Will Mr. Park use his signature moves at the SEA Games for the U23 Asian Cup?

U23 Vietnam has returned to Vietnam and started the most serious preparation process after a period of recovery in Korea. Coach Park's players are in a comfortable mental state after visiting the homeland of their respected teacher. And now is the time for the Korean coach to focus on training to find a strategy for the U23 Asian Cup, a tournament in which we are the current runner-up and will receive special attention from our opponents.

At the 30th SEA Games, U22 Vietnam's aerial play, making the most of set pieces, surprised their opponents. With many players of equal physique, over 1m8 tall, U22 Vietnam proved to be superior in aerial combat, both in attack and defense.

U23 Vietnam succeeded at the SEA Games thanks to making good use of aerial combat. Photo: VNE Xpress

Of the 24 goals scored by U22 Vietnam, 9 were scored from headers. This is an unprecedented statistic in the history of Vietnamese football. We have long believed that, with the physique of the Vietnamese people, aerial balls will never be a strong point. However, U22 Vietnam at the 30th SEA Games has affirmed that, with a new position and stature, we can absolutely play football like a real European team.

However, when going to the continental arena, facing teams with superior average height, will that style of play still be effective? That will also be a factor to confirm that the Korean strategist will change to help U23 Vietnam avoid being predictable and diversify the approaches to the opponent's goal.

However, against the big opponents at the U23 Asian Cup, is that style of play still effective? Photo: VNE Xpress

At the 2018 AFC U23 Championship, Vietnam U23 was very successful with a 3-4-3 defensive counter-attack formation. A well-organized defense was the key factor to success. In addition, the presence of players with less outstanding physique such as Cong Phuong, Quang Hai, Van Duc... in the attack line made it difficult for opponents, despite having advantages in physique and physical strength, to counter-attack.

As the current runner-up, it will be difficult for Mr. Park to find a suitable way of playing for the current U23 Vietnam. The generation that brought victory 2 years ago in China now has only a few people left and with a squad of players of different stature, Mr. Park will have to find the most optimal solution to best suit opponents who are both tall and of different class such as UAE, Jordan and North Korea.

A difficult problem awaits Coach Park, success at the SEA Games does not mean much when the upcoming opponents are of a superior level compared to Southeast Asia. The upcoming opponents have probably also "scrutinized" U23 Vietnam carefully. For that reason, the current U23 will most likely be "magically" transformed by Coach Park into a combined image of the 2018 generation and the generation of players who just brought the historic gold medal to Vietnamese football.