How did coach Park Hang-seo 'breathe hot air' into V-League?

The latest is the opening match of the second leg of V-League 2022, round 14 between Nam Dinh and SHB Da Nang with the debut of Coach Vu Hong Viet at Thanh Nam team, who used to be Coach Park's assistant at U23 Vietnam. After the valuable 2-1 victory, not only was it a matter of "changing the general to change the fate" as a way for the team to overcome the crisis, Coach Vu Hong Viet admitted that the "smooth start" result was achieved because he learned and applied the valuable lessons taught by Coach Park.

In terms of expertise, from the familiar but ineffective defensive-counterattacking style of play before, the young teacher let his students play to control the ball and actively attack, which means fundamentally changing the team's playing style. In terms of attitude, he encouraged his students to maintain a cheerful and comfortable attitude in training and competition, especially in difficult situations, they had to maintain that spirit so that the whole team could calmly overcome it.

Tran Dinh Hoang scored the opening goal for SLNA in the match against Hanoi FC at Vinh Stadium. Photo: Hai Hoang

In the above match of round 14, although falling behind, the coach during the break still told his students to be steadfast in their playing style, have a relaxed spirit and the whole team was successful.

Nam Dinh equalized and then turned the tables with a score of 2-1, helping the team gradually avoid the unwanted relegation zone. Of course, there are still many difficulties ahead, but surely Mr. Vu Hong Viet will confidently apply the valuable lessons of Coach Park to help Thanh Nam team play better and more effectively.

A young coach, who has never been an assistant to Coach Park, but seems to have successfully applied many aspects of the philosophy and operation of the Vietnam National Team and U23 Vietnam, completely changing the playing style and performance of the team. That is head coach Huy Hoang atLam River Nghe An.

Although he did not "study" directly with coach Park, through what he witnessed, this young coach easily "read" his teacher's lessons, along with his students, the captains of Song Lam Nghe An on the national team who were taught by him, so everything was still carried out smoothly and effectively.

For a long time, Song Lam Nghe An's success has been a defensive-counterattacking style of play, mainly with a balanced 4-4-2 formation. So much so that a coach has said frankly that, even before playing, he knows how Song Lam Nghe An will enter the match, including what moves they can easily predict. Song Lam Nghe An's playing quality has declined rapidly, especially in the 2021 season, forcing the team to both "change generals and change their old operating scheme that is no longer as effective as desired.

Topenland Binh Dinh had a resounding victory with 4 goals against Becamex Binh Duong. Source: Topenland Binh Dinh FC

And under Huy Hoang, with the strong hand of the new sponsor, Song Lam Nghe An has enough elite force to switch to a 3-5-2 or 3-4-3 formation for the first time when attacking and to a 5-3-2 or 5-4-1 when defending, meaning a flexible formation, with the role of attacking and defending rhythmically of the attacking full-backs.

The trio of central defenders with Ngoc Hai as the core in the center, Van Khanh on the left, and Ba Sang on the right played more and more in harmony and showed the necessary strength. The wing duo Dinh Hoang - Sy Hoang were not only good at defending but also top-notch creative players. When Trong Hoang returns, Huy Hoang will have more basis to take this way of operating to a new level...

Obviously, the success of the Vietnam National Team and U23 Vietnam is giving wings to V-League clubs to fly further and higher in the new journey. Of course, the rich competition practice of V-League will also help Coach Park find many new factors and new ways of operating the teams.

For example, Xuan Manh's new position at Song Lam Nghe An could very well be a new card for coach Park in the midfield of the national team, not to mention many other candidates at Dong A Thanh Hoa, SHB Da Nang...

Football development is a process of learning and applying new things effectively, not a way of imitation or imitation. The development of advanced football like Korea is being learned by Vietnamese football and has brought success at both club and national team levels. Coach Park's influence on domestic coaches is a good thing and needs to be promoted further in the coming time, not only in Nam Dinh or Song Lam Nghe An as mentioned above.