Who will score goals for SLNA this season?

Scarcity of goals

Last year's first leg,SLNAfailed to score in away matches against Nam Dinh, Saigon, Thanh Hoa and in the second phase also lost at Hoa Xuan Stadium (lost 0-2) when meeting the team ofCoach Le Huynh Duc. Their best match was the 4-1 demolition of Quang Nam, who were later relegated, at Vinh Stadium, but from a technical perspective, the 2-0 win over HAGL was considered a model match in terms of attacking arrangement and scoring. A coherent match, with possession and well-organized attacks from home, with clear intentions.

The reason why SLNA is having problems scoring goals is said to have three main reasons: First, SLNA is the team that has the least changes in tactical formation.V.League, it seems like for the past decade they have only played 4-4-2 or 4-4-1-1 (when defending). Their forte is still defensive counter-attacking, but SLNA's current transition from defense to attack position does not have a dedicated person.

Bruno Henrique is SLNA's number 1 goal-scoring hope this season. Photo: SLFC

Young midfielders Dang Van Lam and Thai Ba Sang still mainly played the role of blocking and defending rather than organizing attacks. Xuan Manh, after unsuccessfully trying out the central midfielder position, still controlled the attacks from the wings well, but that was not enough. It seemed that in the opponent's half of the field, SLNA had no one to coordinate the ball, so there were not many dangerous opportunities.

Above the two foreign players Onyekachi, Felipe Martins was too picky about the ball, unable to operate independently, so he only had 4 goals, losing to Ho Tuan Tai, who scored 5 goals when he started as a midfielder. There was a bit of bad luck when Van Duc, who could do both the assisting and scoring duties well for the Vinh team, suffered a long-term injury and only contributed 2 goals.

Who will score?

The departure of Tuan Tai, who contributed 5 out of 17 goals, has made many SLNA fans worried, even though Van Duc has returned. The appearance of Bruno Henrique, the main striker of Hong Linh Ha Tinh in the 2020 season with 10 goals in 19 appearances, has somewhat reduced the worries of SLNA's coaching staff. But in reality, there is no guarantee that this striker will repeat the number of 10 goals this season for SLNA if there is not a suitable match for this striker's strengths soon.

Foreign midfielder Jelic Igor has a knack for scoring goals with his head. Photo: Da Nang FC

In Ha Tinh, although playing in a 4-4-2 formation, Bruno, Mansaray and Tuan Hai often swapped positions with each other, many times Mansaray and Tuan Hai took turns playing on the left wing to create space for Bruno to perform. In theory, this year Onyekachi, Bruno and Van Duc can completely swap positions to cause difficulties for the opponent. To be fair, Mansaray has many technical qualities that surpass Onyekachi, but Van Duc plays much more dangerously than Tuan Hai. Not to mention central defender Jelic Igor in the shirt ofSHB Da Nangalso has 2 goals, equal to Gustavo, still a scoring aspect that needs to be promoted at SLNA.

To be in the top 6, SLNA must score at least 25-26 goals (18 matches). It seems that 3 foreign players must take on 10-12 goals, so if Van Duc can take on 7-8 goals, the remaining domestic strikers must also score 6-8 goals. Not a very large number, but in the current context, it is not a simple task forCoach Ngo Quang Truong.