Tae Tak

Been saying that Bae Jun-ho isn't a natural goalscoring LW & the Kuwait match showed why. Solid playmaking, but inconsistent finishing.

Right now, he’s best as a half-space AM/CM: excellent at carrying the ball, making smart decisions, & linking play in the final third.

2 goals & 2 assists*

Yeah no biggie haha. Tbf I've been busy and didn't post for a month on here. Guessing that's why the algorithm didn't bump my posts up. But appreciate the help with the reposts 👍

Solid showing, albeit against an outmatched Kuwaiti side.

Kim Ju-sung & Lee Han-beom offered a glimpse of 🇰🇷's young CB depth: 146/149 passing (9/11 long balls) combined.

Oh Hyeon-gyu, Lee Kang-in, Bae Jun-ho & Jeon Jin-woo: 3 goals and 2 assists as the starting front four.

#KNT

Most fans outside the KNT bubble only know Kim Min-jae, but little do they know that the next wave of South Korean CBs is coming.

Will any of them reach his level? Only time will tell.

But one thing's for sure: the future is bright.

☀️😎

South Korea is loaded with young CB talent.

Lee Hyeon-yong at Suwon FC
Kim Ji-soo at Brentford
Lee Han-beom at FC Midtjylland
Kang Min-woo at Ulsan HD FC

The list goes on.

Some of the young CBs I've previously highlighted are playing well this season:

• Kim Gun-hee - strong duelist on 1st place Incheon in K2, albeit some concentration issues
• Seo Myeong-kwan - adjusting well to K1 at Ulsan
• Shin Min-ha - linked to European clubs

🔎 One to Watch: Suwon Samsung's Ko Jong-hyun

Scouting Profile ⬇️

Son Heung-min could be made available after Ange's sacking.

A short-term Bundesliga return would be a full-circle moment, but unsure of his interest given his past comments on racism in 🇩🇪.

He may be slowing down, but there’s still gas in the tank. One last dance in Europe?

World Cup bound for the 11th consecutive time!

South Korea punches their ticket to North America next June! 🇰🇷✈️🌎

The last time South Korea didn’t qualify (1982):

- The K-League didn’t exist
- Son Heung-min wasn’t born
- 🇰🇷 was under a dictatorship

Funny how both Park Ji-sung and Lee Kang-in won their first UCL without playing in the final.

Crazy that the little guy from Shootdori would grow up to emulate Park & lift the trophy in similar circumstances.

Hope we see him play and win one someday.

Congrats to LKI & PSG! 🏆

That's a fair point. tbh that was only part of the reason I stopped cross-posting over here.

Been busy doing work for European clubs, personal stuff came up, etc.

Thanks for giving me some motivation to post again 😀

Jeonbuk have been insane away from home this season. Defensive powerhouses so far 🧱

TWO goals conceded in eight matches. 19 points from a maximum of 24.

Their only loss? A 1-0 defeat against Ulsan back on March 1st.

The rematch is in Jeonju tomorrow.

For sure, it seems like there are so many bugs and outages on Twitter lately. I'm sure it would get bad here as well with an influx of new people, but it can't be any worse 😅

Hope there can be a decent community on here in the future!

How to recruit like the Belgian Pro League Diverse and youthful recruitment defines the Belgian Pro League and has set it on a path to crash the Big Five - this is how it’s done

Year after year, Belgian clubs find uncut gems from unusual places, often at undervalued prices, polish them up then sell them for significant profits. Their recruitment model is perhaps the most diverse in football, and certainly among the most successful.

Llew Davies reveals how they do it.

There's a decent audience on Twitter tbh, although the Korean speaking fans definitely outnumber the English speakers.

I'd rather post here though but alas, nothing but tumbleweeds

I would post here more often if there was a decent audience for 🇰🇷⚽

Don't really see that unfortunately

Seol Young-woo's Crvena zvezda just suffered its first league loss (one assist for him), but PSG still has a shot at history with four matches left. No Ligue 1 side has ever gone an entire season undefeated.

Lee Kang-in could be immortalized as part of the first 🇫🇷 Invincibles.

Seems like Hong Hyun-seok was brought in as a long-term Lee Jae-sung replacement. Limited minutes make sense with LJS in form.

Both have similar defensive flaws, so starting them together doesn’t suit Mainz’s press. Still think Hong’s Bundesliga-level, just not the right fit.

Incheon's Kim Gun-hee and Gwangju's Byeon Jun-soo remind me of each other. Both strong U23 CBs with a solid blend of dueling and ability on the ball, plus the occasional mental lapse.

Clean that up, and more concrete overseas interest could start to materialize.

Could be a wild K-League weekend coming up.

• Ulsan vs Gangwon - last season's champions vs runners-up
• Daejeon vs Gimcheon - current 1st vs 2nd
• FC Anyang vs Suwon FC / Pohang vs Jeju - toss ups
• Gwangju vs FC Seoul - 4th vs 5th
• Jeonbuk vs Daegu - 🇰🇷 vs 🇧🇷

The South Korean U17s played arguably their best football of the tournament for 98 minutes vs. Saudi Arabia. Unfortunately, they ran out of gas & conceded the match tying penalty with one minute left.

Football is ruthless, all it takes is one mistake. Onto the World Cup.

#AFCU17

Physical upside is important for every player, but it's an X-factor for Korean players who want to make it to the top level.

Kim Min-jae: physicality
Son Heung-min: pace
Park Ji-sung: stamina
Cha Bum-kun: athleticism

Unless you have Lee Kang-in level technique, it's tough.

Jesse Lingard has been a bit unlucky with assists. He's leading the K-League 1 in xA with 3.0, but has no assists this season.

Other "unlucky" K1 players:
Matheus Oliviera -1.7 (1.7 xA, 0 A)
Kim Kang-guk -1.4 (1.4 xA, 0 A)

Actual assist leaders:
Lee Dong-gyeong, Anderson (3)

Some encouraging signs from the three South Koreans in the Championship.

Yang Min-hyeok (0.57 G/A per 90)
Bae Jun-ho (season high 8 G/A)
Eom Ji-sung (1.54 successful dribbles per 90)

End product (especially the latter two) still needs work, but they're improving in other areas.

Strikers who can create their own offense with 1 v 1 actions > strikers whose scoring largely depends on others' creativity.

BUT the caveat is that elite finishing/movement trumps all. Personally I tend to look for movement strikers the most.

Depends on team composition though.

Death, taxes, and...

-Anderson leading K-League 1 in dribbles per 90 (2.7)
-Cesinha in key passes per 90 (3.3)
-Joo Min-kyu in goals per 90 (0.90)
-Lee Dong-gyeong in assists per 90 (0.48)
-Kim Dae-won in xA per 90 (0.60)

The regular culprits.

If his work off the ball was better, he'd already be in Europe by now. Unfortunate that his versatility means most managers use him as a plug & play type, which partly explains his off ball inconsistencies.

Tough to build consistency when you're playing a new position every year.

Another year, another Lee Gi-hyuk data masterclass.

🏅100th percentile: Aerial duels won per 90
🏅100th percentile: Touches per 90
🏅100th percentile: Successful passes per 90
🥈94th percentile: Duels won per 90
🥈86th percentile: Accurate long balls per 90

Crvena zvezda's relationship with 🇰🇷 is still young, but has been fruitful.

Hwang In-beom won the 23-24 Serbian Superliga Player of the Year en route to a domestic double, while the club is still undefeated this season with Seol Young-woo providing stability at both FB spots.