A few We’ve got two massive updates to digest—starting with Manager Moreno’s freshly dropped November A-match roster and how the squad is handling internal turbulence, and in a separate post, will discuss the breaking news regarding the AFC Asian Cup being delayed from Jan-Feb 2027 to Dec 2027-Feb 2028.
The Squad:
Robert Moreno officially announced the squad for the upcoming November A-matches last week, and it’s essentially the usual names with a few interesting tweaks. The core roster has been called up, unaffected by the media noise and friction surrounding the ’96-line (KMJ HIB HHC) vs the ’92 line (captain SHM and to a lesser extent, LJS). Zero surprise in GK and FW.
The fresh faces are little Jeong Woo Young – the Bayern academy graduate who has been playing in the Bundesliga for nearly 10 years but can’t seem to nail down regular callups to the KNT – as well as 18 year old CM starlet Son Jeong Beom of FC Seoul and the CB duo from the recent Asian Games gold winning squad in Kim Ji Soo and Shin Min Ha.
Notable omissions are Kim Min Su of Rangers – pretty much our ONLY KPA who is an indisputable starter for his club (LKI and LJS are starters but still get rotated from time to time while Minsu starts literally every game) – as well as Lee Gi Hyeok (perhaps the Asian Games controversy might’ve had to do with it?), Yang Hyun Jun and Paik Seung Ho both due to injury, and Bae Jun Ho (not starting regularly from club anymore).
The Elephant in the Room
In his press conference, Moreno didn’t dodge the elephant in the room regarding the recent internal divisions. I think Moreno is actually handling this issue beautifully probably better than any Korean manager could’ve.
During the squad announcement press conference, reporters kept asking Moreno over and over again about this issue and at a certain point he started to get annoyed and openly stated that reporters and commentators continuing to spread unverified rumors about team feuds are harming Korean football. Which is absolutely awesome from our manager, but more importantly he said all the right things.
First, that the objective is ALWAYS to maximize team performance on the pitch. And to facilitate this, he ensured that extensive face-to-face discussions were held between players (specifically the ’96-line and ’92-line) and between the manager and players. He emphasized that no private internal discussions or disciplinary details will be leaked to the media or public [thank you thank you thank you this is the right direction a normal manager should ensure the team is going in]. He laid out four core principles for his teams:
- Mutual Respect: Absolute respect within the squad at all times
- Internal Resolution: What happens inside the team stays inside the team
- Face-to-Face Accountability: Conflicts are resolved directly in person
- Team Above Individual: Players who do not give 100% commitment to the national team will not be called up
Hence why everyone was called up. Moreno stated that player selection is based strictly on what the manager observes in person—not on media rumors, public backlash, or temporary emotional reactions. And even until recently, even after the Asian Cup announcement (more on that later), Moreno was still in Europe meeting up with our KPA.
According to Moreno this is all water under the bridge now and what we’re seeing from the official KFA Youtube channel seems to support it. Maybe it’s all for show, but players are openly talking about the issue and saying that everything’s resolved now. Apparently before the last 2 week international break ended, the ’96-line and ’92-line players met face-to-face and agreed that showing their best performance on the pitch for the national team is the ultimate conclusion. During training, more time was dedicated to open communication than to tactical training to resolve emotional friction. Moreno decided that Son Heung Min remains captain and that there are no issues with team leadership. He states he will focus on what he can control (tactics, player analysis, pitch decisions) and expects the players to deliver on the field despite external media noise.
What the callups tell us
The Midfield: Kim Bong Soo, Park Tae Jun, Park Jin Seob, and Hwang In Beom all made it now with the addition of Son Jeong Beom. SJB I am personally hoping can evolve into our next HIB – him, Park Tae Jun, and Hwang In Beom are all somewhat similar style of players. Moreno loves a CM who makes aggressive, explosive off-the-ball runs into the box, similar to how Park Tae Jun created space for Son Heung Min’s goal against Uruguay by making the run and drawing multiple defenders towards him and away from Son. Now that Hwang In Beom is healthy (he was coming off of injury last time forcing Lee Jae Sung to deputize in CM) hopefully we see improvement in the CM department.
Lee Dong Gyeong as FW? Tokyo Lee has had a bit of a shift in position at Ulsan lately. He used to play RW or CAM under HMB but now plays central attacker/second striker for Ulsan and is the leading Korean goalscorer in the K League (third place overall). This divides the FW line into proper CFs in Oh Se Hun and Oh Hyeon Gyu, and “second strikers” in Son and Tokyo Lee. Speaking of forwards, Cho Gue Sung was excluded – interesting that Oh Se Hun made it but Cho didn’t. In the last round of friendlies, OHG and SHM struggled with chemistry, whereas Oh Se Hun provided target play and aerial hold-up that complemented Son. Cho Gue Sung offers similar target-man qualities and is performing well in Europe (as opposed to Japan). Moreno stated he avoids discussing uncalled players out of respect, but confirmed he is actively monitoring Cho Gue-Sung’s form.
Jeong Woo Young: personally not 100% sure why Little Nose made it while Kim Min Su didn’t, but it is true that JWY is the exact type of high work rate midfielder that Moreno favors. Moreno is all about fluid 4-attacker positional switching, and when he was first appointed it was widely thought that guys like Song Min Kyu, Kim Min Su, Jeong Seung Won, and Jeong Woo Young’s KNT stock would rise. It seems that of these four though Song Min Kyu is the most favored so far. Speaking of left wingers…
Hwang Hee Chan: With Oh Hyeon-gyu and Son Heung-min locking down central spaces without dropping deep, wide midfielders have to tuck inside to help buildup. Moreno will need to prove how he plans to get the best out of Hwang Hee Chan given his recent dip in form.
In summary… the squad isn’t too different and clearly the tactical layout won’t be too difficult either. More importantly, Moreno handled a difficult press conference professionally under interim conditions (with only one month remaining on his contract). He established strict boundaries, ensuring that internal issues are settled face-to-face internally, external noise is ignored, and player selection depends on commitment. Whether he is remembered well, whether he can keep the job for longer, will depend on if the players can deliver results on the pitch during the November matches. And the biggest factor of all – the Asian Games getting postponed – is to be discussed in a separate article to be posted shortly.
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