Just A Few Things: Ulsan Hyundai Vs. Pohang Steelers

Credit: Naver

Surprising Inclusions

You would expect the usual suspects to start for the Horangi with Junior Negrao leading the frontline and Yoon Bit-garam being the creative spark in midfield given how high the profile of this match is. But head coach Kim Do-hoon perhaps surprised everyone with the line-up he put out with Norweigian striker Bjorn Johnsen & Koh Myong-jin preferred over Junior & Bit-garam respectively as they are two out of five changes made to the side.

Those changes were surprising, but Kim Do-hoon got the rewards in the end. Among those changes, Hong Chul and a certain left-winger (More on him next) combined well to give Pohang’s right side grief, Koh Myong-jin did well to get in positions to keep the ball going forward, makeshift right-back Seol Young-woo )who replaced the suspended Kim Tae-hwan) didn’t put a foot wrong (although he did have a challenge to keep Pohang’s Song Min-kyu quiet) and last but not least, Johnsen repaid Kim Do-hoon’s faith in him by scoring Ulsan’s second goal with a well-taken low strike. This match has shown the depth Ulsan has at their disposal and how capable the back-ups are when given the chance.

Stretching The Pitch, But...

It looks like both sides are playing quite fairly wide as they look to make use of every inch of the pitch. However, Pohang struggled to maintain possession using this approach as they tried to get the passes, whether it is short or long, to their teammates in far positions. This is what Ulsan wants as they are able to close down any Pohang player looking to receive a pass within their own half when they sense it. Pohang didn’t get a proper foothold for a huge chunk of the match as a result of Ulsan’s hard work to win the ball back.As for Ulsan, they are certainly not afraid to make one or two ambitious passes as they look to get the ball to their attackers utilizing the wide set-up. The creativeness is definitely there. But just as they are in Pohang’s final third, their accuracy took a tumble. Despite dominating the match, the execution of some of their final passes were sloppy, especially in the first 45 minutes. Even so, Ulsan is still resilient and continued to play those passes to unlock that Pohang defence with the wide set-up that they have. The bravery to be direct with the ball epitomises why Ulsan has been deadly this season.

Kim In-Sync

During the game, Ulsan would mostly attack down the left where Kim In-sung, one of five changes bought into the starting eleven from the goalless draw at Suwon last week, has been the standout Ulsan player here. Kim In-sung looked tenacious in his running and dribbling, giving the Pohang right-back Kwon Wan-gyu something to really think about. In-sung would also get into position inside Pohang’s box to provide a passing option for Hong Chul or left centre midfielder Sin Jin-ho.

When the 2nd half started, Kim Do-hoon opts to switch the wingers’ positions with Lee Chung-yong on the left and Kim In-sung on the right and mix up the attacking approach. The switch ultimately paid dividends when Kim In-sung made the run into the box just as left-back Hong Chul made a great run of his own on the left towards the near post lay the low cross off for In-sung to get the easiest of tap-ins for the opening goal. Kim In-sung for me deserves to be the man-of-the-match after a great display.

Lacking Steel

Other than Song Min-kyu, the rest of Pohang were surprisingly poor, especially with the nature of this match. They tried to play with a wide set-up, that didn’t go well. They tried to run at the Ulsan defence, that also didn’t go well and even during a few counters, it didn’t go well because the players weren’t quick enough to provide support for the ball holder. It took them to be two goals down for them to finally wake up and cause Ulsan concern.

However, the Ulsan defence led by the composed Dave Bulthuis did well to stand their ground despite what Pohang offered in the final 20 minutes. Pohang did have a few chances to pull one back. But two of them by Stanislav Iljutcenko and a late golden chance by Serbian midfielder Aleksandar Palocevic were all astonishingly spurned. A match lasts 90 minutes and Pohang only showed up late in the match. By then, the damage was done.