Nam Ki-il, manager of Jeju United, celebrated his 10th year as a professional coach this year by renewing his contract at the end of last season. There were a lot of doubts in the process of renewing his contract. The team’s progress last year was uneven, and they failed to reach their goal of qualifying for the AFC Champions League. Conflicts with some players were also a hot topic. Yoon Bit-garam, who moved to Suwon FC, openly mentioned the disagreement with coach Nam Ki-il at a press conference before the season.
Coach Nam Ki-il, preparing for the 2023 season, used change as a keyword. It wasn’t just about personnel renewal, such as the extensive replacement of the coaching staff. He declared that he would completely change his thoughts and judgments about team management. He promised to transform into a horizontal leader who listens to the opinions of the players, not a vertical leader who pulls hard. He said he would even share player recruitment information with a large team of captains composed of six veterans, if necessary. It was a pledge that if he could come to a good conclusion for the team, he would lay down the manager’s authority or authority.
However, there were still severe suspicions from the outside. Emphasizing that ‘people do not change, and the director’s nature and inertia do not change easily’, many people questioned whether director Nam Ki-il would eventually return to his old self in a crisis situation. And the crisis came much earlier than expected.
Jeju was winless in the first five games after the opening. After 2 draws, 3 consecutive losses to Incheon, Seoul and Ulsan. After three consecutive losses, the ranking was at the bottom of the K-League 1. The point that the change promised by director Nam Ki-il was meaningless and the expectation that it would return to its previous form were all valid. At that time, director Nam Ki-il’s reaction was the opposite. He said, “It’s my fault, not the players, so I’m trying to lower myself. I want to lighten the players’ burden and boost their confidence.”
What awaited Jeju after 5 games without a win was 3 consecutive matches of hell. I had to deal with Gangwon, Changwon City Hall (FA Cup), and Suwon within six days. Moving from Chuncheon to Changwon and back again to Suwon was overwhelming. In addition, starting with captain Choi Young-joon at the beginning of the season, Lim Chae-min, Jonathan Ling, Jin Seong-wook, Yeon Je-woon, Lee Ji-sol, Jeon Seong-jin, and Ki-hyeok Lee left the line due to injuries, and the number of players that could be used became less than 20. Ahn Hyun-beom, Lee Chang-min, and Jeong Woon were also unable to join the team from the Gangwon expedition due to injuries, and they joined the team one after another from the next game.
In a hopeless situation, Jeju started to rebound. Seo Jin-soo’s goal in Gangwon-do marked his first win of the season, and in the FA Cup 3rd round against Changwon-si Cheongwa, he won 2-1 with Koo Ja-cheol’s theater goal. In the following Suwon expedition, they won 3-2 come-from-behind victory after a slugfest. Two foreigners, Yuri Jonatan and Hays, who had been criticized for not meeting expectations, led the team to three consecutive victories by posting two attack points each.
Losing in the home game against Jeonbuk seemed to fall into a slump again, but they won all of the following two consecutive away matches against Gwangju and Daejeon. In particular, the 3-0 win against Daejeon was Jeju’s best performance this season. The last homework to prove that Jeju has fully recovered their performance was a home win. Up to the 10th round, they recorded 5 wins, 1 draw and 1 loss on the road, including the FA Cup, but at home they were recording 1 draw and 3 losses. In the 11th round against Pohang at home, Jeju won 2-1 come-from-behind with Kim Bong-soo’s goal and finally took 3 points in front of the home fans.
It was the worst start, falling to the bottom, but as a result of rounding the league after round 11, Jeju is in 5th place with 5 wins, 2 draws and 4 losses, with 17 points. They are 3 points behind 2nd place Seoul. It came up to the top of the chin. Coach Ki-il Nam commented on his impressions after finishing the first round robin, “Crisis and opportunity are in tandem. Thank you for proving that to our players.” Afterwards, he said that the team became stronger through hard times.
“The players were anxious in the beginning. It wasn’t just because the results were bad. As the main players fell through injuries, it was inevitable to make significant changes to the tactics and patterns prepared during the winter season. The players themselves had no choice but to lose faith. It has improved a lot.”
Coach Nam Ki-il said, “It was great that two veterans, Koo Ja-cheol and Kim O-kyu, played a supporting role.” Up to the 11th round, Koo Ja-cheol played 10 games and Kim O-gyu played 11 games, protecting the team even while other members of the captaincy were missing due to large and small injuries. Koo Ja-cheol scored a dramatic goal in the FA Cup against Changwon City Hall, which was at a critical moment, and Kim O-gyu set the stage for a great victory by scoring a goal with a set-piece play promised in the Daejeon expedition.
Seo Jin-soo and Kim Bong-soo are young players who shined more brightly in the team’s crisis. Seo Jin-soo became a new hope for Jeju’s strikers, who were suffering from 3 goals in the first 5 games. He scored the winning goal against Gangwon and Gwangju. As Seo Jin-soo’s presence grew, the check against Yuri Jonatan and Hayes loosened, and another attack route was opened. Multiplayer Kim Bong-soo filled the hole in the team by going back and forth between the three-back defense and central midfielder. Recently, he scored goals in two consecutive matches against Daejeon and Jeju, and has definitely risen as the main axis of the team 안전놀이터.
Goalkeeper Kim Dong-jun is currently showing his best form in the K-League 1. He saved his team with decisive saves in every game. Coach Nam Ki-il expressed satisfaction, saying, “Meeting the new coach Song Yoo-geol, my training volume increased during the winter. My body looks quite light. Personally, I wanted to play the basic role of goalkeeper 100%, but I am doing 120%.”
Although he could not play a single game in the league, the role of backup goalkeeper Kim Geun-bae was also important. He showed dedication to support the atmosphere of the team by leading players who could not play the game. Coach Nam Ki-il said, “There are veterans off the field who put the team first, so the entire team can look at the same goal.” Kim Geun-bae led the team’s victory in the third round of the FA Cup, his only appearance.
Director Nam Ki-il’s patience and concern for change are also indispensable factors in Jeju’s rebound. Head coach Jeong Jo-guk explained, “When the team was in crisis, the coach relieved the players of the burden and it worked.” It is said that he did not apply pressure by emphasizing the coach’s tactical framework in the schedule where the physical burden of the away game, which included weekday games, was heavy. Rather, reducing the number of tactical promises to the players and releasing the game with characteristic plays that individuals can do well saved the team, which led to two three-game winning streak.
Jeju’s concerns remain. We need to secure more points at home, where we only have one win. Unlike other clubs, Jeju does not stay together the day before a home game. In addition, since there are many patterns in Jeju where home games are held at 2:00 pm, the players’ cycles are jumbled. It is inevitable to have a hard time managing the consistent condition of the team at home rather than away. Coach Nam Ki-il said, “We are looking for a way to make the players more comfortable at home.”
In Jeju, where Lim Chae-min returned from the match against Pohang, the return of foreign striker Ling is also imminent. In the process of getting out of the difficult situation, Lee Ju-yong, who joined the team through a trade, and Kim Joo-won and Ahn Tae-hyun, who had little contribution after moving to Jeju due to injuries, also settled down. Coach Nam Ki-il said, “It’s a full-scale start. We won, but there were games where the content was obviously not good. The whole team should go up in the same flow as now. We have to become a second round robin to find what we missed in the beginning.” Jeju will play round 12 against Incheon at home on the 10th.