11 unbeaten and in red-hot form, Gimpo are the new sheriff in town

Gimpo FC are finally realizing the pre-season hype surrounding the club as they put together one of the strongest runs of form in the entire country. The K League 2 championship is beyond them, but the club from Solteo is openly talking about playoffs, and promotion.

 

Gimpo celebrate against Suwon.

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After a sluggish start to the season, Ko Jeong-woon's Gimpo FC are hot right now. Blistering. After tipping the club to finish 3rd in my February predictions, I was beginning to look silly until their season was turned upside down in early June. How good are Gimpo? Make up your own mind.

They are 11 games unbeaten, comfortably boasting the best run in the entire division. Only Jeonbuk Hyundai have taken more points since early June in the country. In that time, they've played the big boys (Incheon United and Suwon) and came out of it with four points. But it should have been six. Incheon escaped from Solteo in the Dong-jin Battle thanks to a 96th-minute equalizer. Suwon, for their part, were terrible at the weekend. Gimpo had 29% of possession and rightly felt 3-1 wasn't an accurate reflection of their domination.

Only 22 goals have been conceded in 25 matches, making Gimpo the joint second meanest defense in the league. Seongnam, in mid-table, are tied with Gimpo, and only Incheon (17) lead the way. That's already impressive, but when you consider they've leaked just five in the last 990 minutes of football (and three came after 90 minutes) it proves they are not a team to be messed with. They don't just defend, however. 18 goals have been scored over the same spell, including three on three occasions.

Add all this together, and Gimpo FC have collected 23 points in 11 games. Their last defeat came on June 1 in Asan. The table shows Gimpo sitting in 6th, outside the final playoff spot, on goals scored. They share the same record as Seoul E-Land (9 wins and 9 draws from 25 matches), but the K League tends to reward goals scored over goal difference. For the record, Seoul have scored five more than Gimpo, but the latter's goal difference is +8 to Seoul's +1. Harsh.

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Jeonnam Dragons occupy 3rd, where I predicted Gimpo would finish. The gap is currently 10 points, but the form guide suggests Gimpo can close that gap, even with just 14 matches remaining. It requires them to keep up this form for the remainder of the year, and why not? Incheon and Suwon are out of sight, but in the battle for 3rd-5th (playoffs), Gimpo are the team to look out for. Jeonnam collected their first win in five over the weekend. And who are they meeting in two weeks? Gimpo.

We've seen this before. Jeonnam are box office. They've lost two home games recently 4-3. In between those barbaric scorelines, they were held 2-2 twice. Goals at both ends. How will this stand up against the Mighty Gimpo Wall? Their win at the weekend came at the expense of another playoff hopeful, Bucheon FC 1995. Bucheon have now lost three in five and dropped to fourth. Seoul E-Land, keeping Gimpo at bay, have drawn three straight. 

And who are they meeting this weekend? Gimpo.

Connor Chapman produced another big performance against Suwon.

After Saturday's professional destruction of Suwon, I caught up with Leo Pllana and Connor Chapman. They were buzzing, naturally, but they're not done yet. "See you in the playoffs," they both uttered as we parted ways. For Chapman, a defender, his eyes must have lit up when Suwon employed a workhorse central midfielder up front in Stanislav Iljutcenko's absence. I don't know how many decisions the Suwon manager Byun Sung-hwan got wrong, but that was a huge one. Meat and drink for Gimpo's fabled back line. Kim was hauled ashore at half-time.

Chapman was first to speak in the mixed zone. The win was a priority. "Yeah, I think that's 11 games now, unbeaten, so we've really, really turned a corner after that first round. So the second round, we're doing really well, you can see that in our results, and you know, we really enjoyed today. We should have won 3-0, but it's a big win for us, and now we go to Seoul E-Land next week." 

However, Kim Ji-hyun's late penalty was "very frustrating. I think we're the second best defense in the league at the moment, so very frustrating because in the last 2 games we got clean sheets, I think the last 10 games we've had 7 clean sheets so it's something that we really work on as a defense and it's annoying, but we got the win and that's most important."

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Pllana was impressed, especially with the defending. "We did an amazing game today, I think we followed the head coach's plan and today, I think all the players did an amazing job. Especially defenders. We have a very, very strong defense and we feel very safe. So I think Suwon maybe had 1 or 2 chances yeah, in the first half, and then I think they have nothing. So it was a good game. It was a good game for us."

The Kosovo U-21 international was forced to bide his time. The score was 2-0 and the clock was ticking down when he came on. Was watching from dugout difficult? "Of course, but I was a little bit injured this last month, and now I'm trying to get the form back, but I was happy for the team today. Suwon is a good team and it doesn't matter who is playing when it's like 3-0. I am happy for the team that we got three points." 

Suwon did what they've always been doing since dropping down to K League 2 in late 2023; filling out away ends wherever they go. They provided an exceptional atmosphere in the late-summer sunshine, and Gimpo's fans and players responded. I've always wondered what it's like to play Suwon or Incheon. Do players see those lovely blue Samsung jerseys, listen to the constant chanting, admire the colorful flags, and think, I really want to beat these guys?

Leonard Pllana and Gimpo are all smiles these days.

"100%," Chapman responded before turning his attention to his own club. "I think we have a good little stadium. I think they're going to try to build the fourth side of the stadium for next year, so it's a good, perfect little stadium, and you know, the atmosphere. It might only be 5, 6, or 7,000, but it feels great, and especially when they, Incheon fans and Suwon fans. And it really does motivate us because I suppose Gimpo is seen as like a small club, but they have big plans hopefully for the next few years. and we really want to go to K League 1 so to beat a team like Suwon was big for Gimpo." 

With Suwon banished, attention will quickly turn to Seoul E-Land next Saturday. Pllana is already excited. "It is going to be a very good game. We have two big games in front of us, like Seoul E-Land and Jeonnam at home. We just need to keep playing like this. We haven't lost now for 11 games, so we are doing a great job. We are ready and we're focused. Our goal is to go to the playoffs, and why not, to K League 1, too."

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"Anything can happen," the forward continues, "and right now we have a little bit of small injuries. But still we have a very good team now, especially like with the players who come in the summer. We have a good strong team, so I think we can compete until the end. We have like 14 games left, yeah, and all other games are like very important. We just need to be ready and to go for it."

Chapman was quick to emphasize the "great connection in our team between the midfielders, defenders, even the attackers as well, and it makes my job a little bit easier as well. Suwon had a different style. Their strikers sort of come off us a bit, really going to the midfield. They didn't really have many chances. Only our mistakes in the first half, and then we gave them a penalty at the end. So yeah, it's good for us. Our attackers did really well as well today and yeah, as you said, why can't we come third this year? We're in a really good position, and we've got to keep going as Leo said. We've got some really good signings in this summer, and our squad depth is really good at the moment."

Watch out, Seoul. Gimpo FC are hunting your play off spot.