It is an era in which the ability of a leader results in grades.
K League 1’s Gangwon FC and K League 2’s Chungnam Asan are the teams with the most unexpected performances in professional football this season.
After the 35th round, Gangwon Province is ranking second by competing with Ulsan HD, the top team, by a gap of four points. Due to the relegation battle last year, many predict that the team will remain at the bottom of the list this season, but now they are considering winning the title. The team will definitely advance to the Asian Football Confederation Champions League next season.
The Asan team in South Chungcheong Province is also facing fierce competition. Asan in South Chungcheong Province, which has 57 points, is three points behind FC Anyang. The team is targeting promotion by racing to win the title until the very last minute. Given the current ranking, the team is highly likely to face off against 11th place in the K-League 1.
The two teams with unexpected performances have something in common. It is the fact that there is a head coach who demonstrates excellent leadership. Now the coach cannot do everything alone. The division of labor is important. If the coach takes the overall framework and leads the entire team, the structure in which the coach shares detailed tasks according to the direction of the coach is becoming the norm of modern soccer. Gangwon and Asan, South Chungcheong Province, are also successful in this model.
Chung Kyung-ho, a senior coach who is assisting Gangwon coach Yoon Jeong-hwan, is a leader who has already gone viral for having outstanding capabilities in the soccer community. Yoon is known to entrust Chung in various areas, including tactics, strategy and training. With know-how and experience he has accumulated at Gimcheon Sangmu and Seongnam FC, he has contributed to maximizing Gangwon’s capabilities. Throughout his career in Seongnam, Gimcheon Sangmu and Gangwon Province, Chung’s diverse abilities have shone. Chung’s advice was also helpful in the process where Hwang Moon-ki, Lee Yoo-hyun and Lee Kyu-hyuk changed positions. In fact, Hwang wore the national flag after transforming into a side back and expressed his gratitude to Chung.
Chung is a leader who has more than almost any other coach’s experience. He spent his days rather splendidly, as he was a member of the World Cup when he was a player. Born in 1980, he is young, but he has already been teaching players in the professional soccer field for nine years. He has taken a path that would not be strange for him to take right now as a coach.
The secretariat, including Yoon, the team’s CEO and Kim Byung-ji, has positive reviews. “Yoon’s leadership and coach Chung’s detailed guidance meet to create synergy effect,” a source familiar with Gangwon’s situation said. “The club also considers coach Chung as a key manpower.”
In Asan, South Chungcheong Province, led by head coach Kim Hyun-seok, Bae Sung-jae is known as the hidden assistant. Kim took the helm of the pro league for the first time this year. He has been a leader for more than 10 years in the K-League. That is why the role of the coach was more important. 안전놀이터
Although Bae retired early as a player, he has a long career as a leader both overseas and domestically. Although it is not well known, he attracted attention in the Korean soccer community by leading the Goyang KH to the K4 League title in 2022. After his retirement, Bae focused on studying soccer and established his own coaching method. This year, he has provided ideas in various ways, including training and tactics, to Kim, contributing to the surprising rise in Asan, South Chungcheong Province.
“Coach Bae is a leader who has made achievements in lower leagues,” said an official familiar with the situation in Asan, South Chungcheong Province. “Coach Kim encompasses the team well and Coach Bae enhances the completeness of soccer.”