Identifying S.Khanh Hoa, SLNA's opponent in round 10 of V.League

Still the same defense, 26 rounds of last season only conceded 27 goals, the year before 37 goals but after only 9 rounds of V.League 2019 they have conceded 19 goals. Last season they only lost 5 matches but now that number is 6 and there is no sign of revival, the "dark horse" has run out of steam in the harsh competition of the V.League right from the start.

Bad start

In 4 home matches, S.Khanh Hoa lost 3, only had a draw with Hanoi. Photo: thethao247.vn

The 2019 V.League season is considered “unlucky” for coach Vo Dinh Tan when they were the first team to concede a goal, in the first minute at home, Minh Vuong (HAGL) broke through S.Khanh Hoa’s net. Remember that HAGL is a team that has lost many recent seasons when facing S.Khanh Hoa, whether playing at home or away. The fact that they lost 1-4 in the first match of the season signaled a difficult season ahead.

Currently, with 1 win, 2 draws and 6 losses, S.Khanh Hoa is at the bottom of the rankings with only 5 points, two points behind Quang Nam, the 13th-placed team. S.Khanh Hoa is in a situation where "the attack has not yet been done, the defense has already broken", so the number of 12 goals is considered okay. However, with 19 goals conceded, the defense of the coastal city team is considered the worst in V.League 2019. The defense, which used to be the strength of the "dark horse", is now a big concern for the S.Khanh Hoa coaching staff.

Surprisingly, while SLNA won 3 and drew 1 when playing at home, S.Khanh Hoa lost 3 and drew only 1 at 19/8 Nha Trang, the team with the worst home performance in V.League. What is quite strange is that in the 19 goals conceded, coach Vo Dinh Tan's students lost 10 at home and 9 away. The only team they earned 1 point at 19/8 was Hanoi, the defending champion, what an irony.

Too old

Of the 19 goals conceded so far, S.Khanh Hoa conceded 2 goals due to the opponent's well-coordinated attacks from home, 8 goals due to quick counter-attacks and 9 goals from set pieces (1 goal from a penalty, 2 corners). The coach has stopped using a 3-man defense and then a 4-man defense, but the "old" players Zarour (36 years old), Dao Van Phong (34 years old), Tran Trong Binh (35 years old) have plenty of experience but lack the strength to compete with the foreign players who are still in good shape when the new season begins.

Coach Vo Dinh Tan is planning to "patch up the defense". Club photo

In fact, center-back Zarour has played effectively for S.Khanh Hoa for 4 seasons. But in the thirst for goals, coach Vo Dinh Tan had to push this center-back up in free kick situations when the opponent "counterattacked" and Dinh Loi, Van Phong, Trong Binh could not defend. So Zarour scored 3 goals, becoming a dangerous scorer, but S.Khanh Hoa conceded 8 goals from the opponent's fast counterattacks.

After the departure of Quoc Chi, midfielder Truong Tinh is emerging as a worthy replacement. This 24-year-old midfielder has also scored 4 goals for S.Khanh Hoa. However, when his seniors Duy Thanh, Nhat Nam, Tan Tai and Dinh Khuong play ineffectively, Truong Tinh cannot "carry the team".

One of the reasons for S.Khanh Hoa's poor performance this season is because Lam Ti Phong and 2 foreign players have played very ineffectively. French foreign player Youssouf Touré and Lam Ti Phong, after 7 appearances, have only scored 1 goal each, even losing to Brazilian foreign player Warley, who just transferred from Quang Nam (has scored 2 goals).

The attack line failed to score, allowing the opponent to take the lead, forcing them to raise their formation, thus creating an opportunity for the opponent to counterattack and score. That is the current situation of S.Khanh Hoa, a system error that is very difficult to fix in a context where there is not much money on hand to buy players.