Park Hang-seo and Eriksson: The two talented coaches at AFF Cup 2018

Pull the cannon to the left wing

Mr. Eriksson did not have many options when he lost 5 players before the semi-final, 3 of whom were starting. He proactively pushed Martin Steuble (21) from the right wing to the left wing, right behind Stephan Schrock (17) and chose this as the main attacking direction when he discovered that central defender Van Hau often went up to attack. In fact, with the flexibility of Stephan Schrock, and the support of Phil Younghusband (10), the Philippine players successfully exploited this wing many times during the match.

Coach Eriksson shared: "The Philippines have faced the strongest team since the beginning of the tournament". Photo: AFF

The right-back position was given to Adam Michael Reed (31), 27 years old, born in the UK, who had only played 2 matches for the national team. He did not use the 32-year-old "veteran" James Joseph Younghusband as people expected to replace P. Straub (recalled by the club) in the central midfield, but used Kevin Ingreso (14), a German player ofPhilippines.

The host Philippines still used 2 strikers Phil Younghusband (10) and J.Bedit (26) but captain Phil Younghusband played wider to avoid being marked by the Vietnamese central defenders. Many times the 4-4-2 formation of the Philippines was changed to 4-1-1, of course the 2 wingers Patrick Reichelt (29) and Stephan Schrock (17) were still considered wingers in the pure Nordic style of play.

Coach Eriksson chose the same style of play as the match against Thailand. The home players played quite aggressively to control the ball more, Martin Steuble (21), Kevin Ingreso (14) and Stephan Schrock (17) played extremely aggressively, accepting to receive a card to limit the attacking power of the away team.

In fact, coach Eriksson had correctly calculated the direction of attack mainly from the left wing. The ball here was continuously exploited, either crossed into Van Lam's goal, or passed long to the right wing, causing surprise. In fact, if Patrick Reichelt had been better, there would have been more than 1 goal. This was a match where the defense, which had kept a clean sheet in 4 group stage matches, was constantly confused and threatened many times.

Attack on foreign soil

Coach Park Hang-seo’s “sacrificing” Xuan Truong and captain Van Quyet did not surprise many people. Even his use of the two “sweepers” Duc Huy and Hung Dung was also expected by experts, because people saw Mr. Park experimenting in the match against Cambodia. It is true that playing against the host Philippines, against the “bulldozers” Manny Ott and Kevin Ingreso, using the “attacking, not defending” midfielder pair Quang Hai and Xuan Truong is suicide.

Vietnamese audiences poured into the streets to celebrate the victory. Photo: AT

But the fact that he left Cong Phuong on the bench and used veteran Anh Duc made many people suspicious. People thought that with good personal skills, HAGL players would cause difficulties for the defenders.Philippines. Meanwhile, with two tall central defenders Carli De Murga and Alvaro Silva, Anh Duc's playing style will face many difficulties.

But the Korean coach did not think so, he thought that the coordination between goalkeeper Michael Falkesgaard and the two central defenders was not good. The team's back line was instructed to pump the ball into the space behind the two central defenders and the goalkeeper. Both Van Hau and Trong Hoang did not need to stick to the sidelines but poured the ball behind the two central defenders for Anh Duc and Van Duc, then Duc Chinh to exploit.

Anh Duc's header or Van Duc's nutmeg were not accidental but were moves that Mr. Park had carefully studied. If reserve player Duc Chinh had exploited them well, he would have scored his first goal at the AFF Cup 2018.

According to Mr. Park's calculations, Cong Phuong will be much more dangerous when the Philippines is forced to attack. He spent 10 minutes for this Nghe An striker to solo in the penalty area to score, all calculations were accurate, only CP14's right foot was unlucky in front of Michael Falkesgaard's goal.

Not counting the two reserve goalkeepers, Mr. Eriksson only had 5 players left on the field. That made the Swedish coach, although seeing the fatal weakness in Vietnam's defense, helpless.

Meanwhile, Mr. Park's use of high balls to "treat" his opponents in a "hit-him-back" style was truly a smart move. Everyone thought that with 6 players over 1.80m tall, high balls were the strength of the Philippines, but Mr. Park let everyone know that Vietnamese players were no less good at playing high balls. The surprise move made 1.87m tall center-back Alvaro Silva become an extra person in the high ball situation for Anh Duc's opening goal.

Attacking on foreign soil is a unique tactic in military strategy. A military leader must “understand the enemy and understand himself” before daring to apply it, and Mr. Park is such a person.