PARK Ji-sung is putting club before country in a bid to cement his place at United.
The South Korean has been promised a new contract by Sir Alex Ferguson after impressing since his move to England from PSV Eindhoven.
However, after beginning pre-season training late following his World Cup commitments, the last thing he needed was a return to Seoul for an August 12 friendly with Paraguay.
With his country’s place among the final 32 nations in South Africa next year already secure, coach Huh Jung-moo has opted to let Park remain in England for the build-up to United’s opening game against Birmingham on August 15.
“There is a full list of fixtures and Manchester United have made new signings so the start of the season is very important for Park,” said Huh.
If Park had been required to return home, he would almost certainly have missed the Birmingham encounter and probably the midweek trip to Burnley immediately afterwards given the tiredness that tends to affect players on such long-haul journeys.
Park’s team-mates are currently combating the same problem, having completed their pre-season tour with two matches in Munich last week that were tagged onto the end of a four-match Asian tour, which included a win over FC Seoul.
Sir Alex Ferguson, who has been linked with bids for David Villa and David Silva despite declaring his summer spending is over, will get the chance to assess both men at first-hand when Valencia come to Old Trafford for a friendly on Wednesday evening.
The game is the last chance United will have to assess their readiness for the new campaign before Sunday’s Community Shield encounter with Chelsea.
It promises to be a pivotal week of training for the Reds too as, while Park may be remaining in England, many of Ferguson’s players will be heading straight from Wembley to international commitments, with Wayne Rooney, Rio Ferdinand and Michael Carrick expected to be among those involved in England’s friendly with Holland in Amsterdam.
Ben Foster should also be included given his return to fitness, while it will be intriguing to see whether Michael Owen is selected by Fabio Capello following his surprise move to the Reds.
Should Park be in United's first team? Have your say.
Reds come first for Park
August 03, 2009
Comments
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No
The facy of the matter is, he runs around like a 'headless chicken', doesn't create much, rarely scores goals and spends most of his time on his arse. He simply isn't good enough.
t.less you obviously do not watch park as when he does go down he bounces straight back up unlike the roony we all know and love.
he is an excellent squad player and gives his all when given a chance.
like fletcher too many people want to fill the team with "GALATICOS" but I for one prefer a team that works together with that one for all all for one attitude.
even in the heady days of LAW,CHARLTON & BEST we still played as a team.
Park is a player some fans love to hate. We have always had those players - most recently JOS (I confess to being something of a JOS-sceptic myself) and SuperFletch. Well, JOS was one of our most consistent performers last season and even bobbyd now thinks Fletcher is our best midfielder. Will we see the same change of attitude towards Park? Possibly not - he's not European - but SAF seems to rate him and the boss normally gets it right.
In short I wouldn't have Park in my first choice XI and would sooner Nani and Valencia be given chances ahead of him. But he's a good squad player and he's never let us down. If he'd have scored that early chance in the CL final, we'd have gone on to win the game and he'd now be a hero so sometimes it's a fine line.
well said T.LESS,
Good goal against Middlesborough through wasn't it? Or against Arsenal in the champions league? I like Park, good for the squad.
Good squad player, has great energy, does whatever job is asked of him but is often unappreciated despite sometimes excellent work. Apart from that, he is a marketing dream and brings us countless Asian fans. I hope he does as well as he has done for us over the last four years.
Thats a shame! If we do sign Silva,that puts Park even furthur down in the pecking order. How many wingers do we want anyway? We have as many wingers as City has centre forwards!
Please do go and honour your international duties Ji-sung, you won't be missed.
No
Much underrated and is a valuable member of the squad. I feel he will prove any doubters wrong this season.
Much underrated and is a valuable member of the squad. I feel he will prove any doubters wrong this season.
i like him, headless chicken he can be but on his day hes good. im not sure if hes good enough to play wide, and maybe an attacking central midfield role would be better suited, hes not got the pace needed for real top class winger(hes not slow but i bet Giggs could still match him, he needs more pace to be a great wide player or have fantastic skill and he has neither). id try him in cetral- mid with gibson kicking lumps out of the opposition, it maynot be such a daft idea.
Park is intelligent and moulds his input to the team around the more creative or forceful players. Every team needs players like that.
I reckon its his attitude work rate and the fact he does exactly what SAF asks of him when he plays is the reason he is getting his contract.His performance for PSV against Millan is the main reason we signed him in the first place he gave Maldini the run around in both legs but like Anderson he has been asked to adjust his natural style of play and has suffered.
I for one rate park...on his day, he could be that player that scores that vital last minute goal...just like all the other forwards in the squad, they've all being made to play second fiddle to Ronaldo and Park is one of the players that i've tipped to come good this season as well. i honestly dont understand some of this so called Anti-park brigade on here...no one said park is a ronaldo like player, he hasnt got a dazzling feet, neither has he got the height and pace (Infact i would find it difficult to see how you going to win a match with more than 5 ronaldo like players in your team, no balance)but one thing you are guaranteed to get off this guy is a tremendous work-rate, a team player ethic, unselfish, unwhinging squad player that goes about his duties as asked of. im proud to have him in our side, and a privilege and honor to know that he's putting our club first and work hard towards the benefit of this club. Its only healthy...
p.s:- oh and to the "we gonna sign david Silva community", i think we have a better chance of Zidane coming back from retirement to play for us than signing this guy...grow up!
T lEss- I totally agree. I can't believe how people can think Park is worthy of being a utd player. Matthew Savage- "Every team needs a player like Park"???? Well Barcelona seem to do ok without a player as technically inept as Park. TMUF- He's much underrated. Are you having a laugh? I'd say he's considerably overrated.
dub red clondakin
it may be true that the reason we signed park was on the back of 2 brilliant displays against milan.
you may like to know he played for psv in central midfield for psv as he does for his country. strange dont you think he NEVER plays in central midfield at united.
as a winger can you please tell me a full back he has terrorised? tony dunne at 70 would still be able to contain him.
I thought Park was a bit disappointing last season and he's not going to improve now is he?
I'd be surprised if he gets a long term contract as there are clearly better players around. A useful squadie - no more.
APOLOGIES folks meant RONNY not ROONY
apologies guys should have read ronny not roony!
Can't believe some of the comments knocking Park on here. Ok, he is not the most gifted of players, but for me his effort is A+, and deprives opposition of time on the ball, which as anyone who has played football knows, is a valuable commodity affecting the accuracy of the opposition's passing and causing errors from the opposition. Remember that the wing is not his position but he has stuck to his task without a word of complaint. He gave a selfless display against Barcelona in the previous year's CL semi-final legs, was left out of the final and didn't say a word - that in itself is admirable.
I don't intend to argue with those who knock him, you want your marquee name one trick ponies, but for me, I appreciate competitive tenacious terriers on the pitch too.
bobbydazler if my memory serves me correctly Park struggled at PSV and was not a regular untill Robben left for chelski he played wide while Van bommel and Cocu played in the middle if im wrong i stand corrected.I also agree not many full backs have had to many nightmares about Park but his hard work and none stop running is why his nickname at the club is three lung park,his finishing and lack of composser in front of goal chance in the CL final springs to mind would be a big worry for me.