Hoang Duc and the obsession of stardom
Hoang Duc can return to play after the tackle that caused him extreme pain in the match against Thanh Hoa. Luckily, the injury was not serious, but if anyone witnessed that play, they would be haunted because it fell on one of the most important players in Vietnamese football at the moment.
It's not because Hoang Duc is Vietnam's number 1 midfielder at the moment, nor because he is the most promising candidate for the 2023 Vietnam Golden Ball award that we worry about him. The point is that Hoang Duc is playing too well but working too much. Last season, the duo Hoang Duc - Duc Chien "carried" the entire Viettel team on the attack front.
In the first two matches of the season, Hoang Duc was still the biggest star. He was both the organizer and also responsible for finding goals for Viettel. In the match against Thanh Hoa, Hoang Duc alone had 5 shots on goal out of 12 times Viettel challenged the away team's goal.
In the end, it was Hoang Duc who earned the penalty that allowed Viettel to keep a point at home. The price of that point, as mentioned, almost forced the biggest star of the V-League to take a long break.
Luck is not always on the players’ side. Modern football, therefore, is more concerned with squad depth, no longer building winning plays based on a particular player, when the risk of injury is now much higher than before.
And that is Viettel's current problem, when they almost put too much responsibility on Hoang Duc's shoulders through tactical factors. The less Duc is "shared with the fire", the greater the possibility of injury, which means Viettel's performance is also more unsuccessful.
Because simply, no need to be too sophisticated to know how to play against Viettel, just need to separate the pair Hoang Duc - Duc Chien and it's done. Among them, Hoang Duc will be the most eliminated target when Viettel's current playing style revolves around the movement of this midfielder.
Also from the case of Hoang Duc, it is not difficult to see the absence of stars in the V-League that has lasted from half of last season until now. The return of Quang Hai has not made any special impression. Van Quyet is still a pillar of Hanoi FC. The scarcity of talent seen from the national team is currently affecting the V-League. It is hard to imagine Hoang Duc having to sit out for a while due to injury, in the context of the upcoming 2026 World Cup qualifiers.
But because of that, let's look at the changes of Thanh Hoa under the hands of Mr. VelizarPopov. They have almost no stars. Thanh Hoa, from a team that barely knew how to stay in the league 3 years ago, is now a championship candidate every season even though they have not spent much on strengthening their squad.
Their attacking style of play is driven by the ball rolling all over the pitch and the players being able to penetrate the opponent's penalty area to score. It is no exaggeration to say that Mr. Popov's Thanh Hoa is the most notable new addition to the V-League since 2018, after Mr. Chu Dinh Nghiem's Hanoi FC.
But in V-League, there are very few tactical reforms like Thanh Hoa is doing. Even the two teams with good squads like Hanoi FC and CAHN currently have nothing special compared to themselves. Therefore, Hanoi FC only needs Van Quyet to lose their sharpness, while CAHN does not need a coach, sometimes they still win against other teams even though they are not convincing.
