In the professional soccer K-League 1, after the 11th round, all teams met their opponents once. With the first round robin over, the predictions by many experts prior to the opening, such as ‘Hyundai will go to Yanggang’ and ‘Big 4 including Incheon United’, all went wrong.
K-League 1 is divided into final rounds (Group A for 1st to 6th, Group B for 7th to 12th) after the 3rd round robin, and the rankings are determined after playing 5 games. It has just turned a lap, but with the exception of the ‘leading’ Ulsan Hyundai, the moves of many teams deviate from the expected trajectory and an ‘unpredictable’ season is drawn.
◇’9 wins + unrivaled first place’ Ulsan Hong Myung-bo, will it be an unrivaled season
? In 11 matches,안전놀이터 they recorded 9 wins, 1 draw and 1 loss, and 28 points. The gap between 2nd and 4th place FC Seoul (20 points), Pohang Steelers (19 points), and Daejeon Hana Citizen (18 points) is 8-10 points.
Ulsan, who has been in the third year of manager Hong Myung-bo’s appointment, is checked against the opponent as a ‘defending champ’, but the trust of the players and coaches has strengthened and boasted upgraded football. The side build-up directed by Hong has become more sophisticated.
‘Lee Jeok-saeng’s performance’ made it more difficult to control Ulsan’s advance. Min-gyu Ju, a native goalkeeper who won the top scorer at Jeju United in 2021, returned to Ulsan after 4 years and scored 5 goals (1 assist) in the first round robin alone. Rubiksson, a Swedish outsider, also scored 5 goals (1 assist) with high goal-making power and played a central role in the attack. Recently, even the leading members of last year’s championship, such as Martin Adam and Bakko, are participating in the scoring race.
The Jurgen Klinsmann soccer team is paying attention to the 3rd line Lee Gyu-seong and Park Yong-woo, who show off their successful game management. In addition, the last line of defense led by former and incumbent national players such as Kim Young-kwon, Jung Seung-hyun and Kim Ki-hee is becoming the ‘strongest shield’ with the league’s least conceded 1st place (9 conceded).
◇ ‘High efficiency mobile magic’ Pohang + ‘Spring day in the largest number of spectators’
Pohang Steelers, who had a lot of concerns about the transfer of Seoul Shin Jin-ho (Incheon), created a ‘syndrome’ with the tactical capabilities and mercenary skills of agricultural coach Kim Ki-dong. Since the opening, they have been undefeated in 9 consecutive matches (5 wins, 4 draws). The tight organizational power is the highlight. In addition, the player who was put in as a substitute by manager Kim was responsible for 6 of the team’s 15 goals. There are 4 games (3 wins, 1 draw) where substitutes score winning goals or draws.
Pohang, in particular, attempted 93 shots in 11 games, ranking 11th out of 12 teams in the number of shots. Nevertheless, he continued to play high-efficiency football to the extent that he was ranked 4th in team scoring (15 goals).
Seoul welcomed the ‘Spring Day’ after a long time. Seoul, which fell to Final B for three consecutive seasons until last year, applied practical tactics to the existing build-up colors in the third year of coach Ahn Ik-soo. With the emergency of top scorer Na Sang-ho (7 goals), it is the highest scorer (22 goals) with Ulsan in the league. They are running 2nd overall in the league.
In addition, a whopping 154,954 spectators visited the five home games. With an average of 30,991 people, it is the only Korean professional sports club to exceed 30,000 average spectators since the Corona 19 pandemic.
The ‘promoted team’ Daejeon and Gwangju FC made headlines with their attack-oriented colors. Daejeon scored 18 goals and competed for the top spot, and Gwangju also scored 13 goals against a poor squad. Recording 7th place (14 points), they are showing good results in their own way.
◇ ‘Crash of famous houses → Resignation of the command tower’ Is it possible to rebound Jeonbuk and Suwon
? With 12 points (3 wins, 3 draws and 5 losses), they were pushed back to 9th place and desperately need a rebound from the 2nd round robin.
Jeju has been sluggish since the opening with 2 draws and 3 losses, but turned around with 5 wins and 1 loss in the last 6 games. With 17 points (5 wins, 2 draws and 4 losses), we look forward to entering the ‘Big 4’ with 5th place.
Jeonbuk and Suwon Samsung, the fall of the ‘two families’ was endless. Jeonbuk, which was expected to compete for the championship with Ulsan again this season, was pushed back to 10th place (11 points). Supporters protested for the resignation of CEO Heo Byeong-gil and manager Kim Sang-sik throughout the first round robin. Eventually, coach Kim let go of the baton.
Suwon also went without a win in 10 consecutive games (2 draws and 8 losses) since the opening, but manager Lee Byeong-geun was sacked. He earned his first victory by narrowly winning 1-0 against Incheon in the 11th round. And new manager Kim Byung-soo took over.
Jeonbuk, the acting system of Kim Doo-hyun, is looking for a firefighter. In the emergence of the new command tower, the interest is whether Jeonbuk and Suwon will lay the stepping stone for a reversal.
