Nam Ki-il Nam’s first move is to ‘go to Europe’

“I’m curious about Alonso’s soccer” Nam Ki-il Nam’s first move is to ‘go to Europe’

Jeju United head coach Nam Ki-il’s next move is to Europe.

Nam recently boarded a plane to Europe. Nam has stepped down as Jeju’s head coach. Nam took over as Jeju’s 16th head coach in 2020, winning the K League 2 title that season and promoting the team to K League 1. He went on to lead the team to the Final A for two consecutive seasons. After an ambitious start to the season, Nam was re-signed last season and the team briefly climbed to the top of the standings, but since the summer, the team has been in a slump. Most recently, the team went five games without a win (D1, D4) and failed to qualify for the FinalA.

Nam announced his farewell to the team after a 1-0 loss to Seoul on March 23 and informed the team of his intention to resign. After much deliberation, Jeju accepted his request in an effort to shake things up. Nam concluded his four-year tenure with Jeju.

It’s an unexpected break for Nam. After starting as acting head coach at Gwangju FC in 2013, he went on to lead Seongnam FC and Jeju in 365 K League matches. He also earned the title of “promotion boss” by leading three promotions in the history of the K League. It’s a remarkable career considering he’s still in his 40s. Aside from a brief hiatus after resigning from Gwangju in late 2017, he hasn’t spent any time on the sidelines. In the K League, which is often referred to as the paradise of football, Nam is almost the only coach to have spent 13 consecutive years at Jeonbuk Hyundai.

As much as he’s worked tirelessly, he’s also thirsty for new ideas. Nam is known for being a studious coach. He became the first PhD athlete to earn a doctorate while still playing, and he continued his studies after becoming a coach, traveling to various countries, including the United States. Throughout his coaching career, he traveled to Europe every year for family vacations. His intuition for the game and his ability to watch training sessions for teams that wanted to know more made him an asset.

But then COVID-19 hit. Nam’s trips to Europe stopped. Coincidentally, it was after he arrived in Jeju. “I felt disconnected because I was only in Jeju,” he says. I couldn’t go out because of the coronavirus. I didn’t know what I was doing well or not doing well,” he said. During his time in Jeju, Nam tried to make various changes, but he felt stagnant in terms of soccer. While Jeju is now known for its practical, defensive style of play, Nam originally wanted to play aggressive, fun football.

As soon as the time became available, Nam decided to move to Europe. After spending four years in Jeju, he needed time to organize his life, but he decided to leave for Europe. He planned his schedule for about a month. “I felt like I couldn’t keep up with the trends in soccer, 카지노사이트킴 so I wanted to see how things were going in Europe and charge up my ideas,” Nam said.

He traveled to Portugal and Germany. In between, he will travel to other countries to watch national team games. He has already booked tickets to games in Belgium and the Netherlands. If I can afford it, I’ll watch other teams as well. Finally, I plan to travel to France to watch Lee Kang-in play for Paris Saint-Germain.

But here’s the one I’m most excited about. Leverkusen are making waves in the German Bundesliga. Leverkusen is the latest “hot team” to hit the scene. Since the arrival of Xabi Alonso last season, the team has been transformed. With Alonso’s unconventional tactics, Leverkusen has been on a roll this season. Nam plans to watch Leverkusen games and attend training sessions. “I watched Leverkusen’s game on TV, and they had a lot of different ways of attacking. Their creative play stood out. I thought I could get a lot of ideas from watching the game in person. I also plan to see how Alonso conducts training sessions and learn from the younger coaches.”