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Showing posts with the label K League 2

Which player has impressed me the most in the Premier League this season

  My stand out player to date in my view has been James Rodriguez of Everton FC.  He has taken to the Premier League "like a duck to water". The 29-year-old Columbia attacking midfielder was signed in the offseason from Spanish giants Real Madrid for a fee believed to be around 20 million pounds.  He signed on a two-year contract for the Toffees. In the opening four games of the season James has scored three goals and assisted two and in general, has been at the hub of everything that Everton have done well in the attacking third of the pitch.  A huge factor getting James to the Premier League was the fact that his old manager who he played under at Real Madrid is the current Everton gaffer.  Italian Carlo Ancelotti is the man in question that attracted the flamboyant winger to the Premier League.  They had a very good relationship at Real Madrid and they wanted to rekindle that at Everton. James has formed a frightening partnership with Everton duo Rich...

Watching a live game of football during the COVID 19 pandemic

On the 16th of August my two sons Jacob and Jack and I  attended a home game between Gyeongnam FC and Chungnam Asan in the Korean Professional football league.  The number of COVID 19 cases was in double digits so the league was allowing 30 percent of the stadiums'  capacity to be allocated by supporters. Firstly, you couldn't buy tickets on the day, you had to purchase the tickets online through a specific website.  Once you had bought the tickets, the website will send you a link to be scanned by Gyeongnam ticket officers on the day of the game.  The tickets we selected had to be spread out evenly, with each person sitting three seats apart from one another, due to social distancing measures.  My sons and I decided on sitting in a triangle shape.  To the day itself of the game.  There were strict measures of just getting to the stadium in passing certain government protocols .  First of all, there was a temperature check (yo...

Gyeongnam FC: A half way season report

Gyeongnam FC was relegated into K League 2 after losing a relegation playoff doubleheader against bitter rivals Busan I Park back in 2019.   The clubs venture into a lower division hasn't been all that plain sailing at all, challenging is a better term to use.   Firstly our manager changed from Kim Jung-boo to former Korean international and Premier League star Seol Ki-hyeon.  It was Seol's first foray  into full professional management.  He had been managing Sungkyunkwan University for two years before joining Gyeongnam. When getting relegated usually the better players in the squad jump ship and look for pastures new.  Japanese star playmaker Kunimoto joined K League 1 powerhouses Jeonbuk Hyundai Motors.  Goalkeeper Lee Bum-soo joined Gangwon FC and promising youngster Kim Joon-beom moved north to play for Incheon United FC.  So under the new management team, the whole club had a major re-shuffle of the squad. The l...