“We will play attack-oriented soccer, scoring two goals if one goal works, and we will also develop semi-professional players.”
Choi Young-geun (52), who was appointed as the new head coach of professional soccer’s K-League 1 Incheon United, told Yonhap News Agency on Friday that he will lead the team out of the relegation zone with attacking soccer and actively discover and develop semi-professional players.
“We will play an attack-oriented soccer based on a four-back,” Choi said, “and we will constantly beat the opponent based on forward pressure.”
With extensive experience in college women’s soccer, semi-professional and professional clubs, Choi aims to be an ever-changing coach who does not rest on his laurels.
After taking over as acting head coach of the K3 Changwon City Football Club in 2017 and leading the team to the national championship, Choi continued her professional coaching career as the second team coach of Jeju United (2019) and head coach of Incheon (2020-2022).
Since this year, Choi has been a member of the Technical Study Group (TSG) under the KFA’s Technical Committee, traveling to stadiums across the K League, analyzing games, looking at players objectively and comparing different tactics, which has been a great asset to him as a coach.
“The experience on the field and in the TSG were completely different,” said Choi, who has been coaching for more than 25 years. “Being in the TSG allowed me to look at the team objectively from a third party’s perspective, and analyzing how tactical trends are shaping up broadened my perspective on football.”
He also diligently follows global soccer trends.
He often watches the soccer of Pep Guardiola’s Manchester City (England), Graham Potter’s Brighton & Hove Albion (England), and Jürgen Klopp’s Liverpool (England), and he diligently follows trends in world soccer and thinks about how to apply them to his team.
“The players change every year,” Choi says. If the ingredients (players) change, the flavor of the food (squad) should also change,” Choi said. “We need to get results, but nowadays fans want to see entertaining matches. High-quality performances lead to soccer development,” he said.
The squad is not much different from the one he had two years ago when he was the head coach of Incheon. The key is to maximize their individual abilities.
“Rather than trying to fit players into my mold, I think about how to bring out their strengths, whether physical, technical or mental,” Choi said, adding that it’s no longer an era where coaches evaluate players, but rather players evaluate coaches, and if you don’t keep up with modern football, you’ll eventually be left behind.
“I try to make them understand what kind of performance I expect when I put a player in a certain position,” Choi said, predicting that “if we maximize each player’s strengths, we will be able to use them more widely and become a much better team.”
The team will also be riding the “semi-professional wave” that is sweeping the K League this season with the likes of Yang Min-hyuk (Gangwon) and Yoon Do-young (Daejeon).
Choi, who is in communication with the U-18 team’s head coach, hopes to unearth gems early and turn them into diamonds.
“Kang Min-woo (Ulsan) stands out, and Park Seung-soo (Suwon) is in high school. We are also a civic club, so we need to grow young players quickly,” Choi said. “I also talked to head coach Lim Jung-yong about actively scouting talented youth players and involving them in winter training.”
This season, Incheon is in ninth place (25 points) with five wins, 10 draws and 10 losses in 25 games.
They are one point behind 10th-place Daegu FC (24 points), 11th-place Jeonbuk Hyundai (23 points), and 12th-place Daejeon Hana Citizens (21 points), all in the relegation zone.
Choi’s immediate goal is to steadily lift Incheon out of the shadow of the relegation zone.
“I came here as a firefighter, so I have to put out the fire quickly and wisely,” said Choi, who sees the month of August as a crucial one.
Starting with an away match against eighth-ranked Jeju United on the 10th, followed by a trip to Daejeon on the 17th, a home match against Jeonbuk on the 24th, and a trip to Daegu on the 31st, all against lower-ranked teams, Choi sees it as a chance to rack up points.
Choi has chosen players who give 100 percent in training as well as on the field.
“I’m strict on the training field, but other than that, I think I’m very communicative and generous with the players,” Choi said, explaining his coaching style.
“We didn’t have a clubhouse before. Now the environment is better, and it’s a new and strange feeling to come to Incheon again,” Choi said, adding that as the hardware of the environment has changed, the software of the squad and tactics must also change, promising fans a ‘changed Incheon’. 사설 토토사이트