Fairness for Phan Van Duc

Among the comments, there was public criticism of SLNA striker Phan Văn Đức's performance, with some giving him a score of 4 (the lowest in the team along with Ngọc Hải and Thành Chung), and others questioning whether Văn Đức should continue to start in upcoming matches.Vietnam National Team?

The aforementioned public opinion stems from the team's performance from the second qualifying round to the present, noting that despite consistently starting, Van Duc no longer displays the agility, dynamism, and effectiveness he once possessed. Instead, he appears aggressive but ineffective, and has been frequently substituted in crucial matches such as the recent games against UAE and Saudi Arabia. Therefore, should Coach Park Hang-seo consider finding a new player to replace Van Duc in the Vietnamese national team's midfield?

Quang Hai scored the opening goal for the Vietnamese national team. Photo: Internet

Indeed, if we're talking about the actual results on the field,Phan Van DucHe seemed like a "dull version" despite always being trusted by the South Korean coach. But here he is, after a rather disappointing second round, Van Duc was called up again, tested in a new position, and sure enough, in the third round he started as a striker, forming a deadly duo for the Vietnamese national team alongside star player Tien Linh.

However, if you carefully observe the Vietnamese national team's performance recently, especially since Hung Dung's injury, it's difficult to assess which midfielder continues to shine, apart from Quang Hai with his natural talent for creating spectacular goals that have long been known throughout the continent. The absence of Hung Dung means that other midfielders have to drop deeper to defend and their attacking capabilities are limited, including Van Duc, as has been the case before.

Not only in matches against top continental opponents, but even against Malaysia or Indonesia, Van Duc cannot be freed from defensive duties and allowed to freely penetrate the opponent's penalty area as he usually does. Therefore, while the desire for Van Duc to shine as before is perfectly legitimate, it is an unreasonable and unfair demand given the significantly changed workings of the national team.

So, in the nail-biting match against Saudi Arabia, it was said that Van Duc was assigned to partner Tien Linh in attack, but how often did this player actually play on equal footing with the striker from Binh Duong? In reality, Van Duc had to drop back and play like a midfielder, essentially a six-man midfield consisting of Van Thanh and Trong Hoang as two wingbacks, the central midfield pair of Tuan Anh and Hoang Duc, along with Van Duc on the left and Quang Hai on the right playing deeper to support the defense from afar.

This means that Park Hang-seo assigned Van Duc a "dual task," which is to both handle defensive duties from afar and quickly transition to attacking and supporting Tien Linh in the highest position, switching roles when necessary.

Van Duc was named in the starting lineup of the Vietnamese national team. Photo: Internet

With this new "dual role," will Van Duc perform well? The answer is clear from two outstanding moments in the first half: in the 3rd minute, the Vietnamese team counter-attacked with the ball from the left wing to Van Duc, who had already crossed into the opponent's half. Immediately, Duc made a very open pass to Van Thanh near the left wing, from which a cross led to a defensive error by the home team's defender, and Quang Hai, as usual, unleashed an unstoppable shot, scoring the first goal of the Vietnamese team's attack. It's no exaggeration to say that Quang Hai's beautiful goal had the involvement of Van Thanh and Van Duc, and it was certainly an excellent performance from Coach Park Hang-seo's trusted players.

In Vietnam's second counter-attack in the 16th minute, the ball was played long to Tien Linh's position. Immediately, Van Duc sprinted like lightning into the space in front of the opposing defense, but unfortunately, Tien Linh was a split second too slow, causing the rare opportunity to slip away in an instant. Only someone with perfect short-distance acceleration and excellent positional awareness could be so unexpected and timely in his positioning. Analyzing this situation again shows that Coach Park Hang-seo was right to choose Van Duc for the starting position and maintain the skillful, sharp defensive-counter-attacking style that is not easily achieved by just anyone in this major tournament.

Of course, with the powerful home team trailing at home, the difficulties for the visiting team after halftime are multiplied, as everything has been scrutinized by experienced experts. The Vietnamese team was under relentless attack from all directions; a split-second mistake was enough to result in punishment from being shorthanded, with significantly reduced stamina due to playing with fewer players in an unfamiliar environment, draining a lot of energy. Duy Mạnh played exceptionally well for over 50 minutes, but was the Hanoi FC center-back also the "weak point" that the opponent exploited, as they themselves had deliberately revealed earlier? But praising Duy Mạnh is the right thing to do, just as encouraging Tiến Linh, Văn Đức, etc., is truly reasonable because of their tireless contributions, because the race is still long and Vietnamese football will not easily find replacements for Duy Mạnh or Văn Đức overnight.

Just like in a suffocatingly tight match against a team that has participated in the World Cup twice, the fact that the forwards are constantly starved of the ball and have very few scoring opportunities is nothing to worry about. The biggest concern is the defense, from defensive positioning to close-range defense, before considering transitions for counter-attacks. Tien Linh, as usual, has a guaranteed spot in the attack, and of course, regardless of what anyone says, Coach Park Hang-seo will still find a way to "fill" and "patch" Van Duc in the most reasonable way within the lineup. The Korean coach may be considered conservative, but in this case, he has a point and I'm sure he will see his decision through to the end.