Klinsmann’s Lessons: Unveiling South Korea’s Asian Cup woes and the path forward – tactical analysis

After just 12 months into his role as the head coach of the South Korea national team, Jürgen Klinsmann was relieved of his duties on the back of a disastrous Asian Cup campaign. Despite reaching the semi-final, a humbling defeat to underdogs Jordan capped off an embarrassing display in Qatar, epitomising the disdain shown towards the German manager. Having received ample criticism from Korean fans regarding his level of commitment and tactical direction, Klinsmann and his side displayed a distinct level of tactical naivety and lack of adequate preparation- ultimately resulting in their demise. Klinsmann’s ‘zombie football’ was coined in response to their need to come from behind in the majority of matches throughout the Asian Cup, requiring moments of brilliance and last-minute goals to give them a burst of life.

This tactical analysis and scout report will begin to understand what truly went wrong for the South Korean national side, with their ‘golden generation’ failing to end the 64-year wait for silverware. With Klinsmann’s tactics and philosophy being shown to lack a sense of creativity, this analysis will begin to identify how tactical issues were left to be exploited and what the next head coach must do to avoid these in the future.

South Koreas Asian Cup setup

One of the biggest criticisms of head coach Klinsmann would be that he lacked the proper desire and perceived commitment to succeed in the role. There was major backlash regarding his decision not to relocate from his home in the United States in the run-up to the tournament. It was said that his ‘work from home’ management did not begin to instil the correct principles and give him the best opportunity to properly scout the array of talents at his disposal in the K-League. Perhaps this may be seen as a bit of a stretch, but his tactical configuration at the Asian Cup does imply a lack of preparation.

South Koreans appeared as though they were in the dark when beginning to predict which formations their nation would be playing in, with Klinsmann using 4-3-3, 4-4-2, 4-2-3-1 and even 3-4-3, depending on the personnel he had at his disposal for each match. Whilst the tactical adaptations would appear beneficial on the outside, the lack of tactical consistency for a side deemed to be one of the clear favourites does not exactly exude confidence for both fans and players.

Formational modifications between matches attempted to negate some of the weaknesses within the side and address specific areas which could be exploited against the opposition. However, as it eventually panned out, these changes were far from fruitful, and the underlying systematic problems remained at large.