Ho Chi Minh City Club: Huu Thang starts to take action

After coach H. Miura left the team, people thought Le Huynh Duc would be the successor, because the Nghe An boss had a close relationship with this former national player. But in the end, coach Huynh Duc returned to Da Nang and Mr. Chung Hae-seong, the technical director of HAGL, left Pho Nui to go to Thong Nhat Stadium.

Old you, new me

Before coming to Vietnam, Mr. Chung had an extremely impressive resume, even more impressive than Mr. Park Hang-seo, who was very successful with the national teams. He was the assistant head coach of the Korean Olympic team at the 2000 Sydney Olympics. After that, he continued to be the assistant of the national team, for the wizard Guus Hiddink at the 2002 World Cup, at the same time as coach Park Hang-seo. In 2010, Mr. Chung Hae-seong was once again chosen as the number 1 assistant of the Korean team.

Mr. Chung Hae-seong - new head coach of Ho Chi Minh City Club. Photo: Internet

Mr. Chung Hae-seong was invited by Mr. Duc to HAGL with a 2-year contract, until the end of the 2019 season. Mr. Duc hopes that with his many years of experience, Mr. Chung Hae-seong will help the talented players such as Xuan Truong, Cong Phuong, Van Toan... of the Pleiku stadium to improve and become more successful. He himself also recommended center back Kim Jinseo, playing for the 3rd division club Uijeongbu (Korea) to strengthen the defense of this team.

But in the end, with a squad of young players, considered talented on the Vietnamese football field, HAGL missed the top 7 target, at times even hovering near the red light group. With 53 goals conceded, HAGL's defense was considered the worst in V-League 2018 and center-back Kim Jinseo himself had to terminate his contract early after only passing the first half of last year's season.

To prepare for the new season, HAGL has advocated “renewal” from the top level. Recently, the two sides happily decided to go their separate ways after only 1 year together. Due to poor performance, the team only ranked 10th on the V.League 2018 rankings.

But it seems that the Nghe An boss still highly appreciates his ability and experience. Recently, Ho Chi Minh City Club signed a contract with Mr. Chung Hae-seong as the head coach of the club in V.League 2019. The contract between the two sides will initially last for 1 year. Ho Chi Minh City Club believes that after more than 1 year working in Vietnam, understanding Vietnamese football fields, Mr. Chung Hae-seong will contribute a lot to the team as head coach.

Close foreign soldiers, find domestic soldiers

Now is the time for Huu Thang and CEO Mae Mua to take action. Photo: Internet

Previously, because they knew that next season they would be allowed to play 3 foreign players, the club quickly closed the foreign player list: Striker duo Matias, Joel Vinicius, center back Ewonde and a naturalized player Huynh Kesley. Along with Hanoi, they were the 2 earliest teams to stabilize their foreign player roster, who are players who have been in the V-League for many years.

In addition to appointing a new head coach, Ho Chi Minh City FC also recruited new players early to prepare for the 2019 season. These include Dang Quang Huy (from Hai Phong), Hoang Thien (from Saigon FC), goalkeeper Thanh Thang (from Thanh Hoa), Van Thanh (from Hanoi FC).

Taking over the chairmanship of Ho Chi Minh City Club from his junior Cong Vinh (May 2017), Huu Thang has been quite secretive up to now. But now is the time for him and the CEO of Ho Chi Minh City Club - Mae Mua to assert themselves. Before successfully planning to cooperate with Barcelona to open a youth training academy in Rach Chiec (District 9, Ho Chi Minh City), he had to spend many years searching for players for the team. People are waiting for the mark of the former head coach of the national team!