FC Seoul vs. Pohang Preview and Prediction

(from FC Seoul's Facebook Page)

After July 29th's Keystone Kops debacle in how to defend poorly, shown exclusively in Jeju only, FC Seoul will finally take the field on Wednesday against Pohang in attempt at redemption.  Pohang comes to visit World Cup Stadium for the third time this year and only a point separates the two teams in the race for third place.  So again, as I have said in pretty much every single preview, this is a game of significance for each team.

On July 11th, the two teams played and Seoul was destroyed by Pohang 3-1.  Park Seong-ho had the easiest of tap-ins as Kim Seung-dae easily raced through Seoul's defense to cross from the left.  Shin Jin-ho scored a great goal from a shot outside the box thanks to some tidy triangles that the Pohang players created.  Last, but not least, Sim Dong-woon will surely thank Kim Yong-dae for deflecting his cross-cum-shot into the back of the net for his first and only goal of the year.

Some though, will argue that Seoul won the more important contest.  Two weeks later Park Chu-young scored two goals to knock Pohang out of a competition that guarantees the winner a spot in the ACL.  Hwang Sun-hong might have Choi Yong-soo's number during the regular season, but when it comes to knockout competitions he can't seem to win against him.

http://www.fcseoul.com/en/fcstv/interview/tv_highlight_view.jsp

However, Hwang has gotten freaky deaky on Choi this year in the league.  Pohang have beaten Seoul twice and have looked quite comfortable doing it.  It does not help that Kim Seung-dae always seems to give Seoul's CBs fits.  If he was Derek Jeter, he would send them home with a gift basket.

Couple that with their dreadful "performance" against Jeju over a week ago, this does not portend well for Seoul.  Simply put, Seoul did not show up to Seogwipo.  They were overrun from the opening minute by a Jeju team that showed more desire and creativity than Seoul.  Outside of Adriano's penalty kick, there was nothing good to take away from this game.  

The defense was woeful as all five members had a game to forget.  Cha Du-ri got faked out of his shoes by Yoon Bit-garam, who then knocked in a shot from outside the box.  However, it was Lee Woong-hee's poorly headed clearance that fell to Yoon Bit-garam and allowed for him to shoot.  None of this would have happened if Osmar had cleared the ball after a Jeju corner rather than trying to be Messi.  Then Lee Woong-hee would not have poorly cleared the ball with his noggin and Cha Du-ri would have been on his feet instead of his ass from Yoon Bit-garam's fake.  

Kim Jin-kyu has been great since his return and Seoul had rolled off four consecutive league victories with him sweeping up, but even he wasn't immune to mistakes.  A punt from Jeju's keeper led to Kim weakly heading the ball upwards.  Song Jin-hyung then sent a looping header over Kim into no man's land forcing Yun Sang-hun to come off his line.  Luck had everything to do with the goal as Kim Jin-kyu attempted to clear the ball and it went off of Song and he was able to easily put it into the back of the net.

I am think Choi's decision to substitute Kim Jin-kyu can be seen as an act of kindness.  I am not sure if Kim Jin-kyu or any member of the defense will start the next game.  There was a report about gun shots behind the stadium after the game, surely a sign of Choi putting them out of their misery.

They really did deserve to lose to Jeju and the score line probably should have been 4-1 or 5-1 rather than just 2-1.  I feel as though some of this loss has to be pinned on the manager as well.  As I said above, the team looked flat and lacked passion and that is either down to fatigue or a lack of motivation, both of which are problems that Choi should be able to fix.  

Finally, Seoul lined up with the same formation and players that have been used in their last five or six games.  I really think he should have switched to a 4-3-3 and attacked more.  Jeju has been poor defensively, why not bring on a winger and take off  a CB?  This would have been a great game to give Yun Il-lok or Yun Ju-tae a start out wide.

With the exception of Adriano, the Seoul players looked jaded and lacked energy.  Molina has been great during the month of August, but I think this would have been a good game for him to rotate out.  The same could be said of Park Chu-young.  If Seoul comes out with that shit on Wednesday, I fully expect them to get rolled off the pitch again.  

Line-up

I don't expect for Choi to make any changes.  Maybe Molina might make the bench and maybe Crayon Pop and their ridiculous bicycle helmets will play as the back five, but I really do believe that Choi will go with this formation and these players.

Prediction

Seoul has been dominated this year by Pohang.  They were absolute shit against Jeju.  Kim Seung-dae cuts Seoul's defense up as if he were DJ Q-bert.  I am not feeling optimistic about Shitember at all.

That being said, I think Seoul does well enough to pick up a point since neither team can afford to lose.  I am sure that both teams will come out and play it safe, neither giving ground for fear of making a mistake.  Luckily, it is a weekday game, so not many people will be at the stadium to spend their hard earned money viewing what will most likely be a comatose display.

Final Score: FC Seoul 0-0 Pohang