Seoul E-Land's "captain" Kim Oh-kyu gave sincere advice to young players.
E-Land ranked third in the K-League 2 last season, the highest since its foundation. Since then, E-Land has advanced to the promotion playoff, but failed to get promoted after losing to Jeonbuk Hyundai. "We had a good experience, but there were many disappointments in the league," Kim said. "It would have been nice if we could have gotten promoted directly. Eventually, E-Land displayed inconsistent performance in the league. The PO itself was convincing to the fans, and it was a good experience."
Kim Oh-kyu, who joined E-Land ahead of the last season, showed off his great performance. He played in 35 matches and boasted his best teamwork as a center back. "I tried to make up for each other's shortcomings naturally. Osmar is such a great player that I think I learned a lot and relied on him. We trusted each other a lot."
E-Land has been conducting its winter training camp in Bangkok, Thailand since May 5 to prepare for the 2025 season. Soon, the training is in its third week. "The intensity of the training seems to be similar to that of last year. However, as the coach wants soccer in a different color this year, he is spending a lot of time tactically. He is not in a bad condition. He is not in a bad condition. He is not in a bad condition and is doing well."
Kim was appointed as E-Land's captain starting from the 2025 season. "Last year, I thought I was the captain and found a role to play for the players, but (Kim) Young-wook had the hardest time. Now that I'm taking over the team, nothing changes when I wear the armband. I think I can play a similar role as last year, and I think I can lead the players well by improving my shortcomings."
"The coach and the head coach of Jungkyu Lee have said a lot that we should focus only on soccer this season," he said. "This may be different from what you have in mind. Obviously, he paid a lot of attention to bringing those parts together. It's actually strange that it's going well now. There can be complaints, not complaints, and that's also understandable. But I'm talking about that a lot because I have to have the same direction to play good soccer," he added.
The E-Land team started reorganizing its players in the pre-season. The average age of players is much younger than 25, and the team sent Bruno Silva, Montagno and Kazuki before recruiting Talo, Pedringyo, Eidale and Ewler. Except for Osmar, they all assigned foreign players as strikers.
"We have many friends that existed before, and there are many changes," Kim said. "However, seniors are paying attention to the players' adaptation. The team has become much younger, but it has its own strengths. Its advantage is that young players get along naturally and quickly. Players who have been recruited by existing players are adapting well by trying to learn as much as possible."
Veteran defender Kim Oh-kyu was born in 1989. He is always thinking about his second life. "Rather than saying that I thought about retirement, I always think about what kind of life I will live after retirement," he said. "I am still thinking about what kind of life I should choose when I retire."
More fans naturally expected E-Land's performance in the upcoming season. "It was a disappointing result rather than the goal we set last year," Kim said. "However, I think the result presented a direction for us to achieve the goal we wanted. If we are too isolated there, we will not be able to start this year. If we interpret it positively and feel comfortable, we will be able to produce better results," Kim said.
"Last season's experience can be our powerful weapon, but it can't be a weapon after a good experience. As a player, PO experience is a really good opportunity, and it depends on the players' choice whether it can be an opportunity to grow and end up with a good experience. I think we can be a good team this season if it works with positive effects and grows," he added. 안전놀이터
Lastly, to the squad, he said, "I hope we can grow as the age group has decreased. I am asking players these days, 'Did you make a better mistake than yesterday?' It is natural that there are many mistakes now. I think it will be better if we make a better mistake tomorrow than today. Also, I hope our team is positive. No matter what you hear from the outside, we are talking a lot about positive interpretation."