Koreans Abroad Weekend Recap

(photo via espnfc.com)

By Korean Footballers Abroad

Lot of late transfer moves with Koo Ja Cheol moving to Augsburg and Park Joo Ho to Borussia Dortmund. But I'll do a deeper dive on that and other transfer topics later in the week... i.e. after transfer window closes in England too.

Reminder that WCQ begins on Thursday vs Laos which means that no club football (and no schedule either) this weekend, though maybe some of the players will be involved in friendlies over int'l break.

Hong Jeong Ho -- Hong Jeong Ho looked ok to good but Augsburg lost to a superb shot from distance.  Their problems on offense are quite worrisome as the meat of the season nears.

Ji Dong Won -- Didn't even make the squad.  Hopefully Koo arriving helps fix his confidence issues.

Kim Jin Su -- As Hoffenheim was rarely troubled on defense, Kim Jin Su pushed forward into a very advanced wingback role in the second half.  He had some decent touches but Hoffenheim struggled to crack open a stubbord Darmstadt defense, as the match ended in a draw.  He's looking a bit sharper and more confident heading into international break.

Koo Ja Cheol -- He was an unused sub, with this move perhaps in discussion before the weekend.

Park Joo Ho -- His move to BVB was finalized and as a result wasn't involved on the weekend.

Lee Chung Yong -- Came on as a sub, more or less as a timewaster, but he had some superb touches, including some nifty outside passes in traffic to help maintain possession and kill the clock.  There were some points where I wish he had taken the safer route into the corner, but it was good to see him flash some of that skill he has.

Yun Suk Young -- He returned to an U21 match on Monday and played 90 in his first action this season.  We will see if he's ready for first team action, and how Ramsey might use him.

Suk Hyun Jun -- Scored another goal, this one less spectacular than last week with a simple header, and Vitoria Setubal drew with Rio Ave 2-2.

Ryu Seung Woo -- Unused substitute.  The window is closing rapidly with no news on him.

Son Heung Min -- Was presented to White Hart Lane's Spurs fans and participated in his first practice but as he was waiting for work permit, no match action for Son.

Ki Sung Yueng -- In the tradeoff vs  not fixing what's not broken vs using Ki  who did so much damage vs Man Utd, Monk chose the former's 4-2-3-1 and left Ki on the bench.  But in the second half as Swansea started to lose the battle in the middle, Ki was brought on for Routledge as they returned to the diamond which worked so well last season.  And it paid immediate dividends as Swansea leveled the match with a fast counter.  And then Ki helped ignite the eventual winner, winning the ball and sending an aggressive pass upfield which turned into a blistering attack and goal.  Swansea is doing almost everything right but it remains to be seen how Monk will balance the usage of all his stars.