"It's hard to handle stars who don't defend."
Marca reported on the 29th (Korea time) that "Jurgen Klinsmann (60), the former South Korean national football team coach, raised the issue of Kylian Mbappe and Vinicius's lack of defensive participation during a meeting of the Club World Cup Technical Study Group (TSG)."
Despite experiencing a disastrous failure with the Korean national team, Klinsmann, who continues to act as a 'football philosopher' on the international stage, has now even offered unsolicited advice on coach Xabi Alonso's management style at Real Madrid.
This season, Real is embarking on a new challenge under coach Alonso. Since taking office, Alonso has developed various tactics to utilize both Vinicius and Kylian Mbappe simultaneously. In fact, in the Club World Cup, the two players are displaying a different side through their active defensive participation.
There is someone who has arrogantly commented on such Real. It is Klinsmann, who is becoming synonymous with the notion that a great player cannot necessarily be a great coach. Having passed through the national teams of Germany, the United States, and Korea, Klinsmann has been far from successful. Now, he has stepped down from coaching and taken on an advisory role at FIFA, but he still speaks as freely as he did during his playing days.
Klinsmann claimed that coach Alonso of Real will struggle to control star players. He said, "Only teams with Lionel Messi can operate effectively with just 10 players on defense," adding, "Even Real demands defense from Mbappe and Vinicius. But I’m not sure if coach Alonso can impose that."
Klinsmann, who has been evaluated as lacking results as a coach, analyzed, "Mbappe is no longer a child and doesn’t listen well. It seems Vinicius feels he doesn’t need to defend since the other players aren’t defending. As a result, both players do not participate much in defense."
He continued, "However, coach Alonso needs to harmonize Mbappe and Vinicius. He must find a way to maximize the strengths of both while ensuring the team maintains balance." He emphasized, "In the past, PSG also failed in distributing roles for such star players. It won't be easy for coach Alonso either."
However, Klinsmann himself was dismissed in Korea due to his failure to establish defensive tactics. He completely lost the trust of the Korea Football Association (KFA) amid nationwide criticism for his lethargic performance and 'lack of tactics' during last year's Asian Cup. There were constant criticisms regarding communication breakdowns with the players and the disintegration of defensive strategies.
That is why Klinsmann speaking to coach Alonso about defensive balance has drawn reactions of 'comedy.’ Furthermore, Klinsmann caused unprecedented chaos by failing to control internal divisions within the national team during the Asian Cup. Given his discussions about defensive tactics and locker room harmony, criticism from fans continues.
Using the past failure of the trio of Messi, Neymar, and Mbappe as an example, Klinsmann continues to talk about tactical solutions, yet conveniently omits his own failures. For fans of Korean football who experienced major turmoil under Klinsmann's regime, the only possible reaction is, "Did you really say that?"
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