Ji-Sung Park – Past, Present, Future | Full Documentary Interview
Ji-Sung Park online Full Interview
Regarded as one of the most hard-working and dynamic midfielders in Manchester United's recent history, Ji-sung Park has given an intriguing insight into his time at the club in MUTV's latest documentary, Park: Past, Present & Future.
The versatile wide man was a firm favourite among Reds fans during seven successful years at Old Trafford between 2005 and 2012. He scored 19 goals in 134 appearances and won four Premier League titles, four Community Shields, three League Cups, the Champions League and the Club World Cup.
Park joined Queens Park Rangers before retiring from football in 2014 and, a few months later, returned to the Reds to become one of the club’s six global ambassadors.
In an exclusive interview, the former South Korea captain spoke about his belief that his superior energy levels, in comparison to his midfield counterparts, was the main reason Sir Alex Ferguson preferred him for the big games, and disclosed the secret to his remarkable fitness.
The 36-year-old said: "Maybe one of my strengths was to bring the energy to the team and then defensively I contributed a lot, compared to other players, which is quite essential for the big matches; you know, against big clubs you need to be very cautious with opponents that attack.
"So, with those kind of things, I could give some kind of trust to him [Ferguson] to perform well against big clubs. And then I really enjoyed playing against the big teams as well; the tension, the atmosphere and that kind of got me excited to deal with that.
"But I’m really pleased to have played a lot of big games and that allowed a good performance."
Park often thrived in high-profile occasions and rose to the challenge of coming up against stellar opponents, scoring some crucial goals and making many important contributions.
After he scored during a Man-of-the-Match display against AC Milan in the Champions League in 2010, his midfield rival, Andrea Pirlo, was in awe of his performance and later described him in his autobiography as a nuclear power to South Korea in admiration of his incredible work-rate.
His almost unrivalled endurance and energy earned him the affectionate nickname 'Three-Lungs' Park among supporters. Park feels his tireless work ethic was one of his greatest assets during his playing days and may have made up Ferguson’s mind to sign him from Dutch side PSV Eindhoven.
When asked specifically about his fitness, he said: "That was one of my strengths, compared to other players, and I used it. It maybe came from when I was young; I wanted to prove myself. I just found out what were my strengths compared to other players and then that could be one of my main strengths.
"I just kept trying to improve myself and as a professional football player I needed to use my strengths, and I ended up having strengths that you can’t normally get. So, that could be what led me to join United and that helped me to succeed in my career."
Some of the big fixtures Park excelled in were the fiery battles with Arsenal, with the Gunners proving to be one of his favourite opponents. The former no.13 popped up with three goals against them – scoring a crucial away effort in the Champions League semi-finals in 2009, finishing off a blistering counter-attack in a 3-1 Premier League success in 2010 and netting the sixth goal in the famous 8-2 triumph in 2011.
Park admitted he enjoyed coming up against the north London club and felt their passing approach may have helped to bring the best out of him.
"I don’t know why I performed well against Arsenal but probably we prepared well and it could be their football style as well," he said. "They liked the passing game and then with me, we could take the ball and break down the game.
"That kind of football style could have been suited to me more, so that’s one of the reasons I performed well against Arsenal. It’s quite difficult to explain but I really enjoyed playing against Arsenal and I’m really pleased that we had great results against them during my career."
by ManUnited
Regarded as one of the most hard-working and dynamic midfielders in Manchester United's recent history, Ji-sung Park has given an intriguing insight into his time at the club in MUTV's latest documentary, Park: Past, Present & Future.
The versatile wide man was a firm favourite among Reds fans during seven successful years at Old Trafford between 2005 and 2012. He scored 19 goals in 134 appearances and won four Premier League titles, four Community Shields, three League Cups, the Champions League and the Club World Cup.
Park joined Queens Park Rangers before retiring from football in 2014 and, a few months later, returned to the Reds to become one of the club’s six global ambassadors.
In an exclusive interview, the former South Korea captain spoke about his belief that his superior energy levels, in comparison to his midfield counterparts, was the main reason Sir Alex Ferguson preferred him for the big games, and disclosed the secret to his remarkable fitness.
The 36-year-old said: "Maybe one of my strengths was to bring the energy to the team and then defensively I contributed a lot, compared to other players, which is quite essential for the big matches; you know, against big clubs you need to be very cautious with opponents that attack.
"So, with those kind of things, I could give some kind of trust to him [Ferguson] to perform well against big clubs. And then I really enjoyed playing against the big teams as well; the tension, the atmosphere and that kind of got me excited to deal with that.
"But I’m really pleased to have played a lot of big games and that allowed a good performance."
Park often thrived in high-profile occasions and rose to the challenge of coming up against stellar opponents, scoring some crucial goals and making many important contributions.
After he scored during a Man-of-the-Match display against AC Milan in the Champions League in 2010, his midfield rival, Andrea Pirlo, was in awe of his performance and later described him in his autobiography as a nuclear power to South Korea in admiration of his incredible work-rate.
His almost unrivalled endurance and energy earned him the affectionate nickname 'Three-Lungs' Park among supporters. Park feels his tireless work ethic was one of his greatest assets during his playing days and may have made up Ferguson’s mind to sign him from Dutch side PSV Eindhoven.
When asked specifically about his fitness, he said: "That was one of my strengths, compared to other players, and I used it. It maybe came from when I was young; I wanted to prove myself. I just found out what were my strengths compared to other players and then that could be one of my main strengths.
"I just kept trying to improve myself and as a professional football player I needed to use my strengths, and I ended up having strengths that you can’t normally get. So, that could be what led me to join United and that helped me to succeed in my career."
Some of the big fixtures Park excelled in were the fiery battles with Arsenal, with the Gunners proving to be one of his favourite opponents. The former no.13 popped up with three goals against them – scoring a crucial away effort in the Champions League semi-finals in 2009, finishing off a blistering counter-attack in a 3-1 Premier League success in 2010 and netting the sixth goal in the famous 8-2 triumph in 2011.
Park admitted he enjoyed coming up against the north London club and felt their passing approach may have helped to bring the best out of him.
"I don’t know why I performed well against Arsenal but probably we prepared well and it could be their football style as well," he said. "They liked the passing game and then with me, we could take the ball and break down the game.
"That kind of football style could have been suited to me more, so that’s one of the reasons I performed well against Arsenal. It’s quite difficult to explain but I really enjoyed playing against Arsenal and I’m really pleased that we had great results against them during my career."
by ManUnited
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