The ‘promoted team’ Gwangju FC’s offensive football declaration is challenging, but not reckless.
Gwangju will return to K-League 1 after one season. After suffering the pain of relegation in the 2021 season, he made a fresh start under manager Lee Jung-hyo, and he immediately achieved great results. Last season, he climbed to first place with an overwhelming gap. With four games left, the early championship and promotion were confirmed. It also set a new record for the most wins and the most points in K-League 2 history.
In K-League 1, he continues his unstoppable challenge. We plan to push the keynote of playing aggressive football as it is. Coach Lee said at the media camp press conference for field training, “My color is to try to score two goals if I score one goal, and three goals if I score two goals.” said.
Coach Lee clearly conveyed his thoughts to his players. Aware of the coach’s will, the players are preparing to play aggressive soccer as instructed. Um Ji-seong said, “I’m following the soccer that the coach wants. I think I can show more aggressive soccer than last year in the K-League 1.”
It may seem a bit reckless for a promoted team to shout ‘attack forward’. There are not a few cases where a team is motivated to fight back against a stronger team and then collapse. However, coach Lee and the Gwangju team have confidence. And there is a basis for this confidence.
Gwangju already had the experience메이저사이트 of breaking expectations last season. It was not a team that was considered as the first or second candidate for the championship before the season, but it dominated first place for a long time and even won the championship. Coach Lee believes that this year’s players will prove that Gwangju is by no means weak. “I am confident because I believe in our players. The players have grown a lot while winning the K League 2 and conducting winter training,” he said. “I look forward to seeing what our players will show in K League 1 and how far they can go. He expressed his confidence in the team.
Also, Gwangju’s offensive soccer is not ‘soccer that only attacks’. Rather, defense is fundamental. Even the striker should be the front-line defender when the opponent has the ball. Everyone goes on the attack, but at the same time, everyone has to defend. So, coach Lee orders various movements in terms of location selection and space utilization during training so that players can move with many options.
Gwangju midfielder Jeong Ho-yeon said, “You said you play offensive soccer, but you don’t just play aggressively. He always emphasizes that defense should be the basis first, and you can’t play without defense. To attack, our team must have the ball. And so “To do this, you have to prevent the opponent from having the ball. In that respect, the coach gives very detailed instructions on the pressure on the opponent, the speed of defensive transition when the ball is stolen, understanding of space, position, etc.” did.
That is why defenders do not feel burdened by attacking football. Gwangju captain and main center back Ahn Young-gyu also said, “Stable defense is the basis.” “A striker doesn’t just attack. An attacker can be a defender. “I don’t worry about defense because I play attacking football,” he said.
Gwangju’s record last season also shows that the defense is as strong as the offense. According to the ‘2022 K-League Technical Report’, Gwangju ranked 2nd in the most goals in last year’s K-League 2 (68 goals) and 1st in the number of attacks that led to shooting (437). And at the same time, the expected number of goals was the lowest in the league with 37.5 goals, and the actual goals were also the least with 32 goals. The 0.8 run per game is also the second lowest in K-League 2 history (1st place, 2018 Asan Mugunghwa 0.75).