The part 2 of preseason news roundup gives you a summary of Yoon Jong-Hwan’s first interview as a manager of Cerezo Osaka, conducted by South Korean media Sports Seoul, plus a few short news.
Newly appointed Cerezo manager Yoon Jong-Hwan received an interview by Sports Seoul, which was published today.
The former Ulsan Hyunday boss firstly made clear that his decision to come back to Japan wasn’t to “feel easier,” saying “I am disappointed at not being able to do better than I did at Ulsan.”
“It’s not easy for any manager to instill his ideas in a team in just one or two years,” he added. This is what we also need to take into consideration.
Yoon is expected to rebuild the team which just confirmed promotion. It’s not an easy task, and he knows it as he told “I accepted their offer to take charge of the team at this important timing for them. I’m feeling the weight of responsibility.”
As I wrote in the previous post, former manager Kiyoshi Okuma will stay at the club even after leaving the managerial post, although a role he will play isn’t certain yet. Some may guess this will cause a problem, but Yoon doesn’t think so. “I have a strong feeling to make the team better with him,” he said.
The interview suggests that, to some extent, Cerezo’s transfer activity during this preseason has been and will be done in line with Yoon’s intention. For example, although the club somehow haven’t announced yet, Croatian defender Matej Jonjic will join the team from Incheon United. About the background of this signing, Yoon said “the club were putting an importance on strengthening the defense and asked me to recommend, so I suggested Jonjic.”
“They currently have many youth-grown players and put an importance on developing them into players who deserve to play for national team or European clubs, and by doing so, increasing competitiveness within the team. Of course I will help young players’ development along that line. On the other hand, I’m also considering acquiring some experienced players to achieve some good results in the first division,” he also said.
On a rumor that Kim Jin-Hyeon may leave the club, Yoon said “he is treated as a legend at the club. Fans love him too. He has gained a lot of trust (from them), especially after his decision to reject offers from other clubs and stay at the club despite the relegation. I also think we should keep him.”
The J1 League will start the 2017 season on February 25th according to reports. Normally, teams begin their preseason training mid January, but Yoon asked the club to start it one week earlier, so the start date will be January 12th according to Sankei Sports.
From January 18th to 29th, the team will visit Thailand for a training camp this year too, a report submitted to JFA executive committee revealed. It is already announced that Cerezo will play a training match with partner club Bangkok Glass FC at Leo Stadium on January 28th.
Ins
Musashi Oyama (Sapporo Otani High School)
Shu Mogi (Toko Gakuen High School)
Toshiki Onozawa (Cerezo Osaka U-18)
Kakeru Funaki (Cerezo Osaka U-18)
Reiya Morishita (Cerezo Osaka U-18)
Hirofumi Yamauchi (Waseda University)
Outs
Keiji Tamada
Takashi Kitano
Sota Nakazawa
Yuzo Tashiro