French newspaper pessimistic about Quang Hai

“The situation is not favorable for Quang Hai. Currently, coach Didier Tholot is favoring a 3-5-2 formation with two real strikers, making it difficult for players from Asia to adapt,” said the French newspaper La Rep des Pyrenees. “Nguyen Quang Hai, nicknamed “Vietnam’s Messi,” is witnessing a gradual decrease in playing minutes after two months of playing in Pau. At this time, Quang Hai’s popularity is decreasing, along with the number of matches he has to sit on the bench. After seven rounds in Ligue 2, he has only played 210 minutes, with two matches in the starting lineup. The current situation is not favorable for Quang Hai.”

Pau FC's change in tactics stems from the team being at the bottom of Ligue 2 after 7 rounds, with only 4 points. Coach Didier Tholot was forced to adjust Pau FC's playing tactics when switching from a 4-2-3-1 formation to a 5-3-2. Previously, when playing 4-2-3-1, Quang Hai was placed in the attacking midfield. But with the 5-3-2 formation, Coach Tholot preferred to choose Saivet to play behind the striker pair Mohamed Yattara and Pape Ibnou Ba. Quang Hai's opportunities were naturally narrowed.

Premier League postponed

The British government announced on Friday, September 9, that sporting events this weekend could go ahead, depending on the decision of the tournament organizers. Later, the Premier League's organizing committee met and confirmed that "all matches this weekend, including Monday's match on September 12 between Leeds and Nottingham Forest, have been postponed."

Queen Elizabeth II died at Balmoral Castle in Scotland on September 8, aged 96. Britain decided to hold 10 days of national mourning to remember her. During the national mourning period, the British government did not ban sports competitions. However, on the day of the funeral, scheduled to take place on Sunday September 18 or Monday September 19 at Westminster Abbey, sports competitions were recommended to be postponed. Therefore, round eight of the Premier League may also not take place as scheduled.

The fixture list for English clubs is getting more and more packed. European teams will likely be playing an average of one game every three days until at least the 2022 World Cup. The postponement means teams may have to wait until 2023 to catch up.

Man Utd players pay tribute to Queen Elizabeth II before the Real Sociedad match at Old Trafford in the Europa League on the evening of September 8. Photo:EPA

Fans may not be able to watch the Premier League until early October. With club football taking a two-week break to make way for international fixtures, the Premier League could return with round nine games starting on October 1. The earliest match of that round is between Arsenal and Tottenham on Saturday afternoon.

The organizers have not announced plans for the rescheduled matches. The Evening Standard newspaper said there are two possibilities. One is that the Premier League will wait for a week with a free schedule, so that teams can play together, rather than cram each match into an already tight schedule. The second option is to extend the end of the tournament, scheduled for May 28, 2023. But that plan could affect European cup finals or the UEFA Nations League national team matches.

Thanh Hoa received the biggest bonus in the National Cup

After winning 3-1 against BRVT in the Quarterfinals of the National Cup, Thanh Hoa was unexpectedly rewarded by the team's leadership. Accordingly, Dinh Tung and his teammates were awarded 1 billion VND after reaching the semi-finals of the National Cup. This is the only team in the National Cup this season to have such a large bonus for a win.

Thanh Hoa, along with Binh Dinh, Hanoi and HAGL, have won tickets to the semi-finals of the National Cup and this is not the first time the Thanh team has done this. But in the context of the team having many changes in the way of playing football, the fact that this team is highly rewarded in the tournament considered the second most attractive in Vietnamese football is very rare.

Thanh Hoa got the biggest bonus in the National Cup.

It should be emphasized that the big teams in this playground such as Binh Dinh or Hanoi also only give bonuses according to the range of 400 - 600 million VND. In particular, Binh Dinh, after spending hundreds of billions of VND this season to buy players, has not had a big bonus like Thanh Hoa.