“Hope and anxiety coexist…Choi Chul-won must overcome himself”
FC Seoul head coach Kim Ki-dong’s troubles have deepened.
Seoul lost the eighth round of the Hana Bank K League 1 2024 with a 2-3 defeat to Jeonbuk Hyundai on Tuesday at 4:30 p.m. at Seoul World Cup Stadium. Seoul’s winless jinx against Jeonbuk extended to 21 matches (5 draws and 15 losses) and Seoul lost its second straight match.
It was a nail-biter. Seoul conceded in the seventh minute when goalkeeper Choi Chul-won’s attempt to clear a ball was blocked by Song Min-kyu’s tackle and headed straight into the goal. Seoul equalized three minutes later when Ilyuchenko headed in a corner kick, and then took the lead in the 30th minute when Palosevic slotted home a cross from Cho Young-wook.
However, Seoul conceded an equalizer in the 39th minute through Lee Young-jae and took the lead four minutes into the second half when Jeon Byung-kwan converted an overhead kick. Seoul pushed forward in search of a winner, but were unable to find the back of the net and suffered the loss.
After the game, head coach Kim Ki-dong said, “It’s our second straight loss at home. We’ve been working hard to improve our players. We just can’t seem to get lucky. Luck is also skill, but we have a lot to be disappointed with in terms of conceding goals. It’s a crisis, yes. We need to prepare again for a week with a sense of crisis and have time to rebound.”
“It’s one jinx after another, so I don’t think you can just not pay attention. I don’t think we scored because they created well. At the end, we had a goal that comes once a year, and we conceded too easily. Against Pohang, we hit the post four times and all their shots were on target. Of course, luck is part of it. We created the situation. We need to improve and we will not be discouraged and we will prepare brightly from there,” he added.
The difference in performance between the first and second halves was also attributed to the atmosphere. “I think it’s more about the atmosphere than the physical part. When things are going well offensively, we are energized, but when we give up the initiative or concede a goal, we feel like we are sinking.”
Choi made a big mistake during the first goal. “If I treat the players with anxiety, they won’t have faith in me. If I trust them, I think they’ll reciprocate. I talked to Chul-won 메이저토토사이트 about it. You have to overcome the pressure yourself,” he emphasized.
Kim emphasized the mental strength of his players before the game. In particular, Choi Joon made the most of a loose ball to score the game-winning goal. It was exactly what Kim wanted to see. “I talked to the players in the locker room after the first half. I told them that they scored because of that. Even though we lost, we didn’t give up and tried to fight to the end, which is a positive thing,” he said.
Kim said that hope and anxiety coexist. “It will continue to get better, but if it doesn’t change quickly, I can’t see hope. In the first half, the most uneasy part is the departure of (Kim) Joo-sung, Lingard, and (Lee) Seung-mo. On the side, (Lee) Tae-seok and (Kang) Sung-jin are also out of the national team, so we don’t have a good plan for replacements depending on the situation. (Kim) Jin-ya is not in a position to stand out. I think he did his job,” he explained.