Professional football and foreign coaches
(Baonghean.vn) - Since its reintegration into the region and the world, Vietnamese football has been closely associated with foreign coaches, from Weigang to Troussier currently at the Vietnamese national team and many other foreign coaches at various clubs.
The success of foreign coaches is well-known and acknowledged, but the story is more complex. At the club level, for example, many foreign coaches have failed quickly, the most recent case being Gong Oh-kyun at the Hanoi Police team.
At the level of the Vietnamese national team, the most successful foreign coaches were Park Hang-seo and, before him, Calisto. Many know that Park Hang-seo's success stems not only from his expertise as a professional but also from his excellent management skills. He knew how to harness the strengths of each individual to create a strong, united team, and he was close to each player, earning the trust of a large number of fans. Therefore, under coach Park Hang-seo, Vietnamese football not only won the 2028 AFF Cup but also the gold medals at the 31st and 32nd SEA Games, not to mention continental achievements… Meanwhile, coach Calisto first achieved success with Dong Tam Long An and, with top stars like Tai Em and Minh Phuong combined with a host of other talents such as Hong Son and Cong Vinh… to win the AFF Cup for the first time with the Vietnamese national team in 1998. The rest were foreign coaches who only led the Vietnamese national team to second place, such as Weigang and Riedl, or even failed to reach that level, such as Dido, Goetz, and Miura…
The stories of the aforementioned successful foreign coaches, along with the achievements of Gong Oh-kyun when leading the Vietnam U23 team in 2022, show that if you have the best players, receive systematic and long-term training, things are basically smooth and promising. Conversely, coaching at a club with a long match schedule, many things are completely different from coaching the national team, with varying player skill levels, different lifestyles, and different football philosophies… making things much more complicated. Everyone knows that, to date, only Calisto has been successful with both Dong Tam Long An and the Vietnam national team, and to some extent with the Vietnam U23 team. This is rare, and it's not easy to say whether the Portuguese coach's success is due to talent, dedication, or luck.
In reality, despite being highly respected and loved, Austrian coach A. Riedl, Japanese coach Miura, and then Korean coach Gong Oh-kyun… failed to succeed in leading teams in the V.League after leaving the Vietnamese national team and U23 team. The most recent and noteworthy incident involves Gong Oh-kyun, who managed only one win, one draw, and three losses in five matches, leading to his dismissal without fanfare. Yet, immediately afterward, Hanoi Police FC achieved a crushing 3-0 victory against the rising Binh Duong team in round 8 of the V-League. The question is, why did the team transform so quickly and easily? Clearly, Gong Oh-kyun didn't understand the team's internal workings, its culture, or the locker room; he lacked a strong support system, causing things to spiral out of control without explanation.
The list of failures or unmet successes of foreign coaches at the club level is long, including Popov at Dong A Thanh Hoa, despite his notable impact, Polking at Ho Chi Minh City, and Kiatisak at Hoang Anh Gia Lai… The talent of foreign coaches is undeniable, but unfortunately, in the V.League, success requires more than just talent; it demands many other qualities. Many foreign coaches at Hanoi FC, Viettel, and Hanoi Police have left, making way for domestic coaches – the reality is that many local talent is emerging. It's important to note that many domestic coaches, through their roles as "assistants" to foreign coaches, have learned a great deal, gradually becoming capable of taking on the role themselves, including well-known figures like Nguyen Thanh Vinh, Phan Thanh Hung, Le Huynh Duc, and Chu Dinh Nghiem…
The current trend of comprehensive and deep integration in Vietnamese football will continue to attract foreign coaches accompanied by professional staff, doctors, fitness coaches, etc. Those who develop their inherent talent and professionalism, quickly "integrate" into the culture and lifestyle, and choose appropriate behavior will quickly achieve success, and vice versa. It is at this time that Vietnamese assistants and players, if they know how to seize opportunities to learn and acquire additional knowledge from real-world experiences, will quickly mature.
Remember, even renowned footballing nations like Brazil, England, Japan, South Korea… or closer to home, Thailand and Indonesia, have relied on foreign coaches. Vietnamese football has achieved success and still desperately needs talented foreign coaches to reach the highest possible goals. The lessons learned from the successes of coaches like Park Hang-seo and Calisto… as well as the failures of many others, show that anything is possible, even if it's not easy. The question is, after many generations of foreign coaches have come and gone, what valuable lessons has Vietnamese football learned to move forward? If, somewhere, the situation continues where "the coach's chair has four legs, but the players only hold three," then it's definitely a case of a bad coach and bad players. What happened with Mr. Gong Oh-kyun recently and Mr. Polking soon certainly offers much to ponder, not just for one team, but for the development of Vietnamese football as a whole.
