You know, I’m willing to admit that in the past I’ve given Park a bit of stick for being “average.” I’m also willing to come right out and admit that I’m completely wrong. In the limited role he has played this season, Ji-Sung park has proven (to me and seemingly the footballing public in general) that he really is a top-drawer player that Manchester United need to hold onto. His first season or two has been dotted with some consistent, yet underwhelming performances set amidst the odd goal or assist. The past few games have seen Park step up and show that while the ante has truly been upped this year at OT in many respects, he has upped the ante for the rest of the team the only way he can- his work rate. We’ve always known that he will go out and run the whole game and never stop, I really didn’t think you could have a higher work rate than Park and yet he’s come out this season and shown (despite injury) that he can raise his game in a similar way that Rooney and Ronaldo have raised their games. They’ve taken what they do best and added a slight tweak to it. Allow me to explain…
Ronaldo was always good at playmaking and running at defenders. This season he’s taken those two incredible qualities and added a further element to it- a striker’s keen eye for goal. He scores goals that a midfielder scores, that a winger scores, and the goals you’d see coming from an old-fashioned center forward.
Rooney is a true English forward, in lieu of a striker. While he’s always been able to score goals, his vision, off-the-ball movement and ability to charge through large groups of defenders (while still retaining possession) are his true calling cards. This season, he’s upped the ante by adding an enhanced ability to set up moves and distribute the ball better in danger areas. His assist tally serves as testament to this and I’m willing to argue that with anybody. Rooney has maintained his usual goalscoring form and has been producing his high-impact physical style on a regular basis, yet he has added a further level of creativity and vision that goes beyond merely doing incredible feats himself. He has helped his other teammates start to score more goals. Ronaldo would not have his sickening strike rate without Wayne Rooney standing in tandem. The two of them are the world’s best footballing duo- bar none.
Seriously- name me two players who strike more terror into the hearts of opposing fans when they’ve caught a team on the break and are charging in at full speed in a 2 on 1 or 2 on 2 scenario.
And so, we come to Park. He hasn’t had a full-season, but he has also added something else to his game this year- exemplified in his recent run of matches. The ability to get behind defenders consistently and play a game-breaking pass. You saw it at Boro and you saw it against Roma. In past seasons he would be closing down defenders in their own half and chasing the ball all over the pitch, but this season he has, quite possibly, perfected a Solksjaer-like ability to be in the right place at the right time- something you can’t really be taught. He has upped the ante along with Rooney, Ronaldo and even the likes of Ferdinand- who has added a steely confidence and you don’t see any of the casualness that used to plague many performances.
I’ve grabbed a few Park videos that I think really point out what I’m talking about in reference to the new dimension he’s added to his bag of footballing tricks.
Here’s one from right in the stands. It’s from last season, and you can see him just spring up in the exactly right spot, without straying offside, and scoring a very Solkjaer like goal to seal this one for United.
This is a sweet compilation of some of his other stuff. It’s cut a bit rough, but it backs up a lot of what I said above. Look at how he just throws himself at opponents.
I like the music on this one. Kidding.
The other nice thing I’ve noticed too is that there’s plenty of videos on youtube of Park signing autographs. Seems like a nice guy.
