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"We know we are better, but we just have to show it" - FC Seoul captain Osmar Ibáñez


After two games without a win, FC Seoul captain Osmar Ibáñez says that Sunday's 1-0 victory over Gangwon FC was "huge" and that the players want to stay at the top end of the table by showing how strong of a team they are. 

The 2023 Hana 1Q K League 1 Round 15 match over Gangwon was Osmar's fourth since taking over as skipper and second win. It kept Seoul second in the table and with Ulsan drawing with Daejeon later in the day, shaved the gap a touch to 11 points instead of 13.

It was a game of few shots on target, although Seoul will have felt they ought to have made more of their 60% possession at home against a Gangwon side that sits 11th in the table and is struggling for confidence. Speaking after the game, FC Seoul skipper Osmar Ibanez admitted that he had mixed feelings about the game:

"Sweet and sour? Obviously, it was a good result at the end, but not quite happy with the second half, to be hones. First half, almost everything was under control how I expected. Second half, we suffered a little bit. We gave up the ball and space. I think we rush a little bit. The attacks and possession, [we] didn't take care of the ball enough and then we end up suffering. They came and came and they had to push. So once you give up the ball again, you're not suffering. I don't like that. But it's football and sometimes you just have to keep what you have."

But Seoul did get the three points and after two games without a win, Osmar said this was of "huge" importance:

"Obviously. We are always speaking about trying to get a routine of winning. Obviously, we cannot win every game, we know. But we need to be in this way of winning, drawing, not losing too much and even though I try to not put pressure on this matter, but we want to stay up (near the top of the table). We have to be on this way of winning, winning, winning and today was biggest step for us because now we have three games in a week. Not easy games and probably this week will tell us where we can be at the end."

FNR

When FC Seoul faced Gangwon FC earlier in the campaign, Osmar and co were on the losing end of a five-goal thriller with former Seoul defender Lee Woong-hee bagging an acrobatic winner. A disallowed Palocevic equaliser shortly after was ruled to be a refereeing mistake by the KFA. Revenge might have been on the minds of the supporters, but it wasn't for the players, says Osmar:

"It's not revenge, but again, if we want to stay top of the table. We want to show that we are strong team and that we are solid. We cannot lose against bottom table teams so we have to show good performance. We have to be serious. We cannot just play for draw or not to lose and we should be able to dominate even more or less than we did. And it's not exactly revenge, but of course last year we couldn't win against them either. Same like Seongnam, it's supposed to be points that we were counting on you know, on paper. But somehow they surprise us every game. And yeah, we have like, 'Oh, okay, finally,' this feeling like we know we are better, but we just have to do it and show it and not just say it."

It had rained all day Saturday and all morning and afternoon Sunday in the build-up to the visit of Gangwon FC. The greasy surface and how the players need to adapt to the conditions was something that was touched on beforehand:

"It's something that I said in the locker room. Obviously, it's something to pay attention to, not only in attack but also in defence. We saw in the second half how (Lee) Tae-seok the defender tried to clear out, hit it with his shin and went out for a corner, but it could have gone inside in our own goal. We talked about this, it would be slippery. So in the warmup, we have to pay attention to the touch, control, the pass, everything. We can play much faster as well, super fast and bouncing is different. So yeah, it's something that we have to pay attention to. We already said just pay attention, be careful with this." 

[READ: FC Seoul 1-0 Gangwon: Willyan's moment of magic the difference]

Listen to the full interview on this week's episode of the K League United Podcast

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