What's it like to play for Choi Yong-soo?
Wednesday's 2022 Hana 1Q K League 1 Round 8 match between FC Seoul and Gangwon FC won't be the first meeting between the two teams since Choi Yong-soo's appointment but it will be the first at Sangam, a place Choi called home as both a player and a manager over a number of different spells. But what is it like to play for Choi Yong-soo?
The influence of Choi Yong-soo
There's a certain charisma about Choi Yong-soo. He has a way with words and, at times, speak almost entirely in one-liners. That charisma has helped him become a successful player and manager and is a factor in players wanting to play for him. That was the case for Osmar, he says, when with Buriram United in 2013 after noticing his presence on the touchline.
Osmar, of course, was sent out on loan to J.League side Cerezo Osaka in 2018 by then FC Seoul manager Hwang Sun-hong but once Choi's returned to FC Seoul was confirmed, talks began and, eventually, he signed a a three-year deal. When asked whether Choi was a big factor in his return to the club Osmar says it was "everything":
"I wasn't ready to come back, to be honest. I wanted to stay in Japan and find another club because Cerezo they didn't want to make a contract with me. And when he came back to Seoul we start talking a little bit. It changed everything because in the end, I could have [played] for any team but I think it's very important to play for a coach who will respect you and treat you well and let you play with freedom and have all the confidence in you. That's really, really important for us (foreign players), not just the uniform that you wear. And once he came back, everything changed."
Dejan Damjanović returned to FC Seoul in 2015 ahead of the 2016 season. It has been no secret that Choi had a huge say in Dejan's return, persuading the board that the then 34-year-old still had plenty to give:
"Everybody knows my relationship with Choi Yong-soo, my Korean father. And yes, he's the main reason why I came back in 2016 in FC Seoul and he is the main reason why I didn't stay in China anymore. And he is the guy who made the decision. Everybody else they can say yes or no, they can accept and not accept, complain not complain, support that decision or not. But he's the guy who choose 'I want up Dejan to be back. I know Dejan can help me. I know what he can do on the pitch, off the pitch' and he's the main reason why I came back.
"And I'm happy that that 2016, even after the ups and downs we did a great season. In the end, we beat Jeonbuk, we won the title. Even if he was not there in the second part of the season he is the guy who made the squad, he chose the players, he signed all the winners, he knew that that team could do great things and I'm sorry that he didn't stay for all season because I'm sure we will be champions anyway."
Training
Osmar and Dejan both won trophies under Choi Yong-soo |
Team Talks
A rousing team talk can make all the difference but Dejan says that the messages Choi sent before and during games were "normal":Alibaev: "He is good at team talks, gives good instructions and motivation. He gets angry at halftime sometimes but if you win, it doesn't matter how you play, the result is everything and the performance comes next."
Osmar: "It was much more leadership or motivational speeches than tactical things. Unless, obviously, we needed something specific for that game. Or maybe his assistant or his analyst came and told him something was happening and then he pointed out some slight changes. But he believed a lot more in the motivational speeches and making the players confident and trust and that we are better, that we are going to win."
Osmar also echoed Dejan's sentiments that there was always a reason for the things that Choi did or said: "He always had a plan, where I could feel that his words, were always for a reason, he was never speaking in vain. And even though that team was winning, and he got a bit angry, there was a reason for that, you know, maybe (to show) it was not the place to relax too much. There was a reason always, that's, that's what I could feel and that's what I liked about him. You can never relax at any point with him, which made the team usually better."
Man Management
Choi watches on as FC Seoul lose 6-0 to Daegu FC, 14th June 2020 |
Tactics & Philosophy
Dino Islamović is praiseful of Choi's tactical approach to games:
"Tactically, I think, he is very good. Like what I said before about the K League that, tactically, can get better, I think he's one of them that is very good tactically. I think he's also been a striker so I'm trying to learn things from him also."
Alibaev, meanwhile, says that Choi has his own style and likes to stick to it:
"He likes the formation 5-3-2. I like this too. Even if we lose he doesn't change, even after the 6-0 against Daegu. He has his own identity and style. When Kim Ho-young came in to help him things changed a bit but before that he didn't change much."
Alibaev spent 18 months under Choi Yong-soo from 2019-2020 |
Dejan believes that, especially during the 2012 season when FC Seoul went onto win the league under Choi, he didn't need to say to much tactically. The team was ready-made to be successful:
"When you have good team, when you are in good team, great team, big team in any country, generally, the great players are ready to play to win something, you didn't bring them now to work with them (for a) couple of years to make some of them, to sell them or something like this. You are built to win something, you pay that players a lot. So you bring done fixed players ready for (the) game. That time you don't need coach tactical, unbelievable.
"When you have players like for example in Seoul that that couple of years, what you need to do what you need to say to Ha Dae-sung, Adilson, Molina, Molina, Dejan, and (Go) Yo-han, (Koh) Myong-jin, I don't know, (Park) Chu-young, I will forget some of them. They were ready. They were ready. They already have titles behind them, (were) great finalists, (had) great career (with) national teams, you don't need to coach them, you need man-management, you need to make everybody together happy. And he was great in this and I'm sure he's still doing that."
Osmar: "His style of play, he also changed. I think, at the beginning when he needed wins, he was building his own career as a head coach, he was a little bit more conservative then he started changing. He let the players have more freedom or more things that we wanted. He trusted more in the players but the key here is he knew who to trust. Usually, we are 20 or 30 players, you cannot trust everybody to do what they want - there would be anarchy. But he always had two or three players who he trusted and give them more freedom, even to lead the team on the pitch and do different things that were not planned or trained. But he kind of changed that way in order to get better results and play more attractive football."
Choi's FC Seoul departure
Choi Yong-soo had won the K League title in 2012 in his first season as a manager, reached the ACL Final in 2013 and lost on the ever-cruel away goals rule, won the FA Cup in 2015, and was the man who, in essence, built the team which pipped Jeonbuk to the title in 2016. He left in the summer of 2016 to join Jiangsu Sunning in the Chinese Super League, spent a year there before returning to Seoul in 2018.
He eventually saved them from relegation that year and guided the fallen giants back to the AFC Champions League after finishing third in 2019. But, Seoul limped their way into third place with a lacklustre end to the season. The team's form wasn't great in the first half of 2020 either and Choi's time at the club came to an end in the summer.
The 6-0 away loss to Daegu FC was the tipping point and was a game which seemed to sum FC Seoul up, a combination of misfortune and off-the-field decisions coming back to haunt them. Seoul scored not one but two own goals that evening and then Dejan came off the bench to fire in the sixth, at a time when the club had decided not to re-sign him when he had become available after leaving Suwon Bluewings.
Although Dejan scored his first goal for Daegu that night, he doesn't look back on that game with any fondness whatsoever:
"I was trying to forget that game you know even I was, you know, I enjoyed Daegu but I hate to play against FC Seoul, you know my feeling with FC Seoul and I saw that they collapse, they struggle, they lose the spirit. That's the worst when players start thinking they cannot win, they give up before the game. You feel that when you are on the game, I see that they give up. And it (was a) really tough moment for him (Choi) and I know he was you know, furious, furious after this game and I scored a goal, of course, I'm professional and if I could score I would score three that game, just to be clear. But I don't like to see Seoul in that kind of situation.
"And after the game I was you know waiting, waiting for coach to see him. You know because I know even if he's furious, I want to see (him), I want to speak with him just for one minute. And it was tough. It was tough. I never saw him in that kind of that tough situation like that, that moment with FC Seoul, they were like losing couple of games, concede like 15 goals in three or four games. It was unbelievable, man. I don't know what happened."
Osmar looks back on that particular period with regret as he was out injured and unable to help on the pitch:
"It was strange, because he was like 'Seoul guy', it was a good match to this club. And it was difficult for me as well, because I was injured for his last five or six games, so I couldn't be there and help. I don't know if that would that would have changed anything or not. But yeah, I was kind of sorry to see him go while I was out injured."
Alibaev, of course, played in that 6-0 loss to Daegu and admits he wasn't surprised that Choi left the club:
"I was not surprised. We felt it. Our results were very bad. In the Daegu game, we were 3-0 down at halftime. He just said that we needed to show up and score - normal things. After the game he didn't shout, just ignored. Training was even harder than normal after and he didn't even speak to the players."
Reaction to Choi joining Gangwon
Choi Yong-soo left FC Seoul in the summer of 2020 but returned to management with Gangwon FC in the winter of 2021, helping the Bears survive relegation. in a situation that was almost identical to when he rejoined FC Seoul.
When speaking to KLU last summer, Dejan said he believed that Choi will be back "at some point" and that he wouldn't just choose "any club", it would have to be a project that is worth his while. Dejan believes now that Gangwon is a good match:
"Everybody knows the Lee Young-pyo is there as sports director, he's a good friend. And probably they have a great plan and some, some maybe three or five-year plan, how to bring Gangwon to the ACL. I'm sure that he think really good before he chose the team. Like I said, he's very smart person. He's not making a decision without thinking well before so I'm sure that he prepared everything and him and sporting director Lee Young-pyo for sure their good, good club plan how to bring Gangwon in ACL and to be competitive in this league."
Osmar: "I was a bit surprised, to be honest. But now that I see the way they play, the system they play it is a kind of good match."
Play for him again?
Taking everything into consideration, would Dejan, Osmar, and Alibaev play for Choi Yong-soo again? Alibaev said he would, despite his time under Choi ending on a bit of a sour note:
"I would play for him again. He is a good coach and a good person. I'd be very happy to play for him and I would like to come back to K League."
Dejan: "If he called me and if he think that I can help him and he asked me like whatever he need to tell me honestly, no faking, no nice stories, you can just tell me what you need. Can I help you? If I can help you, I will help you. If I cannot. I cannot say (to) him (I can), I will be very honest to him. If I think I can help him, I will come. If I cannot, I will say sorry I cannot help you like before. I don't want to make you any problem. So, you know with him I had always really always understanding, this honest relationship. So, whatever he needs, whatever he wants to ask, with me, it's very easy. Maybe not even maybe playing football, maybe tomorrow we can work together you never know. But with him, I am very, very easy to communicate."
Osmar: "Depend on many things because my situation now is different. I have to also think about the family about the kids is nice. I cannot say yes or no, it's It depends. Depends on the situation when the time comes if the situation is doable or not. I would say but I cannot say now yes or no."
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