Commentator Quang Tung: 'Song Lam Nghe An needs to focus more on training quality'

The victory over M. Quy Nhon Binh Dinh helped Song Lam Nghe An rekindle the hope of a safe finish in V.League 2023/24. The match witnessed the brilliance of young players only 18-19 years old of the Nghe An team such as Le Dinh Long Vu and Nguyen Quang Vinh... or older players like Nguyen Van Viet and Tran Nam Hai, both of whom are U23. This helps Nghe An fans hope for a new generation of young players in the future.

This season, Song Lam Nghe An has encountered many difficulties in terms of personnel when key players left and the Nghe An team has a policy of using a young force with an average age of 22-23. It is normal that young players lack experience in the field and have not had good results this season. However, Commentator Quang Tung has a different perspective on this work.

Commentator Quang Tung said: “Firstly, the policy of using young players and rejuvenating the squad is reasonable and completely normal. It has helped the Nghe An team survive and maintain its vitality for decades, not just in the V.League 2023/24. In the long term, it is still the inevitable path for any team that wants to develop sustainably.

However, I think Song Lam Nghe An needs to re-evaluate the quality of training, the quality of young players promoted to V.League and their integration. In recent years, the achievements of Song Lam Nghe An Youth Teams have shown signs of decline. Of course, now Vietnamese clubs also focus on youth training and competition is easy to see.

Using many young players in V.League and they are prone to mistakes, immaturity and lack of experience is also very normal. However, youth training at Song Lam Nghe An still shows signs of being experimental and lacking in updating technology, training standards, and lack of standardization in line with the trend.

In recent years, the number of young players from Song Lam Nghe An participating in national youth teams is still quite limited and not many have played outstandingly. That is also a measure reflecting the quality of training at Song Lam Nghe An.

“Even with a good squad and young players, to achieve good results in the V.League, teams need to prepare carefully in terms of squad depth and foreign player quality to solve the match. Similar to The Cong - Viettel, poor preparation of foreign players caused the club's performance to not be as expected,” said commentator Quang Tung.

At the recent 2024 AFC U23 Championship Finals, Song Lam Nghe An training center contributed 3 players: Nguyen Van Viet, Le Nguyen Hoang and Ho Van Cuong (Hanoi Police). In the recent National U19 Team, although there are still many missing faces, in the first phase, Song Lam Nghe An has 4 faces: goalkeeper Bao Ngoc, defender Hoang Minh Hoi, midfielder Pham Nguyen Quoc Trung and Nguyen Trong Tuan.

In addition, it is very likely that players like Nguyen Mai Hoang, Phung Van Nam (currently playing for Kon Tum) or talents playing in V.League such as Long Vu, Quang Vinh, Van Thanh... of Song Lam Nghe An can all participate in the upcoming official training sessions.

It can be seen that the policy and path that Song Lam Nghe An has chosen is in line with the development trend of Vietnamese football and the current context. However, whether boldly rejuvenating the force will bring success in the coming years or not depends largely on a "revolution" in upgrading the quality of youth training.

It is known that in the past half year, Song Lam Nghe An Club has signed contracts and cooperated with 2 major partners. One is a nutrition consulting unit to improve the physical condition of young players. The other is cooperation in expertise, training, and club operations with Mito Hollyhock Club (Japan).

Although it cannot bring immediate results, Nghe An fans hope that in the next 2-3 years, or even in the next 5 years, Nghe An football team will have a new, more modern look instead of relying too much on tradition. This requires the cooperation of many parties, especially from departments, branches, local authorities and the support of fans and sponsors.