Some weekends can be hard watching given quantity of attackers in the subset of the universe I track. When their teams struggle to get and retain possession, there's not much even the best attackers like Son can do to impact a match. Its not helped given continued poor coverage of German football from ESPN and hope I'm not missing a reversion to the mean midweek.
Another window closes with one major change, with Ji Dong Won transferring to Eintracht Braunschweig Friday on a loan which appears to not have a purchase option. The other transfer of note was on the women's side, with Cho So Hyun moving to Tottenham making it a pair of Korean captains in North London. Good luck to both!
| Day | Time | Player | Club | Opponent | TV |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Tuesday | 12:30 PM | Paik Seung Ho | Darmstadt | @Kiel (Cup) | None |
| Tuesday | 12:30 PM | Lee Jae Sung | Holstein Kiel | Darmstadt (Cup) | None |
| Wednesday | 12:30 PM | Hwang Hee Chan | Leipzig | Bochum (Cup) | None |
| Wednesday | 1:00 PM | Hwang Ui Jo | Bordeaux | Lille | BeIN |
| Wednesday | 1:00 PM | Yun Il Lok | Montpellier | @Metz | BeIN Play |
| Thursday | 3:00 PM | Son Heung Min | Tottenham | Chelsea | Peacock |
Paik Seung Ho-- Came on late to kill time but Darmstadt did concede and lost two valuable points. Cup might not be highest priority for Darmstadt so Paik seems more likely to get a start.
Lee Jae Sung-- Played the full match but should start. I watched a small bit and looked strong playing a bit behind the attacking line.
Hwang Hee Chan-- An unused sub again but the minutes I'd expect in a cup match vs. lower league opposition might be some solace against being kept as insurance over the winter window. Possibly/probably from the bench though.
Hwang Ui Jo-- Started but Hwang was one of the players I mentioned earlier. Really isolated and of his few chances, most were aerial battles where Hwang still isn't strong. Hwang didn't do much wrong when he did get the ball but really had minimal chances to do anything let alone score. Bordeaux did sell Maja so Hwang likely to start again.
Yun Il Lok-- Came on late but did have a small hand in the goal by holding off defender well and keeping possession. Not much of a contribution but a decent sign that he may be exiting the doghouse. Not expecting a major change midweek but perhaps a sign of coming on earlier as a sub.
Son Heung Min-- An awful showing by Tottenham. Son wasn't great in his few touches but being forced to lead the line with Kane out was doing him no favors. The Mourinho I feared at his announcement have become true where attacking means everyone standing still waiting for the star to create a moment of magic all by themselves. Too many promising situations were slowed down with needless backpasses and then possession was still lost despite the "safe" approach. Things got marginally better with Vinicius who at least provided a proper target for all the long balls. I have no idea how Tottenham will get out of this death spiral but Son should start.
Recap
Ji Dong Won-- Came on as a sub and though I struggled to watch much (a strong reminder to me why I don't spend too much time on sketchy streaming), Ji did have a nice diagonal cross for an assist. He also looked to be moving well which is a concern of mine given his knee injuries.
Jeong Woo Yeong-- Another member of the no-possession theme, with JWY more noticeable in defense, either when he was scrapping well or when he was out of place with a questionable willingness to defend deep. His passing was also a mixed bag, with quite a few errant bad passes. A bit disappointing but that could be said about entire Freiburg showing where they were outplayed and Jeong was subbed off after an hour or so.
Kwon Chang Hoon-- Still out injured.
Choi Kyoung Rok-- Choi continues to play full matches and Karlsruhe continue to win even if neither look particularly stellar. Choi played in a CAM pair and had some really nice passes and good scrapping in defense. But Choi did go quiet for large stretches, particularly around the box where he needs to find better positions and a greater willingness to risk a difficult pass or shot, such as when he got a short corner and sent in a good cross but should have shot given room to do so.
Lee Kang In-- Came on for last fifteen and most memorable was a very rough tackle on his ankle where it looked like he might be out for a while but continued to play. In attack, he got a good chance after a give-n-go that he shot over. Not a ton of meaningful minutes but minutes nonetheless.
Ji Dong Won-- Came on as a sub and though I struggled to watch much (a strong reminder to me why I don't spend too much time on sketchy streaming), Ji did have a nice diagonal cross for an assist. He also looked to be moving well which is a concern of mine given his knee injuries.
Jeong Woo Yeong-- Another member of the no-possession theme, with JWY more noticeable in defense, either when he was scrapping well or when he was out of place with a questionable willingness to defend deep. His passing was also a mixed bag, with quite a few errant bad passes. A bit disappointing but that could be said about entire Freiburg showing where they were outplayed and Jeong was subbed off after an hour or so.
Kwon Chang Hoon-- Still out injured.
Choi Kyoung Rok-- Choi continues to play full matches and Karlsruhe continue to win even if neither look particularly stellar. Choi played in a CAM pair and had some really nice passes and good scrapping in defense. But Choi did go quiet for large stretches, particularly around the box where he needs to find better positions and a greater willingness to risk a difficult pass or shot, such as when he got a short corner and sent in a good cross but should have shot given room to do so.
Lee Kang In-- Came on for last fifteen and most memorable was a very rough tackle on his ankle where it looked like he might be out for a while but continued to play. In attack, he got a good chance after a give-n-go that he shot over. Not a ton of meaningful minutes but minutes nonetheless.
