Myeong-kwan Seo is a 22-year-old centre-back who plays for Ulsan HD in the K-League. Seo made the jump to K-1 this season after impressing with Bucheon F.C. in K-2. He has played extensively with South Korea at U-23 level.
Seo has a fairly standard physical profile for a centre-back. He is listed at 6’1″ (1.86 m) with a slim build. Seo is quite an aggressive defender, frequently looking to make interventions high up the pitch. This means that Seo is often beaten by quick passing plays, and his recovery pace is fairly average. However, Seo is very strong in 1v1 duels. He is quite agile and has long legs, which makes it really hard for him to be dribbled around. Seo is good at managing space and being in the right position to sweep up balls in behind. His aerial duel win rate is not elite but it is rare for him to be cleanly beaten in the air by an opposition striker, he usually does enough to put them off.
Seo is quite an effective passer. He frequently breaks the first line of pressure from opponents. He has a strong passing range and likes to play long-range diagonal passes out to the wingers. He does this with a high degree of accuracy. Seo likes to carry the ball out of defence and even venture deep into the opposition’s half. He is quite good at running with the ball into space but his first touch is a bit of an adventure. So his aggression on the ball can also lead to counter-attacks. Seo is yet to score a goal in his 56 professional appearances and I don’t recall him having a shot off a set-piece in any of my viewings. He is decent in the air, so maybe he could be a danger in a different system but I wouldn’t count on it.
I could see Seo taking a small step up from the K-League. Generally, U-23 centre-backs who win their duels and provide value in possession are the sort of players that generate interest. But, South Korea’s mandatory military service might complicate things. Unless I am mistaken, Seo will be one year too old to be eligible for next year’s Asian Games (where a gold medal would win him an exemption) and is unlikely to be selected as an over-age player. So, in a vacuum, I could see him playing for a sub-top team a level down from the top-5 leagues. But in practice, he probably isn’t worth it for those clubs until he doesn’t have military service hanging over him anymore.
Target Scouting 