Conceding 6 goals, what is happening to Nguyen Manh and his teammates?

(Baonghean.vn) - In two of the last three matches, SLNA's stable defense suddenly conceded 6 goals. What is happening to Nguyen Manh and his teammates?

The common point of the 2 matches in which SLNA conceded 3 goals/match is that the opponents had foreign players Claudecir, Dai Duong (Quang Nam), Stevens, Fagan (Hai Phong) who played aggressively in the style of "using strength to overwhelm opponents".

The Nghe An team's all-domestic defenders are often exhausted at the end of the match, unable to keep up with the aggressive foreign players. With the explosive Dinh Thanh Trung, in 4 meetings this season, Quang Nam players have scored 11 goals against Nguyen Manh.

After a few matches that ran quite well, in the last 3 matches, SLNA's playing style has been plagued by system errors, the team's operation is not as "smooth" as before. Many positions are stepping on each other's toes, the ability to counterattack is weakened, and some players have lacked concentration.

Lack of defensive leader

The early goal conceded from Ngoc Tan's long-range shot in the 8th minute in a 7-on-5 situation showed that the Nghe An team's defense was making a systematic mistake. Except for the 2 foreign players and Phi Son, SLNA's defenders were all deep in their own half, but Khac Ngoc and Ngoc Toan left space on the right wing for Ngoc Tan to control the ball.

Coach Duc Thang is worried about the defensive system's failure. Photo: AT

In addition to the midfield making mistakes due to the lack of a leader to oversee the field, many times in the first half, due to "hunger for the ball", Phi Son had to retreat to the 16.5m arc to get the ball, stepping on the pair of central midfielders. The Vinh stadium audience often saw SLNA coaching staff members go to the pit lane to shout instructions to the players.

In modern football, even when defending with a large number of players, if there is no division of labor and no covering for each other, it often leads to unfortunate goals. In this situation, captain goalkeeper Nguyen Manh also made the mistake of playing without concentration, slow reflexes and inaccuracy.

In the 57th minute, when the score was 2-1, a long pass from half the field reached Fagan's head and was crossed to Stevens who kicked the ball and scored. Once again, SLNA's defense conceded a goal in a situation of having more players, 4 against 2.

It was clear that midfielder Van Duc let Xuan Hung pass the ball too freely, Ngoc Hai did not have enough stamina to compete with Fagan and Manh Hung, and Van Khanh did not follow Stevens. Three defensive errors occurred simultaneously, causing the Nghe team to concede a goal, leading to the turning point of the match.

If Ngoc Hai's failure to win the aerial contest with Fagan was an acceptable mistake, then the remaining two mistakes need to be analyzed by SLNA's coaching staff for the players.

The third goal was a typical example of the big mistake in the counter-attacking formation that Nghe An players made. The ball was cut into the position of right-back Xuan Manh who had not yet returned to join the attack, receiving a pass back from Fagan who passed the ball to Dinh Bao.

SLNA's defense, in a 4 vs 3 situation, failed again because of their reduced stamina, being continuously stretched out and no longer following the opponent's strikers. Until the ball was in the net, no one could see the yellow shirt following the SLNA players. Hai Phong's style of play, although not too complicated, was extremely effective, not only the domestic players but also Olaha were exhausted by the end of the match.

Chance for substitutes to enter the field

It must be said that Hai Phong's foreign players Stevens and Fagan played very impressively in both creating and scoring goals.

Stevens had 1 assist and 1 goal of his own. Fagan, in addition to having 2 assists, also did a great job of harassing and disrupting the home team's play.

SLNA had a memorable loss against Hai Phong. Photo: AT

But we cannot help but mention the mistakes of the defense system when they let the midfield have time and space to pass the ball. The defenders and central midfielders of SLNA did not closely mark the opponent and goalkeeper Nguyen Manh had a match to forget.

The three goals conceded at Vinh Stadium were mainly due to positioning errors and the SLNA players' lack of stamina. When the 2017 V-League goals are over, the stamina of the key players has visibly decreased, and foreign player Danko is playing poorly, the SLNA coaching board should give opportunities to the reserve players.

Catcosan Vinh