Coach Le Thuy Hai comments on World Cup 2018

“I now take the World Cup very lightly, watching it mainly for entertainment, just for fun. Now that I have retired and am no longer involved in coaching, I have more time to watch the World Cup, and it feels more enjoyable,” Coach Le Thuy Hai began his conversation with reporters.

Which team do you think will be the candidate to win the 2018 World Cup?

-Coach Le Thuy Hai:If we evaluate the candidates for the 2018 World Cup championship at this time, I think it is a bit early, because the results of the recent friendly matches cannot say much, evaluate anything accurately. The current champion Germany has a shaky squad, not yet in form, recently won Austria 2-1. Some other teams like France, Brazil... are the same. We have to watch a few World Cup matches to evaluate the real professional ability of the teams, the smoothness in the playing style of those teams, or have new players, scoring as well as creating, if they have him, the opponents will have a lot of difficulty, for example. At this time, there is not much basis, data to evaluate each specific issue.

From a professional perspective, do you expect any improvement or breakthrough in tactical trends at the 2018 World Cup?

- Through the friendly matches before the World Cup, in my opinion, compared to the previous World Cup or the last few years, there is no difference. If we want to highlight any new playing style, we have not seen it yet, it is still the familiar tactics such as 4-4-2, 4-3-3 or 3-4-3... depending on the team's players.

Most teams choose to play close, defensively, and avoid losing. Every team is cautious in the World Cup, and when winning is not easy, and winning big is even harder, certainty is a must. Therefore, I don't see anything special or significant innovation in tactics in this World Cup season.

With excellent players like Messi, Ronaldo or Neymar... they are starting to not be as energetic as they were at the peak of their careers. Therefore, I still hope that there will be a new player who can shine and everyone has high expectations for Egypt's Salah. This is a very good player but is injured, I don't know if he will recover 100% of his form when entering the World Cup or not? This is also an issue that I think we have to consider and have to see to make an accurate assessment.

The host team Russia is not highly rated at the 2018 World Cup, do you agree with this opinion? What about the teams in the Asian region, sir?

- Actually, the home team is usually favored to reach the round of 16, at least. This is the eternal rule of major tournaments, not only the World Cup but also the EURO. Honestly, I think the home team has not shown anything in the preparation process and they have not shown confidence, but Saudi Arabia is not a strong team to face Russia in the first match. Therefore, I still hope that the host Russia will at least reach the round of 16.

The Asian representatives are still the same. It is very difficult for Japan, Iran, Saudi Arabia, South Korea, Australia to go deep into the tournament, although this year's tournament has 32 teams, because the performance of these teams has not been much in the past.

What these teams showed at the AFC U23 Championship was nothing special and not many of their talented young players were discovered at the tournament earlier this year in China.

The World Cup has started but the V-League is still going on as usual. Is this a disadvantage for Vietnamese coaches and players?

- Vietnamese coaches and players learned a lot from the World Cup, that's for sure. Training methods are just basic, anyone who goes to coaching school must know, but being quick and absorbing the tactical quintessence of world football is something that not everyone can do, including Vietnamese players and coaches will learn a lot from the World Cup. Those who are observant and sensitive will take their good points and make them their own. In football, no matter how well you study, without practical experience, you can't solve any problems. The way of moving in the tactical diagram that coaches are taught is just basic, but in the operation of football teams in the world, it depends on the thinking of each coach, very different, if we don't learn, we won't be able to absorb and will be at a disadvantage.

The fact that V-League still takes place at the same time as the World Cup is very inconvenient, why don't we push the V-League to be organized earlier, but this is the organizer's job. Not now, this World Cup but many years have been like that. We need to think and work to adapt to the general situation of the world.

Thank you!