For a few days at the end of August, it looked like Yoo Byeong-hoon’s time at FC Anyang was coming to an end. A month later, the manager has signed a new three-year contract. With the uncertainty surrounding Yoo finally put to bed, a much bigger question now faces Anyang.
What comes next?
In late August, Yoo Byeong-hoon’s reign as manager of FC Anyang looked to be coming to an end. The club responded positively to the 0-7 home drubbing by FC Seoul to beat Incheon United and draw in Bucheon.
However, the scars from the Seoul defeat were deep. Rumors had circulated that Yoo was due to meet the city mayor and hand in his resignation letter. Anyang is a city-run club. The mayor is the owner.
As supporters displayed their emotions from shock, to sadness, to outrage, it suddenly emerged Yoo had performed a U-turn. It was said Yoo was blown away by the level of love from the terraces. It is easy to see why.
Yoo Byeong-hoon was the man who delivered the club’s first-ever promotion to K League 1 in 2024. He never played for Anyang, but he grew up just down the road in Geumcheon.
He joined the Anyang coaching staff in 2013 (their debut season as a club), and apart from short spells elsewhere, he has been present for their most significant moments as a club.
Yoo Byeong-hoon is Anyang.
Yoo has gone from the man whose job was to earn promotion, to the man who’s going to oversee a major overhaul. His contract expires in 2029. Here is what he needs to do.
Rebuild an aging squad
The regeneration has already begun, especially between the sticks, but that barely scratches the surface. Anyang face two key issues. Firstly, their defense is old. Secondly, the match-day squad doesn’t contain enough exciting, but raw young talent.
On the first point, the average age of Anyang’s squad is 28, third-oldest in the league. Clubs need to strike a careful balance between experience and an over-reliance on older players. However, digging deeper, we find the issue Anyang faces.
Of the five defenders with the most minutes in 2026, Kim Dong-jin and Kim Young-chan are the youngest at 33. Team captain Lee Chang-yong is 36. Rebuilding is simpler when you have one or two players to phase out. Replacing an entire back line is more complicated.
Not just that, but the five primary defenders are stalwarts at the club. Replacing the rearguard is not just bringing in younger legs; they have to replace icons of the club. Legends who dragged the club from being ever-present in K League 2 to famous away wins in Ulsan, Seoul, and Incheon.
Seven of the 11 players with the most minutes are older than 30. Two, Matheus Oliveira and Kang Ji-hun, are 29.
Investment in Youth
New goalkeeper Kim Jeong-hoon is 25. For a goalkeeper, that’s a healthy age. Kim has played more minutes than any other player. And, against Ulsan HD before the break, he had his big moment as an Anyang player; saving Yago’s late penalty to earn all three points. It was a massive moment in Anyang’s season.
After Kim, you have scroll down the page of minutes to find Chae Hyun-woo, who has made 21 appearances, but started in just 40% of the matches. Chae is 22, and has a bright future.
For managers without significant resources, they must balance between winning now (to avoid relegation) and building for the future. This will impact on minutes for younger players, unless they are pulling up trees in training.
Players have to earn the right to start for a K League 1 club. Anyang needs more of their younger players to start demanding regular game time. Who is the next Chae Hyun-woo?
Foreign Recruitment
Anyang struck gold in recent seasons with their foreign recruitment, even when they were languishing in K League 2. Thomas Oude Kotte (Ulsan HD) and Bruno Mota (Jeonbuk Hyundai) have fled for recent K League champions.
This illustrates the sheer uphill battle facing Anyang. Recruiting a foreign player with obvious talent who can adapt to life in Korea is not easy. Teams are rolling the dice with every signing. To compound that, when the recruitment is spot on, teams with bigger pockets will swoop in.
There are seven foreign players on the books. Matheus Oliveira has been an unqualified success. There’s even an argument the Brazilian is Anyang’s greatest ever player.
For the others, the jury is still out. Ivan Jukic has pace to trouble defenders, especially on the road, but he has been hampered by injuries. Breno Herculano, with three goals in 19 matches, has not adequately replaced Mota.
Branislav Knezevic and Danny Bakker are recent additions. They haven’t played enough matches yet to form concrete opinions.
Yoo won’t have a significant say in who arrives, but he has a right to demand that club exhausts their search for the best available additions. And that starts with a proven goalscorer.
Tight Budget
There’s no getting away from this – Anyang, like the other city-run clubs, have to be prudent. The budget isn’t there to sign Jesse Lingard. There is a new subway line under construction in the city – spending like that takes priority.
There’s a suggestion Anyang’s budget could be trimmed again next season. That means smart recruitment and a little bit of luck. Replacing an aging defense, signing better foreign players, and finding a 10-goal a season striker form part of the winter wish list.
Yoo’s role as he enters a new era with the club is to rebuild. Previously, earn promotion and remain in K League 1 were his objectives. Now, within the limitations of being a civic club, he must use the tools at his disposal to stay competitive, whilst in transition.
Expectations
I can only pinpoint to casual conversations with some supporters, but Anyang fans are happy to just be there. After a decade without a club following LG’s relocation to Seoul, many probably felt they would never be competing at this level.
The reaction to the 7-0 loss to Seoul was not anger. In fact, Yoo’s name was loudly chanted by the supporters who remained in the stadium. Of course, even the most mellow fans will have expectations.
Staying in the top flight should be Anyang’s minimum target. The major disappointment about 2026 is Anyang could have squeezed into ACL. And what a spectacle that would have been.
With Suwon Samsung poised to return, an improvement from Pohang, Daejeon, and Incheon expected, combined with smaller resources, qualifying for Asia will become much harder. This was their best chance.
Expectations will have to be more realistic.
The season has not ended, but Anyang’s transition will start immediately. They have a manager the players will fight for. A manager the fans will rally behind. The road ahead is rocky. But the path is less daunting now that uncertainty has disappeared.
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