Nhu Thuat - old talent, new hope of Song Lam Nghe An

In the final round of the 1998 National U13 Football Tournament, SLNA excellently won the Championship by defeating U13 Khanh Hoa. Prime Minister Vo Van Kiet awarded the Cup and prize, and especially shook hands and praised the whole team.

Among them, there are two prominent names: Phan Nhu Thuat and Pham Van Quyen.

At that time, strangely, Thuat played better than Quyen throughout the tournament, scoring more goals than Quyen, but in the final match, Quyen shined with 2 of the 4 unanswered goals of U13 SLNA, signaling a new page opening for this generation of players.

Indeed, less than 2 years later at Chi Lang Stadium (Da Nang), at the 2000 AFC U16 Championship Finals under coach Nguyen Van Thinh, U16 VN, which was actually U16 SLNA plus Anh Cuong (Ha Tinh), the new stars of Vietnamese and SLNA football began to shine. Nhu Thuat played in the position of an extremely bright organizing midfielder, always making smart, unexpected passes for his teammates to finish and score.

Before becoming assistants of the first team, Nhu Thuat and Van Quyen were quite successful when leading the youth team. Photo archive

Meanwhile,Van Quyendemonstrating a technical style of play, rare scoring skills from coordinated situations as well as set pieces, not to mention the amazing free kick ability. Since then, fans have always clearly seen the connection on the field without needing to see with the naked eye of Thuat - Quyen, in youth tournaments as well as when they later joined the SLNA first team.

Only one difference gradually appeared, Quyen "grew up like a breeze" when he was at SLNA, went to U23 Vietnam and then to the Vietnam National Team, won the Vietnam Golden Ball 2003. As for Nhu Thuat, although he still had the sophistication and intelligence in his playing style, the ability to keep and pass the ball. However, his weak physique and thin body made this talented midfielder forever "a talent that refuses to grow" and of course, everything gradually went out of reach when the role of a key player in the team became more demanding and harsher.

However, the SLNA “family” never abandons a good child, a diligent, hard-working student, a good personality on and off the field like Nhu Thuat. He is given the conditions to grow up like many other leading players, pillars of SLNA, which means continuing with the “career” of football, with youth training when meeting all the set conditions.

With innate qualities, with love for the profession,As Artquickly reaped success when always having experienced seniors to guide, former teammates to support, including Van Quyen. It was not difficult for Nhu Thuat to quickly be called up to be assistant team 1 under coach Quang Truong and now, in the restructuring period with the captain - head coach Huy Hoang.

In his first year as assistant coach of SLNA's first team, former midfielder Phan Nhu Thuat is also expected to help the midfield and attack of the Nghe An team become smoother. Photo: Xuan Thuy

SLNA has always operated a physical style of play but always had players with strong technical qualities such as Vu Quang Bao, Phan Thanh Tuan, Van Sy Hung or Phan Nhu Thuat, Ho Khac Ngoc... They are the "ball players", the soul of a team, the players who deal the cards, the ball always passes through their feet when developing the play. They are also the players who have the final pass to set up their teammates to score the decisive goal.

UnfortunatelySLNAare at the bottom of the V.League. In addition to many other basic reasons, an important reason is that the team lacks an organizer on the field, the type of player that Nhu Thuat played very successfully when he was young.

It is not easy for Nhu Thuat to immediately "mold" someone to fill that gap, but certainly assigning him the role of assistant is to manage, build, and train the best positions first of all in the midfield of SLNA. It is possible to find from young sources, like the way Huy Hoang boldly brought up young talent Dinh Xuan Tien from U17, or find other sources as the new leader announced, which means having to start working immediately, in the context of not burning the stage but also not delaying or losing opportunities.

Nhu Thuat and Van Quyen during their participation in receiving the Cup at the award ceremony of the final round of the National Football Championship. Photo: Document.

Overall, SLNA has a very balanced and in-depth coaching team with Huy Hoang's instinctive determination and risk-taking; Van Quyen's flexibility and talent; and Nhu Thuat's calculation and moderation.

In the long run, Nhu Thuat must promote his innate intelligence and brilliance. He must constantly research, study and apply the latest knowledge about training and coaching; he must be a pioneer in this field of the team to serve the goal of "recovering the glory not too far away" of the team, including considering being assigned as head coach in the future.

Fans and experts still know that if they "compete with strength", they may lose, but with the ability to "compete with intelligence" on the field, victory will certainly belong to Nhu Thuat... This is also the new hope that the once talented midfielder brings to his hometown team.