Ho-Jae Lee is a 24-year-old striker who plays for Pohang Steelers in the K-League. Lee has been a prolific scorer in the K-League since beginning his professional career in 2021.
Lee is very tall, standing 6’3 (1.92 M) with a fairly slender build. Lee is effective at using his height in the box to get headed shots. He is very good at timing his runs to connect with crosses and frequently gets the better of opponents in the air. However, when it comes to using his size in other ways Lee is a little bit disappointing. He is good at attacking the ball in the box but generally poor at winning long balls that are played into him. He is okay at holding the ball up, but it is surprisingly easy to knock off the ball when he attempts to dribble. Lee has a very limited passing game which severely limits his effectiveness as a hold-up striker. He loses the ball quite a lot when attempting to pass. He also puts his team in trouble with giveaways a surprising amount. You would not think a centre-forward mis-placing a pass would immediately launch a dangerous opposition counter-attack but Lee managed to do just that multiple times in the games I watched. Lee’s movement in the box also leaves a lot to be desired. He is good at getting off headed shots but he is not good enough at making runs to receive cut-backs and get on the end of high-danger chances. This means his shot profile is almost all headers and shots from the perimeter of the penalty area, not what you want from your striker. His first touch is not that great which contributes to his lack of ball security.
Lee is fairly effective defensively. He is very effective at closing down angles and forcing opponents to play the ball long or into danger. He is not the fastest accelerator but he is smart defensively and maximizes his defensive movements.
I was pretty interested in watching Lee because of his goal-scoring record. But I was left quite unconvinced by my viewings. Other than his size, he does not have any traits that are at an elite level for the K-League. That and the fact that he will likely need to do military service in a couple of years make him probably more trouble than he is worth for European clubs.
Target Scouting 