Song Lam Nghe An foreign player: What position does Danko Kovacevic play?

(Baonghean.vn)- As a striker, Danko Kovacevic was certainly bought by SLNA's coaching staff to be tasked with scoring goals. But letting the former Montenegro U19 player carry the attack is not a simple matter.

Just a few hours before the V-League 2017 Organizing Committee finalized the foreign player registration list, Danko was just named by SLNA. The fact that he was only present in Vinh for 2 days and was 'judged' probably means that the club's leadership relied more on his personal resume than on-field assessment.

Impressive resume

Growing up in Montenegro's most famous training center, Red Star Belgrade, Danko Kovacevic (Yellow Shirt) mainly plays football in small football leagues in Europe such as: Greece, Serbia, Montenegro. Photo: Hoai Hoan

First of all, the 1.85m tall foreign player Danko has surpassed dozens of other candidates because of his "label" as a former U19 Montenegro player. Before joining SLNA, the player born in 1992 played in the Greek, Serbian, and Montenegrin national championships. Although he grew up in Montenegro's most famous training center, Red Star Belgrade, Danko Kovacevic mainly played in small football leagues in Europe such as Greece, Serbia, and Montenegro.

Accordingly, Danko scored 16 goals for Iskra Danilovgrad Club in the Montenegro National Championship in the 2015 season. This is a national league that is considered to have a much higher level of expertise than the V-League, Montenegro players play on the basis of skillful individual techniques. The transfermarkt website values ​​this player at around 100 thousand pounds, belonging to the group of players with low transfer prices in Montenegro.

In fact, the SLNA team is operating quite well in a 4-3-2-1 formation, with striker Phuc Tinh as the center forward. Foreign player Olaha is asked to play low to support the defense. With this style of play, along with better ball control, in the 3 return matches of V-League 2017, the Nghe team did not lose, but also did not win.

Even in a match leading 2-0 at Tam Ky, the opponent still won back the point. One of the main reasons is that against teams playing 3 "foreigners", with a dominating style of play, Nghe An players often run out of energy at the end of the match. Even Olaha himself is quite tired when having to move too far throughout the 90 minutes. Not to mention, if "conceding a foreigner", there will be times when SLNA will have to play 100% domestic players when Olaha is unfortunately injured or receives a card.

What to expect?

The urgent addition of Danko Kovacevic while SLNA is forming a style of playing with only one foreign player is attracting a lot of attention from the public. Not only SLNA but also many other teams such as Hanoi FC, SHB.Da Nang, Long An… have made last-minute additions. The question is, what is SLNA’s specific goal of recruiting foreign players?

For foreign strikers, the main measure is goals, not simply the improvement of defense like Olaha is now. The most important thing is whether, after spending money to recruit Danko Kovacevic, this foreign player can score 7-8 goals in the remaining 10 matches in the V-League or not? With Danko Kovacevic, can SLNA reach the final of the National Cup this year or not?

Danko Kovacevic (66) in SLNA shirt. Photo: Hoai Hoan

Danko played 30 minutes on Thong Nhat field, replacing Phuc Tinh as the center forward in front of 10,000 Nghe An fans, but did not leave much of an impression. That is understandable because the two "ball-making" players, Phi Son and Khac Ngoc, have not had much time to practice with the former Montenegro U19 player. Danko's playing style is not strong in pressing, pressing, sweeping, and creating opportunities for himself, making it even more difficult for SLNA players in his debut match.

The thing that SLNA's coaching board is having a headache about is how to use Danko Kovacevic effectively? When SLNA uses the foreign pair Danko Kovacevic and Olaha in the 4-4-2 formation, the defense of Ho Chi Minh City Club does not have much trouble because the ability to coordinate between these two foreign players is almost non-existent.

If Olaha continues to play low like in the past few matches, only approaching the opponent's goal when attacking, it will be difficult for him to ensure his physical strength for the whole match because he has to move a lot.

If Olaha is released from his defensive duties, SLNA's ability to defend from a distance will face many difficulties. Especially when facing teams with 2 foreign players and 1 naturalized player, using many high balls, the defensive stamina of SLNA players will quickly decline.

In the context that Phi Son will be more dangerous when allowed to play freely, how SLNA's attack will operate when Danko Kovacevic appears is not an easy problem.

While Phuc Tinh was not yet sharp but had left his mark, Tuan Tai had recovered from his injury, Danko Kovacevic made the Nghe An audience have a certain comparison. Ignoring the flashy personal profile, the former U19 Montenegro player had 2 months to integrate into the Nghe An team's playing style. Only goals are the measure of this striker as well as the assessment level of the SLNA coaching board!

AT