Coach Troussier: 'If we want to attend the World Cup, we have to act'

On the afternoon of September 10, in Nam Dinh, coach Philippe Troussier attended a press conference before the friendly match with the Palestine team at Thien Truong Stadium (Nam Dinh), within the framework of FIFA Days in September 2023.

The French strategist shared: ''In my role as coach of both the national team and U23 Vietnam, the two teams have no boundaries. Both teams under my coaching have the same playing style, vision, and organization. They share the same coaching staff, the same goal of fighting for the national flag.

Depending on the goals, the time and the tournament, we will divide the goals separately for the Vietnam national team and the Vietnam U23 team. At this time, we will mix the national team squad according to each age group, aiming for good results in the 2026 World Cup qualifiers, increasing competitiveness, helping players prove their class beyond the Southeast Asian region.

At the same time, Mr. Philippe Troussier coaches and directs two teams (U23 Vietnam and the Vietnam National Team). Regarding this, the French captain said:

''I have no problems or any impact from having to travel constantly. Yesterday I was in Viet Tri (Phu Tho). Today I am in Hanoi working with two teams, before moving to Nam Dinh, that is part of the job, there is nothing difficult for me. I have organized and assigned tasks to the coaching staff clearly to cover and grasp information on the two teams. This morning, the players of the Vietnamese team congratulated the U23 juniors after passing the Asian qualifiers. The whole team is very happy, with a positive spirit to look forward to the upcoming tournaments.

In each training session, we always try to improve the team, but we need to look back at Vietnamese football in many aspects, from the player base as well as the perspective of the Vietnamese football system. The current players (both in the U23 and the National team) still lack a lot in terms of passing quality, basic situation handling ability, ball control or receiving...''.

''I hope there will be more coaches at the Club as well as youth training who can help players improve this basic ability. Many people expect players to improve and change when training with the Vietnam national team. I can confirm that we always try to work and make the best corrections to help the players. I also try to choose players with more complete technical qualities than the rest of the group. To make up for the lack of technique, Vietnamese players have a progressive spirit, discipline, and a desire to express themselves.

I give them reasonable tactical instructions so that they can control the ball, thereby controlling the game better, forcing the opponent to move their formation, thereby revealing gaps to exploit. The players can understand the intention, but when entering the game, in addition to understanding the tactics, they also have to be able to execute. That is the difference between the Vietnamese team and teams from other powerful football backgrounds. For example, with the same type of situation, the Brazilian team can only coordinate twice to score a goal, Japan needs three times to score, while the Vietnamese team needs 10 times to score.

The players are not yet highly efficient in handling situations, so we need to improve the foundation of Vietnamese football, create conditions for players to compete more, upgrade facilities, fields, and better competition systems, and encourage players to go abroad more. If we want to participate in the World Cup, we cannot just talk or dream, but must act.

Talking about the upcoming friendly match, the captain of the Vietnamese team added: ''I always try to improve, so that each player will do better in the match against Palestine than in the matches played in June. We will try to have more scoring opportunities, have ideas but need to do better. The matches in June, tomorrow's match or the matches in October are only friendly matches. I need to experiment, build and select the squad to the maximum, how to make sure that by November 16, the Vietnamese team will have the strongest squad''.

The French strategist also affirmed that any player has the opportunity to join the Vietnam National Team: ''I do not close the door to the national team to anyone. From March until now, I have called and worked with about 80 players in the Vietnam National Team as well as the U23 team.''

Talking about the case of player Van Quyet, he added: ''Regarding Van Quyet's ability, we know that Van Quyet was suspended for 8 matches but still played well. I cannot confirm or say anything about the plan to use Van Quyet, but he is always in my calculations and usage plans''.

Mr. Philippe Troussier also thanked the fans for always encouraging and cheering for U23 Vietnam: ''We cannot enter the field with a relaxed and excited spirit without the fans standing behind to support us. With the positive energy of the fans, the players will have a spirit of dedication and reduce pressure. During my time working in Vietnam, when I went to every stadium, I felt the support of Vietnamese fans. I met them, understood their feelings both on the field and off, in daily life''.

The match between Vietnam and Palestine will take place at 7:30 p.m. on September 11 at Thien Truong Stadium (Nam Dinh)./.