South Korea’s Best 11

The big mystery with the national team is their starting lineup. During the many practice games before arriving in Russia, Korea played every game with changes to both the lineup and formation leaving many fans confused and frustrated about who would actually be playing come our first game against Sweden. As a result, I will give you my take on which 11 players should start in Russia and what formation the team should use for the most success.

The Problem

Practice matches leading to a World Cup can be used to experiment different lineups, however the main goal should be to calibrate the team. It takes time to develop chemistry and understanding between players (A team like Spain would need much less time to calibrate because so many of their starting 11 come from the same two teams Real Madrid and Barcelona). The SAME defensive line should have experience playing together against opponents with different styles. The SAME forwards should have experience creating goal scoring opportunities together against opposing defenses with different styles. Unfortunately, Korea did not establish a best 11 prior to the World Cup and will thus have its starting 11 play together for the first time against Sweden.

Formation: 4–4–2

Formations are a chess match set to counter the opposing team by exploiting their weaknesses and nullifying their strengths. Sweden will most likely come out with the 4–4–2 formation. The obvious counter to the 4–4–2 would be using a 3–5–2, which Korea did experiment with during their practices matches, however, those experiments did not go too well. I love a good three-back but based off the team’s lackluster performances with it, I advocate using the 4–4–2 simply because Korea plays better with it and as an underdog , we should play to our strengths.

Now lets take a look at my starting 11…

Goalkeeper: Jo Hyeonwoo

For the position of staring keeper, experience plays a very important role because keepers cannot afford to make mistakes. With that being said, for this world cup I would pick Jo Hyeonwoo over the more experienced Kim Seunggyu. This is because Kim has consistently underperformed for the national team. He does not bring a sense of stability in goal, lacks confidence and often makes judgment errors when coming off his line. Although Jo has less experience, in my opinion, he has a more commanding and stable presence in goal.

Defense: Park Jooho (Left Back), Lee Yong (Right Back), Kim Youngkwon (Center Back), Jang Hyunsoo (Center Back)

In the modern game, the outside defender is not only judged on their ability to defend, but their ability to go forward and aid in the attack. Often the stat that people care most about with outside defenders is the number of crosses they produce in a game. The greatest example of an excellent fullback for the Korean national team is the legendary defender Lee Young Pyo. Currently, the best two-way fullbacks in Korea’s world cup squad are Park Jooho and Lee Yong. Both provide a sense of stability and consistency on defense while possessing enough technical ability to assist the offense going forward.

With center backs it comes down to two things: Their ability to defend well against the oppositions best offensive threats and their ability to provide stable build up play from the back. With those two criteria in mind, I believe Kim Youngkwon and Jang Hyunsoo are the best center back options. To be honest, I am not a fan of Kim Youngkwon. His defensive skills and link up play abilities are lacking and he is prone to making mistakes. However, he is the most experienced defender in the squad and based off the practice games he seemed decent. He is a safe choice. On the other hand, I am a fan Jang Hyunsoo, but he has a history of letting me down. I think his link up play is decent and he defends well when forwards have the ball at their feet. However, he is weak in both positioning and timing with balls that come through the air.

Midfield: Ki Sungyueng (Center Mid), Jung Wooyoung (Center Mid), Son Heungmin (Left Mid), Lee Jaesung (Right Mid)

Center midfielders are responsible for controlling the flow and tempo of the game. They provide creative playmaking on the offensive end and stable ball retention/positioning on the defensive end. Without question, the best center midfielder on the team is captain Ki Sungyueng. He possesses both stable ball retention and creative vision to command our midfield. The issue is who we would place in the midfield as Ki Sungyueng’s partner. The safest bet is probably Jung Wooyoung. Jung is a dull player. He is unable to control and command the flow of the team’s offense by himself. To be honest, his ball retention is mediocre and his decision-making is on the slower side. But in order to relieve some of Ki’s defensive responsibilities I think he is a safe choice. His passing ability lacks creativity, but overall he is relatively stable. The only issue I have with this pair is speed. Both Ki and Jung aren’t the fastest players and a slow midfield may put extra stress our defense.

The left and right midfielders will be the players to provide the creative flair to attack or “go at” the oppositions defenders. I have chosen Son Heungmin and Lee Jaesung as the respective outside midfielders. Many would argue that Son should be up top as a forward with Hwang Heechan, however I have placed him as a winger. This is to maximize the strengths of Lee Seungwoo. Based off the practice games Lee Seungwoo showed that at the wing, he is excellent at cutting inside and attacking more centrally, however he had much more difficulty attacking directly down the line and providing crosses. Thus I have placed Son out on the wing because he is capable of attacking down the line or cutting to the inside. Son and Lee Jaesung are our two most creative players and must be used to maximize our attack. Many Korean fans have criticized Son for underperforming for the national team. It is true that he has underperformed for Korea, especially with how well he has done for his club, Tottenham Hotspurs. I think it is important to understand that because Son is our star player every team that plays South Korea makes it a priority to shut him down. We often see quick pressure applied on Son as soon as he receives the ball along with double teams. This is not the case on Tottenham because he plays with star teammates such Harry Kane, Deli Ali, and Christian Eriksen. In the Premier League, teams cannot afford to double team Son because it would leave his other teammates far too open. This is not the case with South Korea where opposing teams see Son as the only offensive threat, and thus feel they can afford to apply that extra pressure.

Forwards: Lee Seungwoo, Hwang Heechan

The main job of the forward is to score goals. Korea has always struggled to find a reliable player in this department. In terms of goal scoring threat, Hwang Heechan and Lee Seungwoo may not have the best finishing abilities, but they make up for the lack of finishing in other ways. Hwang is excellent in his ability to apply pressure to the opponents back line. He makes powerful runs behind the defense and is able to provide holding and link-up play up top. Lee Seungwoo is a quick player that excels in quick tiki taka style passes in tight spaces while also possessing the ability to dribble directly at opposing players. Both players may not score many goals directly, however they both possess the tools to create goal scoring chances for their teammates.