Looking back at the 2 years coach Ngo Quang Truong led SLNA

The 2014 season ended, SLNA said goodbye to striker Le Cong Vinh, midfielder Nguyen Hong Viet, foreign players and especially the departure of coach Nguyen Huu Thang. During his tenure, Huu Thang brought SLNA another National Cup in 2010 and a V.League championship in 2011.

The success of his predecessor is a huge pressure for Ngo Quang Truong in his first time as a coach since the 2015 season is approaching. Although, he does not have the services of the number 1 striker of last season - Le Cong Vinh and the talented left-footed midfielder - Nguyen Hong Viet who joined Dong Nai.

A talented squad of players in the first season coach Ngo Quang Truong led SLNA. Photo: VTV

However, with a deep squad, Dinh Dong, Quang Tinh at the peak of their careers, along with a series of rising young stars such as Nguyen Manh, Ngoc Hai, Manh Hung, Hoang Thinh, Phi Son, Tuan Tai... was the desired inheritance of many coaches in V.League at that time after the departure of coach Nguyen Huu Thang.

That is an advantage but also a difficulty because SLNA's locker room always has players with very strong personalities. Being able to maintain a stable teacher-student relationship is not easy for the young new coach.

However, overcoming the initial obstacles, Coach Ngo Quang Truong has brought the new generation of young players of SLNA through the first season as captain to the "safe" milestone alongside the rise of HAGL with a generation of players full of potential. In the 2015 season, SLNA finished in 7th place with 10 wins, 7 draws, 9 losses and stopped at the quarter-finals of the National Cup.

After the first season working together in the SLNA first team, coach Ngo Quang Truong, although he really wanted to, could not keep the pillars like Dinh Dong, Hoang Thinh went to Thanh Hoa and Quang Tinh went to Can Tho. With a force of young players showing signs of holding on, caring more about image than focusing on playing football, it made the team play blandly, lacking the inherent fiery identity and setting a sad record with the number of spectators coming to Vinh stadium at a record low.

Coach Ngo Quang Truong's first two years as SLNA captain were not really impressive. Photo: Archive

SLNA finished the 2016 V.League season in 9th place, stopping at the round of 16 of the National Cup. With declining results, losing the team’s identity and causing a large number of spectators to turn their backs on Vinh Stadium, Coach Ngo Quang Truong wrote a letter to resign from the head coach position and was approved by the club’s leadership.

After more than a year of retiring from youth training, Coach Ngo Quang Truong left on a secondment to Hai Phong to take on the position of Technical Director. With the advice of the Nghe An director, the Lach Tray team has more quality players and more correct directions to reach the impressive 6th place in V.League 2018 despite not having a smooth start. The success in the position of Technical Director has made Hai Phong want to keep Ngo Quang Truong for another year.

At the end of the 2019 season, with changes in the coaching staff, the Lach Tray team suggested that the former SLNA player take the hot seat and SLNA leaders also agreed to let Ngo Quang Truong continue to be seconded to the port city. However, a surprise happened when within a few days, Hai Phong appointed coach Dinh Van Dung and SLNA had to recall coach Ngo Quang Truong to lead the first team in the V.League next season.

Returning to a new but not new role, Coach Ngo Quang Truong will face more difficulties than when he started 5 years ago because at this time, SLNA's force preparing for the new season is quite thin. After the departure of a series of pillars, in his hands will only be the trio of former U23 players Van Duc - Xuan Manh - Van Hoang with Van Khanh and Tuan Tai at their peak. In addition to some experienced players, having to use a series of players promoted from the youth team who have never been exposed to the V.League environment will be a huge challenge.

Van Khanh, Tuan Tai, Van Duc, Xuan Manh and coach Ngo Quang Truong won the National U17 Championship in 2012. Photo: NLĐ

If the 2015 season was the rise of HAGL's training center, then at this time, having to face teams with young players from training centers that are growing strongly such as PVF, Viettel, Hanoi,... will also make the role of the Nghe strategist become much more important.

However, overcoming difficulties and coach Ngo Quang Truong's proven ability with young players in the past can also be considered a legitimate reason for fans to hope for a better new season for SLNA./.