Is it unfair to coach Ngo Quang Truong?

(Baonghean.vn) - Recently, coach Ngo Quang Truong has been constantly facing criticism from football fans in Nghe An province due to the team's poor performance. Is this too unfair to the strategist born in 1972?

Of course, when an army fails, the general must take responsibility; when a team performs poorly, the coach must bear the brunt of the blame. However, rewards and punishments must be evaluated from multiple perspectives and objectively, not based on subjective judgments.

This season, SLNA continues to suffer from a "talent drain" as key players like Ngo Hoang Thinh, Nguyen Quang Tinh, and Tran Dinh Dong leave SLNA for new clubs. A season or two ago, the departure of a few key players wasn't a major problem for the Nghe An team. Each year, the SLNA academy produces more talented young players, a situation where "the old bamboo dies before the new shoots grow," meaning the worry of a shortage of players never materialized.

Coach Ngo Quang Truong.

However, the tide has turned this season. The void left by Quang Tình, Hoàng Thịnh, and Đình Đồng has not been fully filled. Quế Ngọc Hải has been suspended for a long time (banned after a collision with Anh Khoa of SHB.ĐN); Phạm Mạnh Hùng's form has declined; Nguyễn Minh Đức and Nguyễn Văn Vinh are getting older and are prone to injuries; Trần Đình Hoàng spends more time in the infirmary than on the field; and young players like Cao Xuân Thắng, Đậu Thanh Phong, Nguyễn Phú Nguyên... lack experience... Coach Ngô Quang Trường has a team that is both young, weak, and lacking in depth.

There's a saying, "You can't make something out of nothing," and with such a depleted squad, it's difficult for any coach to achieve anything significant. Problems are everywhere, from defense to attack. Elementary mistakes like those made by Pham Manh Hung, Que Ngoc Hai, Vo Ngoc Duc... would make even world-class coaches shake their heads in disbelief. Such individual errors should be blamed on the players themselves, or perhaps those involved in youth development. The head coach isn't responsible for these basic technical errors. With such a weak squad, how can Quang Truong possibly "make something out of nothing"?

Many experts and fans believe that coach Ngo is the reason SLNA has lost its identity. The identity of the Nghe An team is a fierce and passionate style of play. But this season, Coach Truong's players have failed to show that on the field. Actually, it's not entirely the fault of the coach from Hung Nguyen, as a large number of SLNA players have "suddenly" lost that style of play.

Coach Ngo Quang Truong on the field during the B.Binh Duong - SLNA match, 2015 season. Photo: VTC.

Following the incident in the 2014 season, when Dinh Dong's tackle broke Nguyen Anh Hung's (Hung Vuong An Giang) leg, and especially the controversy in the past season when Que Ngoc Hai's tackle caused a serious injury to Anh Khoa (SHB Da Nang), even though those tackles were unintentional, the public's excessive criticism has somewhat affected the morale of the Nghe An players, most of whom are young. Therefore, the ball challenges of Coach Ngo Quang Truong's players are often less aggressive than before. Just one overly forceful collision, and all the criticism immediately falls on that player.

Meanwhile, similar incidents involving players from other teams occur with the indifference of experts, fans, and even the teams whose players are victims of such aggressive tackles. The clearest evidence is two incidents that happened a few days apart, with the same nature of the events, but with completely opposite solutions: the case of Que Ngoc Hai injuring Anh Khoa (SHB.DN) and the case of Duong Thanh Hao (HN.T&T) breaking Abass's (B.BD) leg. Such behavior has made SLNA players hesitant in tackles.

Furthermore, another indicator suggests that coach Ngo Quang Truong is not the primary reason for SLNA's rather lackluster performance this season. Many players in the squad have a "hold back" mentality, even displaying a sense of complacency. They play merely to "get through the season," waiting for it to end so they can move to another team. Several players have been specifically criticized by fans for their lackluster play. This is partly why the team from Nghe An lacks intensity and passion in their gameplay.

In Vietnamese football, especially with teams like SLNA and Dong Thap, the head coach is sometimes just a figurehead within a convoluted system. Under such conditions, the head coach essentially carries the weight of others' influence. This means that all professional decisions are subject to the control of a few other people, some of whom may not even understand football, and when the team performs poorly, the blame is placed on the coach.

The reasons for Nguyen Huu Thang's departure from SLNA are clear to everyone. However, the circumstances surrounding Ngo Quang Truong's "honor" in taking the head coach position at SLNA are not fully understood. Therefore, blaming Truong entirely for the "crisis" at SLNA seems incredibly unfair to this coach!

Le Thanh Hung