Shanghai Stalemate Leaves Huh Few Excuses
By Kim Tong-hyung
Staff Reporter
Since taking the job in December, South Korea football manager Huh Jung-moo pledged to rebuild the national team into a flamboyant and resilient squad that is tough to beat, an expanded version of his own traits as a former midfielder.
However, after the Taeguk Warriors labored through a goalless and gutless draw against North Korea in a World Cup qualifier in Shanghai, China, Wednesday, it's hard to deny that the all-new Huh era is looking much like the old Pim Verbeek era that was as dull as ditchwater.
The Shanghai showdown was among the most anticipated sporting events of the young year, and Huh clearly hoped his squad would flex its muscles against a less-heralded North Korean side before a nationally televised audience.
However, despite a core of accomplished veterans providing Huh with his most impressive collection of talent yet, the South Koreans displayed poor execution and technique and quickly ran out of ideas against their equally unconvincing opponents, sapping the life out of the 30,000-strong crowd at Hongkou Stadium.
``We came here to clinch three points, and it's disappointing that we didn't," Huh said to reporters after the match.
``Although we did get better in the second half, the composure of our forwards in front of the goal was disappointing, and North Korea's enlarged midfield made us vulnerable to the counter attack. We had no finishers in front of the net, nor the distributors to consistently feed the front men with scoring chances''.
It's understandable that Huh found it hard to spot any encouragements from his team's uninspiring performances in Shanghai. If the current bunch would be indeed the best squad the South Koreans could offer for South Africa in 2010, their stay would surely be short.
Although South Korea is still a favorite to clinch its seventh consecutive World Cup berth, it bears further watching how far Huh could push his juggling act of a win-now approach and a rebuilding process.
Aside from Manchester United midfielder Park Ji-sung, who was his industrious self against the North Koreans, none of the Europe-based players on the current squad should be assured a spot in 2010, granted that South Korea qualifies.
It's apparent that Tottenham defender Lee Young-pyo can't deliver a quality cross if his life depended on it, and his days as an attacking fullback are becoming a fading memory.
And it's debatable whether striker Seol Ki-hyeon, who looked as ineffective for South Korea as he is with Fulham, can still justify wearing his country's colors.
It's not that the country doesn't have bright, young talents to replace Lee and Seol at their respective positions, but what's questionable is Huh's reluctance to use them.
Zenit St. Petersburg defender Kim Dong-jin is big, quick and strong, and unlike Lee, is a gifted distributor. Daegu FC forward Lee Keun-ho, regarded by many as the country's best young player, terrifies defenders with his speed and trickery, and unlike Seol, is a superb finisher. However, neither of them was called up for the North Korea match.
Questionable Team Selection
Huh would also be advised to review his own team selection that was exposed as second-rate scheming against the North Koreans.
In a surprise decision, Huh opted to start FC Seoul striker Park Chu-young in an unfamiliar role as a central midfielder for the start of the first half, clearly a gamble since the 23-year-old had always been questioned for his overall contributions.
Chu-young was anonymous as a midfielder, and the first-half injury to midfield enforcer Kim Nam-il meant that South Korea would surrender massive space to the swift North Korean attackers.
Huh gave up on the experiment later in the half, moving Chu-young to a frontline role with Park placed as the deep-lying distributor and replacing Cho Jae-jin with fleet-footed winger Yeom Ki-hun.
Although this gave the attack more width, it could be argued that flanking Yeom and Park in a three-striker attack would have been more effective to utilize the pace and take advantage of Cho's strength in the air and ability to hold the ball. Instead, it was the unexceptional Chu-young, rather than the towering Cho, who was chasing around over-hit crosses.
Huh seems vulnerable to the typical mistake often made by homegrown coaches ― the ill-grounded belief that slapping together the best 11 players would result in the best team.
Chu-young, who was once lauded as Korean football's next big thing but recently saw his progress slowed by a myriad of injuries, is certainly among the country's highest profile players, but his limitations as a footballer are evident and his instincts as a goal scorer are not always evident nowadays. Consistent, however, is Huh's fetish for him.