Coach Park Hang-seo: I find the Malaysian coach's philosophy not very clear

Coach Kim said he wants to beat Vietnam, I think it's natural. As a coach, everyone wants to win, me too. I think we should focus on preparation. Now my team and I have analyzed Malaysia, we have a plan to play a good match," Coach Park smiled as he opened the press conference.

Coach Park answered at the press conference. Photo: Hai Hoang

“I think it is not polite to judge the coach of another team. I would like to introduce Coach Kim a little bit. We met a few times in Korea. I found his philosophy not very clear. When he was still a player, he went to Hong Kong and later also coached a few professional teams there.

His English is very good. When he returned to Korea, he worked as the Technical Director of the Korea Football Association (KFA) for 4 years. The job in this role is very different from that of a coach. I think he is a good coach, because in addition to his expertise, he also does administrative work, selects coaches, and participates in youth training." When asked about Quang Hai's situation, Coach Park hinted at the possibility of playing against Malaysia.

Coach Park Hang-seo and midfielder Hoang Duc at the press conference. Photo: Hai Hoang

He said: "Quang Hai practiced 100% of his workload in the training session yesterday afternoon (December 25)". The Malaysian team did not have Dion Johan Cools, La'Vere Corbin Ong and a number of stars at the AFF Cup 2022 because domestic clubs did not release their players. Answering a Malaysian reporter's question about the country's team not having the best squad due to the absence of key players, Coach Park replied: "The concept of key players, I think, each person has a different view. Sometimes people consider a player to be key, but I do not think so. I believe Malaysia currently has the best squad.".“Looking at Malaysia’s lineup through the two matches, if we don’t pay attention, we won’t know which team is the main lineup. In the match against Laos, they replaced 8 players, which means their coach intended to keep some players.”

Coach Park believes that his Malaysian colleague's football philosophy is unclear. Photo: Hai Hoang

Answering Zing's question about Sergio Aguero and the new naturalized players of the Malaysian team, Mr. Park said:“Each country has different policies and cultures. I do not agree or disagree with Malaysia's mass naturalization. Malaysia has a lot of exchanges with Australia and England. For example, when a Malaysian Malaysian plays for the national team, will he understand the people's feelings? I have studied their naturalized players. Sergio Aguero and Lee Tuck are both outstanding." Coach Park refused to compare the 3-4-3 formations of both the Vietnamese and Malaysian teams. He said: "Firstly, you all know about the Vietnamese team. Second, because there are Malaysian reporters here, I will not talk about the formation of the Vietnamese team anymore.".

Regarding the Malaysian team, after coach Kim arrived, their playing style was much different, the players' spirit was very high. Regarding their 3-4-3 formation, I think, to talk about suitability, there are many factors, Mr. Kim must have researched a lot and chosen the right way to play. Through 2 matches, I saw that the Malaysian players approached very quickly, fought fiercely, and the two wings were high. When passing, they often aimed directly at the goal. "In the past 5 years, I have been lucky to have never lost to a Malaysian team. However, the statistics are just for reference, we do not know what the result of tomorrow's match will be. I just know to try and put my faith in my students," Mr. Park shared about the head-to-head record of the Vietnamese teams against Malaysia.

Meanwhile, midfielder Nguyen Hoang Duc said: “After watching Malaysia play in two matches, I found that their playing style under coach Kim is different from before. They play long balls and attack quickly, very different from last year's AFF Cup."