Coach Troussier and what tactics for the Vietnam team in Jakarta?

There are many "recommendations" that the Vietnamese team should return to its familiar defensive-counterattacking style of play to promote the inherent strengths of the players, promote the harmony of the players who have played together for a long time to defeat the team of naturalized players from Europe.

In fact, looking at the way the Vietnamese team operates, arranges its forces, and especially the results of the competition under Mr. Troussier, worries and concerns are real. Not only that, the French coach's "chair" is shaky and anything can happen if the results after the 2 matches against Indonesia are not as expected. Not to mention, at the present time, injuries and penalty cards have taken away key players such as Ngoc Hai, Tuan Anh, Tuan Hai, Cong Phuong, Van Khang... And with such a "thinned" force, if we keep trying to attack, trying to control the ball... then won't we lose right from the start of the match, right from the moment we come up with the approach to the match?

Actually, saying Mr. Troussier is conservative is probably only true for the time before the end of the ASIAN Cup. That was when the French coach called up but did not use Hung Dung, Hoang Duc or used one match, then discarded the other like with Hung Dung? That was when he called up and then eliminated Tan Tai, Thanh Chung, even Van Thanh... That was also when he called up the regular reserve players at the club but let them play as starters in the national team like Van Truong, Van Tung..?

The latest call to concentrate on the Vietnam National Team with a list of 33 names, shows that things are different from before. The main factors under Park Hang-seo, currently in good form, with fighting spirit and dedication, are listed. Young students who know their lessons well cannot be absent of course. Previously, the French coach once said that against strong teams, the Vietnam National Team tries to control the ball, which means having to be flexible according to each target, opponent, to deploy a suitable playing style. That is to say, in reality, the Vietnam National Team must proactively approach matches in different ways, it is difficult to say that defense-counterattack or ball control attack is a must, a constraint.

Since the integration of Vietnamese football in the 1990s until now, the search for a suitable and effective playing style has not yet brought about anything clear. A series of foreign coaches from Europe (Weigang, Riedl, Calistor...), America (Dido), Asia (Miurra, Park Hang-seo) have not been able to find a suitable formula when Vietnamese players are inferior in terms of physique, physical strength, skills, and experience... compared to opponents in the region (compared to Thailand), and in the continent, there is a large gap compared to top teams such as Japan, Korea, Iran, Iraq, Australia, Arabia Saudi... The successful defensive-counterattacking style of play with Mr. Park Hang-seo is encouraging, but that achievement was quickly figured out by opponents, especially in the 3rd Qualifying Round of the 2022 World Cup, in the 2 most recent AFF Cups... Therefore, Mr. Troussier is not determined to maintain this familiar style of play but to find a new way, which is reasonable and necessary if Vietnamese football really wants to reach new heights.

Of course, everything new will encounter difficulties and will suffer temporary failures. Mr. Troussier fully understands that and knowledgeable people also acknowledge that. The main thing now is to resolve the contradiction between expectations and reality, between the fact that the new thing has not been fully operated and old habits that sometimes still have their own effects. The Vietnamese team clearly needs good defensive habits, before discussing attacks or counter-attacks. Having Nguyen Filip is a peace of mind, a guarantee, but more than ever, we need a trio of central defenders who are strong enough to handle high balls, know how to cover tightly, and know how to avoid unnecessary mistakes like Thanh Binh, Duy Manh or Van Hau have made for a long time.

Mr. Troussier has not seen the strengths of Hoang Duc or Hung Dung in the past, but clearly, against the naturalized Indonesian team, if there is not a strong enough central midfielder duo, then never "dream" of taking the initiative in the game. Thai Son has abundant physical strength but lacks battle experience, and was overwhelmed by Indonesia, which is something everyone knows. What Thai Son lacks, Hoang Duc and Tan Tai have in abundance, which is not too difficult to master.

Whether Mr. Troussier is conservative or not, it seems that we still have to wait and see what happens in the next two matches. The French coach has a habit of always surprising many people and maybe he will continue to "rehash the old book". The problem is how effective it is. The problem is with the trusted and entrusted force, how well will they defend, how effectively will they attack, will they have enough physical strength and courage to fight for 90 minutes of tension and brain-teasing?

And one more thing, although the Vietnamese team is very resilient and tries very hard, the fact that they often lose in the last minute, in extra time, is ultimately a terrible "curse", in which the "heavy crime" of the coach is not good at adjusting human resources, reading the opponent throughout the match. The semi-final match of the 23rd SEA Games, the match against Iraq at My Dinh Stadium, the match against Japan and Iraq at the ASIAN Cup vividly proves that. That is the "Achilles heel" of Mr. Troussier himself and he will encounter countless difficulties if he does not know how to limit and overcome this./.