It's not a player, it's not a budget...All director Lee Jung-hyo wants is 'Good grass'
Oct 10, 2024
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Coach Lee talks about grass like a habit in every interview before and after the recent game. At this point, it's not a request or request, it's more like 'Scream'. As such, the grass at Gwangju Football Stadium is serious. Normal play is impossible. In the match against FC Seoul on the 6th, Lee Seung-mo was injured due to ground conditions. The situation at the training site is the same. Gwangju FC's exclusive practice range, which was completed in June this year at a cost of 3 billion won, was ruined in just two months. It's practically at the bottom.
The situation at the Gwangju World Cup Stadium, which has to play the Asian Champions League this season, is no different. The worst state of grass shocked officials, and was eventually disqualified. Gwangju will have to play its home game against Johor Darlle Takjim (Malaysia) at Yongin Mir Stadium on the 22nd. It is about 268km away from Gwangju World Cup Stadium. As they have to move and camp two days before the game, it is virtually no different from playing an away game. It's no exaggeration to say that Lee has been fighting the "enemy" of 'the turf' throughout the season.
It's a sad reality. Coach Lee led Gwangju to the K League 2 championship in 2022, and last year, he ranked third in the K League 1 and wrote a tremendous miracle of advancing to the Asian Champions League for the first time in Gwangju. Although he failed to advance to Final A this year, Lee Jung-hyo's sophisticated and aggressive soccer is still highly regarded. In the first Asian Champions League elite, he surprised the Asian soccer community by defeating J-League masters, Yokohama Marinos and Kawasaki Frontale. Even this is the result of not recruiting a single player in the summer due to the violation of fiscal consolidation rules. He is exerting all his capabilities as a leader, but he is caught in the wrong place.
In fact, coach Lee is confident that he can perform better if the grass problem is solved. After the Kawasaki match, the conviction grew even more. Manager Lee said, "I practice in a good environment in Kawasaki, and I play better than I usually do. The players also laughed 'This is happening', and this confidence continued in the actual game. Running on a good lawn realized the play we prepared, eventually leading to victory. I also felt proud that 'Oh, our soccer is competitive' and 'I thought, 'If the environment improves, we can make the play that we think of.'"
Unfortunately, the grass situation in Gwangju shows no signs of improving. In the end, we have to create an answer in it again. Unlike his opponent who struggled with the grass in the match against Seoul, Gwangju showed its own well-organized build-up. Lee smiled bitterly, saying, `But the players did what they prepared.' But you can't hold it out just by squeezing it out. It's not asking for a good player to be recruited, nor is it asking for an increase in the budget as much as a corporate team. Manager Lee's demand for grass, the basis of the game, is not too much. Director Lee said, `If the performance is not good, the director is responsible. You can create a good environment and hold the director accountable at that time," he said.
vanbasten@sportschosun.com
