Vietnam Olympic: Midfield concerns

First of all, it must be said that although they only brought the U21 squad to Indonesia, it is clear that the Bahrain Olympic team is not as weak as everyone thinks. Although the head coach of the Bahrain Olympic team, Mr. Samir Chammam, declared that he did not know much about the Vietnam Olympic team, the way they deployed their troops and arranged the battle also surprised us.

They knew how to exploit the weaknesses in the defense of Coach Park Hang Seo's team. In fact, the Vietnamese Olympic team only played better than their opponents in that match from the moment Bahrain lost a man and it was not until the end of the match that Cong Phuong scored a goal.

Midfield concerns

Xuan Truong's inconsistent performance is a concern for fans. Photo: Internet

It is clear that in the central midfielder position, Xuan Truong is no longer in the same form as at the beginning of the year. The midfielder from Tuyen Quang still plays with great effort, but the passes through his feet are quite lackluster, Xuan Truong is absent in both attack and defense support.

In the 3-4-3 formation, the two wings Duc Huy and Van Thanh both left worries. If the left wing Duc Huy did not coordinate well with his senior Van Quyet, did not have any decent crosses, then Van Thanh on the opposite wing was also another unsafe position for the Vietnam Olympic team. Van Thanh's form was not good, when he lost the ball in attack, he did not move back. Therefore, the space behind this player was always exploited by the opponent, including the situation where the Bahrain attacker faced goalkeeper Bui Tien Dung.

The injury of center back Dinh Trong has caused the defense of the Vietnam Olympic team to lose its stability. Van Hau's ability to coordinate with the other two center backs is not high, so in many situations, Hanoi FC players had to safely clear the ball.

Quite a strange opponent

The average age of the Syrian Olympic team is 22, they are the team with the best physical strength and physique at ASIAD 18. Photo: Internet

Olympic Syria is a rather strange opponent, before meeting Olympic Vietnam they had 3 wins and 1 loss against U23 China. Despite losing 0-3 to U23 China, Olympic Syria showed a solid playing style, emphasizing pragmatism to create safety. Coach Al Faqir announced that he had a plan to counter U23 Vietnam - one of the two teams that have not conceded a goal, along with Uzbekistan.

The average age of the Syrian Olympic team at the Asian Games is 22, 1 year older than the Vietnamese Olympic team of Coach Park Hang Seo. That explains why they are a team of players who have begun to mature in tactical thinking, have a lot of experience in competition, unlike the opponents that Vietnam has faced since the beginning of the tournament. In addition, they are considered to be the team with the best physique and physical strength at the 2018 Asian Games. In the match, they teased their opponents, disrupted their playing style and physical strength. 28.5% of the goals were scored in the last 15 minutes of the first half, 42.9% of the goals of Coach Al Faqir and his team were scored in the first 15 minutes of the second half.

Syrian players are also proficient in the "bus" style of play in front of the goal to protect their advantage. Syrian players are very good at acting to frustrate their opponents, entering the game with a "teasing" style of play to limit their opponents' excitement, skillfully using dramatic situations by pretending to fall, or making the falls more serious to trick the referee. Player Youssef Al-Hamwi once had an act of diving to get a penalty against the Palestine Olympic Games but could not fool the referee.

New stamina and moves

Entering the quarter-finals after 4 matches that took a lot of energy, the physical strength and endurance of the Vietnamese players showed signs of decline. The main reason was that our preparation for the 2018 Asian Games was short, and the players had just gone through a period of continuous competition in the V-League.

From this point on, not only the Syrian Olympic team but any team with strength and physical strength will cause difficulties for the Vietnamese Olympic team. Facing opponents who are better in terms of physique, physical strength, and skill level, and who play closely is a big difficulty for the Vietnamese Olympic team. The opponents have somewhat understood the playing style of the Vietnamese Olympic team, after studying us from the U23 Asian tournament to this tournament. This is the time for the coachPark Hang Seo will come up with a new plan, most likely when Dinh Trong can play, Van Hau will return to his usual position and Duc Huy will replace Xuan Truong.