“The players will play as 10 Kim Jin-gyu.”
Acting head coach Kim Jin-kyu, who is playing his first game as head coach of FC Seoul after the resignation of Ahn Ik-soo, said this and emphasized that the players should play with a strong spirit. “It was a chaotic four days (after Ahn’s resignation), but the players responded well,” he said ahead of the team’s home match against Ulsan Hyundai in the 28th round of the Hana OneQ K League 1 2023, which kicks off at 7 p.m. on Sunday at Seoul World Cup Stadium. They are very well trained, so I have high expectations.”
Seoul announced on Feb. 22 that it had accepted the resignation of former coach Ahn Ik-soo, who announced his intention to step down shortly after the match against Daegu FC on Feb. 19, and appointed assistant coach Kim Jin-gyu as acting head coach. Seoul had gone five games without a win (three draws and two losses) before the last round. The team is ranked fifth in the K League 1 (39 points), but has only a one-point gap to seventh-place Daegu (38 points), which is in the Final B. Amidst the dark cloud of missing out on the Final B for the third consecutive season, Ahn relinquished the reins, saying, “The team needs a change.”
Kim, who made his professional debut with Jeonnam in 2003, joined Seoul in 2007 and, with the exception of a season in China and Japan (2011), played in black until 2015. He played 270 games (220 league, 35 ACL, 15 FA Cup) for Seoul and was part of the team’s heyday, which included two league titles (2010-2012), one FA Cup title (2015), and an ACL runner-up finish (2013). He retired from active duty with Daejeon in 2017 and returned to Seoul in 2018 to coach the U-18 team Osango before joining the first team coaching staff in 2020.
Since joining the coaching staff, he has served as a substitute three times. That’s why he was more determined to turn things around against Ulsan than he was nervous. “It’s a little different (from my previous assignments). I train and prepare. Everything starts and ends with me,” he said, “I talked to the players a lot. I asked them what was hard for them during the game, what game they would do best, and their training, and I made tactics and strategies based on that.”
Kim started striker Ilyuchenko, who hadn’t gotten many chances under Ahn, in the starting lineup, and also entrusted Choi Chul-won, who had been pushed aside after a series of mistakes earlier in the season. “Ilyuchenko was very good in practice after the last game, and I had a meeting with him that day and said, ‘If you prepare like this, I’ll give you a chance to start,'” Kim said. He’s very motivated. He’s going to be great.” Also on the reserve list is Ji Dong-won, who played well in the last match against Daegu. Kim said, “Ji Dong-won is the same. He’s full of energy and has been good in training. I think he’ll perform even better than before,” he said, adding, “He was heavy once recently, so I asked him what was wrong, and he said, ‘I’m concentrating on the game.’ I haven’t even picked my starting 18 for the game…” he joked.온라인바카
“When I was a coach, one of my complaints with the players was that they played too quietly. “When I was a player, I didn’t think I could lose to anyone, and I fought hard,” he said. “You have to be a team that always wants to win. “When I played, I didn’t think I was going to lose to anyone, and I fought hard,” he said, “We have to be a team that always looks to win.” “If people around me say that Seoul will lose today, I expect the players’ spirits will rise and they will adapt to my code,” he said.