Concerns about the national team's goalkeeper position.
(Baonghean.vn) - The preliminary list of players called up to the national team includes three goalkeepers: Dang Van Lam (Muangthong United), Tien Dung (Hanoi FC), and Van Toan (Hai Phong FC). Is this the best choice at the moment?
Worry
Currently, Dang Van Lam's Muangthong is struggling at the bottom of the Thai League standings. In their 11th round match against...Despite playing with a man advantage for over 30 minutes, Muangthong United were held to a 0-0 draw by hosts Suphanburi in the crucial relegation battle, leaving Van Lam's team still at the bottom of the table.
After 11 matches, they won 2, drew 2, and lost 7, scoring 9 goals and conceding 19, ranking 16th out of 16. Van Lam started in 10 out of 11 matches, ranking 4th on the list of goalkeepers who conceded the most goals in the Thai League.
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| Goalkeeper Tien Dung (Photo courtesy of Trung Kien) |
The next hope, "national goalkeeper" Bui Tien Dung, just had a disappointing match in his debut for Hanoi FC.
It's worth remembering that this goalkeeper from Thanh Hoa had to be a substitute for 18 matches before getting a chance to play. Simply put, in Hanoi, goalkeeper Nguyen Van Cong, born in 1992, has always been the first-choice goalkeeper for the capital city team for the past three seasons.
In his debut match against S.HB.Da Nang, goalkeeper Bui Tien Dung conceded two goals. The most regrettable was the first goal, which came from a wide-angle corner kick from 23 meters by midfielder Thanh Hai. The goalkeeper had moved to anticipate the shot but was outmaneuvered by the Da Nang player.
Clearly, coach Chu Đình Nghiêm wanted to give Bùi Tiến Dũng a chance to regain his form in preparation for the 2019 King's Cup. However, with such a performance, goalkeeper Bùi Tiến Dũng is unlikely to be the starting goalkeeper when Hanoi FC plays away against Nam Định.
New discovery
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| Nguyen Manh and his teammates entered the match against S. Khanh Hoa with a relaxed mindset. SLNA is currently ranked 3rd and has the best defense in the V.League. (Photo: Duc Anh) |
Although coach Viet Hoang also has goalkeeper Phan Dinh Vu Hai, who was loaned to SLNA to participate in V.League 2018, playing in 22 out of 26 matches, Vu Hai's save success rate averaged 77%, which is quite good.
Goalkeeper Van Toan, born in 1994, is 1.83m tall and comes from the Hai Phong youth academy. He plays with a simple yet effective style and possesses an extremely tenacious and stable mentality. For many, goalkeeper Van Toan is a valuable asset, someone who needs to get acquainted with the national team for the long term, rather than being the starting goalkeeper for the national team at this time.
Fans have the right to question why goalkeeper Van Cong, who is in better form than Tien Dung, wasn't called up. Leaving out a consistent player who regularly gets playing time to choose a goalkeeper who's been languishing on the bench and has an unstable mentality is unusual.
Tien Dung should focus on the U.23 team to compete more fairly with his peers like Van Toan and Van Bieu, rather than joining the national team because of his past achievements.
Expanding opportunities?
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| Coach Park Hang-seo. (Photo: Archival image) |
Coach Park Hang-seo has repeatedly stated: "I only call up the best-performing players to the national team at the present time." Certainly, after the goalkeepers' performances, Coach Park will have much to consider.
