The pre-season evaluation of Pohang Steelers, a famous professional football club, was mixed.
Considering Pohang’s performance (3rd place) last year, it is easy to see it as a dark horse threatening ‘Yanggang’ Ulsan Hyundai and Jeonbuk Hyundai, but there were also opinions that its power would weaken as the majority of competitive main players changed.
If you look only at the performance of the opening game, the former is more powerful. It was thanks to Pohang’s laugh with a thrilling Pele score (3-2) by inviting Daegu FC to their homeroom on the 26th. Goal catcher Lee Ho-jae, in his 3rd year as a pro, scored multiple goals, demonstrating the potential of outstanding prospects pouring out every year.메이저놀이터
In addition to the good news that exceeded expectations, it was the changed waist line that drew attention. Pohang coach Kim Ki-dong expressed the gap caused by the successive transfers of Shin Jin-ho (Incheon) and Lee Soo-bin (Jeonbuk) as a ‘disc in the back’, and we were able to confirm some of the cure.
Kim Jong-woo and Oberdan, who were picked by coach Kim as their replacements, are working together to establish a new link between offense and defense. It was unavoidable that the color of soccer changed as much as the face of the players changed. While Shin Jin-ho and Lee Soo-bin focused on speeding up counterattacks by delivering bold long passes to the side, Kim Jong-woo and Oberdan attacked the front of the defensive line with abundant activity and short passes.
Coach Kim said, “It is true that the play style of our soccer has changed.” At the same time, he emphasized, “(Kim) Jong-woo is trying to help him become the new king of Pohang while taking advantage of his strengths.”
The change in Pohang is also well revealed in the pass map provided by ‘Bpro Eleven’, an official K-League additional data producer. Kim Jong-woo and Oberdan led the attack by exchanging 316 (1st place) and 254 (2nd place) passes, respectively, in the match against Daegu, but they focused on the half space rather than the flanks. There were still many times when breathing was out of sync as there were many new faces such as Jeka, Baek Sung-dong, and Kim In-seong, but director Kim also explained that it would flow more smoothly as time passed.
In fact, it is also the change that Pohang has shown every year that changes more frighteningly as time goes by. Since coach Kim took office in 2019, key players have left every year, but the proof is that he has endured at the top while constantly changing. Coach Kim is confident that Pohang will be able to produce results that will satisfy fans once again this year. The sooner the back treatment, which coach Kim has been worrying about all winter, is completed, the higher the ranking is expected. Coach Kim said, “I want to show a game that will not disappoint fans who have visited the steel yard once,” and “please look forward to it in the future.”