There is no definite 'one top'...Ulsan and Seoul's Last Worries
There is no definite 'one top'...Ulsan and Seoul's Last Worries
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Ulsan HD and FC Seoul are considered strong candidates for the K-League 1 championship in the 2025 season. At the media day of the four K-League teams participating in the 2024-25 Asian Football Confederation (AFC) Champions League (ACL) held on the 5th, all the coaches unanimously selected them as the favorites.
Ulsan, which aims to win its fourth consecutive K-League title, is the strongest team in the current K-League. With national team-class players in its ranks and young players in its bid to rebuild the team. Not only coach Kim Ki-dong and Jesse Lingard, but also Seoul, which has strengthened its military capabilities on a massive scale, including Kim Jin-soo and Moon Seon-min, were also favorites to win the title.
However, both teams are deeply troubled ahead of the opening of the K League 1. This is because there are not enough strikers to end the period on the front line. Other positions have strengthened their power, but there is something in common that the one-top striker is not yet clear.
Ulsan's front-line weight diminished as Joo Min-gyu headed to Daejeon Hana Citizen. Although he also had a tall striker Heo Yul who played for Gwangju FC in Yago, a foreign player, it is widely considered that he is not good enough to compete for K-League championship and challenge the FIFA Club World Cup. Coach Kim Pan-gon is also a striker in the position that he mentioned in the media day of the four K-League teams participating in the ACL, "If we reinforce the position where we can hit the peak, we will be able to have a good season."
Ulsan has been sending scouts overseas including Europe for a long time to seek new offensive resources. However, it is struggling to recruit strikers due to transfer fees and annual salary. "If recruitment of strikers is not resolved well, I think the team will be criticized for having a good look," Kim said. "We look forward to seeing good selection of strikers." This means that we need players who can score goals not only in terms of good performance but also in the end.
The situation is no different in Seoul. With Ilyuchenko leaving for Suwon Samsung after the expiration of his contract, it is the same that there are no certain striker resources to hold on to the front line at the moment. Like Ulsan, it is looking for a new striker mainly overseas, but reinforcing it is not easy for similar reasons to Ulsan. Moreover, Seoul suffered ups and downs in the early part of the season last season as the reinforcement of players was delayed after Kim Ki-dong's appointment. 먹튀검증
Not only do they expect to win, but both Ulsan and Seoul are also looking to win this season. To this end, consistent performance is needed from the beginning, and the lack of a clear one-top team will eventually lead to the initial limit. When and who will be filled with the last puzzle of the two teams can be an important variable in the K League 1 championship competition this season. The two teams are also agonizing over whether they want to win or not.