“I came because I wanted to wear New Balance.”

The interview with Seoul E-Land director Park Choong-gyun (50) started with Park’s pleasant joke. On the morning of the 5th, the E-Land Clubhouse (Kensington Resort) located in Cheongpyeong, Gyeonggi-do. Last month, when asked about the background of taking the helm of E-Land as the successor to former coach Jeong Jeong-yong, coach Park mentioned ‘New Balance’, the representative sports brand of the E-Land Group. The offer came. I accepted E-Land’s offer because I wanted to take on a challenge as a manager in the K-League someday. It seems that the E-Land club, which wanted to be promoted, took good care of the experience of Jeonbuk Hyundai’s performance every year.”

Coach Park, who gained fame as a defender of the national team, Suwon, and Seongnam during his active career, coached Poongsaeng Middle School, Ulsan, Jeonbuk, soccer team, and Vietnam national team after his retirement. He directly commanded Tianjin, Tian Hai, China, and Hanoi, Vietnam 안전놀이터. He has accumulated a wealth of experience in the K-League and other Asian countries, but his first opportunity to wield the baton in the K-League came half a century later. Coach Park said, “I don’t think it’s either early or late. I looked at all the coaches in the second division, and I was right in the middle.” I have experience with the leader,” he said.

Coach Park, who said he wanted to absorb coach Kim Ho’s ‘personality’, coach Cho Kwang-rae’s ‘resources’, and coach Choi Kang-hee’s ‘charisma’, hinted at a plan to transplant ‘Jeonbuk DNA’ to E-Land. First, he emphasized the importance of training, which was the basis for establishing the ‘Jeonbuk Dynasty’. Coach Park said, “When I played in Suwon, I trained four times a day without even having time to wash up. But the generation has changed. These days, the quality of training is more important than the amount of training.” ‘. Players usually try to pour 70-80% of their energy during practice and 100% during competition. We have to do it. It will require initiative and fighting power.”

I think it would be good to expect ‘Park Chung-gyun-style Dak-Gong (shut up and attack)’ in the stadium. Coach Park said, “I like Manchester City coach Pep Guardiola, but apart from that, I plan to come up with a strategy that fits the reality. I plan to prepare so that I can hear that I am the fastest in terms of tempo throughout the first and second parts. Characteristics that appeared in the World Cup “I will do well to incorporate the modern soccer trend of ‘defensively compact and faster offense’. I hope there are more players with experience to realize this.” In the early stages of the transfer market, E-Land is focusing on young resources such as Lee Si-heon and Lee Sang-min. Here, they recruited Vietnamese national striker Nguyen Van Toan. Coach Park said, “When I was in Vietnam, I evaluated him as the most talented player in the team. As a player with characteristics, I expect him to perform well in our team’s weak position (side attack).”

Since its inception, E-Land has not yet achieved its dream of being promoted to the first division. Coach Park said, “Since E-Land has a short history, the players seem to lack attachment to the team. They lack pride. We need to create a new team atmosphere. We need to talk openly with the players and find improvements.” Head coach Lee Ho Haen and field coach Jeong Hyuk know what to do to make the team win. I’ve been training for about two weeks so far, and all the coaches are doing their job well. I think I just need to do well.” laughed

Regarding the ‘3-year plan’, coach Park said, “I signed a 3-year contract, but the length of the contract is not important. We will challenge for promotion. We plan to build a team step by step, starting with field training.”