FMV: Tour Presents.. Park Joo-Young

Name: Park Joo-Young
D/O/B: 10/07/1985 (Age 24)
Position: Attacking Midfielder/Striker
Club: AS Monaco (France)
International Caps: 39
International Goals: 13
Value: £4,400,000
Wages: £11,750 p/w

Background
After scoring 18 goals in 30 appearances in his first season for Korean side FC Seoul in 2005, the 19-year-old Park was expected to shine in the 2006 World Cup in Germany. As it turned out though, he only made one appearance in what was a disappointing tournament for the Koreans overall, as they finished 3rd in the Group Stages behind France and Switzerland. Park’s form in the K-League suffered and over the next 3 seasons, he managed only 17 goals in 61 games for FC Seoul, missing over half of the 2007 and 2008 seasons through injury. In September 2008, Park completed a move to French side AS Monaco, scoring on his debut and subsequently being named Monaco Player of the Season. To date, he has scored 11 times in 47 appearances during his time in France, and despite recent interest from both Fulham and Celtic, continues to perform well for both club and country, helping Korea to qualify for the 2010 World Cup with ease, contributing 4 goals to their qualification bid.

Attributes

Strengths
Flair – 15
Off The Ball – 15
Free Kick Taking – 14
Aggression – 14
Composure – 14
Concentration – 14
Decisions – 14
Determination – 14

Although his statistics may not be stunning, he does seem to be pretty consistent across the board. He is notorious for his Free Kick Taking abilities, and in his preferred role as the Second Striker, attributes such as Off The Ball, Decisions and Composure will make him difficult to mark for most Defenders. He’s also renowned as being one of the most skilful Asian players in the modern game, and his trickery could also pose a threat to oppositions’ Defences.

Weaknesses
Long Throws – 3
Marking – 5
Positioning – 5
Tackling – 6
Corners – 7

It’s fairly obvious as to why most of these attributes are Park’s weakest; he isn’t a Defender. However, the fact that he doesn’t seem to be that good at Corners does puzzle me slightly, since he is somewhat regarded as a Free Kick specialist. He does seem to lack a certain ‘edge’ to his game though; and for an international striker he does possess a relatively low Finishing attribute. However, if put in the right role with the right tactics, Park does have the potential to do well.

Positions
Park is a natural Striker and an accomplished Attacking Midfielder, but I believe that his best role would be as a ‘Trequartista’ positioned either as the second Striker or in Midfield. Relatively low Heading and Jumping abilities mean Defenders would more often than not have the edge over him in the air, meaning his roles are limited in that sense. Personally, I would maybe look into playing him behind the strikers in a free role and set him as the playmaker, as he does seem to be fairly creative.

Overall
Park is by no means the best player to have graced the footballing world, but with the right tactics and the right players around him, he does have the potential to do well. He’s nowhere near the standard of a European-challenging Premier League side, but for a team like Fulham, who as I mentioned were interested in him, he could easily do a good job.
Recommended Rating: 6/10