Finding a solution to the problem of domestic strikers in V.League

Specifically,Coach Park Hang-seosaid: “Vietnam is really lacking strikers. We have tried a lot but have not found anyone yet. In V.League, most foreign players play as strikers, many strikers in the U22 team are not allowed to play as main players when they return to their clubs.”

The head coach of the Vietnam national team made a suggestion to football managers: “V.League should ask themselves why this problem exists. Of course, some clubs will react to this opinion, but I just want to let young players and domestic strikers play. VPF and VFF must seriously study this problem.”

At present, most of the clubs in V.League use 2 foreign players for the striker position and 1 foreign player for the center back position. Accordingly, the opportunities for domestic strikers become less. This leads to Coach Park only having 3 center forwards who are regularly called up to the national team: Tien Linh, Duc Chinh or previously Anh Duc.

Coach Park Hang-seo needs more strikers to do his job well. Photo: Hai Hoang

Since 2019, the Korean coach has called up many strikers such as Viet Phong (Viettel) or recently Ho Tuan Tai (SLNA), Phan Van Long (SHB Da Nang) but they have not left much of an impression. This is also the reason why the Vietnamese team has only scored 5 goals in Group G - 2022 World Cup Qualifiers. This achievement is only better than the bottom team Indonesia and worse than Thailand, Malaysia and UAE.

With the pressure on achievements in the upcoming time such as AFF Cup, SEA Games and World Cup Qualifiers, Coach Park Hang-seo has reason to worry and complain. However, this is a very difficult problem to find a solution because coaches in V.League are all under pressure on achievements and are forced to use the maximum number of foreign players allowed.

On the contrary, from another point of view, the presence of foreign players in V.League in recent years has been a very important catalyst to increase the quality of the tournament. Therefore, the conflict of interests is the main reason why the scarcity of good domestic strikers is still difficult to solve.

Striker Anh Duc retires, leaving Vietnam national team only able to rely on Tien Linh. Photo: TK

Certainly, VFF or VPF will not be able to immediately reduce the number of foreign players and it is also difficult to come up with a regulation on the number of young players allowed to play in which position in the clubs. In fact, this is a common problem with any football in the world, including Japan, Korea or more recently Thailand, Malaysia and Europe.

Regarding this issue, striker Nguyen Viet Thang - former player of the Vietnam National Team analyzed: "When we were still playing, V.League still had 5 foreign players on the field but the quality of the tournament was not inferior to now. However, V.League still produced a series of good strikers such as Cong Vinh, Quang Hai, Anh Duc, Thanh Binh...".

Sharing the same view, Coach Nguyen Duc Thang - Technical Director of SLNA Club said: "Whether Vietnamese football wants to have quality domestic strikers or not depends entirely on the talent of the players. If they have a striker like Pham Van Quyen, any coach would want to use domestic strikers instead of foreign players. If they want to play well and have a place to play, strikers have to prove themselves, there is no way to force coaches to use domestic strikers."

When Cong Vinh, Van Quyen, Anh Duc played, V.League still used a lot of foreign players in the striker position. Photo: ST

Reality proves that at SLNA, striker Ho Tuan Tai was given many opportunities to play. In V.League in 2018, 2018 and 2019, Tuan Tai played 15, 17 and 18 matches. Thanks to that, he was also named in the list of the most recent national team training camp.

According to research in Japan, the Japan Football Federation stipulates that clubs are allowed to register 3 foreign players + 1 Asian + 1 ASEAN. This number is more than the V.League. However, in reality, Japanese clubs rarely recruit Southeast Asian foreign players and have never fielded all 5 foreign players.

Japanese coaches generally only use 2 foreign players from America or Europe and 1 foreign player from Asia, usually from Korea and North Korea. That means ensuring no more than 3 foreign players in 3 positions: defender, midfielder, and striker on the field.

This is considered an unspoken rule of Japanese football. That is why J.League has ensured development opportunities for domestic talents that Vietnamese football should refer to.

Ho Tuan Tai, Xuan Nam and striker suggestions for coach Park Hang-seo

(Baonghean.vn) - After striker Nguyen Anh Duc retired, the only real striker position in the Vietnam National Team is Tien Linh - Duc Chinh. However, with the upcoming 2-striker formation, Coach Park Hang-seo will certainly keep an eye on many other backup names.