2018 Season Preview Interview: FC Anyang

With a brand new coaching staff and a whole new squad of players, FC Anyang are targeting the top four and those much-coveted playoff spots in 2018. With insight from the Violets' Assistant Manager Michael Kim, here's a look to the new campaign.
(image via FC Anyang])

Last Season

W10-D8-L17, 7th

What Happened?

Last season FC Anyang struggled for a bit of consistency, rarely being able to put together a run of more then two or three games unbeaten. This was perhaps down to a lack of firepower as Anyang were amongst the lowest scorers in the league with 40 goals, only Ansan Greeners were worse in that respect and even bottom placed Daejeon managed to score more. Case in point is perhaps that the Violets' leading goalscorer was winger Jung Jaehee with eight. Anyang also had the second leakiest defence in the, what was then K League Challenge, shipping 58 goals from 36 games. Only Daejeon Citizen conceded more.
Paul Neat @NeatPaul

K League United spoke to FC Anyang's Assistant Manager Michael Kim about what pre-season is like for K League teams, and more specifically how it had been for the Violets. So rather than a K League United columnist answering the questions, for a change of pace we asked Michael how he thinks, or hopes, the 2018 season will pan out for his team.

Notable Moves

Jeon Suhyun and Shin Euison (Valeri Sarychev - goalkeeper coach)

"Oh he’s great. He speaks Korean well, he’s Korean in terms of his nationality, he brings a different approach for the players because he’s also experienced the western mentality from Russia as well as the Korean way of doing things because he has been here for so long. Also, he’s got so much experience that the players respect him."

(Image via FC Anyang)

"(Jeon) Suhyun (pictured above), he was with me in Jeju United for three years, his room was right in front of mine so I know him very well. His personality is very bright and right now the comradery, the collective-ness of the goalkeepers is fantastic; they work well together, all three of them. They help each other out and the sessions are great; I’ve observed all of them so that’s another area because it’s a very special position and that might also be an area that might excite people."

Bruno Cantanhede

"He joined us quite late. There’s one thing about watching him as an opponent and another thing of coming in and joining us and training with us, he’s a very exciting player. He’s fast, he keeps the ball very well, dribbles very well; he’s a very attack-minded player so he doesn’t like to go back, he likes to go forward. He’s one of those players that we’d like to see what’s going to happen, hopefully he racks up some points for us."

(Image via FC Anyang)

Key Player 

The Squad

"At the beginning of pre-season it had been our team model that there is nobody greater than the team itself. Right now we made a pact not to isolate anybody or to say that this is our key player or this is our star player so everybody, together is very important. We made a pact about that, for me to say that one player will make the team, or excite the fans in any way, they might have their own individual choices but nevertheless I think it will be more of a collective effort.

"You might like a very fast forward like Jung Jaehee and that player might excite you or you might like a big strong defender who heads the ball out and so you might say that player excites you. It’s very subjective as to which player would excite but we tell our players that no one is greater than the team itself so everybody has to pull their weight and so everybody is an exciting player for us. "

Full transfer round up here

Biggest Question 

Can Anyang make the playoffs?

"To be honest with you, we haven’t played the games yet so we got to open up the can and let the worms out before we can say anything but nevertheless, that’s our goal. Just to make it to the playoffs would be a feat in itself but once you get there, who knows? It’s one game at a time."

Reason to Watch 

Is it finally Anyang's time?

"I think that with the players we have now we have the quality to do it but we’ve got to see, it’s not one or two games it’s 30 plus games a season so we’ll see what happens at the end of the season. But nevertheless, our hopes and how we’ve prepared so far I think it’s very realistic."