'Dissecting' the reason why SLNA youth team often stumbles before 'heaven's gate'

(Baonghean.vn) – U15 SLNA has just stopped at the semi-finals of the National U15. And in the past 3 years, people have become accustomed to SLNA youth teams losing in decisive matches.

Mentality

When the pressure of performance is too heavy, young players easily become tense and lose control of the game and get caught up in the opponent's style of play. This makes individual plays awkward and coordination lines broken. Attacking a lot without scoring goals, young players easily get impatient.

When they lost, the players were "no longer themselves" and most importantly, their physical strength was down. In the U15 semi-final, because they lost to this opponent a year ago, Coach Ngo Quang Truong's students had plenty of determination but lacked the necessary alertness.

The sadness of U15 SLNA players after losing 0-2 to Viettel in the semi-finals - Photo: Hoai Hoan

Lose because of family

In 2015, in the semi-final match between U17 Viettel and U17 SLNA, a player from Nghe An scored against his hometown team, Tran Van Buu. Two years later, another player from Nghe An, Nguyen Ngoc Tu, who was playing for U15 Viettel, "sowed sorrow" for his hometown team with the opening goal.

In recent years, it has been quite common for Nghe An football talents to join other training centers. The level of strong opponents such as Viettel, HAGL, PVF are equal to or have surpassed SLNA, so the defeat in the decisive matches is understandable.

Bad luck

Most of the defeats in the knockout round left certain regrets. SLNA youth teams all played aggressively but in decisive situations they could not score or were unlucky. The competitive mentality combined with the opponent attacking less but more effectively led to SLNA players being psychologically inhibited. In the 2016 National U13 final, SLNA U13 missed out on the championship just because they could not resolve the match in 2 halves and had to enter a nerve-wracking penalty shootout with Viettel. And recently, SLNA U13 continued to lose to this opponent in the semi-finals for this reason.

U15 SLNA receiving a bronze medal at the National U15 Finals is also a commendable achievement because for the past 9 years, U15 SLNA has not reached the semi-finals - Photo: Hoai Hoan

The rise of other training centers

Currently, SLNA training center is facing many difficulties in terms of grounds and training conditions. And most importantly, the curriculum and plans of young coaches are not consistent. Meanwhile, other training centers such as PVF or Viettel not only have quality input, but also have a systematic and scientific training process. At the same time, competitors are also investing more heavily, so it is understandable that SLNA training center has lost its unique position.

However, the main goal of youth training is not the title. And to be successful, the most important thing comes from the quality of the trained players. From there, how many players become professional players, taking on responsibilities at the club as well as the national team is the face of a training center. Therefore, to revive the position of SLNA youth training is not a victory, a championship but a macro and long-term plan.

Trung Kien