The story of V-League 2024/2025 and the struggles at the bottom of the table.

The latest news is that Da Nang has just "let go of the entire group" including the club president, technical director, and head coach, replacing them with a "new but familiar" figure, Mr. Phan Thanh Hung, alongside the foreign coach who had success with Hanoi U17 and Vietnam U17, Cristiano Roland. These are all individuals belonging to the "ecosystem" of Chairman Hien, who were brought in to strengthen Da Nang during a difficult time.

Everyone knows that Phan Thanh Hung, after his resounding success with Quang Nam - Da Nang football, continued his success with Hanoi football under Chairman Hien, but then faced difficulties with Quang Ninh, returned to Da Nang, and suffered relegation with his hometown team in the 2023 season. His replacement, Truong Viet Hoang, brilliantly led the team back to the V-League, only to have another disastrous nine rounds, the reason stemming from a weak domestic squad and "shoddy" foreign players… And so, the rotation continued, with Hung and Roland taking over. Although the roles were slightly swapped, the work certainly remained the same.

Looking at the Central Vietnam team, Song Lam Nghe An, which is facing similar difficulties, things are pretty much the same. Coach Anh Tuan replaced Phan Nhu Thuat and successfully helped the team avoid relegation last season. Some have questioned how long Anh Tuan can hold onto his position as head coach when the team still enters the season with the same old investment methods, still using inexperienced young players and average to weak foreign players as before? In reality, it didn't take 9 rounds like with Truong Viet Hoang; they had to bring back Phan Nhu Thuat two rounds earlier.

While the technical aspects are similar as mentioned above, the two teams' lineups also share some similarities in a rather lackluster way. These include a number of promising young players from Da Nang who were previously called up to the Vietnam U23 team, such as Phi Hoang, Dinh Duy, Duy Cuong… or those from…Lam River, Nghe An Players who previously played for the Vietnam U23, U19, and U17 teams, such as Xuan Tien, Van Cuong, Nam Hai, Quang Vinh, Nguyen Hoang, and Long Vu, all struggled and failed to meet expectations when facing experienced senior players and formidable foreign players. When teammates, especially the foreign players, are underperforming, the pressure on these young players becomes even heavier. With only draws and losses, and the highest number of goals conceded in the tournament, finding a win is becoming increasingly difficult, if not hopeless and bleak.

The two-month break for the ASEAN Cup is seen as an opportunity for struggling teams like Da Nang and Song Lam Nghe An to find replacements and strengthen their squads, in addition to "changing coaches to change fortunes," creating a new atmosphere in training and competition. Both Da Nang and Song Lam Nghe An started with the easier task of changing their coaching staff, although one did it sooner than the other, and essentially it was still "replacing old faces with new ones."

Regarding the squad situation, it will certainly only be announced after round 11 according to regulations, but additions and replacements are mandatory. Teams within Chairman Hien's "ecosystem" surely don't lack domestic and foreign players to rotate internally as they have always done? Perhaps the difficulty lies with Song Lam Nghe An, with its limited resources; hoping to acquire a new (or rather, old) capable player, such as an attacking midfielder, would already be better than… no changes at all? Even a foreign player who underperformed like Zaracho could still be used in a new, more suitable position, even though everyone knows he once played as a left-sided center-back and received an immediate red card, or played in the center but his goal was constantly under threat, often surging forward but failing to deliver any effective passes…

People often liken the "undercurrents" to unpredictable waves at the bottom of a river, harboring immense power when they rise. However, the "waves" at the bottom of the V-League table, as they have been for a long time, are merely gentle, fleeting, and pass back and forth without real effect. Therefore, when the V-League resumes, who can be sure that these teams will create a new surge of momentum if their squad situation remains one of "using whatever they have," "going forward or backward the same way," with the same weak quality as in the past nine rounds?