‘Promoted’ Gwangju coach Lee Jeong-hyo “Last year, I felt ignored…”

“I feel good because I’m not being ignored.”

Gwangju FC finished bottom of the K League 1 in 2021 and was relegated to K League 2. After parting ways with manager Kim Ho-young, Gwangju reached out to Jeju United head coach Lee Jung-hyo. In this way, coach Lee Jeong-hyo took over as the 7th command tower of Gwangju, and led Gwangju’s K-League 2 win and K-League 1 promotion in the first year.

There were great concerns about the rookie command tower, but the results were overwhelming. 25 wins, 11 draws, 4 losses, 86 points. With four games left, the K-League 2 championship was confirmed early.

Now coach Lee Jung-hyo and Gwangju are dreaming of a blast in the K-League 1.

Manager Lee Jung-hyo told the club on the 19th during field training in Chiang Rai, Thailand, “(Expectation) seems to have grown a lot. Fortunately, on the contrary, I am not ignored, so I feel good. At the beginning of last year, I felt like I was ignored a lot, but now I am in Gwangju. “I wonder if I will be nervous and prepare against .”

The preparation is as thorough as expected. Ahn Young-gyu, the captain, is accelerating his tactical preparations to the extent that he said, “It was hard on the body, but the time has come on the head as well.”

Head coach Lee Jung-hyo said, “When I trained without the ball, I only had to build my body, but now I am also doing tactical training. It seems to be very difficult because I have to use both my body and mind.” , Since I keep training like that, I have to use my brain a lot, so it’s hard for me too,” he laughed.

“It’s not the same tactical training, but it keeps changing, so the players have to talk a lot with each other. Moving like this and that way seems to be very difficult. To be honest, I’m enjoying it. Even when problems are difficult, we talk a lot and come up with the right answers. I try to fit in. I think it’s fun to see things like that.”

I gained strength from the growth of veteran Ahn Young-gyu. Ahn Young-gyu, who belonged to Gwangju until 2018, rejoined Gwangju last year through Seongnam FC and won the K-League 2 MVP.

Manager Lee Jung-hyo said, “Should I say that I broke the mold? It changed my mind. I am a player who is approaching retirement time, but my soccer has increased. Watching that gave me hope. Even if I get older, I think and change while playing new soccer with a new coach. It can change,” he said. “I returned to my hometown team during the retirement period and did a good job. It was more touching and thrilling to show that I could do it. It was better than winning the award.”

If last year’s rookie Jung Ho-yeon was taken seriously, this year it is Jung Ji-hoon. Jeong Ho-yeon played in 36 games last year and was a great help in Gwangju’s promotion.

Coach Lee Jeong-hyo said, “(Jeong Ho-yeon) was right in my expectations. But he exceeded my expectations. I’m already looking forward to this year. I’ve been training for the second week and I’ve grown again. I also have big ambitions, but I think my dreams and ambitions are bigger than mine.” “Jung Ji-hoon has already begun to show signs of growth, and I’m looking forward to it. He runs as well as Ho-yeon Jeong, has speed, is agile, and smart. But he has to surpass Um Ji-seong.”

He also mentioned the head-to-head confrontation with coach Nam Ki-il’s Jeju. He also picked Pohang Steelers as the team he wants to face in the K-League 1.

Coach Lee Jeong-hyo said, “I honestly don’t expect (Jeju game). There is a misunderstanding between coach Nam Ki-il and me, but I think it’s one game out of 38,” he said. “I look forward to the Pohang match. I think it’s a situation. It’s a corporate club, but coach Kim Ki-dong made a good team with the resources he didn’t have. I don’t think it’s an ordinary person. I want to bump into it and compete.” 슬롯사이트

K-League 2 and K-League 1 are obviously different. Differences between players should also be acknowledged.

Coach Lee Jeong-hyo also said, “If we rotated a lot last year, I don’t think we will do that this year. He said, “I don’t think it will collapse easily no matter what team I’m playing now, if I master the tactical part. I will fix, improve, and develop to make the best team.”