With a line-up consistent of regional elite veterans such as Bwipo, Hans Sama and Bjergsen, Liquid’s failure to qualify for Worlds has prompted Korean fans to chime in and identify the problem: head coach Andre Guilhoto
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Korean League fans have a contentious history with pro coaches
Esports is a huge deal in Korea, and where there is passion and love, there is also hatred. As the team they cheer for are defeated, negative energy emerges and unable to blame their beloved players/idols, much of the Korean fans’ ire turns to the coaches.
T1 in particular has had infamous incidents where trucks with protesting slogans arrive at the scene of the competition or T1’s headquarters themselves. Most recently, Worlds 2021 runner-ups DAMWON Gaming’s fans have also followed their T1 counterparts’ example and sent a truck to demand their coach step down.
Most would agree that their reactions are overblown and it’s silly to blame only coaches for a team’s underperformance, but is there any truth to KR fans’ reactions?
This isn’t Guilhoto’s first blunder with a ‘superteam’
Prior to Liquid, the 28 year old Spanish coach has led an all-star Origen roster consisting of Alphari, Xerxe, Nukeduck, Upset and Destiny to a … 10th place finish during the European LEC Summer 2020.
Guilhoto has also never managed to qualify to Worlds as a player during the entirety of his 7 year pro career. Now with Liquid’s failure to qualify to Worlds as they finish 4th in the LCS playoffs, question marks are being placed on both him and Team Liquid for hiring such an unqualified candidate to lead such a talented roster.
As a counter argument, Liquid’s players have flopped massively during their deciding faceoff against EG, with back and forth throws between the 2 teams and their star players Hans Sama and Bjergsen. The resulting 2-3 loss was not because of poor draft but rather mediocre gameplay. Coaches also do not have a monopoly over the draft – it’s a team effort, the coach can’t just force the players to play what he chooses.
We as fans also do not have any insight or access to teams’ inner workings, so if the top pro players are okay with working with Guilhoto, or Daeny or Polt for that matter, we should be humble and assume the players may know more than we do.
Regardless, not making it to Worlds is a huge disappointment especially for a ‘superteam’ like Liquid so it’s safe to assume there will be changes even if it’s not the coach position.
Former Liquid and current Cloud9 midlaner Jensen though, is definitely not disappointed