“It’s an exaggeration.” That’s how national soccer team coach Jürgen Klinsmann views the work-from-home controversy. In fact, he doesn’t seem to be taking it seriously.
Judging by the comments Klinsmann made in a video press conference with local media on the 18th and 19th, he doesn’t agree with the work-from-home controversy that has been red-hot since he took over. “I think it’s an exaggeration to say that I don’t live in Korea,”토스카지노 he told a sports magazine, “It’s not like I don’t come to Korea at all. I think it’s a little bit too much. The way we communicate and observe athletes is different from 20-30 years ago. I can meet them in person, but I’m still in constant contact and observing them. You have to look at things more broadly than just Korea. In the second half of the season, I’ll be in Korea for a longer period of time,” he said, adding that it’s not a problem at all.
“I think we’re going to have a lot of players on the roster,” Klinsmann said, “but we have to try to get the best team we can within the 30-man roster. We’ll try to find more players and find the right ones. We can’t just call up anybody to the national team. We will continue to observe and discuss,” he said, emphasizing that there is no reason to have so many players in the national team “pool.” In another press conference with the media, he referred to the national team pool as 40-50 players.
One of the reasons Klizmann’s current work-from-home controversy is so problematic among soccer fans is the influence of his predecessor. Paulo Bento lived in Korea with his “division” and actively traveled to K League games. In order to see as many games as possible and identify players, he often traveled in groups to different stadiums on the same day.
“There are about 70 players in the pool of potentially eligible players for the national team,” head coach Sergio Costa told the Korea Football Association, adding, “It’s not a fixed list, it can grow and shrink depending on how a player performs. No one outside of the seven-member coaching staff can remove or add players to this pool. All seven must agree. We have a meeting, and ultimately the head coach approves the addition to the pool,” he said, explaining the team’s selection system.
Coach Klinsmann during a video press conference. Courtesy | Korea Football Association
South Korea national soccer team coach Klinsmann. 2023.06.16.Busan | Kang Young-jo kanjo@sportsseoul.com
Head coach of the South Korean national soccer team Klinsmann waits for the start of the exhibition match between the South Korean national soccer team and Peru at the Asiad Stadium in Busan on June 16. 2023.06.16.Busan | Kang Young-jo kanjo@sportsseoul.com
There are only about 15 overseas players in South Korea who could make the national team. In fact, they will be selected unless there is a major upset. In the end, it’s all about the quality of the domestic players to fill the remaining spots. Cho Kyu-sung, Na Sang-ho, Kim Moon-hwan, and Kwon Kyung-won are among the players who traveled to Qatar with the Taeguk mark through Ventuho’s thorough verification system. He routinely watched 70 players in order to find a handful to use in the national team, which helped the team reach the round of 16.
Klinsmann’s attitude seems more insincere compared to the behavior of his predecessors. He says he receives frequent reports from advisor Chaduri and coach Michael Kim, but at the end of the day, it’s hard to get a true sense of a player’s skills and utilization without seeing them in person. It’s no secret that there’s a difference between what you see on video and what you see in person, but Klinsmann seems to be the only one who doesn’t realize it.
Furthermore, when the federation announced Klinsmann’s appointment in February, it explained that “it was a condition of his contract that he reside in South Korea during his tenure.” Considering that Klinsmann has only been in Korea for about two months in the past six months, his frequent travels are a breach of contract.
Nevertheless, Klinsmann doesn’t see the problem. It’s clear that he is held to a different standard of integrity and meticulousness than Bento.
The federation is also to blame for not being able to control this. They proudly announce that domestic residency is a condition of the contract, and then watch as Klinsmann turns his back on the K League. Even in the midst of the controversy, Klinsmann continues to appear on overseas broadcasts and talk about things unrelated to the national team. It would not be a problem if he was doing his job faithfully, but continuing to appear on the air at a time when public opinion is extremely negative is like pouring gasoline on a fire.