Valencia manager’s sacking is bad news for Lee Kang-in

Valencia, a promising football player Lee Kang-in’s (19) team, has sacked coach Albert Celades. It is the second time that the team sacked a coach in the 2019-2020 season.

“From Tuesday, Voro Gonzalez (57) will take charge of the first team on a provisional basis through the end of the present season,” said the team on Tuesday.

Valencia sacked Marcelino Toral (55) in September at the beginning of the season and hired Celades, but decided to change the coach once again after nine months. Both were sacked for poor records. Valencia advanced to the round of 16 in the UEFA Champions League in the 2019-2020 season, but left the ground after losing to Italy’s Atalanta in Serie A 4-8 in the first and the second matches in March. It currently ranks eighth with (1 win, 1 draw and 3 losses) in the past five matches since the league was resumed after a COVID-19 break.

Lee who recorded one goal in 20 matches in this season started in five matches and went in as a substitute in most games. Frequent sacking of coaches is bad news for Lee as he is not having a lot of opportunities to run on the field because the new coach is likely to plan matches centering around the top players to stabilize the team and show better records. For a new coach, it would be hard to send a new player to the field and experiment. But it could also be an opportunity for Lee to break away from the past if he understands the tactics and style of the new coach and demonstrate his ability. For him, seizing opportunities under the new system has become more important.


Won-Hong Lee bluesky@donga.com