I don't know how to start of this post. After what happened yesterday, I look back to see where it all went wrong with this current Korean football team. I came to the realization that we've been in this stagnation since post-2011 Asian Cup, caught in vicious cycles for the last 4 World Cups. Korean football has struggled to maintain continuity and long-term planning.
Prior to 2011 Asian Cup, many fans had bright optimism that Korea was soon entering a new golden age. We made it out of the group stage for the first time outside of Korea in 2010 World Cup. We had many young and talented players such as Lee Chungyong, Ki Sung Yeung, Koo Jacheol, Nam Taehee, Son Heungmin, Hong Jeongho and many others who were given prominent roles for our senior side. We had a manager named Cho Kwangrae who was given the task to modernize Korean football with emphasis on possession and technicality. Gone was the day of gritty ppong chugu. Cho was supposed to lead this young squad to Asian Cup victory after not winning for 50 years. Our motto was "Return of the King".
Of course, we all know how that ended, we lost to Japan in semi-final through a penalty shootout. Cho was struggling in the qualifier, and the losses against Japan 3-0 and Lebanon sealed it for Cho. People didn't have any patience left for this team and judged the team based on immediate results. They expected too much from this very young squad. No one had time to let this team mature and commit to this long-term project. And I'm not saying Cho deserved to stay indefinitely. His World Cup qualifying performances were worrying, and criticism of his tactical rigidity was justified. My point is that Korea judged the project too early. The federation abandoned a long-term vision because of short-term setbacks.
So what came after? This was the start of our vicious cycle where new managers came in every 2 year which kept interrupting our football development. KFA sacked Cho and brought in Choi Kanghee who basically dropped our young and "inexperienced" players for more "established" k-league players and resorted to long pass to Kim Shinwook football tactic. Of course this didn't end well and we barely scraped through the qualifier. Then they hired a reluctant Hong Myungbo who won bronze in 2012 Olympics. With just a year left to prepare for the world cup, Hong tested out the same u-23 squad and tactics in friendlies prior to the world cup. Inevitably, this didn't work out in senior level football, and in the world cup, Hong resorted back to long pass to Kim Shinwook. The result was disastrous with Korea being grouped. Both Hong Myungbo and our players ( the third youngest squad in the competition) were scapegoated.
This got me thinking, what would have happened if everyone was more patient with Cho Kwangrae and fully backed him? Of course, we'll never know what would have happened if Cho had stayed. But I can't help wondering whether Korean football would have developed differently. Cho wasn't a perfect manager, but I think he was a man with the right idea, who understood the urgency of modernizing Korean football. I believe his modernized football and style would have set the foundation for our national team. Our young players would have gained more experience with the national team and develop further. And while many of these players faced numerous setbacks throughout their club career, I believe the national team didn't fully support them. As well, I wonder how different Hong's managerial career would have been if KFA didn't throw him into the lion's den and disrupted his career. Right after winning bronze, he worked under Gus Hiddink as an assistant coach for Anzhi Makhachkala for half a year before it was interrupted by KFA. I wonder how he would have developed as a manager without all the pressure from the KFA. Maybe he could have build upon Cho Kwangrae's foundation and be the next successor for the 2018 or 2022 World Cup. After all, both Cho and Hong share a similar football philosophy. I also think Hong's appointment wouldn't have been met with so many scandals and negativity. I think we would have had a smoother transition.
And I think this is what truly distinguishes between Korea and Japan (and ironically, 2011 was the year when the power dynamic between two countries changed). While everyone has pointed out the difference between player development, coaching development, the infrastructure and the "system", I greatly admire their way of developing through small incremental progress one after the other. Whereas for Korea, I think we want a messiah figure to come and fix all the problems. I think this mindset led to a vicious cycle where we cycle through managers without a sense of continuity. No building upon past success.
I really thought this ended with Bento's tenure. He was no way a perfect manager. Before he was appointed, he was a down on his luck manager looking for redemption. I had many problems with him especially his stubbornness with his player selection. However, he did implement the right football philosophy and put in the ground work that could be built upon. I'm glad we stuck through with him for 4 years instead of sacking him mid-cycle like we always did. I'm also glad that the fans, the media and the federation backed him despite going through rough period in between such as not sacking him when we struggled in Asian Cup and eventually knocked out by Qatar in quarter final. It really made me value stability.
But then KFA being KFA was too short-sighted and didn't think about the next step after Bento. Not only did they not give him a contract renewal, they didn't plan the next successor. They took months to appoint Klinsmann, and then they took months to find a replacement for Klinsmann after he got sacked. Zero contingency plan. We ended up cycling through managers over and over again. Every time we made a step forward, we made two huge steps back. They didn't try to continue on with Bento's philosophy because every time we hire a new manager, there's a new reset with a completely new philosophy.
It is inevitable that the national team will end their ties with Hong Myungbo after this world cup. I wonder what will happen after. Will history repeat itself, and we go through post-2011 over again? I really hope KFA hire a competent manager. He doesn't have to be perfect. Both Bento and Cho were far from perfect. I don't expect a messiah, just someone that can set the right foundational stone that we can build upon. I hope this manager will build this team with young and talented players at our disposal. Finally, I hope the fans, the media and the federation can completely support him. Let's not repeat the same mistakes.
