As many readers may already know, Park is known to be one of the most successful Asian footballers in history. When Park scored a crucial goal in the 2004-05 UEFA Champions League Semi-Finals of PSV Eindhoven vs. AC Milan, Park's talents were broadcasted and recognized by the world. While the chance was still open, Sir Alex Ferguson of Manchester United immediately signed Park from PSV Eindhoven for £4 million. Ever since then, he has won the Barclays Premier League 4 times, Carling Cup 3 times, FA Community Shield twice, UEFA Champions League once and FIFA Club World Cup once. As a Manchester United midfielder, Park has made 205 total appearances where he scored 27 goals, which is quite an impressive accomplishment.Now the question is... Why did he leave Manchester United?
- Although Ferguson thought highly of Park's defensive skills for the past 7 years, Manchester United was in dire need of goals and aggressive tactics as they were either behind Manchester City or not far ahead of Manchester City most of the season. In 2011/2012 Season, Ferguson decided to put Park on the bench for most of the league games. Park suffered a reduction in his number of appearances, which killed his self-confidence on the pitch. Park did play from time to time, but it was not good enough for the man with big dreams and high standards. The answer is simple. He left Manchester United in order to get more play time.
What was the major event for Park's decision?
- On 30 April 2012, there was the death match between Manchester United and Manchester City, also known as the Manchester derby. This game was perceived to be the most crucial for Manchester United's title defence. After missing many matches, Park was chosen as a starting member for the killer match. This demonstrated to Park that he was still considered to be an integral part of the team. Because Manchester United would have defended their title with just a draw, Ferguson decided to play a little bit more on the defensive side, therefore putting Park in the midfield for defence reinforcement. However, it was not the same Ji Sung Park that we had known before. He was tired and rusty as a result of a lack of appearances. The game ended in Manchester United's 0-1 loss, which gave away the title to Manchester City. Although most of other Manchester United players performed very poorly, Park was the one who took most of the blame.
Will he be successful at Queens Park Rangers?- Many footballers and professionals have all agreed that Park has proven his ability to excel in the English Premier League. There is no doubt that he will be successful at QPR. As the new key player of QPR, his appearances are almost guaranteed this time. Mark Hughes, the Manager of QPR, has announced that Ji Sung Park has a large chance of being made the new Captain of QPR in absence of the former captain, Joey Barton. Aside from Park's 7 years of expertise at Manchester United, Park has made 100 appearances as a member of the South Korean National Team where he scored 13 goals, 3 of which were goals scored in 3 consecutive World Cups (WC 2002, WC 2006, WC 2010). He has had his success as the Captain of the Korean National Team with his leadership. Also, he has had experience occasionally leading Manchester United as the Captain. According to Hughes, all of the players and coaching staff look up to Park's accumulated experience and skills. Now, it seems that it is a matter of time till we see the first Asian footballer to be made Captain of a football club in the English Premier League. Only time will tell.
Ji Sung Park Is Still Alive:
Park is a flexible midfielder who can play anywhere across the midfield. He has a world reputation for his exceptional fitness level, discipline, work ethic and off-the-ball movement as well as his defensive play. He is known as "the man with 2 lungs" for his stamina and selfless play on the pitch. This was evident when Park defensively "erased" the existence of the world class midfielder Andrea Pirlo of AC Milan in the UEFA Champions League'10. As Rio Ferdinand tweeted over and over again, "When Park Ji Sung played against Pirlo at the San Siro, I swear it was a master class in man marking....Pirlo would of seen Ji in his sleep!" (Watch his performance vs. Pirlo here: http://manutube.net/2012/07/09/ac-milan-game-was-park-ji-sungs-greatest-performance-ferdinand/) After Park's move to QPR, many Manchester United players have said the same thing: "Now we know who to watch out for when we play against QPR."
Ji Sung Park is still alive. His reputation will continue on, but this time on the QPR side. You can lose form, but class never dies.
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