Who will be the 'conductor' of the Vietnamese team against Malaysia?

In the 3-defender style of play under coach Park Hang-seo, it seems that the performance of the wingers decides the match score, but looking back at the match against the host team Thailand, people have to think again.

Impressive comeback

After many years of absence from the Vietnam national team, Tuan Anh became the best player of the red team in the first match against Thailand. Most notably, the defensive ability of "Nho" (Tuan Anh's nickname) has improved significantly, better than Hung Dung, the blocking specialist.

In addition to his long-standing strengths such as the highest successful passing rate of 31/37 (83.5%), the number of times he put pressure on the field (33), and the goal pressure (3) of "Nho" are all superior to his teammates. The ability to successfully tackle 7/7, dribble, intercept... of midfielder number 14 all have the highest success rate and number of times performed in the Vietnam National Team.

Tuan Anh has returned to the role of conductor of the Vietnam National Team. Photo: HAGLFC

As Hung Dung shared in a recent press conference, it was the first time he and Tuan Anh played together so the coordination between him and Tuan Anh in the match against the Thai national team was not really good. But with his mobility, Tuan Anh made Chanathip Songkrasin, the number 1 star of Thai football who is considered the "Thai Messi" turn off the lights.

Not only that, he also supported the defenders to restrain young striker Supachok Sarachat. It has been a long time since people saw Tuan Anh tackle and clear the ball in counter-attacks of the Thai team. His confidence increased with each move, Tuan Anh even boldly committed tactical fouls.

The next thing that Mr. Tan and the Malaysian coaching staff were worried about was that along with Viet Phong and Trong Hung, Tuan Anh was a Vietnamese player that the away team had little information about. They only knew that Trong Hung would be the master of the sideline and then cutback to the second line, while "Nho" would be the author of the long-distance through balls.

Tactical card

In the match against the Malaysian team, Tuan Anh is one of the few players like goalkeeper Van Lam, central defender Que Ngoc Hai, Trong Hoang who are almost certain to start. Obviously, to deal with the technical and fast players in the Malaysian attack line such as Syafiq (20), Safawi Rasid (11), Akhyar Rashid (19), it is likely that this midfielder from Thai Binh will be the tactical card of the Vietnamese team.

In the current Vietnam national team, no one understands Van Toan (and Cong Phuong) better than Tuan Anh, which is why we can hope for medium and long-range passes from this HAGL duo. If we attack well on the right wing, we can also narrow the range of Safawi Rasid (11).

In the current Vietnamese national team, no one understands Van Toan better than Tuan Anh. Photo: Goal

Obviously, in a 3-defender style of play, if Safawi Rasid and Mohamadou Sumareh are allowed to penetrate deep into the wings and then return to the second line, the role of the 2 central midfielders is considered vital, deciding the score of the match. Even when playing against a very strong UAE opponent, Mr. Tan still did not hesitate to use this tactic, because the 2 wing midfielders not only have speed but also have very good physical strength.

In fact, in 3 matches against Malaysia, twice, Mr. Park used 2 midfielders with defensive tendencies to cover the space in front of goalkeeper Van Lam's 16.5m box. But with Tuan Anh's successful performance against Thailand, the Korean coach has been able to think of a plan, using technique to counter technique.

When Xuan Truong is not present, all eyes and hopes of our fans are on number 14, the conductor of the Vietnam National Team in recent years.