The 2023 season isn’t over yet, but we’re giving Daejeon Hana Citizens an ‘A+’ on this year’s foreign report card. Even the last card, Gutek, is showing signs of breaking out. Gutek made his debut against Daegu FC in the K League on the 22nd and had a great game. Playing up top alongside Yoo Kang-hyun, Gutek’s strength and height gave Daejeon Hana a new option that they hadn’t had before. It was the first win for Daejeon against Daegu, who had previously suffered back-to-back defeats against Daegu’s dense defense. Daejeon escaped a six-match winless streak (five draws and one loss) and jumped to sixth place.
The key to Daejeon’s promotion this season has been foreign players. With domestic players costing too much, they turned to quality foreign players. Daejeon brought in Leandro, Masae, and Thiago, as well as Anton and Gutek. All were huge hits. Thiago, who was the second-leading scorer in K League 2 last season, has been a force in K League 1. He is the team’s top scorer with seven goals. Anton is a self-explanatory nucleus of the defense. He can play in the back three, the back four, the center and the flanks. Leandro is unfortunate for his frequent injuries, but when he does get a scratch, it’s a scary one. Massa is a force to be reckoned with every time he steps on the pitch.
In fact, the success of foreign players is often referred to as the “lotto”. No matter how good or expensive they are, there is no guarantee of success. Daejeon minimized the risk with intense thought, a clear concept, and a customized strategy. The team needed a reliable scorer to stay in the K League 1, and based on the principle that ‘strikers who succeeded in K League 2 will work in K League 1’, they signed Thiago. Anton was a customized signing in the wake of Kim Jae-woo’s departure. Daejeon experimented with an asymmetrical formation last season, using the left center back as an attacking option in a three-back, and Kim Jae-woo was the man to do it. When he enlisted in the military, the team looked for a replacement, and Anton was chosen. Anton, who had been playing in the Polish league and was used to the tactical style, made an impact from the first game.
Gutek was the product of intense deliberation. Initially, Daejeon was looking for an attacking midfielder. They were looking for a player who could move between the center and the flanks and add creativity. They found a ‘Crack’ Bako (Ulsan Hyundai) type. We looked at over 50 players. Daejeon’s search for an attacking midfielder was to cope with a dense defense. We thought that technique and creativity would be the answer to get through narrow spaces, but we didn’t have the right players.
I changed my thinking. I focused on strength and height. I looked for players who could hold, fight, and push in front of the defense. We wanted someone who could do more than just score, and we wanted to make sure that Thiago, who wasn’t scoring as much, would be able to contribute. 메이저놀이터 The plan was to find a strong striker to play alongside Thiago and break down opposing defenses. That’s what they found in Gutek. It worked. Gutek’s straightforward performance in Daegu fulfilled Lee’s intentions 100%. Gutek was able to control and link up with the defense, and the second line came alive. Bae Jun-ho had the best performance of the day, scoring his debut goal in the K League 1. With Gutek’s goal, Daejeon, which now has the strongest foreign player on its roster, can continue to take strong steps towards its goal of staying up.