Korea needs a bigger and better coaching pool

Former head coach Hong Myung-bo, center, is seen with players of the national football team after landing at Incheon International Airport, early Tuesday, as they returned following Korea's exit from the FIFA World Cup after the group stage. Korea Times photo by Shim Hyun-chul

Now that Hong Myung-bo has resigned, there will be a debate as to who is next to take the national team hot seat, one of the most pressured jobs in Asia.

In the past this used to be a fun ritual. First, the media would throw lots of names around — both foreign and domestic. Then there would be a short list revealed and the excitement would move up a level with rumors, reports and all the rest.

Outgoing Korea Football Association (KFA) chief Chung Mung-gyu spoiled it all of late by going outside the normal practices to ensure Jurgen Klinsmann got the job in 2023 and Hong in 2024. Indeed, this is part of the reason for the current anger.

Now, though, there is going to be a new boss and while it is best not to rush, the question will soon start to be asked: Who? Despite all the criticism at Hong, he is actually one of the most successful Korean coaches. He led Ulsan HD to two successive K-League titles in 2022 and 2023 and also won bronze with the U-23 team at the 2012 London Olympics.

Two years ago, there weren’t a lot of choices in terms of quality local coaches and that is still an issue. One of the problems is, and has been for some time, the relatively shallow talent pool when it comes to Korean coaches.

For too long, too many have been similar. Many Korean coaches have long been counter-attacking, conservative and defensive. Hard work and teamwork have been valued highly. It’s all led to a fairly mediocre group.

In the K-League, foreign coaches are rare mainly because clubs see it as complex, expensive and hard work to bring in someone who can’t speak the local language and wants to bring his own people with him. And with only 12 top-tier teams, opportunities are limited.

It has led to a lack of competition. It also leads to a lack of new ideas. Three decades ago, British coaches dominated the English Premier League. Arsene Wenger arrived at Arsenal in 1996 and revolutionized the game there and then, 20 years later, Pep Guardiola had an even greater impact.

There haven’t really been similar figures in Korea and coaching standards have stagnated. Few of the 2002 World Cup squad have carved out a successful career. Hwang Sun-hong has been around for a long time and has worked at national team level at various age levels without really demonstrating he could take the game forward.

There was, and still is, a hope that the players who went and had successful careers in Europe would then return home to blend that international expertise with their local background to make a winning combination.

The likes of Park Ji-sung and Lee Young-pyo, the original pioneers who went to the English Premier League, have both been critical of the national team. They have, however, been more interested in the administration and media side of things.

As much as possible, there should be a focus on bringing players into coaching, giving them as much training as possible.

Of course, there is always the option of a foreign coach, but there are issues here too. If Korea really wants to move away from the stop-and-start era of the past, the bouncing around from coach to coach with different styles and philosophies, then ideally working long-term with domestic coaches is best.

However, if the right foreign manager can be found to help put everything in place, to start the journey and then hand over to local tacticians, then it is worth considering. There are not many names that spring to mind, however.

Many decisions have to be made but work needs to start on creating a bigger and better coaching pool.