[신문로=스포츠한국 김성수 기자] It was the worst press conference ever. Michael Müller, head of the Korea Football Association’s National Team Strengthening Committee, did not give a sincere answer to the background of the appointment of Jurgen Klinsmann, the new coach of the national team, and the controversies surrounding him. It contrasted with the candid press conference of Kim Pan-gon, who brought coach Paulo Bento about 4 years and 6 months ago.
The Korea Football Association announced on the 27th that it had appointed German coach Jurgen Klinsmann as the new head coach of the national soccer team. The contract period with coach Klinsman is about 3 years and 5 months from March to the 2026 World Cup finals in North and Central America. The salary was not disclosed according to the agreement of both parties.
The coaching staff who will assist the coach will soon be decided after discussing with Klinsman and the Korea Football Association. It was also a condition of his contract to live in Korea during his tenure. Coach Klinsman plans to return to Korea sometime next week and begin his full-fledged activities as the coach of the Korean national team. His debut match is a friendly match against Colombia to be held in Ulsan on the 24th of next month.
And Michael Müller, head of the Korea Football Association’s National Team Strengthening Committee, held a press conference on the 28th at 2:00 pm at the Soccer Hall in Jongno-gu, Seoul regarding the appointment of coach Klinsmann.
The most important topic of the day was Klinsman’s senior background and whether his past controversy would continue in the Korean national soccer team.
First, when asked about Klinsman’s selection process, Müller gave absurd answers, such as “Klinsman was interested in Korea and wanted to live”, and Klinsman asked Doo-Ri Cha a lot about Korean soccer. After the reporter asked the question again, the answer that came back was also vague, explaining the general process of appointing a manager from 61 candidates, not the detailed process of appointing Klinsman, saying, “Klinsman was more interested than other candidates.”
The same was true of concerns about Klinsmann. First, there is the part about tactics. Klinsmann is a manager who focuses on the physical aspect rather than the detailed design of tactics. It was widely known through the German media that all practical tactical instructions during the German national team were given by head coach Löw. Germany’s legendary defender Phillip Ramma, who entered the German national team through coach Klinsmann, also revealed in his autobiography that all he said to the players was simple cheering.
This is in contrast to former manager Paulo Bento, who transplanted his firm tactical philosophy to the Korean national soccer team for more than four years. Rather, Uli Stielike, who entrusted most of the tactical operation to Shin Tae-yong, who was the head coach, is the footsteps of Klinsman.
However, Muller’s answer to this question was “Football is not the only answer.” When asked about the most important ‘tactic’ in a ‘battle’, he evaded the answer, saying that it was not everything.
Klinsmann was also criticized by the German public for delegating most of the national team duties to the head coach while he was coaching the German national team and receiving reports from the United States. As Chairman Muller mentioned on the day, if Klinsman has a great interest in Korean soccer, he should not be repeated.
The Korea Football Association seemed to have resolved this issue on the 27th, revealing that “it was a condition of the contract that only Klins live in Korea during his tenure.” However, when asked if there were any stipulated conditions for Klinsman’s residence in Korea, Chairman Müller, who was the main body for appointing the national team coach, said, “I don’t know anything about it. Klinsman only replied, “He has a great desire to stay in Korea.” It is a situation where the exact period of Klinsman’s residency in Korea is completely unknown. He cannot erase the possibility of staying in the US for a while under the pretext of vacation.
In addition to the unnecessary paraphrase of the interpreter, the press conference’s ‘moment without substance’ increased even more. In the end, during the 90-minute press conference that day, none of the answers I heard from Chairman Mueller about Klinsman were cool and sincere.
The press conference of Kim Pan-gon, who appointed coach Paulo Bento in August 2018, and the press conference of the head coach of the Korea Football Association at the time, and the press conference of Müller on this day were a heavenly difference. At that time, Kim Pan-gon honestly talked about the process of negotiations with candidates for coaching through a press conference. He did not directly mention the name, but he also spoke of the detailed process with the director, which can be fully inferred through media reports.
Regarding the appointment process with director Han, he was invited to his home, asked if he had to stay in Korea for 4 and a half years away from his family, and gave him the belief that he could succeed, but the salary negotiations broke down. Vomited. At the time, it was felt through the press conference that Kim Pan-gon did his best, and public opinion in support of Bento was gradually formed. Bento eventually led Korea to the round of 16 at the World Cup in Qatar about four years later.
As in the case of Kim Pan-gon, Müller had to prove that he did his best in the appointment process, even if the final director was not the best choice. However, with clichéd answers and floating voices, the doubts about the new director and the chairman himself were further amplified.