▶ High-value veterans who are marginalized
The problem is that veteran players with high salaries have been neglected while such young players have not been able to produce results. Suwon is, of course, a team that spends the highest team annual salary in K League 2, and a large portion of this budget is held by veterans.
There were numerous veteran players, including Kim Bo-kyung, Jang Ho-ik, Lee Jong-sung, Kim Kyung-joong, Choi Sung-geun, and Baek Dong-gyu, but most of them were turned away from coach Byun’s stay. In particular, Kim Kyung-joong and Choi Sung-geun virtually failed to play in the 2024 season and stayed in the second division.
“Bae Sung-hwan earned just 0.3 more points compared to Suwon Samsung and Yeom Ki-hoon.”
▶ Was it right to actively use young players during the promotion period
The most important thing that changed after manager Byun Sung-hwan took office was the active recruitment of young players. When the summer transfer market opened for existing youth resources such as Park Seung-soo and Jang Seok-hwan, young players Lee Kyu-dong, Bae Seo-joon, and Lee Jae-wook, who were lagging behind in competition in the K League 1, were hired on loan.
Park Seung-soo set a new record for the youngest score in K-League history and scored two goals in July as soon as Lee Kyu-dong was recruited, making manager Byun’s use look right.
However, the young players provided a brief moment of enthusiasm, but when the entire season was put together, it left only a record that remained questionable whether it was a success.
Park Seung-soo, who was born in 2007, was the most promising player in Suwon this season, had only one goal and two assists in 14 games despite being selected. Lee Gyu-dong, who was born in 2004, had no goals in nine matches after two goals in July, and Bae Seo-joon, who was born in 2003, also had 16 chances but managed only one goal and two assists. Midfielder Lee Jae-wook, who was born in 2001, who was on loan from Ulsan HD, also failed to score any offensive points in four matches.
Of course, young players have accumulated experience and they did well despite their young age. Nor do we doubt their potential. However, recruiting young players in the transfer market has no benefit to Suwon as it has to return to its original team on loan. Also, Suwon is not a team that seeks its future by cultivating young players like other lower-ranking teams. It is a team that needs to be promoted immediately, and although it has hired a large number of young players, it did not produce the results it wanted.
In any sport, the mood and discipline of the team are determined by how they treat veteran players and how they feel. Coach Byun put the emphasis on younger players and rejected veteran players. If the result was good, he might have made the right choice. As mentioned above, however, younger players did not produce significant results, and some veteran players were asked to cancel their contracts during the season, which dampened his morale.
Of course, veteran players may have tried less and may not have met the coach’s demands. Veteran players cannot be solely attributed to the coach’s failure to receive the coach’s choice. They should have shown good performance in training in a physical condition that the coach can understand.
However, Suwon has many veteran players, including former national team players and experienced overseas league players. However, Byun, the coach of the U-17 national team, vowed at the inaugural press conference that he would raise young players by saying, “We will create an atmosphere where young players of the club can receive systematic management from a good system and contribute to the team.” As a result, veterans who are as young as 10 years old and 12 years old have lost the opportunity.
▶”More than half of the power” Foreign players who played well can’t play well
In addition, Byeon Sung-hwan, who has no professional coaching experience, was the first to operate a foreign player and revealed serious weaknesses in this area.
When summer transferred to E-Land, Seoul, he had traded with midfielder Kazuki and received Peter. However, Peter who came to Suwon had only one goal and one assist, while Kazuki contributed to advancing to the playoffs as a key player for E-Land.
While Tungara, who effectively released Tungara, went to Cheonan FC and became a completely different player with four goals and three assists in 13 games, Paulino, who was brought from Cheonan, only scored one goal and three assists in 12 games. Paulino was huge with nine goals and one assist in 18 games for Cheonan, but has become an ordinary player in Suwon. 메이저놀이터
Mylat, who was newly recruited, disappeared with two goals and one assist in 10 games.
Soccer officials often say that foreign farming accounts for more than half of the K-League’s performance. The situation is even worse in the case of the K-League 2. However, failed farming by foreigners has hampered Suwon, which failed to advance to the semi-playoff due to lack of “one-shot” skills.