“Wake up, Jeonbuk!” “Shut up and attack!”
DGB Daegu Bank Park in Daegu on the 19th, where Jeonbuk Hyundai and Daegu FC held the 4th round of the 2023 K League 1. In Daegu’s homeroom, the voices of away fans shouting for the awakening of the Jeonbuk team resonated during the game. The face of Jeonbuk coach Kim Sang-sik (47), looking at the crowd, was full of pensiveness.
Jeonbuk, the ‘championship candidate’ who promised to regain the championship trophy lost to rivals Ulsan Hyundai last year, was proof that the sluggish performance at the beginning of the season was not serious. In fact, Jeonbuk’s report card this year is disappointing. Although it was still only 4 games, they fell to 8th place with 1 win, 1 draw and 2 losses, including a 0-2 loss to Daegu. Director Kim lowered his head, saying, “I think there is criticism because I didn’t do as well as the fans expected.”
Fans seem disappointed by the disappearance of ‘Dak Gong’, who scored an average of one goal per game, despite the results. Dak-gong, an abbreviation of shut-up and attack, is more than just a nickname, it symbolizes the identity of Jeonbuk soccer. In the 2010s, when former head coach Choi Kang-hee was at the helm, he commanded the K-League with this football in which he scored two goals for one goal. It was thanks to Lee Dak-gong, who was not afraid of conceding, that an ordinary local soccer team boasted the most popularity in the K-League.
The unfortunate thing is that the disappearance of Dak-Gong is not an overnight problem. Since director Choi said a beautiful farewell in December 2018, the color of Dak-gong has faded as the command tower has changed to Jose Morais (2019-2020) and director Kim Sang-shik (2021-present). This trend is revealed in the ‘multi-goal’ ratio (the ratio of games with multiple goals in the regular league), which can be said to be an indicator of Dak-gong.
According to ‘Opta’, a sports statistics company, the decline is clear when comparing from 2017 to this year, when the three coaches can be seen as holding the baton for a similar period. If Choi’s multi-goal rate, the original Dakgong’s, is 64.5% (49/76), Morais and Kim’s scores are only 58.5% (38/65) and 46.9% (38/81), respectively. Even if it is not a multi-goal, Jeonbuk is taking a backward step in all offensive indicators such as average points per game, shooting, and effective shooting.
It is said that it happened because the Morais system emphasized balance, but it is more regrettable that the Kim Sang-sik system could not save it even though it dreamed of becoming a dak-gong. At the time of his inauguration in 2021, coach Kim also pledged, “If you are Jeonbuk, you must score at least two goals per game.” 토토사이트
Coach Kim’s loss of Dak-Gong is largely due to the loss of speed as well as the color of football in the past being faded due to excessive generational change. This year, with Gambian all Barrow leaving for Al-Ahli, there are fewer fixers on the flanks to break down the opposition’s defence. It is regrettable that Lee Dong-joon, who was regarded as an alternative, lost his momentum in the early stages after injuring his hamstring in the opening match against Ulsan.
Coach Kim is in the position that he will focus his energy on reviving Dak-gong during the break he got from an A match in March. The organic play of the existing Jeonbuk players and the newly joined players must be revived, while the condition of the injured players must also be improved. Coach Kim, who sighed, saying, “I always prepare plans hotly, but it is not easy to play football like Jeonbuk,” stood on the test bed of revival of Dak-gong in his third year as Jeonbuk. A more difficult spring day than ever awaits him in that he has to get through before fans completely turn their backs on him.