In Sachernomics, a world-renowned book on the relationship between soccer and economics, this is what they found.
“We examined the spending of 40 English clubs from 1978-1997 and found that the amount of transfer fees had only a 16% effect on the variation in league positions. The amount spent on wages, on the other hand, accounted for 92% of the variation 토토사이트 in standings. For English clubs in the Premier League and Championship (second division) from 1998-2007, the level of wage expenditure explained 89% of the variation in league positions. In other words, wage increases seem to benefit clubs (performance) more than big transfers.”
As evidence, Sachernomics cites the average league position of each club from 1998-2007, as well as the league average wage spend relative to the league average. Manchester United was second in the league on average, spending 3.16 times the league-wide wage average. Arsenal was second on average at 2.63x wages, and Chelsea was third on average at 3.5x wages. Liverpool was fourth on average at 2.68x salary. Of course, there are exceptions, but they are temporary and short-lived. In other words, it’s salary that has the biggest impact on performance in the medium to long term.
The story is similar for K League clubs. Teams like Jeonbuk Hyundai and Ulsan Hyundai have consistently spent a lot of money and have remained at the top of the league. Teams like Seoul and Suwon, which spend less, are in the middle of the pack. Contrary to the myth that salary and performance are proportional, Pohang and Gwangju are among the more cost-effective teams that have achieved good results with low salaries.
Let’s compare the rankings and salaries of K League 1 and K League 2 teams this season. The salaries are for 2022, not 2023. This is because the clubs and the Korean Football Association release their salaries after the season ends. However, you can be sure that the salary rankings and amounts will be similar without any major changes. Below are the 2022 salaries and the final rankings for 2022-2023. I’ve labeled players with an O for equal or higher salary, X for lower, and △ for everything in between.
The idea is that if a team spends a lot of money and has a lot of high-paid players, they have a lot of players who are rated as good anyway. If the league ranking and salary ranking are the same, it’s flat. If the league ranking is higher, the manager and players did a good job. They should be praised and given a raise. Conversely, if the league ranking is lower than the salary ranking, the manager and players have failed. If players are underperforming or overpaid, someone needs to be held accountable and it’s common sense to cut salaries or get rid of high-paid players next season.
Some K League clubs have recently changed coaches. Of course, changing the coach can temporarily improve performance. However, according to Sakeromics, “in the medium to long term, the effect of changing managers does not have a significant impact on performance.” Unlike managers in other sports, soccer managers don’t have the freedom to call the plays or make changes to their players, which means they have less room to maneuver when it comes to winning. In the end, it’s the players, not the manager, who win soccer matches. Not only sakernomics authors but also world-renowned experts agree that “it’s the players who win, not the managers” (of course, there are clubs with excellent managers).
The K League has turned a corner. It is likely that the rankings will fluctuate more than in the first half. It’s a very limited and narrow approach to evaluate the performance of a single coach. Measuring everything by the coach hides the really important factors for success. Much more important than the manager are the parent organization, the willingness of the local government to invest in the club and its management, the performance of the club’s front office, and the chemistry between the front office and the players. Underperformance in relation to salary is often due to a lack of these basic ingredients for success.
