Monday, March 16, 2015

Recap plus Midweek Schedule March 17th

Tuesday

Son Heung Min and Leverkusen go to Atletico Madrid for leg 2 of CL round of 16.  Leverkusen only hold a slim 1 goal lead but they can push ahead with any goals for away goal advantage.  3:45 PM ET  on Fox Sports 2.  Son did play 90 on Saturday but it was an easy win so hopefully he kept his legs fresh for this as he should start.

Kim Bo Kyung and Wigan host Watford in Championship at 3:45 PM.  No TV.  Kim Bo Kyung played 90 in a hard fought win that brings Wigan slightly closer to survival (still a daunting 6 points off).  He should start again.



Recaps

Lee Chung Yong remains out with injury but Crystal Palace won and look fairly safe to avoid the drop now.

Yun Suk Young had a horrible first half, really struggling to match Zaha's pace.  While he might not have been at fault for the two goals, he certainly could have done better to at least be in a better position to save them.  He did better in the second half, with some nice tackles and dribbles on the other end.

Hong Jeong Ho didn't make the squad yet.

Ji Dong Won played a half before getting subbed.  He struggled again to do much beyond being a long ball target which he did ok at.  Maybe a change in roles (even if as a sub) may help Ji break the pattern where teammates only look for him for long balls.

Kim Jin Su was dynamic but the match was a bit closer than the final score indicated despite Hamburg being down to 10 men.  KJS rarely looked threatened and had some nice combination play along the left in the attacking half.

Koo Ja Cheol came on early (~20 min) as Hofmann went down with injury.  Koo injected quite a bit of energy to Mainz' pressing play and helped to swing momentum around.  He looked far more tidy and confident taking on defenders, and was rewarded in the 90th minute as he fought off a defender for a rebound, faked out another, and calmly flipped the ball past the goal keeper for a goal.  Hopefully this is a positive sign for Koo both for his form and how he might be used by Schmidt going forward.

Park Joo Ho once again showed that he's a better LB than midfielder.  He was very solid in the back and nearly had a chance to score as well as he couldn't quite get his shot around an oncoming defender despite having a great angle and some room to start.  Like Koo, we can hope this match solidifies his role a bit.

Suk Hyun Jun came on as a sub at 67.

Ki Sung Yueng while not sharp made up for it with some good drive and effort as Swansea looked very sharp for a half.  Unfortunately, both Ki and Swans looked tired out in the second half, and Ki was pulled with about 10 minutes left in the match.  Unfortunately, its still busy going forward with international duties coming after next match.