When the rich get bored with titles

(Baonghean) - Many reasons have been explained for the decline of the football team of Thu Dau Mot, but the main reason that many people mention is that B.Binh Duong players no longer have the desire to compete because they have enough money - titles!

With abundant financial resources, B.Binh Duong is known as “Chelsea of ​​Vietnam”. Since playing in V.League, the team from Thu Dau Mot has become a “promised land” for all Vietnamese players. Whenever they see a good player or a good coach, B.Binh Duong spends money on transfers and tries every way to recruit them.

With that “full throttle” investment, B.Binh Duong football team, from domestic to foreign players, from the main squad to the reserve players, are all stars. B.Binh Duong also became the football team with the most V.League championships with 4 titles, a record that even a rich team like Mr. Hien has not been able to break.

But “no one is rich for three generations, no one is poor for three generations”, in the 2016 season, despite strong investment, B.Binh Duong suddenly plummeted. At the end of V.League 2016, B.Binh Duong had only 34 points, ranked 10th on the rankings. A position that no one expected. Because the poor team SLNA was called “miserable”, “a season to forget” by everyone but still ranked 9th, one place above B.Binh Duong!

A match between SLNA and B.Binh Duong at Vinh Stadium in the 2016 season.

Many reasons have been given for the decline of the team from the land of Thu, but the main reason mentioned by many people is that B.Binh Duong players no longer have the desire to compete because they have enough money - titles!

Playing blandly and lacking identity (B.Binh Duong only has Anh Duc, a native of Thu Dau Mot), restructuring the team right before the 2017 season begins is a necessary task for B.Binh Duong's leadership.

This time, there were no more massive recruitment campaigns, but B.Binh Duong simultaneously terminated contracts with star players such as Cong Vinh, Trong Hoang, Van Hoan... and promoted 9 young players to try out with the first team. B.Binh Duong's leaders announced that they will give opportunities to young local players to build a team with a true Thu identity. The goal of the 2017 season with the 4-time V.League champion team is to "learn and compete"!

It seems that after the titles brought by the "hired" players, it is time for the football people in B.Binh Duong to hope that one day their team will have "homegrown" players who can lift the cup and be on the national team.

SLNA is the only team in V.League that has done this. But ironically, while other localities are trying to build a football movement like Nghe An, SLNA - "The pride of Nghe An" is also struggling to find finance to cover the new season.

Duc Dung