'AGAIN 2018' Gyeongnam to lay foundation for future with director Lee Eul-yong
'AGAIN 2018' Gyeongnam to lay foundation for future with director Lee Eul-yong
Blog Article
Gyeongnam FC is preparing for a new era with head coach Lee Eul-yong.
South Gyeongsang Province was once a team of sensation receiving attention in the K-League. It ranked first in the K-League Challenge (currently K-League 2) in the 2017 season. At the time, South Gyeongsang Province recorded 79 points with 24 wins, seven draws and five losses, the highest number of points won in the history of the K-League Challenge.
South Gyeongsang Province's gusts continued in the K League 1 as well. The team showed unusual performances by winning consecutive games in the first four games of the 2018 season. Since then, Park Ji-soo, Choi Young-joon, Malkong and Negeva have continued to show strong performances, eventually leading to the runner-up finish in the league.
That was it. South Gyeongsang Province advanced to the AFC Champions League for the first time in the 2019 season, but its team faltered as a large number of its key players left the team. Eventually, the team finished the league in 11th place, and was demoted to Busan I'Park by posting one draw and one loss in the promotion and playoff.
South Gyeongsang Province immediately tried to get promoted, but it was not enough. It was frustrated at the threshold of promotion in the 2020 season. It was eliminated from the playoffs in the 2022 and 2023 seasons. Last season, it failed to make the playoffs after a slump. A major change was needed.
Gyeongnam selected Lee Eul-yong as its head coach after the end of last season. Park Won-jae was subsequently appointed as the captain to lead the team, and Lee Kang-hee and Ryu Won-woo were appointed as vice-captain.
South Gyeongsang is aiming at the mid-ranked team in this season. It is somewhat realistic, but the team is committed to lay the groundwork for its future. Coach Lee Eul-yong narrowed the gap between offense and defense in order to strengthen defense, which was his weakness last season, and attempted to make changes by replacing a large number of foreign players.
Ahead of the 2025 season, South Gyeongsang Province has conducted its first off-season training in Chiang Mai and is currently conducting its second off-season training in Changwon. The focus should be on finishing the game. The team aims to take advantage of opportunities when scoring goals. In addition, the team is preparing to own balls through detailed plays in the midfield and how to target dense defense.
Lee Eul-yong was famous as a charismatic player when he was an active player. In South Gyeongsang Province, however, Lee is approaching players with friendliness rather than hardness. Of course, Lee is strict on the field, but he changes when he goes off the field. Rumors say that since Lee took the helm, the team's mood has improved compared to before. 토토사이트
Coach Lee Eul-yong said, "Since our rankings fell too much last season, we should definitely come up this year. If we do our best in every game, our rankings can naturally rise. The first goal is to be in the mid-range. The most important thing is whether we can accumulate early points."