Monday, April 6, 2015

Recap plus Midweek Schedule April 7th

Tuesday

Yun Suk Young has been ruled out of QPR's trip to Aston Villa at 2:45 PM ET (NBCSN).  Yun got a concussion with about 20 minutes to go over the weekend, and was subbed out with just after 80 minutes.  Before getting subbed out, he didn't have to do too much as QPR pushed to a very large early lead and West Brom didn't attack much from his side though he did have a few nice blocks and clearances.

Kim Jin Su go to Dortmund for the next round of the DFB Pokal.  2:30 PM ET on ESPN3.  This late in the cup, Kim Jin Su should start though given his struggling performance over the weekend, maybe he gets a rest.  While he looked good going forward, he was caught too far upfield too many times, particularly on 3 of the 4 goals allowed.  Hoffenheim is willing to go all out on attack so not sure if they'll handcuff him back at all but something to watch.


Wednesday

Son Heung Min is still suspended for the quarterfinals as Leverkusen host Bayern Munich.  2:30 PM on ESPN3.  He was completely rested after international duty though perhaps he would have liked to have played as Leverkusen easily put 4 goals past Hamburg.


Other Recaps

Kim Bo Kyung played the full 90 as Wigan fought hard but couldn't keep up with Middlesbrough.  He was pretty good but he passed off far more than I would have liked, giving up good shooting chances even if he did end up creating good opportunities.  But he was one of the few to provide some push and creativity to their attack.  He started again Monday as I write this, and appears to be having a very strong game though Wigan still struggling to score at HT.

Koo Ja Cheol played 90 in a far more average performance.  It seems his fitness is returning as he was industrious throughout but the travel seemed to take some of his sharpness off.  That said he had some really nice passes to setup some good opportunities that were wasted.

Park Joo Ho was strong again and I suspect that he will be LB for the remainder of the season as he continues to show far more comfort and ability in the role.

Ki Sung Yueng continues his incredible season, scoring a club leading 7th PL goal putting a rebound from Shelvey shot neatly into the top of the goal.  He's also starting to come into the role of wide midfielder in the diamond as he had more influence despite touching the ball less than he does as a DM pair (he did move back to a DM role in the 2nd half).  He started off the first few minutes a bit slow (probably from travel and jetlag) but he was running hard and well into the last minutes of the match.

Hong Jeong Ho started at CH and he did well, with only one lapse that I saw and showing good strength and aggressiveness in the box.  Hopefully he takes confidence from this and gets (and hopefully goes beyond) his pre-injury form.

Ji Dong Won came on as a sub playing an attacking midfield role.  He had some decent runs but had little time / opportunities to have a major impact.

Lee Chung Yong still out.

Suk TBD at time of writing.