“I’m sorry I didn’t accomplish what I set out to do. I think my role is over due to my lack of ability.”
FC Seoul head coach Ahn Ik-soo read out his prepared resignation letter, calling it a “stool of resignation,” at a press conference after the team’s K League 1 27th round home match against Daegu FC at Seoul World Cup Stadium on Sept. 19.
Seoul drew 2-2 with Daegu that day, and after the game, a voice was heard from the ‘Suho Shin’ section of Seoul supporters shouting “Ahn Iksu, get out!”. Some of the supporters were hoping that Ahn would step down as coach.
However, the Seoul club claimed that it was a “sudden remark” by Ahn. “It was unexpected, so I don’t think it will be easy to organize today,” said a Seoul official, adding that it was not agreed upon with the club in advance. After meeting with Ahn and listening to his comments, the club said it would organize and announce its internal position.
However, Ahn reportedly indirectly expressed his concerns about his future in a recent meeting with a number of acquaintances.
Ahn said, “Change is necessary for Seoul to develop. I will support Seoul from afar as a guardian spirit to continue to lead Korean soccer and spread a healthy message to our society,” he said. “I would like to thank the owners for believing in me, the front office and staff for their hard work in supporting the players, the Seoul supporters for supporting the team in all kinds of weather, including rain and heat waves, and all the people who worked behind the scenes, such as the people who maintain the grass at the Copper Training Center. Last but not least, I am sorry and grateful to the players who worked hard for the development of FC Seoul.”
Ahn was hired as a firefighter for relegation-threatened Seoul in early September 2021 and led the team to a dramatic return to the top flight that year. “Seoul should play a leading role in domestic soccer,” he said, advocating for challenging tactics that would be found in the big leagues, such as backward build-ups that emphasize positional disruption.In the 2022 season, Seoul ranked first out of 12 teams in total passes with 29,923. The number of shots and key passes were also among the top in the league, indicating that the team aimed to play “fun soccer” for fans, and the numbers showed it. The problem was performance. Last year, the team finished in the Final B for the third consecutive season due to a lack of scorers to match their build-up tactics in the first half of the season and a weakness in penalty shootouts, with over 70% of their goals conceded in the second half. 소닉카지노
This season, the team raised expectations by climbing as high as second in the first half of the season and being consistently ranked in the top half of the table, but uncertainty grew in the front line after national striker Hwang Eui-jo left the team on a six-month loan in June. The team went five games without a win (three draws and two losses) in a row, exposing its lack of depth in the second half of the season. Against Daegu, they led 2-1 before conceding a header to Edgar in the 36th minute.