Will another ‘living legend
who led FC Seoul’s heyday and opened fire as a leader
save the team while playing the role of a firefighter? Seoul
where head coach Ahn Ik-soo voluntarily stepped down
takes on its first challenge under the acting system of Kim Jin-gyu.
The Seoul club announced on the 22nd that it had decided to accept the will of former coach Ahn Ik-soo
who announced his intention to resign right after the game against Daegu FC on the 19th
and appointed head coach Kim Jin-gyu as acting manager.
Seoul
which has changed to Acting Kim system
will make its first appearance on the 27th at 7:00 pm at the Seoul World Cup Stadium in the home game against Ulsan Hyundai (1st place, 60 points) and’Hana One Q K League 1 2023’ Round 28.
Seoul fell into a slump in five consecutive games until the last round (3 draws and 2 losses).
In particular
in the last 3 games
they missed the victory by conceding the winning goal or equalizing goal after 35 minutes in the 섯다 second half.
It was again exposed the lack of a back heart in the build-up tactics aimed at by the coach Ahn system.
Seoul is ranked 4th in the K-League 1 (39 points)
but the difference between Daejeon Hana Citizen (36 points) and 7th place in the Final B is only 2 points.
In the midst of the darkness of the Final B crash for three consecutive seasons, coach Ahn himself laid down the baton
saying
The team needs a change.
Acting Kim politely declined the media interview request and quickly focused on stabilizing the team.
On the 23rd
four days before the game
he warmed up the Guri GS Champions Park while breathing with the players even in the rain.
He brought back coach Park Hyuk-soon
who had left Seoul after assisting Ahn until last year.
Until 2010
Seoul did not have a coach who resigned during the season
but since 2011
six coach replacements and seven acting coaches have been in place.
Especially since 2018
in the last 5 years
4 full-time coaches (Hwang Seon-hong
Choi Yong-soo, Park Jin-seop, Ahn Ik-soo) and 2 acting coaches (Lee Eul-yong, Kim Ho-young) have left the team
becoming a “director’s grave.”
Seoul is not a team that relied on a specific manager when it was in its prime.
As much as that
there are voices that have been negligent in setting the vision and philosophy that the club is aiming for in the past five years and appointing a leader suitable for it.
It is pointed out that the ‘urgent fire-extinguishing leader appointment’ was repeated because of the immediate results.
In the meantime
general manager Yoo Seong-han
who was well-received for serving as a bridge between the front desk and the squad
also faced difficulties in consistent administration.
The prevailing opinion is that from now on, leaders who will lead the reconstruction of Seoul should be carefully selected while expanding the scope of communication with Director Yoo.
In that sense, expectations for acting Kim are also high.
After debuting as a pro in Jeonnam in 2003, he joined Seoul in 2007 and played in a dark red uniform until 2015, except for one season (2011) in China and Japan.
He played a total of 270 matches in Seoul (220 league matches, 35 ACL matches, 15 FA Cup matches) and shared the team’s heyday, including two league championships (2010.2012), one FA Cup championship (2015), and ACL runner-up (2013).
After retiring from Daejeon in 2017, he returned to Seoul in 2018 to coach the youth team Osango (U-18) and joined the first team coaching staff in 2020.
In April 2011, after former manager Hwang Bo-gwan suddenly resigned, Seoul had entrusted the acting position to then-coach Choi Yong-soo.
He played as a star striker in Anyang LG, the predecessor of Seoul, and after playing on the Japanese stage, returned to Seoul in 2006 and retired and worked as a coach.
Having successfully opened as a leader in his own team, he became a full-time manager in 2012 and led Seoul’s revival.
Acting Kim also spent a crucial period of his career in Seoul, debuted as a leader, and has great affection for the club.
Like his senior coach Choi Yong-soo, it remains to be seen whether he will open a success story by taking the helm of the 1st team through player and coaching at the Seoul club.
Meanwhile, as of noon on the 24th, three days before the game, 18,000 seats were sold in advance for the Seoul-Ulsan match.
Seoul, which surpassed 300,000 cumulative spectators for the first time among K-League 1 clubs this season in the match against Daegu last season, is challenging to exceed 400,000 spectators for a club for the first time since paying spectators in the remaining 5 home games.