Along with central midfield, the two positions that have seen the most recent changes on the men’s national soccer team are flanking defense.
The team has been called up to England for matches against Wales on Aug. 8 and Saudi Arabia on Aug. 13. They are currently training in Cardiff.
Jürgen Klinsmann has continued to rotate the side defense in his two calls-ups since taking over. Kim Jin-soo, a regular on the left, is out with an injury, and Kim Moon-hwan’s long-sought-after position on the right flank is quickly becoming untenable after winning a starting spot at the 2022 World Cup in Qatar. Existing resources Kim Tae-hwan, Hong Chul, and Yoon Jong-kyu have left the team.
In the meantime, Klinsmann has given opportunities to Lee Ki-je, Ahn Hyun-beom, Seol Young-woo, and Park Kyu-hyun. All but three of them were selected again. Kang Sang-woo, who is returning to the national team after a long absence, was added to the September roster.
Goalkeeper Kim Seung-kyu, center back Kim Min-jae, attacking duo Son Heung-min and Lee Jae-sung, and up front Cho Kyu-sung remain the pillars of their respective positions. The side defense, on the other hand, has seen a lot of changes. It’s still an open competition where it’s hard to say who is the starter.
What makes the competition even more intense is that none of the players have shown enough competitiveness to become a fixture. Ahn Hyun-beom and Seol Young-woo made their A-match debuts under Klinsmann, but the team’s overall performance was inconsistent and their utilization was ambiguous. Ahn Hyun-beom, a winger with attacking power and speed, was forced into a more defensive role, which led to several unsettling moments.
With Klinsmann’s tactics yet to be established, it’s hard to pinpoint a single player with overwhelming skill, so the competition isn’t evenly matched. 온라인바카라 It’s hard to evaluate the quality of players based on their performances in each game.
In the midst of this, Kang Sang-woo joined the team. Kang Sang-woo is a resource who can play both left and right defense and left and right flanking. In his current club, Beijing Guoan, he is more often deployed as a winger. In Klinsmann’s previous teams, physical fullbacks with straight overlapping runs have been the hallmark. Kang Sang-woo is a player who can receive the ball from a completely overlapping position and attack the opposing fullback like a winger, or create chances for the strikers with his excellent kicks. He requires a tactical set-up to utilize.
If the previous two calls-ups were about Klinsmann’s acclimatization to Korea, this one will be about full-blown Asian Cup preparation. There will be three tournaments in September, October, and November, and the team will play six exhibition games before deciding on its Asian Cup roster. Experimenting with players in the fullback position hasn’t paid off yet. The competition seems to be close to zero-base.