Boxing day fixtures and not much else as Bundesliga shuts down for winter break. Happy holidays everyone!
Friday:
Ki Sung Yueng and Swansea host Aston Villa at 10 AM ET. NBC Extra time. Ki scored the only goal... by deflecting in a strong Shelvey shot off his body. While that was a bit of a lucky break, he was very strong otherwise, with some key tackles and a lot more involvement in the buildup. He had a number of key passes that probably should have resulted in a couple goals. He should start though Monk is looking to rotate a lot as seen by last lineup through holiday congestion.
Lee Chung Yong and Bolton host Blackburn at 10 AM ET. No TV. Chungy continued his excellent form with the assist on the only goal. I wonder if a PL club may take on the risk now that he's shown his ability to bring his class despite the physical challenges of the championship and maintain good form despite the heavy workload. That said, he'd be gone and also have injury risk with Asian Cup so summer is more likely. He should start.
Kim Bo Kyung and Cardiff go to Charlton Athletic at 10 AM ET. No TV. Kimbo was left off the squad and I expect more of the same with KBK looking for a better home for 2015.
Yun Suk Young and QPR go to Arsenal at 12:30 PM ET. NBC Sports. Yun twisted an ankle and had to come off at 30 minutes and it remains to be seen if he's fit for a London derby. Stielike mentioned that he's been struggling with a number of ailments so perhaps a rest would be good for him though its understandable that he doesn't want give up his starting spot.
First a bit of transfer news before other players' recap:
Ji Dong Won concludes a frustrating six months of injury and non-use at Dortmund by moving permanently to Augsburg. There he has a manager who has used him well before and a Korean teammate though its also important to remember that he was not a starter on his second stint there so playing time isn't guaranteed. That said, minutes could be sparse with Dortmund struggling (thus little minutes to experiment) and some big buys ahead of him on the depth chart. I'm curious to know if he might have suited up if the deal hadn't gone through.
As for players done for the winter:
Koo Ja Cheol was mostly very good vs Bayern. He provided his usual immense work rate (though his usual stamina coming off at 79) and had a number of excellent throughballs and key passes which probably should have resulted in an assist or two. He had one mistake where he slipped after misjudging a ball in the air but was otherwise very good.
Park Joo Ho looked far more comfortable as a left back and was very good in handling the powerful Bayern attack. He wasn't only just pinned back, as he drove forward and had some contributions in attack, showing his usual good chemistry with Koo. But when Koo came off, he moved into a DM role where he soon had a very bad pass to nobody in middle of the pitch which eventually resulted in the winning goal. Yes, there should have been a stop to the subsequent attack, but it shows some of his problems in a more central position where he hasn't shown the vision of a midfielder yet.
Son Heung Min was pretty poor. He had some brilliant passes yes but he did almost nothing else, making a number of very poor decisions. Hopefully a bit of a break from Leverkusen football will help him find his form again.
Kim Jin Su played 90. I did't get to watch but it seemed like he wasn't needed as they cruised to a huge 5 goal win.
Hong Jeong Ho was left out with injury.
