Shandong Taishan out of the Asian Champions League after failing to show up for a crucial match in Ulsan tonight

The #AFC can change format as much as it wants but it's still premier club tournament is a farce yet again.

One more sleep til K League-mas 🇰🇷⚽💙

Here are my final #KLeague 2025 predictions then:

🏆 Ulsan HD
🥈 Gimcheon Sangmu
🥉 FC Seoul
4⃣ Daejeon Hana Citizen
5⃣ Gangwon FC
6⃣ Jeonbuk Hyundai
7⃣ Pohang Steelers
8⃣ Gwangju FC
9⃣ Jeju SK
↔️ Daegu FC
↔️ Suwon FC
⏬ FC Anyang

🏆#1
Glory glory Ulsan HD

Predicting a 4th in a row for the mighty Tigers. We've brought in quality players and the coach staff to win despite the generational shift

Main man: Hard to pick - maybe Ko will get the MVP nod
Best signings: Yoon is a proper RB but I like Lee Jin-hyun most

Kit: Delish😗

#2
Gimcheon 🔴🔵

Army boys to go one better and finish second. So much quality and reenforcements incoming.

Main man: Lee Dong-gyeong - can create something from nothing
April recruit: Jeon Byung-gwan - superb attacker capable of the spectacular

Kit: Downgrade. Another smudge :(

#KLeague

#3
FC Seoul ⚫🔴

Gradually improving but still lack the consistency to go all the way

Main man: Jesse Lingard (FW) hit his stride by the end of last year. Should continue to step up
Best signing: Jeong Seung-won (CM) - pretty boy onto his 4th club

Kit: Just the inverse of last year

#KLeague

#4
Daejeon 🟢🟣

Got a good spine to the team. Think they'll be the surprise package this year

Main man: Ishida Masatoshi - tricky fella comes alive in the box
Best signing: Ha Chang-rae - knows how to win K1 games, as does another signing Joo Min-kyu

Kit: Best in years but still not a fan

#KLeague

#5
Gangwon 🟠🐻

Change of manager but still got the squad to trouble anyone. ACL may scupper results post-split

Main man: Marco Tuci (CB) - third year in K1 - rock at the back
Best signings: Been busy. New wingers Cuze and Romario could be explosive

Kit: bring back the tequila sunrise 🍹

#KLeague

#6
Jeonbuk 🟢

Poyet's got the squad to make the top half but unlikely to bring any mojo back to Jeonju. Baby steps.

Main man: Kim Jin-kyu (CM) - at least he gaf last season
Best signing: No one stands out - Song Beom-keun (GK) is back but arguably a downgrade

Kit: still dark green 😐

#KLeague

#7
Pohang ⚫🔴

Have done little to address the problems of last autumn. Paper thin squad and continental commitments means they'll miss the split

Main man: Oberdan (CM) does so much for them
Best signing: Juninho (FW/RW) - should step up from K2 no problem

Kit: smudged up mess 👎

#KLeague

#8
Gwangju 🟡
Lost a lot of good players after two impressive campaigns. Oddball manager has them well-drilled though, so will avoid trouble

Main man: Asani (RW) still there, still quality
Best signing: Reis (FW/AM) - back after a confusing stint at Jeju - creative.

Kit: squeaky clean 💛

#KLeague

#9
𝐉𝐞𝐣𝐮 𝐒𝐊 🟠
New badge, but same lacklustre football most likely
No big signings, coach is a dinosaur

Main man: Yuri (FW) will bag a few
Best signing: Kim Jae-woo (CB) Really hope he reignites his promising career after finishing at the army last year

Kit: Like the team, underwhelming

#KLeague

#10 (Relegation Playoff)
𝐃𝐚𝐞𝐠𝐮 𝐅𝐂 🦔
Expect another tough season - some lovely footy but loads of passive dodgy spells off the ball

Main man: Who else? Cesinha! (FW/AM) 🐐
Best signing: Bruno Lamas (CM) - back from Busan, should help increase possession

Kit: Classic Daegu - no complaints

#KLeague

#11 (Relegation Playoff)
𝐒𝐮𝐰𝐨𝐧 𝐅𝐂 🔵🔴
An entertaining side with exciting attacking ethos, but so many daft errors at the back. It'll cost them

Main man: Anderson (AM) - Magic🧙

Best signing: Lee Ji-sol (CB) - Former U-23 defender could be the leader they need

Kit: Nice - but that yellow?🤨

#KLeague

12 days til K League 2025 kicks off ⚽
So here are my predictions for each team

#12 (Relegated)
𝐅𝐂 𝐀𝐧𝐲𝐚𝐧𝐠 🟣

Main man: Matheus Oliveria - K2 MVP
Best signing: Bruno Mato - K2 Golden Boot

Anyang's first year in the K1 is likely to end in tears, but should be entertaining - nice kit too

#Kleague

This year's ACL campaign has been complete toilet

But at least we finally scored a goal

Against a Chinese Super League side

With 10 men

At home

😔

Despite similar budgets, Jeonbuk finish 30 points behind Ulsan - unthinkable just a few years ago. They'll be in a relegation playoff, as will Daegu FC.
Incheon go down, tho with talk of a reshuffle in the pro/rel rules, they may be back quicker than some other bigger relegated teams
#KLeague

Ulsan finish the season on an 11-game unbeaten run to seal a hat trick of #KLeague titles.

Gangwon achieve their best ever finish, Gimcheon take 3rd, but FC Seoul fill the final continental spot in their stead.

My Ulsan HD awards 2024

Best signing: Ko Seung-beom
Best foreign player: Gustav Ludwigson
Most improved: Yun Il-rok
Young player: ...erm....
Player of the Year: Jo Hyeon-woo

#KLeague