With Kim Do-gyun at the helm, will Seoul E-Land shed the stigma of being the ‘lowest ranked team in K League 2’?

Seoul E-Land’s Kim Do-gyun-ho won the opening round away match of the ‘Hana Bank K League 2 2024’ against 스포츠토토 Busan IPark 3-0 at Busan Asiadju Stadium on March 3.

Significance. Seoul E-Land entrusted Kim, who has been promoted to the top division before this season, the 10th anniversary of the club’s founding, to take the helm. In addition to veteran defenders such as Osmar and Kim Oh-kyu, the club also brought in proven resources from the K League such as Kim Young-wook, Oh In-pyo, and Jung Jae-yong to solidify the squad. The team attracted attention for their ‘madness’ in the transfer market, and they started off strong with a big win in their first game.

Their strengths were on display. The defense was solid, centered around Osmar. The stable three-back didn’t concede a goal against Busan, who had 14 shots on goal. Kim was plagued by “defensive anxiety” when he was in charge of K League 1 Suwon FC last year, conceding a record 76 goals, but he showed a different color at Seoul E-Land.

It was ‘Daeopgyeong-sa’ who had a goal feast without conceding a goal. Starting with Osmar’s first goal in the fourth minute of the first half, Chang Jun and Park Min-seo scored back-to-back goals in the second half.

There were some areas to work on. Bruno Silva, who started, and other foreign strikers such as Ikova need to improve their form. Kim is also not satisfied with the organized pattern play. “I was a little disappointed with our offense. We didn’t do what we prepared for in training. We need to keep improving,” he said.

After a challenging first game, but with their “strength” of defensive organization in place, the Seoul E-Land will face Suwon Samsung in the second round on Tuesday.