K League 2023 Review and Recap
Team of the Year - Team reviews and more!
The historic K League 2023 season in the books with Ulsan retaining the championship for the first time in their history and Suwon Bluewings suffering their first ever relegation from the top flight.
Team of the Year
The much maligned official team of the year which is more like a PFA (player/manager voted) award was much criticised on Twitter (mostly by myself every year) so here is mine and the reasoning and stats behind the choices.
GK Lee Chang-geun (Daejeon Hana Citizen)
Age: 30
Played: 38 matches
Ironically conceded the most of any goalkeeper in the league (58) but due to a leaky backline faced the most shots in the league (201) and subsequently made the most saves (143).
RB Doo Hyeon-seok (Gwangju FC)
Age: 27
Played: 37 matches
Gwangju’s one club man was omnipresent this season and a key part to their attacking passing style. His set pieces were also a key asset to the team going forward. The diminutive two-footed had a passing accuray of 86.89% and played 0.38 key passes per game. He came close to the top of assist charts with a total of 6 and banged in 2 goals from outside the box both scorchers from outside the box
CB Kim Young-gwon (Ulsan Hyundai)
Age: 33
Played: 32 matches
League MVP and has been instrumental in Ulsan’s two champions since joining. As is evident when he was out injured specially the 2-0 defeat to Jeonbuk in R16. The left-footed centreback has one of the best passing accuracies in the league at almost 90%
CB Grant (Pohang Steelers)
Age: 29
Played: 32
Another left footer might not be optimal but impossible to ignore Pohang’s Australian centre back. Not only good on the ball but a threat on goal with four goals this campaign with extraordinary percentage of aerial duels won
LB Wanderson (Pohang Steelers)
Age: 34
Played: 20
An unfortunate injury curtailed the veteran’s season but at 34 he still has one of the quickest accelerations in the league making his return to full back and excelling this season. His pace enables him to defend on the front foot averaging 4.17 interceptions a game and in the July victory over Jeonbuk made a miraculous nine.
CM Ki Sung-yeung (FC Seoul)
Age: 34
Played: 35
Ki put in an ageless display this season and was FC Seoul’s main creative spark averaging over nine passes into the final third per 90 at 83.9% accuracy and producing 5.68 Expected Assists that produced four assists.
CM Kim Do-hyuk (Incheon United)
Age: 31
Played: 32
In the second half of the season after the failed left wingback experiment; Kim first filling in for injuries was instrumental in the team’s rise up the table and in games was everywhere. Kim averaged 8 recoveries per 90 and 0.66 key passes a game.
CM Oberdan (Pohang Steelers)
Age: 28
Played: 33
Possibly signing of the season and a big part of Kim Gi-Dong’s success this season. The combative Brazilian won just under 70% of his defensive and along side Wanderson was effective in intercepting the ball over 4 times a game on average.
CF Zeca (Pohang Steelers)
Age: 26
Played: 37
The third and final Brazilian at Pohang in the team is the contender for MVP. Scoring 15 goals from an Xg of 13.69 alongside 7 assists was a lethal combination for the East Coast side that unfortunately attracted attention from overseas and Zeca will no longer be a K League player from next season
CF Tiago (Daejeon Hana Citizen)
Age: 30
Played: 36
Our penultimate Brazilian (yes there’s one more) is the man who did it in K2 last season and has done it in K1 now too - tying with Joo Min-kyu for the top scorer in the league with 17 goals this campaign along with 5 assists in a team in their first season back in K1.
CF Cesinha (Daegu FC)
Age: 34
Played: 23
Another of our golden oldies but still deserving of a place in the best Xi despite an unfortunate freak injury ending his season early is our one and only goat of the league. Getting a return of 8 goals and 6 assists while playing only two thirds of a season deserves a place in my book.
HONOURABLE MENTIONS
GK Kim Jeong-hoon (Jeonbuk) Kim Kyung-min (Gwangju FC)
DEF Timo Letschert (Gwangju FC) Seol Young-woo (Ulsan) Hwang Jae-won (Daegu FC)
MID Jung Ho-yeon, Lee Soon-min (Gwangju FC) Yoon Bit-garam (Suwon FC)
ATT Joo Min-kyu (Ulsan) Na Sang-ho (FC Seoul) Lee Seung-woo (Suwon FC) Kim Joo-chan (Suwon Bluewings)
Goodbyes
Osmar at FC Seoul will not return for the 2024 season and he’s been massive for the league and will be missed. Yeom Ki-hun also retiring in possibly the worst possible way is unfair after what he did at Suwon Bluewings
Controversies
As always is the case in every league there were a number of talking points throughout the year
Refereeing - Probably the best year for a while for refs with only a few big talking points during the season. Goals being chalked off was the main talking point - K League refs like giving free kicks and on April Fools Day they made a fool of Lachlan Jackson disallowing his rocket in a 2-0 loss away to Gwangju for perceived interference on the goalkeeper’s eye line. The biggest error has to go down to Choi Sang-hyup who gave Gangwon their first win of the year on 26th April when he blew up early just before FC Seoul put the ball in the net for a last minute equaliser. Choi was suspended for a few games but the dropped point ended up costing FC Seoul a place in the top half. Overall, an improvement with less fouls and major errors leading to more entertaining games but the whistle happiness habits die hard.
Substitutions - the U22 rule continued to be a controversial one with Suwon FC, Gangwon, Ulsan, Jeju and in the early stages of the season Suwon Bluewings even! All were guilty of subbing off their youngsters. However, the Jeonbuk vs Pohang around Halloween was a nightmare for Kim Young-su as he (his 4th official) allowed Pohang to sub off the wrong player and effectively, although not really, play with 12 men, which led to the ref’s demotion.
Added time - still not gotten over the 2 minutes added in the crucial R38 Suwon FC vs Jeju United game which meant Suwon FC survived. On average 6 minutes and 54 seconds were added on in the 2nd half of games and 2 minutes was the lowest amount of the entire season.
Ulsan Racism Scandal - the dark cloud that hangs over the season with a slap on the wrist an unfitting punishment.
Teams
1st Ulsan - Retained the title for the first time in their history largely down to their record breaking start to the season - 12 wins from the opening 14 games. In truth they struggled in the 2nd half of the season after failing to recruit a Park Yong-woo replacement. They won the most points (18) after conceding first gives an indication of some sluggish starts
MVP Kim Young-gwon
2nd Pohang - A fantastic season really with too many draws (16) the culprit for not making it an unforgettable one. Post Shin Jin-ho there were worries about how the team might perform but under coach Kim Gi-dong they brought home the FA Cup and qualified in style for the Last 16 in the ACL. Kim won’t be the coach here next season so they will have a hard time trying to repeat the process.
MVP Zeca
3rd Gwangju - The newly promoted side shocked everyone with their highest ever finish and qualification for the ACL Elite. Largely down to their coach Lee Jung-hyo. Their progressive style and flexible positioning at times lit up the league and a deserved 3rd place to boot.
MVP Lee Soon-min
4th Jeonbuk - A tough year for the record title holders of the league. A change of coach was never going to make it easy for former Chelsea player Dan Petrescu but with injuries and players away at the Asian Games it was a hard slog. They avoided disaster and could have retained the FA Cup if not for a late Pohang comeback on away soil.
MVP Kim Jeong-hoon
5th Incheon - a season of what could’ve been with a semi-final exit in the cup and a harsh failure to qualify by a single goal in the ACL, on top of a last day defeat against Daegu FC meant they finish the season with nothing to show for it. Promising rise of youngsters, beating the Japanes champions twice and return of Mugosa were some amazing highlights though.
MVP Kim Do-hyuk
6th Daegu - a return to the top half split is a good showing after the loss of talisman Cesinha very commendable. Selling out their stadium multiple times means it’s nothing but good vibes down in Daegu
MVP Hwang Jae-won
7th FC Seoul - R33 failure to finish in the top half and a manager resigning in a huff were two very low points of the season. The attendance at the stadium broke records but the fans weren’t rewarded with the side conceding 15 late goals (joint 2nd highest) after tactical failings when holding leads.
MVP Ki Sung-yeung
8th Daejeon - a successful platform to build on for next season as the newly promoted club. A goalkeeper to thank though as the team were very leaky at the back
MVP Tiago
9th Jeju - a year to forget for the islanders after a terrific start the annual Nam Ki-il midseason collapse happened again winless in 10 games and then another run of 7 games. Just to write home what a miserable season it was exited the semi finals of the cup at home on pens and then ended the season with 4 games without a win.
MVP Reis
10th Gangwon - ended in the dizzy heights of 10th after a late rally in the relegation split. Winning the Pro/rel playoff means they have a decent platform to build on next season with coach Yoon Jong-hwan getting a preseason under his belt is sure to improve them.
MVP Tuci
11th Suwon FC - Conceding 76 goals is quite remarkable - they were certainly the entertainers of the league and involved in some great games. Hectic off the pitch as well with foreign players coming and going. Just about survived after an extra time win against Busan in the Pro/rel
MVP Yoon Bit-garam
12th Suwon Bluewings - first ever relegation and a sad state of affairs and one of the league’s biggest clubs. It’s been coming with a victory in the Pro/rel playoff last season and they were carried by Oh Hyun-gyu then who they lost to Celtic at the start of the season. Injuries played their part and changing manager 3 times certainly didn’t help either. The 2022 season they tied the record for most goals from corners but this season they lost that threat and ended the season with their best player Lee Ki-je playing more for the Korean National team than for them.
MVP Kim Joo-chan
Top 3 Games: Entertainment
FC Seoul 7-2 Suwon FC R22
Record breaking game in the K League with FC Seoul destroying a sorry Suwon FC. Worse still for Suwon is that it could’ve been more on the day where everything clicked for FC Seoul, who then went on a winless run of 6 games
Incheon 3-3 Daejeon R2
Daejeon’s 2nd game since returning to the top flight showcased their strengths and weaknesses in a topsy-turvy game, where the lead changed hands three times. 1-0 Incheon > 2-1 Daejeon > 3-2 Incheon and then a last-minute equaliser.
Pohang 4-3 Daejeon R27
Daejeon almost game back from 3-0 down with the amazing hat-trick of assists and goals by Jeon Byung-kwan and Tiago respectively, the latter’s second is my goal of the season. Tiago made it 3-3 in the 97th minute only for the talented Hong Yun-sang to score his first ever K League goal on his debut; announcing himself onto the scene in the 99th minute to get the winner
3 Most Definitive Games
FC Seoul 0-2 Jeonbuk R33
This game dropped FC Seoul into the relegation group for the 3rd year running after spending much of the season in 2nd and the top four. It was disaster for the home side in front of a bumper crowd while the away team, who had just come back from a chastening defeat in Singapore, avoided their first ever bottom half finish.
Suwon Bluewings 0-0 Gangwon R38
First ever relegation from the top tier in the K League. A game that was in their hands after big win in the last (for the time being) Super Match the week before. Truth is it looked like they froze and Gangwon carried the bigger threat. Gangwon had also picked up in form especially improving at the back four with Summer signing Tuci crucial in their escape, as they went on to beat Gimpo in the Pro/Rel playoff.
Pohang Steelers 0-0 Ulsan R32
Just before the split Pohang had a chance to really apply pressure and cut the lead to 5 points knowing they would face Ulsan again in the final round. Ulsan looked to be playing for the point and it what wasn’t a classic; Pohang were unable to break the deadlock but did go closest hitting the bar. The following week Pohang lost away at Suwon Bluewings while Ulsan drew at Incheon and the title was pretty much decided.
Goals of the Season
Tiago’s 2nd goal (Daejeon Away) vs Pohang R27
Joo Min-kyu (Ulsan) vs Jeju R18
Which is your favourite?