A very quiet weekend for the KPA this weekend – plenty of playing time but no goals.
[tb]
Player, Club, Opponent, Result, Notes
Son Heungmin, Tottenham, @Arsenal, 0-0 D, 89′
Ji Dongwon, Augsburg, @Ingolstadt, 2-0 W, 90′
Koo Jacheol, Augsburg, @Ingolstadt, 2-0 W, 90′
Lee Chungyong, Palace, @Burnley, 3-2 L, bench
Ki Sungyueng, Swansea, @ManU, 3-1 L, 90′
Hwang Heechan, Red Bull Salzburg, @Mattersburg, 2-1 L, 90′
Suk Hyun-Jun, Trabzonspor, @Besiktas, 0-0 D, 1′[/tb]
Perhaps the most remarkable story of the weekend came from Son Heungmin‘s Tottenham side. Both Arsenal and Tottenham were on unbeaten streaks, but Arsenal was in very good form while Tottenham had endured a torrid spell in which they drew 5 PL games and lost 2 CL games in their past 7 games. So a full hour before the match, Pocchettino had decided to play a 3-5-2 formation with SHM and Harry Kane up top, and things like this generally get announced on TV, social media, and other pre-match information hubs. In theory, the Arsenal press team would surely have seen this and relayed it to Wenger and the players. However, apparently not a single Arsenal player or coach was aware of this. Surprised by the shift in tactics, Arsenal initially struggled to change their style to counter the 3-5-2. Of course, when things like this happen conspiracy theories start to arise and indeed, Rio Ferdinand came up with a theory that there are Tottenham fans in Arsenal’s… arsenal. Read more about it here.
As for SHM’s performance he played generally well but really should have converted some chances. There is actually still controversy going on whether SHM should have challenged Petr Cech for that ball around 3:43 in the video below. The way I see it, it’s a 50-50 ball and if I were SHM I probably wouldnt have risked the injury – because it’s collisions with goalkeepers like this that get players injured. But some TTH fans disagree:
Hwang Heechan did not get on the scoresheet this week, but he played his first 90′ game with RB Salzburg. For those of you who did not catch Hwang’s brace after being subbed on in the Europa League, here are his highlights – 2 goals in 2 minutes (he was subbed on in the 70th minute – what an impact he made)
Ji Dongwon and Koo Jacheol had yet another fantastic day in the office as Augsburg defeated Ingolstadt 2-0 in the dying minutes of the game. Neither of them scored – in fact, it was the recently recovered from injury Raul Bobadilla who finally broke the deadlock – but played very well yet again Either way, Ji is just getting better and better with every game, and is looking more and more like the obvious candidate to be our lone forward on the KNT.
Ki Sungyong didn’t have the best of days playing against Man United, with the team getting rekt 3-0 in the first half before recovering in the second half to make it 3-1. Swansea almost certainly has one of the worst, if not the worst, defense in the entire league, and unless they find a replacement for the departed Ashley Williams they actually might get relegated this year. Here are Ki’s ball touches – it’s very interesting to see Paul Pogba pressuring Ki at every opportunity:
Arsenal was Not unbeaten. They lost against Liverpool long time ago (home opener). Do you even watch EPL? Only Spurs were unbeaten coming into this game. Son did not score, but he was vital in another draw against Arsenal. They should have won if not for off-side OG.
Ko and Ji did not score but played well for Augsburg as they won by 0-2.
There’s a reason why I said “streak” – that Liverpool loss was the PL opened in mid-August
There is more to this game than scoring cheap goals.
Take a chill pill bro
My gosh Swansea is the 2nd lowest ranked team. Gosh a relegation should would suck. I hope they don’t get relegated. :/ They gotta get that defense worked out… seriously.
sure* not should