Recently, in an interview with Inven Global, EG’s mid-laner – Jiizuke shared insights about EG’s group stage journey as well as the team’s future goals. Notably, his comments about Korean coaches stood out. This is because the team was once led by a Korean coach, Irean (head coach), and that period is considered a dark time in Jiizuke’s career.
Jiizuke’s exact comments:
“Korean coaches will always want you to play according to their proposed style. If you do otherwise, essentially, you are going against the entire team. Last year, Coach Irean wanted the whole team to think that I was against them.
It’s sad to say this, but the whole team hated me for what I did. The coach reviewed everything and openly said that I was disrupting the team. The coach said: “You shouldn’t do that, you just need to play according to the meta, you just need to try to play well.” One time, Irean even told me that I should give up my playstyle for a month and see if the team would do better, and what happened afterward was that I was benched as the coach wanted.
I knew that this would happen sooner or later because I had experience with such things since my first year in professional play. Back then, I was on a team called Team Forge, and there were 2 Korean imports and 2 Korean coaches, and the same thing happened. At that time, I was just a rookie, and I asked a lot to learn macro play and other things, entirely to learn. But they thought I had issues and benched me. I knew the same thing would happen last year.”
From Jiizuke’s situation, many immediately related it to the recent relationship between T1 and Daeny, or more precisely, the relationship between T1 players and Coach Daeny. The duo Daeny – Zefa succeeded at DWG KIA and led T1 together. However, what they achieved only caused T1 to struggle within the very strategies that this coaching duo laid out.
Not only does he constantly rotate the lineup, causing names like Faker, regardless of their good form or having just performed excellently, to sit on the bench in the next game or match. Moreover, Coach Daeny has also failed to lay out a specific playstyle for T1, changing it so much that even the team players don’t know which way to go. They can play tightly controlled, capitalizing on the individual skills of each player, showcasing excellent macro capabilities to crush Gen.G Esports 2-0, but they can also display a lethargic playstyle, dragging it late only to lose both games in the match against Nongshim RedForce, despite having many advantages.
In T1’s losses this season, it can be seen that Faker is the name most frequently referenced by Coach Daeny for not adhering to the playstyle outlined by him. Specifically, when Faker wants the whole team to play bolder, more proactively, Coach Daeny stated: “We have reached an agreement on tactics through practice. If there are unexpected actions that break the tactical rules and lead to losses, it will have a very negative impact. To achieve victory, all players must adhere to the established rules and tactics. I am genuinely saddened when these rules are not followed, leading to some unfortunate results.”
Moreover, Coach Daeny does not shy away from admitting in press conferences that he has disagreements with Faker, believing that some “veterans” have not followed the coach’s guidance, leading to T1’s poor results early and mid-season. Although at that time, everyone could see that the playstyle of prolonging time and waiting for everyone to have enough items from Coach Daeny was completely unsuitable for T1 – a team with many players capable of causing surprises with bold and brilliant plays like Faker and Keria. Even experts and notable gamers had to publicly condemn T1’s playstyle at that time.
Through Jiizuke’s comments and the relationship between T1 players and Coach Daeny, it can be seen that Korean coaches have a rigidity that is almost unyielding with the strategies and paths they lay out. Their coaching styles may have achieved success, so when transitioning to a new team, with new elements, they do not change but are ready to apply the old methods again. And typically, these strategies prove to be unsuitable, leading to mistakes and severe consequences for both the coach’s reputation and the team’s performance, with the T1 – Daeny relationship or Jiizuke’s case being a clear example.