What to expect when V.League 2022 returns?

After the period of competition concentration of the Vietnam National Team and Vietnam U23 Team, the football clubs of V. League 1, 2-2022 will return to the familiar fierce "long-distance competition", right at the hottest time of the year, from the beginning of July onwards. Then, at the end of the year, the team will gather to compete in the AFF Cup 2022 to regain what was lost to the Thais, and at the same time determine whether to sign a new contract or end the "Park Hang-seo dynasty"...

Indeed, in order to devote maximum strength to the teams, Vietnamese football has chosen a unique approach and this will certainly be overcome in the near future when the competition schedule is brought back to the time when world football is operating, meaning that tournaments will be held from the second half of the previous year to the first half of the next year.

The most important thing when V.League 1, 2-2022 takes place is how the performance of the national team players and U23 Vietnam will contribute to the overall results of the races, in which the championship race, promotion race, relegation race... are closely followed.

In V.League 1-2022, after 4 rounds, nothing can be said yet, so all the focus is still on the top teams such as Hanoi FC, Viettel, while, after what they showed in the past matches, after the recent Hai Phong Cup, the team of Mr. Duc and Kiatisuk is being questioned about their form, strength and ambition when they suddenly became pale, "bored with the shadow" of a series of famous stars recently?

There will be many big changes for SLNA Club in the new season. Photo: Duc Anh

Meanwhile, in V.League 2-2022 (ie First Division), Ba Ria - Vung Tau's ambition is well-founded but we cannot ignore the efforts of the People's Public Security, Pho Hien or Quang Nam. With a series of young coaches such as Hong Son, Viet Thang, Minh Phuong... (the 2008 AFF Cup champions), the race will be fierce until the last minute and that is a notable plus point of Vietnamese football, when this playground has long received little attention from the media as well as many other aspects. Because now, after the U23 Asian Cup, prominent names such as Tuan Tai, Minh Binh... are playing in V. League 2, which will make the interest in this tournament increase much more than before.

Also after the U23 Asian Cup, among the U23 players, there are at least 4-5 people who have been "nominated" by experts to be able to join the Vietnam National Team in the near future, including Van Chuan, Tuan Tai, Van Do, Manh Dung, Van Khang... But the answer will depend on how these players are arranged and used in the near future.

Most recently, in Viettel's opening match of the AFC Cup 2022, Manh Dung and Danh Trung were sent onto the field in the second half, in which Manh Dung scored. Although head coach Bae Ji Won gave him a good rating after this performance, "not being able to have an official position in the team" is something that everyone knows without saying it, including Manh Dung himself. If Tuan Tai is called back from Daklak, he will probably suffer the same fate as Manh Dung. That is a reality not only at Viettel but also at Hanoi FC for Van Chuan, Tien Long and many others...

Remember before V.League 1, 2-2022 returned, there were trials in the Four-Hero Cup of Hai Phong, Nghe An, Ninh Binh... These tournaments showed the desire to return to the golden age of Hanoi FC or SLNA and the performance of the national players was quite convincing, except for the HAGL players who continued to decline as has been seen for a long time. The story that arose was why the players that HAGL lent to Hai Phong such as Viet Hung, Ngoc Quang or Quang Nho played well while the ones who were trusted and hoped for a long time did not meet the requirements? The answer is not easy and only time will confirm who is right, who is wrong, who is hasty... in evaluating and appraising this human resource. Similarly, a famous football team like Viettel that could not recognize Tuan Tai and then loaned him out, then became famous at the national and international level is also a difficult question that foreign coaches Park Hang-seo or Gong Oh-kyun posed to the country's football experts.

In addition to the above things to look forward to, when V.League 1, 2-2022 resumes, hopefully we will not have to witness any "wrong whistle" on the field and the refereeing will be carried out as impartially, objectively, and legally as possible. Furthermore, fans themselves when coming to the field should also have the responsibility to prevent offensive cheering behaviors, such as throwing flares, to contribute to the overall success, raising the level of a tournament that has long been considered to be inferior to Thailand.