What helped Song Lam Nghe An improve its defense?

The record of 3 wins, 1 draw and only 1 loss is a very good record.Lam River Nghe Anin 2025. In all 3 wins, the Nghe team kept a clean sheet. What adjustments did coach Phan Nhu Thuat make to help the Song Lam Nghe An defense make rapid progress, especially after the heavy 5-0 loss to The Cong Viettel?

First is the change in tactics. Instead of the favorite 3-4-3 formation, coach Phan Nhu Thuat has switched to a rather new 4-2-3-1 formation. With this formation, the Nghe An team has two defensive walls in front of goalkeeper Nguyen Van Viet's goal.

Indeed, the midfield elements are the first line of defense for Song Lam Nghe An in stopping the opponent's attacks. The 4-2-3-1 formation is flexibly switched to 4-5-1 in defense.

The presence of 3 central midfielders has helped the Nghe An team ensure the number of players to prevent central attacks. While the wingers often retreat to support the full-backs. In recent matches, the midfielders of Song Lam Nghe An have been the ones who have consumed the most energy. Therefore,Coach Phan Nhu ThuatThere are often changes in numbers in these positions to help the home team secure the game.

The beneficiaries of this style of play are the players in the defense of the Nghe An team. The fact that the midfielders often drop back to support has helped the defense of Song Lam Nghe An to always maintain their positions to create a reasonable formation distance in the defensive formation.

The recent match against Hai Phong Club is a typical example. The Hai Phong team rarely created sharp attacking situations and had to rely on many early crosses. However, these crosses were easily neutralized by Song Lam Nghe An's central defenders, making it impossible for them to penetrate the net of goalkeeper Nguyen Van Viet.

It can be said that the change in the tactical diagram of coach Phan Nhu Thuat is one of the highlights that helps Song Lam Nghe An play more confidently in recent matches.

Along with the change in tactics are positive signs in terms of player quality. The addition of Hoang Van Khanh and Ho Khac Ngoc, along with the return of key players after injuries, has helped the Nghe An team have a more dense and quality squad. This has helped coach Phan Nhu Thuat feel more confident in rotating the squad in recent matches to ensure the players' physical strength.

Not only that, the presence of this duo also helps increase the experience factor for Song Lam Nghe An and creates competition in the squad to help the players improve.

The most obvious improvement is center-back Sebastian Zaracho. The Paraguayan center-back was a "black spot" for Song Lam Nghe An in the early stages of the season. The Nghe An team's coaching staff even considered replacing this center-back.

However, the transformation in 2025 has given Song Lam Nghe An a completely different perspective on Sebastian Zaracho. Not only did he score against Hanoi Police, the Paraguayan central defender also contributed greatly to the Nghe An team's 3 wins. Especially his excellent performance in the victory over Hai Phong Club in the last match. Hopefully, Sebastian Zaracho will continue to maintain this high form to help the home team achieve good results.

Along with Zaracho, praise was given to central defender Le Van Thanh. This 23-year-old central defender had quite an excellent performance when replacing Hoang Van Khanh in the match against Hai Phong Club. Le Van Thanh's utmost efforts helped this central defender not to be overshadowed when competing with strong strikers like Lucão or Miche-Naider Chéry.

It can be said that the center-back position is the most secure position of Song Lam Nghe An at the present time with the presence ofSebastian Zaracho, Hoang Van Khanh, Le Van Thanh or Le Nguyen Hoang. And these will be the pillars for teammates in the upcoming matches.

In addition, there are also the silent contributions of many other players such as Phan Ba ​​Quyen, Vuong Van Huy or Nguyen Quang Vinh... These are also catalysts that create cohesion in the defense to help the Nghe An team become more solid in recent times.

Hopefully, coach Phan Nhu Thuat's team will continue to make progress in the coming time to achieve better results, thereby soon completing the goals of this year's season.