Director Kim Sang-woo, who is in his second season as manager of Samsung Fire & Marine Insurance, has slightly revealed his plan for the next season.
The 2023 Korean Volleyball Federation (KOVO) integrated workshop was held at Elysian, Gangchon on the 1st. At the scene where club officials, KOVO officials, and reporters all gathered, managers from all men’s and women’s clubs were present, except for Tommy Tilikayinen, Aachen Kim, and Marcello Abondanza, who are not currently staying in Korea.
Samsung Fire & Marine Manager Kim Sang-woo also visited the site that day. On this day, coach Kim also attended the invitation forum for excellent overseas leaders with director Kim Jong-min of Korea Expressway Corporation, which was held by inviting Italian coaches Andrea Gardini (Beuhatouf) and Lorenzo Bernardi (Novara).
Before the forum started, I was able to hear a little bit about the concept of the upcoming season from Director Kim, who met with <The Spike> for a while. Coach Kim first brought up the story of Yosbani Hernandez, who competed in the 2023 Asian Volleyball Confederation (AVC) Men’s Club Volleyball Championship held in Bahrain. Director Kim, who revealed that he “watched Yos Bani’s game,” said, “It seems that my body is not 100% yet. He felt less prepared.”
However, coach Kim said, “I think it is difficult to evaluate Yosbani based on his performance in Bahrain. There may be people who will criticize Yos Bani for not showing a good look, but I don’t care.” He revealed that he had no worries. Regarding the timing of Yosubani’s joining the team, he said, “I will join on August 1st.”
Director Kim said, “For now, Plan A is for Yosubani, Kim Jeong-ho, and Eddy to work together. There may be some uneasy elements in areas other than offense, but first of all, we expect the team color to be different from last season,” he said, revealing that he is envisioning an aggressive lineup.
When asked for a more detailed explanation of the team color, coach Kim said, “I want the team to be a little more explosive in height and attack. The defense was good last season as well. However, in the process of counterattacking, we played a tough game due to lack of decisiveness. I hope that these parts will be improved this time,” he added.
In coach Kim’s plan, a player as important as Yosubani is Eddie, who will take on the apositive, the center of firepower. Currently, Eddie is staying in Mongolia to change his visa from a student visa to a work visa required to play in the V-League. Director Kim said, “Eddie kept in touch with him until he went to Mongolia.”
Coach Kim said, “I’ve talked about it before, but to be honest, I think Eddy is a player who is expected to be a main player because he is on our team. He is a player who still needs to be refined.” At the same time, he emphasized the story several times, “Our team as a whole, including Eddie, is a team that needs time.”
He also wondered if he would go out of his way to reinforce his team or organize his team to solidify his plan for the next season. Regarding the reinforcement of power first, coach Kim said, “As long as the card is right, it is open to trade. However, matching the cards is not easy. The draft needs to be watched a bit. This is because the current U-League player base doesn’t look so good as there are more early drafts. During the summer training period, there will definitely be areas where the team is lacking, so I think we need to look at that and set the direction.”
On the other hand, he expressed a firm will to organize the team. Coach Kim said, “I have finished the idea to some extent to organize the squad. It seems that drastic innovation is needed. It is not possible to carry all the players who are judged to be unable to meet expectations anymore, and I do not think there is a need to do so.”스포츠토토
Last season was very disappointing for coach Kim. He certainly had a harvest, but the most important ranking was unsatisfactory. However, his offseason has been smooth. In the Asian Quarter Draft, he got the lucky first pick, holding Eddie in his arms, and also nominated Yos Bani, a player he wanted in the foreign player draft. Now, coach Kim is preparing for the rebound step by step. Will his hard work and earnestness shine in the next season? Looking forward to the new look of Samsung Fire & Marine Insurance.