Choi Soon-ho, Suwon FC General Manager, "Ajax is a Role Model... The Average Age Should be 27 Years Old"

A virtuous cycle through player development is the direction for the survival of civic clubs... A consensus with director Kim Eun-joong

“Ajax is so good, but they run it frugally.”

This is the direction Suwon FC will take as a civic club in the K-League 1 of professional soccer.

Suwon FC general manager Choi Soon-ho, who met with Yonhap News on the 25th in Gyeongju, Gyeongbuk, the club's first winter training site, selected Ajax, a prestigious Dutch professional soccer club, as a 'desirable club.' https://www.totosafeguide.com

General Manager Choi said, "Ajax, who are so good at soccer, do not spend a lot of money.

Rather, they continue to develop players and operate frugally," and believed that the club's self-reliance through player development is directly related to the survival of the civic club.

General Manager Choi emphasized, “It is absurd to say that generational change is a goal or a task for the team.

That is natural,” adding, “For a team to survive, it is natural for young and new players to emerge and develop into core players.” did.

According to General Manager Choi, the average age of Suwon FC first team members last season was over 30 years old.

Ultimately, the goal set by Director Choi is to ‘maintain the average age of 27 to 28 years.’

This is only possible if the team's roots are strong.

In order to do so, it is necessary to continuously discover young players and have them play, but in the realistic aspect of competing for league rankings, the only 10 to 20 minutes of playing time allowed for the 22-year-old resource so far has been.

This is why the Suwon FC B team, which consists mainly of rookie players, is being operated starting this year.

Team B players are also in Gyeongju, where Suwon FC has set up a camp. https://www.thebmc.co.uk/profile?id=63311

Those receiving Coach Yang Dong-hyun's teachings dream of one day becoming a first-team player while participating in practice games with university teams such as Kwangwoon University, Chung-Ang University, and Dong-A University.

As coach Kim Do-gyun, who led the team until last season, moved to K League 2 Seoul E-Land FC, he entrusted the baton to coach Kim Eun-joong, who reached the semifinals at the 2023 FIFA U-20 World Cup.

The two men's soccer philosophy of emphasizing 'development' was similar, and Coach Kim said he would build the team step by step, focusing on the growth of young players.

Coach Kim also said, “Citizen clubs cannot afford to pay a lot of money for the players they want like corporate clubs do,” and added, “We need to develop young players who show potential.”

Regarding Kang Sang-yoon, who became a priest at the FIFA U-20 World Cup and shared the joy of reaching the semifinals, he said, "He is a player who continues to grow.

He will play an important role in the team," and directly requested the club to recruit him.

The fact that Indonesian defender Arhan, born in 2001, was selected as one of the foreign players to join this season is also related to the 'young team'.

Coach Kim Eun-joong grew up playing for various age-group national teams in his country, and has met and watched Arhan, who is participating in the 2023 Asian Football Confederation (AFC) Asian Cup as a member of the Indonesian national team led by coach Shin Tae-yong, several times at international competitions. https://stocktwits.com/cristellecruzsixteen

Coach Kim Eun-joong and the club, who advocate 'development' as their keynote, look forward to Arhan, who is only 23 years old, developing his potential further and exploding his skills at Suwon FC.