'Reading' Song Lam Nghe An's tactics in the victory in round 11, V-League 1-2023

Here, in our opinion, is the story worth telling of the new coaching staff of Song Lam Nghe An. After Phan Nhu Thuat, there are also the positive marks of Pham Anh Tuan, Dinh Van Dung and Pham Van Quyen to create a new mark together from the team arrangement to the flexible tactical operation depending on the developments of the important match mentioned above.

First of all, the coaching staff has initially refreshed the defense that has long been loose and easy to penetrate with an important change: bringing young midfielder Tran Nam Hai to play left center back to match Vytas and Que Ngoc Hai in a 3-center back formation. The two wingbach players were assigned for the first time to Mai Sy Hoang on the left, their forte, and Nguyen Trong Hoang on the right, similar to the peak period under coach Park Hang-seo in the Vietnam National Team. The midfielders were also refreshed with the main roles of two names that have long been underused, Dang Van Lam and Nguyen Van Bach, while Pham Xuan Manh was placed at the lowest position in the midfield as a ball transfer bridge. The two foreign players playing highest were still Olaha and Soladio.

The match saw a large number of fans come to Vinh Stadium to watch. Photo: Chung Le

The two early goals of Song Lam Nghe An scored by the two foreign players mentioned above in the 18th and 23rd minutes clearly showed the new formation and the new tactics and strategies from the Vinh team.

Two corner kicks for the home teamLam River Nghe Anall performed the same drill that had been practiced before: not kicking high into the penalty area but practicing the tactic of passing the ball up to the wingbach with a very good left foot, Mai Sy Hoang chipped the ball to the drop point so that not only one but two, three attacking players could rush in to finish. The long-standing weakness of Song Lam Nghe An was not having a good ball-handling player, which was overcome by a young player who had been called up to U23 Vietnam, and was famous for his crosses like placing them for teammates.

The second goal of Song Lam Nghe An also came from a brave ball-stealing move by midfielder Dang Van Lam, who was selected for the U23 Vietnam team at the 31st SEA Games, with a classy left-footed pass that created an opportunity for Soladio to release the ball within Olaha's reach and shoot decisively, burning the visitors' net. At this point, all doubts about the quality of the foreign player were dispelled. The perennial problem of making the ball, passing the ball with high damage, which has not happened often for a long time, leaving the striker running around, hungry for the ball... has clearly been handled neatly and surprisingly effectively by the new coaching staff.

Van Lam was in the starting lineup in this match and brought positive signals to SLNA. Photo: Chung Le

If the first half was an attacking half to score, then in the second half, Song Lam Nghe An mainly played defensively to preserve the score, not pretty but necessary. Players serving the attacking role were replaced one by one, such as Mai Sy Hoang, Dang Van Lam, including Soladio, focusing on the task of holding the ball, reducing the pressure on Van Viet's goal.

Tran Nam Hai took turns resting and Tran Dinh Hoang came in as his replacement. Mai Sy Hoang left the field to make way for Ho Van Cuong, Dang Van Lam gave way to Dinh Xuan Tien, then Nguyen Van Viet and Tran Dinh Tien entered the field to replace the positions that were gradually losing strength...

The rare calmness of Phan Nhu Thuat and the coaching staff when the home team scored as well as conceded goals, when the away team continuously attacked... showed the rare mettle of the young coach with the support of a team of experienced assistants who are good at reading the opponent's playbook. There was no feeling of deficiency in the squad, nor was there a feeling of anxiety when proactively retreating deep, but instead there was a commendable initiative and control in a context where everything could be turned upside down at any time.

Olaha had an impressive match at Vinh Stadium. Photo: Chung Le

Of course, Song Lam Nghe An could not "transform" immediately after some adjustments as mentioned above, as Phan Nhu Thuat himself frankly admitted after the match. Pham Xuan Manh is a very good position to play, but it can also be very bad if mistakes occur, like the situation where Samson stole the ball and scored a beautiful goal at the end of the first half. And this player who was just called back to the Vietnam National Team in the second half also almost caused a disaster when he lost the ball in a sensitive position.

The situation where Tran Dinh Hoang fought for the ball with the opponent's striker at the end of the second half was fortunately not penalized but warned of a risk of being counter-attacked from the gaps behind the 3 central defenders. The serious mistake that Song Lam Nghe An had exposed when Viettel scored 3 consecutive goals in the previous round was a big lesson.

Obviously, the positive changes from the Song Lam Nghe An coaching board show the way of looking at and evaluating players' abilities to create the common strength of 3 generations: seniors Trong Hoang, Ngoc Hai, Xuan Manh, the over 23-year-old generation such as Dinh Tien, Van Lam, Sy Hoang, Van Viet and the emerging talents Nam Hai, Van Viet, Xuan Tien, Van Cuong, Van Bach...

Each person has their own strengths and weaknesses, but if they know how to arrange them properly, they will be effective. For example, Sy Hoang is not physically strong but has a very annoying pass that is not easy to get, when the team is lacking a real passer. Or Van Lam, with his full potential, was stuck for quite a long time, which is a great pity. The good thing is that the new coaching staff did not have difficulty recognizing this vital point...

The break after round 11 is an opportunity for Phan Nhu Thuat and the new coaching staff to carry out many new exercises to bring the team back on track. Hopefully everything will go smoothly and the team will achieve its modest goals after overcoming a difficult period, with the spirit restored along with the timely encouragement of the province, sponsors and a large number of fans./.