There is a clear difference between manager Jurgen Klinsmann (58) and manager Paulo Bento.
The Korea Football Association (hereinafter referred to as the association) announced on the 27th that it had appointed Klinsmann as the new head coach of the Korean national soccer team. His contract period is about 3 years and 5 months from March to the 2026 World Cup finals in North and Central America. Head coach Klinsman will return to Korea next week and will make his debut in Ulsan on March 24th in a warm-up match against Colombia.
Coach Paulo Bento finished his job as coach of the Korean national team after the 2022 World Cup in Qatar. The association appointed Michael Müller from Germany as the head of the National Team Power Reinforcement Committee and began the process of appointing a coach. While various names such as Vahid Halilhodzic and Roberto Moreno were on the rise, only Klins emerged as a strong candidate and was eventually appointed as the next manager.
Public opinion about the appointment of manager Klinsman is obviously not good. This is because there are many aspects that do not meet the appointment criteria that Chairman Mueller revealed. Chairman Müller stated that the five criteria for selecting a manager are professionalism, motivation, experience, teamwork, and environment.
The dual residency in Korea reached an agreement. Director Klinsman was worried about his main business in the United States, where he lives, but decided to carry out his managerial duties in Korea.
The biggest problem is the recent career. Coach Klinsmann took the helm of Hertha Berlin (Germany) in November 2019안전놀이터, but resigned after 10 weeks and became controversial. He has lived a savage life since then. Before Berlin, the last time he led the U.S. team was until November 2016. Excluding the 3-month period in Berlin, he has been away from the directorship for nearly 6 years.
Coach Bento was also criticized for his poor performance at the time of his appointment. Bento led Chongqing Lifan (China) before taking over the Korean national team. However, he was hardened due to poor performance, and this was evaluated as Bento’s biggest weakness.
Still, the difference is clear. While coach Bento continued his coaching career until just a month before his appointment in Korea, coach Klinsman has a vague memory of his coaching job. It is true that there are questions in terms of the ‘professionalism’ that Chairman Mueller revealed.
German defender Philipp Lahm (39), who experienced coach Klinsmann, wrote in his autobiography, “I only trained physically under coach Klinsmann. There was no tactical training” is a famous anecdote. Along with tactical ability, the atmosphere is not as good as when Bento took over as manager, as questions about the length of the manager’s post grow.
Chairman Muller will hold a press conference on the appointment of manager Klinsmann at the Soccer Hall at 2:00 pm on the 28th. Chairman Muller is expected to reveal the background of the appointment of the manager and the future direction. Attention is focusing on whether Chairman Mueller can overturn negative public opinion with sufficient explanations.