Congratulations to South Korea for overcoming Australia in the Asian Cup quarter-finals on the early morning of February 2nd and successfully advancing to the semi-finals!
Facing powerhouse teams like Saudi Arabia in the round of 16 and Australia in the quarter-finals,
a challenging journey was anticipated.
However, the team managed to navigate through and secure a spot in the semi-finals.
First of all, applause~!
Ultimately, the results matter in tournaments like this.
Moreover, considering the consecutive matches with extra time and the limited rest time for the national team players,
overcoming these challenges to achieve such a result is truly remarkable.
The next match is scheduled for February 7th, where South Korea will once again face Jordan,
their former group stage opponent, in a battle for a spot in the final.
Hopefully this time, South Korea will prevail over Jordan and avenge their previous group stage encounter.
Anyway, after watching the previous two matches, the Round of 16 against Saudi Arabia and the quarterfinal against Australia, there are so many things I want to say...
You can refer to the following articles for match analysis.
[Round of 16 vs Saudi Arabia]
2023 Asian cup Round of 16, Saudi Arabia vs Korea
The two teams contending for the Asian Cup championship clashed in the Round of 16. Saudi Arabia, who comfortably secured the top spot in Group F, and South Korea, who advanced to the knockout stage as the second-placed team in Group E after a series of up
hsrs-en.tistory.com
[Quarterfinals vs Australia]
2023 Asian cup Round of 8, Australia vs Korea
After narrowly overcoming Saudi Arabia, another challenge awaits South Korea. Not as formidable as before, but still considered a powerhouse in Asian football, Korea faced Australia in the quarterfinals. When looking at South Korea's starting lineup, two n
hsrs-en.tistory.com
In the quarterfinal against Australia, the performance improved significantly compared to the Round of 16 match against Saudi Arabia, which was truly dreadful.
However, I don't feel like we did particularly well even in the Australia match.
One thing I especially want to point out is the persistent lack of numbers in midfield.
Since the first match of the group stage, we've been sticking to a formation with two midfielders.
However, it's clear that two midfielders are not sufficient, both in attack and defense.
Let's look at our attacking phase. We typically start our build-up from the back with a formation of four defenders and two midfielders.
However, most opponents deploy midfielders to press us even up to our attacking resources.
As a result, our two midfielders often find themselves surrounded by five or more opposing players.
Even if we deploy three defenders like we did against Saudi Arabia, it doesn't make much difference.
Actually, many club teams opt to have three center-backs and two midfielders for the build-up,
with one of the midfielders dropping deep into defense.
This tactical approach is often referred to as "La Volpeiana".
FYI: La Volpeiana is named after Ricardo La Volpe, an Argentine coach who first conceived and implemented this tactic.
However, the situation with our 3-2 build-up is different from those teams.
La Volpeiana is effective when facing two or three strong opposing forwards pressing high against the two center-backs.
By dropping one midfielder deep to create a defensive trio, it expands passing options to switch play effectively against the press.
Consequently, the pressing opponents naturally cover more ground, creating gaps between them.
Passing the ball into these spaces to the two midfielders ahead becomes pivotal in executing the La Volpeiana tactic.
However, the situation is different for Korea.
There is little to no pressure from the opposing forwards.
Therefore, having numerical superiority in defense from the backline is not helpful but rather wasteful.
Instead, as mentioned earlier, we often find our two midfielders surrounded by up to five opposing players.
Thus, it would be more appropriate to increase the number of midfielders by one, providing more passing options from the backline.
Defense is more important.
There are mainly two situations in which we find ourselves defending.
One is when the opposition applies pressure in midfield, resulting in our midfielders losing possession.
The other is when we finish our attack or lose possession in the opponent's backline.
Typically, opponents aim for quick transitions during attacks.
This often involves sending long passes.
The problem arises because we lack players in midfield.
Consequently, long passes easily penetrate our midfield, leading to counterattacks and goals conceded.
If we imagine that we have more players in midfield, let's say around 3 to 4 instead of our current number, the probability of intercepting a long pass when the opposition tries to advance the ball through midfield would be much higher than when only 2 players are present.
Additionally, having 3 to 4 players in midfield means there is much less space for the opposition to exploit when trying to build up play with long passes.
Moreover, if we have more players in midfield, even if the press is broken, the presence of 3 to 4 players creates congestion and makes it difficult for the opposition to progress.
This buys time for our defensive line to organize and makes defending much easier.
Furthermore, having more players in midfield reduces the distance they need to cover during a defensive phase, conserving energy that can be utilized for quick transitions or counterattacks after successfully defending.
On the other hand, if our midfield is outnumbered, even if we have more players in the defensive line they would need to cover more ground and their reaction time would be slower, making it harder to defend effectively.
Next, let's discuss the improved (?) movement in the attacking line.
The biggest issue is the lack of presence inside the box.
Typically, when observing our attacking patterns, we often see crosses from the wings or cut-backs being delivered frequently,
but what happens after that?
There's nobody inside the box to receive or at least challenge for the ball, resulting in attacks breaking down disappointingly.
In most cases, we see Jo Gyu-seong struggling alone among about three opposing defenders trying to compete for the ball.
The rest of the players are either spread out on the flanks or waiting outside the penalty area.
The opposition has already formed a dense defensive block inside the box, and if nobody makes penetrating runs or attempts to lure defenders out, the opposition has no reason to break their defensive shape.
In the Australia match, there were glimpses of attempts to penetrate.
Not only forwards like Hwang Hee-chan, but also midfielders and wing-backs like Seol Young-woo and Hwang In-beom, when given the opportunity, were seen entering the box to compete and drag defenders along with them. This should have done this earlier... :(
Furthermore, the utilization of the half-spaces isn't very effective.
In modern football, the half-spaces, the spaces between the full-back and the center-back are crucially important.
This space is significant because it's closer to the goal than the flanks and usually has thinner defensive lines compared to the center.
However, this space isn't utilized effectively.
Taking the right flank as an example.
Usually, when the ball transitions from the left to the right, it's received by the right winger, who in this case is Lee Kang-in.
This leads to two opposing defenders (usually the full-back and a midfielder) marking Lee Kang-in.
This creates a wide-open space in the opposition's half-space.
However, there's no player making runs into that space.
The right wing-back, Kim Tae-hwan, often overlaps outwardly.
There's a pattern where Lee Kang-in passes to Kim Tae-hwan to deliver crosses, but in reality it's not an ideal pattern.
Simply put, it moves the ball away from the goal.
Moreover, crosses from a distance often end up being lost in the probability battle.
Expanding into the half-spaces allows someone, whether it's a midfielder, a wing-back, or a striker,
to move into those spaces to either receive the ball or at least draw defenders out, increasing the likelihood of Lee Kang-in delivering a pass near the goal.
Naturally, with someone moving, defenders who were stationed in front of the goal are drawn out, widening the space in front of the goal.
It's more advantageous in terms of probability battles than just crossing.
Moreover, patterns of ball progression from the right, including crosses, become more diverse, expanding the options.
In the Australia match, such movements were well executed in the left space of our team.
Son Heung-min, Hwang Hee-chan, and Seol Young-woo took turns penetrating the half-spaces, and there were many cutback patterns.
As mentioned earlier, there are often cases where these opportunities are squandered due to the lack of players in the box...
Furthermore, ironically, not many crosses are delivered here.
While it's true that it's difficult for early or running crosses to come from the wings due to Seol Young-woo and Hwang Hee-chan being predominantly right-footed.
In summary, the problem in the attacking line lies in its overly conventional and standardized nature.
Mainly, during the game, when we have possession for long periods and engage in a lot of ball circulation,
having few patterns is akin to hoping to break through the opponent's thick defensive block by chance.
In the semifinal against Jordan, I don't ask for much.
Just two things.
First, to use three midfielders, and second, to expand the attacking patterns by at least one.
With that, I believe our Korean players have enough quality to easily secure victory against Jordan.
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