Without a win in his first four matches as head coach of the South Korean men’s national football team, Jurgen Klinsmann said Thursday he is still confident the Taegeuk Warriors are on the right path.
Klinsmann and five members of his backroom staff held a joint press conference at the Korea Football Association House in Seoul on Thursday, two days after South Korea’s 1-1 draw against El Salvador.
The result left Klinsmann without a win in his four matches. South Korea blew a 2-0 lead to settle for a 2-2 draw against Colombia in Klinsmann’s debut on March 24. Four days later, South Korea lost to Uruguay 2-1.
Last Friday, South Korea were blanked by Peru 1-0. Then on Tuesday, South Korea were held 1-1 by El Salvador after conceding a late equalizer.
Though he has come under fire for the team’s lackluster performances, Klinsmann said he liked what he has seen so far.
“It’s a team that has an enormous amount of willingness to learn,” Klinsmann said. “They listen well. They’re ready for advice. As coaches, it’s a real joy to work with this team.”
For the two June matches, Klinsmann didn’t have the services of two veteran center backs, with Napoli star Kim Min-jae away for his mandatory military training and Ulsan Hyundai FC’s Kim Young-gwon sidelined with injury.
Captain Son Heung-min, recovering from a recent sports hernia surgery, sat out the Peru match and only played about 25 minutes off the bench against El Salvador.
Despite having a compromised team this month, Klinsmann said South Korea should have won both matches, in addition to the two games in March.
“We were clearly the better team. We had more chances than the opponents,” he said. “The lesson is we have to become more clinical and show more determination and aggressiveness. We have to force the results more.”
As a former scoring star for Germany in his playing days, Klinsmann said he wants South Korea to play “a style of football that is attacking and entertaining,” while also getting the results at the end of the day.
In his previous coaching stops before taking over South Korea in February, Klinsmann had faced question marks over his perceived lack of tactical acumen. When pressed on Thursday exactly what “Klinsmann football” entails, the coach deferred to his players.
“It’s not about what I want. It’s about what players bring with their best characteristics and how we can build it together in ways that make the best possible result for Korean football,” he said. “Every coach builds his system based on the players he has available. It has to suit the players and players have to be comfortable. The style will automatically develop from personalities that are on the field.”
While national team coaches typically have a presser to announce their squads before international matches, it is considered unusual for them to meet with the media after matches. Klinsmann said the presser wasn’t a “state of the union” address designed to calm the waters and revealed that he had hoped to have one in March after his first two matches.
“We wanted to take an opportunity to tell you a bit about the national team coaching staff, and how different the working environment is compared to club environment,” he said. “We wanted to tell you what we do when you don’t see us. It’s a learning curve for us coaches. We’ve learned a lot the last three months. And we keep learning.”
Klinsmann is now the first foreign head coach for South Korea not to register a win within the first four matches.
“I wasn’t aware of it. I hope I can correct it as soon as possible,” Klinsmann said with a smile.
Source: Yonhap News Agency