Leading scorer with 9 goals in the K League… Why is Lee Jong-kyu being ignored at ‘Kookmin University’?
A day after being left out of Jürgen Klinsmann’s roster, Ulsan Hyundai’s K League 1 striker Lee Min-kyu scored a goal to move to the top of the scoring charts. With better positioning and decision-making than in previous seasons, it will be interesting to see if he can earn a call-up to the next national team.
In the K League 1 17th round away match against Suwon FC on June 6, Injongyu came on as a second-half substitute and scored the game-winning goal to make it 2-1, helping the team to a 3-1 victory.
The goal brought his total to nine, making him the league’s leading scorer. He is already on pace to reach double digits before the league has even turned a corner. His pace has also picked up from last season, when he scored 17 goals.
Despite all of this, one of the things that has kept him off the Klinsmann is his slow feet. A common trend in modern soccer is the intense pressure from the front line and quick counterattacks from deep in the opponent’s territory. “If a striker has slow feet, it is difficult to harass the opponent’s buildup from a high position,” said Han Jun-hee, a commentator for Coupang Play.
“His positioning and decision-making are still excellent, but his lack of agility and explosiveness are weaknesses,” said Kim Dae-gil, a commentator for Kyunghyang Shinmun. This is because he lacks the ability to dribble alone and shake the opposing defense from outside the box. In fact, if you look at the forward resources aboard the Klinsmann this time around, they’re not as good at scoring goals as Lee In-gyu, but they’re better at dribbling.
A narrow radius of action is also considered a weakness. Without quality passes from the flanks or midfield, the chances of being isolated up front are high. Ulsan’s fullback Seol Young-woo and second choice Bako create plenty of scoring opportunities for Lee In-gyu. If he goes to a lower-ranked team like Ulsan that doesn’t have good supportive shooting, his strengths could be buried.안전놀이터
Decision-making is another area where Injongyu can expect to make the Klinsmann in the future. His 34 shots on goal ranked sixth, but his 15 shots on target ranked third overall. His average goal per game is 0.56, which ranks second overall. “His goal-scoring ability is definitely higher than the other frontline players on board the Klinsmann,” said commentator Kim Dae-gil, “and if they’re aiming for the Asian Cup right away, it’s not a bad option to test him first.”
