Ulsan coach laments issues with defensive organization in Club World Cup loss

After experimenting with a little-used formation in his team’s opening loss at the FIFA Club World Cup, Ulsan HD FC head coach Kim Pan-gon said he noticed some problems with the club’s overall organization.

Ulsan, three-time defending K League 1 champions, lost to Mamelodi Sundowns FC by 1-0 in their opening Group F match at Inter&Co Stadium in Orlando, Florida, on Tuesday (local time).

Kim came up with a back-three formation with three center backs flanked by speedy wingbacks, Um Won-sang and Gustav Ludwigson. The intent was to have Um and Ludwigson generate chances on the flanks in counterattack opportunities, with two defensive midfielders helping out the center backs in their own zone.

Though Um had some promising moments, Ulsan ultimately failed to score any goal, while a defensive breakdown led to the match’s only goal by Iqraam Rayners in the 36th minute.

“I wanted Um Won-sang and Ludwigson to make some aggressive forays into the attacking zone and Um, in particular, looked good,” Kim said at his postmatch press conference. “Those two guys are offensive minded. And since we have good center backs, we had to take that risk in defending the flanks. Our team as a whole had some organizational problems, but if we can address that, I think this formation will work out well.”

Um, normally an attacking midfielder, said, “We tried to win this match playing a back-three formation. It’s unfortunate we didn’t get the result we wanted.”

Kim, though, tried to look on the brighter side, saying Ulsan created some good opportunities in the first half.

“It’s disappointing that we didn’t get the win and the points we wanted, but I think we were able to execute some of the tactics we had worked on while preparing for the tournament,” Kim said. “I think the players did the best they could under the circumstances.”

In the days leading up to the tournament, Kim had said Ulsan’s goal is to reach the knockout stage, open to the top two teams from each of the eight groups in this 32-club tournament. Ulsan had regarded Mamelodi Sundowns as the only beatable team in the group phase, with Fluminense FC of Brazil and Borussia Dortmund of Germany likely to duel for the top spot in the group.

After the opening loss, though, Ulsan find themselves in last place in Group F, with Fluminense and Borussia Dortmund having played a goalless draw earlier Tuesday.

Ulsan will face Fluminense on Saturday in East Rutherford, New Jersey, and then Borussia Dortmund next Wednesday in Cincinnati, Ohio.

“This was an important match that we should have won,” Kim said. “On paper, Fluminense and Dortmund are better teams. We will have to recover well from this and get ready for the next matches.”

Ulsan goalkeeper Jo Hyeon-woo said the 65-minute weather delay at the start of the match might have affected his side negatively.

The match was supposed to kick off at 6 p.m. local time but was pushed back by more than an hour due to lightning in the area.

“The guys were all locked in and ready to go, and had to go back to the locker room,” Jo said. “It was a letdown. Inside, we talked about how we should prepare for the match in this situation. It’s the same for the other team, and we had never dealt with something like this before.”

Um said he didn’t want to use the delayed start as a crutch.

“It just means we weren’t prepared,” he said. “We still have two more matches to play. We will do our best and not make any excuses.”