Football Season Guide

Busan are back in the top flight for the first time in 5 years after finishing second in K2 last term only to sneak into the top flight via a dramatic play-off triumph. In 2019 Busan scored goals for fun and used very aggressive 4-3-3 shape a lot, but serious weaknesses in defence were issue all throughout the campaign. Coach Deok-je Jo did very well in his first year in charge and now in his second season at the helm he hopes to establish his team’s progress further. Toning down on the adventurous 4-3-3 shape is likely with Busan playing 2 friendlies behind closed doors in April and using 4-2-3-1 shape in both of them. Busan lost 2 star players in the winter – centre-back Susnjar and top scorer Novothny – but the manager got busy and plenty of reinforcements were signed. Coach Jo added 3 new centre-backs to his squad, at least 2 of them expected to be regulars, as well as 2 left-backs. Seok-yeong Yun is particularly impressive new signing. Romulo remains key figure in the middle of the park, with hints that this term he will be used in much more advance role which should see him influencing the forward actions even more. Also in 2020 he will be made company by 2 other Brazilians – strikers Reis and Vintecinco. Scoring goals shouldn’t be a problem for Busan and the voted MVP of K2 last season winger Dong-jun Lee should play crucial part in lots of them. In 2019 the 23-year-old scored 13 and assisted 7 more, making him one of the most productive wide players in Korea. Another player expected to be very useful is Kyu-seong Lee, who returns after his 2-year military services finished. His presence in midfield will be crucial in allowing Romulo to play further up field.