👏🏻 Towards the end of the half, Son Heungmin, off the ball, was seen putting his back on Earthquake's Ronaldo Vieira's chest deep in the middle third, to hold him from getting into #LAFC's passing lane.
What MDS means when says he needs his strikers to play for the team. #손흥민
🇩🇪🇰🇷🌴😍 Sonny meets another old friend in #MLS
Former Spurs mates Son Heungmin and Timo Werner reunite ahead of #LAFC vs. SJ Earthquakes!
#손흥민 #COYS
🗣️ Cruz Azul head coach Nicolas Larcamon on how #LAFC setup in transition made it difficult to execute his plan to defend Son Heungmin in transition in the first leg of the Concacaf Champions Cup quarter-final 🇰🇷⚽️💨 #손흥민
💥 Son has the versatility to play well in several different ways, but what 🇰🇷 will need more from him at the World Cup is GAME-CHANGING MOMENTS, not solid 90-minute performances.
Have him lurk…until it’s moment for him to do what he does best = running into space and finishing
It’s worth asking yet again. Is Hong Myung-bo sure about pressing this high with a two-man midfield that offers no defensive intensity? You CANNOT keep losing your man inside the box with a back three. It kept happening against Cote d’Ivoire. It happened again on Sabitzer’s goal.
It’s worth asking yet again. Is Hong Myung-bo sure about pressing this high with a two-man midfield that offers no defensive intensity? You CANNOT keep losing your man inside the box with a back three. It kept happening against Cote d’Ivoire. It happened again on Sabitzer’s goal.
FT 🇦🇹 Austria 1-0 Korea 🇰🇷
Korea’s performance itself was not bad, but that’s not the real issue here. This midfield offers nothing defensively. The point of a back three is to have a spare man at the back, but with this midfield, they’re often getting outnumbered defensively.
🤦🏻♂️ Korea already tried playing this “hybrid” high pressing 3-4-3 against Brazil last October and got hammered 5-0. Against teams that are comfortable in possession, pressing high when you’ve got five, six players who have to play deep by nature in this 3-4-3 is tactical suicide.
⬇️🇰🇷 Hong Myung-bo has to make up his mind. If he wants Korea to press high like they did against Cote d’Ivoire, set up an attacking lineup with your usual 4-2-3-1 that you’ve used for a DECADE. You CANNOT keep this bottom-heavy 3-4-3 AND try to press high. This is football 101.
🏥 I want to be cautious as we wait for test results, but having seen Hwang Inbeom’s injury in the Feyenoord-Excelsior match, I suspect that it may be an ankle injury, although many outlets reported it as foot injury from a collision.
I’m told Inbeom is on crutches as a precaution 🙏🏼
🇩🇪📝 IN DEUTSCH!
🔗 www.fifa.com/de/tournamen...
🇰🇷❤️ So glad to have been given the opportunity to speak with Jens Castop, our newest Taegeuk Warrior from Gladbach‼️
EXCLUSIVE on @fifaworldclub.bsky.social!
🔗 www.fifa.com/en/tournamen...
❤️🔥 Choosing Korea
🇩🇪 Playing in Bundesliga
💁🏻♂️ Talks with Hong Myung-bo
Long-form piece in Korean on Naver 🙃
📲🇲🇽🇰🇷⚽️ | "Reaction in Mexico to the #WorldCup draw was, 'We got it. This is easy.'"
@jonarnoldfc.bsky.social on #ElTri, Korea's Group A opponent, playing in the US. He also breaks the shocking news that their fans generally consider Korea to be "easy" 🥹
🔗 youtu.be/nRVF7Rff9rI?...
📻 #TheKoreanFootball Episode 14 with Mazola J. Molefe, South African football reporter for SABC
Spotify
open.spotify.com/episode/43Ww...
Apple Podcasts
podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/e...
Amazon Music
music.amazon.com/podcasts/487...
📻 #TheKoreanFootball Episode 14 with Mazola J. Molefe, South African football reporter for SABC
Spotify
open.spotify.com/episode/43Ww...
Apple Podcasts
podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/e...
Amazon Music
music.amazon.com/podcasts/487...
🇰🇷🇿🇦⚽️📡 Learning more about Korea's #FIFAWorldCup Group A opponent, South Africa, with Mazola J. Molefe!
🔗 open.spotify.com/episode/43Ww...
🗽 "Broos deserves a statue in South Africa"
😤 Teboho Mokoena's brilliance
👏🏻 "Mbokazi had Mo Salah in his pocket"
🛑 South Africa's stingy defence
Come hear me speak Korean!
OK, fine, they added the subtitles in post. Still was a fun conversation.
📲 #FairPoint gets CONCACAFed!
🇰🇷🇲🇽⚽️ @jonarnoldfc.bsky.social, my former colleague at Goal, joins #TheKoreanFootballPodcast to talk about playing at altitude in Guadalajara, where Korea will face the winner of European play-offs and Mexico.
🔗 Full pod: open.spotify.com/episode/7tGz...
📻 NEW POD | The Korean Football Podcast
CONCACAF guru @jonarnoldfc.bsky.social joins me and @jununyc.bsky.social to preview the World Cup for Mexico and Korea.
🇲🇽 Key players’ struggles in Europe
🙃 “We don’t think about you, Korea”
🥊 How Korea and Mexico match up
🔗 open.spotify.com/episode/7tGz...
⛰️🇺🇸 Korea national team boss Hong Myung-bo has been in Denver since Thursday to explore the training facilities in the Mile High City, as he and his team are searching for a pre-World Cup training base to adapt to playing at high altitude to prepare for Guadalajara, Mexico 🇲🇽
📻 NEW POD | The Korean Football Podcast
CONCACAF guru @jonarnoldfc.bsky.social joins me and @jununyc.bsky.social to preview the World Cup for Mexico and Korea.
🇲🇽 Key players’ struggles in Europe
🙃 “We don’t think about you, Korea”
🥊 How Korea and Mexico match up
🔗 open.spotify.com/episode/7tGz...
Wow what am I even watching #AFCON2025
‼️ NEW POD | With @JohnnyDuerden
🇰🇷⚽️📻 Discussing the current state of Korean football with pioneering Asian football writer John Duerden 🙌🏼
🔗 open.spotify.com/episode/3rAU...
🔬 Korean football’s deeper issues
🫣 “KFA = product of Korean culture”
😭 Do we even “deserve” a success?
Here’s the translated versions for those interested:
🇰🇷 www.fifa.com/ko/tournamen...
🇯🇵 www.fifa.com/ja/tournamen...
🇯🇵 Happy to have reconnected with #LAGalaxy captain Maya Yoshida after he had concluded his 22nd season in professional football. Spoke to him about Japan's 3-2 win over Brazil and his thoughts on Son Heung-min at #LAFC. For @fifaworldcup26.bsky.social ⬇️
🔗 www.fifa.com/en/tournamen...
#MLS #손흥민
FT 🇰🇷 2-0 🇵🇾
More than the win itself, the real takeaway here is that Korea weathered the storm with a heavily experimental setup in the last 30 minutes, without Sonny and Inbeom, whilst Minjae was limited to a support role at the back, and even found a way to extend their lead.
‼️ Oh Hyeon-gyu and Lee Kang-in partnership is a key project for Hong Myung-bo’s staff. They’ve been either starting together or both coming on in the second half when there’s more space in behind to attack in transition, and they’ve created big goals against Mexico and Paraguay.
#이강인 #PSG #오현규
🇵🇾🇯🇵🇰🇷 Paraguay boss Gustavo Alfaro after 2-2 draw with Japan and 2-0 loss to Korea: "Korea use their wing-backs more. Whereas Japan play more progressively in triangles, Korea generally attack from wing to centre. In midfield defensively, Korea are more solid as a unit."
