About Jeremy Paek 33 Articles
Korean footy fan/lover of life based in Los Angeles.

15 Comments

    • this announcer is silly at around the 10:50 mark. complaining about Wilmot for belgium subbing in attacking players as a sort of dismissing or disrespecting of the Korean team and basically stating a fact about their chances against Korea. Wilmot’s a douche, but to complain about that is ridiculous. he coached to win. it’s that losing mentality like the announcer’s that needs to be expunged. in the words of herman edwards, “you play to win the game.” ok, that’s a little oversimplifying, but korea needs to care about improving, developing, and becoming the best, not what the world thinks of them.

      • Eh, he’s just an announcer (he’s Kim Sung-Joo BTW). If Ahn Jung-Hwan or Song Jong-Kook had said it that may be one thing since they’re former NT players, but Kim Sung-Joo is a nobody in the Korea footballing world, so it’s kind of moot.

        • no, my point was not meant regarding the players, it’s regarding the way koreans seem to look at soccer and really even life itself. it’s such a recurring thing where koreans get so hung up on what the world thinks of them, and i seriously doubt that’s not somewhere in the background of the culture of those in korean soccer higher ups. it affects the way korea approaches things. i see examples of this in international relations, in the k-pop world, in the reporting about korean food, etc. i’ll admit i’m sort of meta-ranting on an aspect of korean culture, but when it comes to soccer, i hope as you say that nothing like that plays a factor. actually, i hope nothing like that plays a factor in anything in any area of life for koreans.

          • Ah I see. Yes, “image” is a huge thing here. Scrape away the nice top layer and what’s underneath isn’t always pretty. Does that affect soccer here? Maybe to an extent in that the KFA, league, and clubs will say they’re working on things or serious about change, but then don’t do anything serious. But, sports is one of those things that the only way to really create/maintain a good image is results.

  1. Man, the way those guys play together, like pieces of a ridiculously expensive, precision-engineered timepiece… how dey do dat? O.o

    Did they just practice together more? Ofc planning/research was better by coaches & Ger FA, but seriously, so many times, it was like players were reading each others’ minds: they just KNEW where their mates would b, almost passing w/out even looking seemed like. Doing Tiki Taka better than the Spanish. So, does SK just need to practice together more, as well as have better coaching/direction, or is there mebbe sumthin else?

    & to top it all off, most of the Deutsch team r like in their low-mid twenties!:
    http://www.dailymail.co.uk/sport/worldcup2014/article-2691435/Germany-dominate-decade-World-Cup-win-just-start-golden-period-Joachim-Lows-young-guns.html

    They’re just starting on a golden generation

    Scary =O

    • If we’re talking about the finals team, I think they benefit a lot from the fact that most play for Bayern, so they practice and train together all season. Neuer, Boateng, Lahm, Schweinsteiger, Kroos, Muller, and then when he subbed in Gotze.

      • Oh god it’s crazy how many Bayern players were on that team. It explains how they’re always a step ahead it seems, they kind of know where everyone else is… incredible passing – and I’m glad Germany won. A team like Netherlands who in my opinion used too much negativity in the latter stages, especially vs. Argentina, didn’t deserve to win. The two most successful passing teams made it to the finals, and that’s a big win to keeping the beautiful game, beautiful, in a time where parking the bus and grinding out results is so tempting because of it’s effectiveness.

        • It’s not uncommon for successful European teams to have a strong core of players from one or two clubs. Spain of course had a lot of Barca players in their run (Pique, Puyol, Busquets, Xavi, Iniesta, Pedro, David Villa) when they won the World Cup in 2010. Italy’s successes often coincide with a strong core of Juventus and Milan players.

        • The thing that impressed me most bout Arg was tight, compact group defense, as well as individual defender tenacity. But the sweetest chances of the game seemed 2 b thru Arg counters, individuals streaking off & being fed.

          Is SK mebbe too reliant on build up/team play? Or does SK not have the individual talent/pace 4 counters? (Son would like a word w/them on the pace front; I’ve SEEN him counter-run w/Bayer, quite effectively)

          Ofc, if Korea’s midfield doesn’t have the passing talent, vision/awareness, & killer decisiveness, k, then counters might b an issue: no amount of striker pace & intelligent aggressiveness would change the fact no worthwhile passes r forthcoming 🙁

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