Is coach Park Hang Seo following in the footsteps of coach Huu Thang?

The right-back problem

Two years ago, coach Huu Thang also summoned 30 players, similar to coach Park Hang Seo, to prepare for the 2016 AFF Cup. Before that important tournament, the coach from Nghe An also lost his number one right-back, Tran Dinh Hoang. This year, coach Park Hang Seo is missing both Vu Van Thanh and Pham Xuan Manh. Coincidentally, both Dinh Hoang and Van Thanh suffered serious knee injuries. In that tournament, coach Huu Thang had Au Van Hoan and Tran Dinh Dong. However, the mistakes came from the goalkeeper and right-back, a position that was often left vacant.

Training and friendly matches

Not stopping at those details, the VFF and both coaches chose South Korea as their training location ahead of the AFF Cup. Their training periods were similar, and the location remained the National Football Center in Paju. This was partly because South Korea has a cold climate, suitable for high-intensity training.

Coach Park's preparation for the AFF Cup is not much different from that of Coach Huu Thang.

However, the worrying aspect is the opponents the Vietnamese national team faced in friendly matches to test their skills. In both training camps, the Vietnamese team played three practice matches against South Korean teams, but the opponents were not particularly strong and their skill level was not higher than the national team's. In football, choosing strong opponents for friendly matches, identifying weaknesses, and addressing them is crucial.

drop in form

Coach Park Hang Seo is facing even more difficulties than Coach Huu Thang did two years ago, as the preparation time for the tournament has become extremely limited. In total, Coach Park only had 20 days to coach the Vietnamese national team before the opening match against Laos on November 8th. Meanwhile, two years ago, that number was 45 days for Coach Huu Thang.

This V.League season is long, and the players have gone through a year of intense competition. The core of the national team has been playing for the past 10 months since the U23 Asian Championship. From physical fitness and enthusiasm to feelings of hunger/disinterest in playing football and peak performance, everything is a concern.

Identify the competitor.

Indonesian media recently highlighted an issue: the Vietnamese national team seems to be almost exclusively focused on their opponent, Thailand. In contrast, in previous AFF Cup tournaments, Indonesia was the team that usually thwarted Vietnam's football efforts.

Since mid-September, teams in Southeast Asia have been taking advantage of this period to play friendly matches to assess the quality of their squads ahead of the AFF Cup. On November 25th, Indonesia won a friendly match against Guyana 2-1. The team also had three more friendly matches from September 11th to October 15th, winning against Mauritius 1-0, winning against Myanmar 3-0, and drawing with Hong Kong 1-1.

The Vietnamese national team is under pressure to win the 2018 AFF Cup after a successful year. Photo: VFF

While Thailand had a high-quality match against China in June, two friendly matches against Hong Kong and Trinidad & Tobago (both won 1-0), and officially completed their preparations on October 14th, Coach Park Hang Seo's team had three friendly matches against average teams in South Korea, winning one and losing two, which were almost only enough to refine the squad.

Other concerns stem from the inconsistent form of players like Luong Xuan Truong, Nguyen Van Quyet, and Do Hung Dung, who have recently returned from injury. Xuan Truong, in particular, had a rather lackluster performance in South Korea with the AFF Cup fast approaching.

At the national team level, Malaysia, Indonesia, and Thailand could all be real rivals for Coach Park Hang Seo's team. The chances are evenly distributed, and the results of the upcoming tournament will accurately reflect the level and class of Vietnamese football.

The Vietnamese national team's preparation isn't the best, but hopefully, when they enter the official tournament, the players will still maintain their agility. Hopefully, these concerns will be overcome by the difference-making power of coach Park Hang Seo, the players themselves, and a bit of luck.

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