Sunday, December 23, 2018

Weekend Recap Dec 21 and Midweek Preview Dec 26

Sadly no holiday joy for Lee Kang In and Paik Seung Ho. I wonder if they will get a loan out this winter as first team struggles to climb the table has provided no margin to give em a chance. We near the halfway point for PL and everyone else (except Lee Seung Woo in Serie B) heads to winter break.

Happy Holidays!


Wednesday

Son Heung Min -- Tottenham host Bournemouth at 10 AM on NBC Gold. A MOTM showing as Son easily got behind Everton’s high line as he so often does and also took advantage of some good fortunate as in his first goal. Everton GK and defender collided and Son was there for the loose ball and from a tricky angle with recovering defenders, coolly knocked in a pretty goal. He scored a brace later in similar fashion as last week as he struggled initially with a throughball but recovered to beat GK. He also had a hand in two more goals, with his saved shot scored by Alli and setting up Kane with a cross. Pretty strong showing by Tottenham and especially by Son and being subbed off, hopefully will be fresh for Boxing Day where he’s likely to start again.


Recap



Ki Sung Yueng -- Had some good set pieces but also looked to struggle to create in a tough slog of a match. It was weird to see Ki forcing the issue which is not his MO but nobody else was stepping into the playmaker role. Not a good match but still relatively better which reflects poorly on Newcastle’s squad and chances in coming weeks.


Kwon Chang Hoon -- Came on with twentyish to go in a loss. Hopefully he’s finding his feet for second half of season.


Suk Hyun Jun -- Scored his first goal for Reims as he started again but was subbed off at HT. He had some hamstring issues in first half so perhaps that was cause but didn’t watch.


Ji Dong Won -- An unused sub as LB tired in first showing and needed subbing as the random lineups continue.


Koo Ja Cheol -- Augsburg has been really way too pessimistic and refusing to build flow in attack and leaving no margins for error by trying to settle for a draw. Augsburg looked bright at first but once scared by Wolfsburg, went back into their shell and got punished. This cycle happened again after leveling in second half. Frustrating to watch. Koo himself was a mixed bag on the wings. Some great touches and his flexibility allowed Baum to adjust into aforementioned attacking/defensive modes but Koo also played way too fancy in bad spots. His hyperactivity also looked to tire him out as he really slowed in final minutes. Like most of this season, Koo has been too variable and missing that bit of class but also handcuffed by awful tactics by Baum.