On April 3, in round 5 of K1 League 2024, at the home stadium of Seoul World Cup , the Korean capital team had a brilliant 5-1 victory over Gimcheon Sangmu.
This is the biggest victory since the beginning of the season in the Korean National Championship , bringing Seoul FC to the top. However, the club’s most awaited foreign star, Lingard, continued to have his name removed from the competition registration list.
Korea Times revealed that many fans were unhappy with Lingard’s absence. “People came to the match to see Lingard. They got mad when they didn’t see the player,” a Seoul fan named Na Young wrote on her personal page.
Yonhap said the Seoul FC leadership was not satisfied with Lingard having to sit on the bench, but had to please head coach Kim Ki-dong.
In fact, since the beginning of the season, the former MU midfielder has not made any significant contributions to the new club. In the context of Seoul FC’s performance getting better without the former England star in the squad, coach Kim Ki-dong’s decision was supported by many members of the club’s board of directors.
After a slow start, Seoul FC is unbeaten in the last 3 rounds (winning 2), currently ranked 4th on the K1 League rankings this season, 2 points behind leading team Pohang.
In round 4, coach Kim Ki-dong explained that the former MU star’s laziness in training and competition forced him to make the above decision. “I thought a lot about getting rid of Jesse (Lingard). I don’t think a player who can’t run for a few minutes is a football player,” the Korean coach shared on IS Plus after the match.
Previously, in round 3, captain Seoul also attacked Lingard’s playing attitude, saying that “Lingard does not play hard and avoids later disputes even though he only came on the field as a substitute.” From mainly sitting on the bench in the first 3 rounds, Lingard was removed from the registration list in rounds 4 and 5.