which drew a lot of attention, was revealed.
Both coaches have experience in leading Premier League (EPL) clubs. After retiring from the professional league in 2006, Foye started preparing for leadership at Leeds United and Tottenham, and led Sunderland and Real Betis starting with Brighton and Hove Albion in 2009. He had experience in Asian soccer in Shanghai, China from 2016 to 2017, and until recently played for the Greek national team.
Wagner started his coaching career with Borussia Dortmund in 2011. He is known to have shared a tactical philosophy with former Liverpool manager Jurgen Klopp.
Wagner then joined Norwich in 2023 after playing Huddersfield Town, Schalke and Young Boys, and led the team until this summer. Norwich left the team last season after failing to win promotion to the Premier League.
The two coaches, who do not have their teams, are known to have emerged as realistic alternatives for the Korea Football Association, which has no financial leeway due to former coach Klinsman’s replacement penalty and a soccer center under construction in Cheonan.
It remains to be seen how well the two coaches fit as the next coach of the Korean national team, but we must first consider how suitable they are with the direction the Korea Football Association has recently put forward.
The Korea Football Association held a “Korea Football Technology Philosophy Presentation” on the 20th of last month and presented the keyword “fast, courageous, and leading football” in the direction Korean football will pursue.
As the waiting period is getting longer, “good choices” are needed. After the final match of the second Asian qualifying round against China on June 11, interim coach Kim Do-hoon worried about the direction of Korean soccer, saying, “I wish I was the last interim coach.” 업소알바
“Captain” Son Heung-min also said about the appointment of a new coach, “As if there are no perfect players, no coach is perfect. As a team member, I think it is right for a good coach to come for the development of Korean soccer. Rather than talking about this, I believe that the association will think about what direction it wants to go and make a good choice. Now, rather than asking everyone to bring the coach quickly, if we watch the progress with a little leeway, I think it will be a great help for the association to make a better choice.”
Not only the fans, but also the players and current coaches are worried about the future of Korean soccer. It is necessary to correct the wrong part again and correct and supplement the shortcomings to establish the right system.
