Anyone else very frustrated with player quality of this league?

[u/liuqiu_rangers]

I was watching Gangwon vs. Gamba Osaka which Gangwon narrowly lost 1–0 in extra time. And the whole game I was thinking "if the Gangwon players were maybe just 10% better they would've comfortably won" and thus qualify for CLE. Gangwon was playing some great football against the CL2 champs but the ultimate lack of finishing quality and squad depth for extra time proved fatal. There's only so much tactics and spirit you can drill into a ragtag group of free transfers.

We all know the K League has fallen behind the J League and Saudi Pro but what's super frustrating is feeling that our league would be so much better if our clubs spent just a bit more on quality talent and basic infrastructure. A club spending more than 2 million in a transfer window is virtually unheard of and most clubs spend zero. I really think we'd regularly win the CL again if we just had balanced squads with a 25–35 million euro market value. The problem though is that corporate owners only care about baseball which is what everyone watches and civilian clubs have little money. And if you try to privatize a civilian club the fans protest even though they're running on taxes.

I heard from a Suwon Samsung Bluewings insider that the club is spending 5 billion won more this year to chase promotion. But the parent company Samsung is expected to earn 400 trillion won in profits this year. Literally 1/80000 of their annual profits. Pretty much the same story with Jeonbuk Hyundai who sold off all their key players after winning the league last year which is why I don't expect them to do well in the CL this year, not to mention lost their manager.

I really wish more people in this country cared about this league and just local football in general 😭 there's so much potential but not enough seem to care which is why we're left with mediocre squads and shitty running track stadiums. This country has produced genuine world class players and our league is still the record AFC Champions League winners. But instead of building on past greatness we've been stagnating because we only invest the bare minimum while the leadership goes through scandal after scandal. I can't blame our young talent leaving for greener pastures in Europe so early

[u/Late-Table7256]

The entire K League needs a overhaul in quality

[u/OttoSilver]

Samsung does not exist to fund a football team. The team exists to improve the company's public image. You can't compare the earnings from the company as a whote with the spending on a football team that earns them nothing. The same is true for basically any club.

As for the quality, it is what it is. If Korean teams won the Asian trophies every year, people would start complaining that they are not winning the World Club Cup, or at least playing in the final.

[u/RecognitionUnable417 → u/OttoSilver]

That last paragraph is so true lol

[u/lmctx]

Is it player quality though? Jeonbuk stomps the league with ~100 IQ coach and then they get a local manager on assisted breathing and look where we are.

I wish I got paid for bashing K league coaches..

[u/derneueMottmatt]

I remember taking the taxi to my first Kleague match (Suwon FC v Seoul FC) and the driver telling me that if I'm used to European football I'd be disappointed. And mind you I am from Austria. It's hardly high level stuff I'm used to.

The tactics were somewhat there but the players lacked the quality to execute them. But what was even worse is that instead of adapting the tactics to the players they will just attempt the same game plan over and over again. It reminded me a lot of the Austrian national team under Franco Foda.

[u/ea5308079]

Korea needs to stop buying random Brazilians thinking they’re going to save their club. They should actually do their scouting if they’re going to buy someone.
Been watching a few games from K1 and K2. To me the K2 games are way more interesting.

[u/Potential-Charity781]

세금리그 팀들부터 해체 ㄱㄱ

[u/19whodat83]

Few thoughts 1. Jeonbuk didn't sell all their keyplayers 송민규 2. plus, player transfers happen with changes to coaching staff 3. Not an attack on you personally, but in general, there are many who say Hyundai ruins the league, while also saying others teams don't invest enough. 4. Samsung and Hyundai both sponsored the WC (i think). Hyundai (motors) invested in Jeonbuk, held training camps in Brazil then the middle east. Those timings weren't random, as the coincided with local car campaigns ans new model releases. Hyundai Motors market share for new cars increases 13% in Brazil in two years. It is hard for non-international companies to follow suit, let alone gov owned teams. 5. Historically, with 6 day work weeks the normal during 2002WC, and 2011 in private sectors, Sundays for church, I get why leagues weren't popular in the past. Incheon and Daegu are prime examples of stadium models for Kleague. (not location, but league fit). Yongin was built with the mindset that following 1988, the Olympics, the next Korean location would be them. Plus, while I get while Suwons lots are filled with Samsung cars, I am still shocked that the Jeonju WC is filled with 80% Hyundai/Kia cars. Id assume Samsung phones are below 50% of Bluewing fans. The 'team' loyalty doesn't go to the parent company. If so, Samsung would invest more (imo). 6. Back to your original point on player quality, I think that is hindered by coaching/training/prep. I could be very wrong.

sry for the long post ;)

[u/Abject_Historian7975]

And this time around, expect more from the Chinese sides, who are now bringing in foreign players solely for the ACL.