In-depth analysis of "wizard" Park's tactics at AFF Cup 2018

Coach Park did not introduce any new tactical "inventions" at this year's AFF Cup. He remained loyal to the three-center-back formation that debuted successfully at the U23 Asian Cup. However, depending on the team's situation and the opponent, the Korean coach still made small but subtle adjustments to bring great efficiency in terms of game position and results. Even compared to the tournament in Changzhou at the beginning of the year, the way the team operated the three-center-back formation at the AFF Cup showed more flexibility.

Flexible three-center-back formation

By choosing a three-man defense (or five-man defense depending on the name and playing style) for the Vietnamese national team, Mr. Park has chosen the difficult path. The three-man defense seems like a safe choice in terms of defense, but in fact it is not. Operating this formation effectively is always a challenge for every coach. In the Premier League, top coaches such as Pep Guardiola (Man City) or Mauricio Pochettino (Tottenham) clearly understand the value of the three-man defense, but cannot use it "generally", because this formation is very picky, and training players to operate it smoothly requires a lot of time and effort.

In Vietnam, not many players are familiar with this formation. The five-defender formation was very popular in Vietnam in the 1990s, but then, following the general trend, teams switched to playing with four defenders and used it as a basic formation when training players. In the recent V-League, no team chose to use the three-defender formation. Therefore, Vietnamese players have to learn how to play with the three-defender formation from the beginning. In fact, when he first came to Vietnam, coach Park Hang-seo had to spend a lot of training sessions just to train the players how to move.

The strength of the three-man defence is that one of the centre-backs can always leave his position and still be assured that there are at least three, and often four, defenders in front of the goalkeeper. However, this is also a potential weakness. Because when a defender leaves his position, the remaining players must move quickly to fill the space he leaves. And when he returns to his position, his teammates must quickly spread out. If the movement is not synchronized, or not decisive, the defensive formation will become disorganized, and the opponent will have many gaps to attack.

At the AFF Cup 2018, that messy situation almost never happened.Vietnamese central defenders, especially Dinh Trong, often leave their positions to put pressure on the opposing player with the ball, but the space left behind is always filled very quickly by teammates. As in the situation below, Duy Manh leaves his position far away to put pressure on the Malaysian player. Immediately, the two remaining central defenders, Dinh Trong and Ngoc Hai, along with left winger Van Hau, will lean closer to Trong Hoang. Vietnam basically still maintains a four-man defense in front of Van Lam.

The ability of the centre-backs to push forward is crucial to Vietnam’s style of play – especially when playing with just two central midfielders. When the attacking midfielders don’t get back to form a 5-4-1 defensive shape, there is a huge gap on either side of the central midfielders (as seen in the image above). This is the space that the opposition’s strikers often recover from, or the opposition’s wingers often move into, to exploit. If the centre-backs don’t push forward at the right time, the opposition will have the opportunity to receive the ball in a vulnerable area known as the “inner ring”, where they have a lot of passing options.

The central defenders’ willingness to push forward also helps Vietnam solve an important problem. Because the defense often plays close to the goal, while the midfielders often choose to stand near the halfway line to apply pressure in the mid-block, the gap between the defense and the midfield is often quite large. To prevent the opponent from exploiting this gap, either the midfielders have to retreat quickly, or the central defenders have to push forward quickly. Compared to the midfielders retreating, the central defenders are clearly more proactive, with better vision, when pushing forward.

In many cases, when the central midfielders move up to put pressure, the central defenders must also immediately move up to fill the space they leave behind. As in the above situation, when Xuan Truong decided to push up to put pressure on the opponent's player with the ball, Que Ngoc Hai also immediately moved up to be ready to put pressure on the opponent player who had sneaked into the space left by Truong.

At the AFF Cup 2018, Vietnam's three-man defense worked effectively and coordinated very well. All three center-backs, especially Dinh Trong, had many important interceptions. If the midfield was bypassed, or one of the center-backs had to move up, the remaining center-backs always came in time to cover. Opposing coaches at the AFF Cup 2018 all had to admit that it was very difficult to penetrate the Vietnamese defense. In fact, throughout the tournament, Coach Park's team only conceded one goal from an open play, which was in the first leg of the semi-final against the Philippines. The remaining goals were all from set pieces.

The role of the wingback

In a five-man defense, the two wingers are the ones who have to shoulder a huge part of the work. They have to manage an entire flank, to be exact. Their tasks are also very diverse, from defending, to supporting the ball development, and participating in the attack. In the 5-2-2-1 formation that the Vietnamese team often used at the AFF Cup 2018, because the two attacking midfielders (usually Quang Hai and Van Duc) always stay in the middle, the wingbacks are the ones who are mainly responsible for creating width in the play.

Creating width in attack is important. Imagine if the wingbacks didn’t push forward. The opposition defenders could shrink back into the box. Space wouldn’t exist. Our attacks would be like hitting a rock. But if the wingbacks were in good positions, the opposition defence would be stretched. Space would appear more.

As in the above situation, Van Hau and Trong Hoang occupying good positions on the two wings confused the Malaysian defense. Their right-back, for example, did not know whether to press Van Hau or Van Duc. On the right wing, Trong Hoang was always ready for an attacking change. This play ended with a goal for Vietnam. Van Hau and Van Duc coordinated very well to attack the space between the Malaysian full-back and center-back.

In fact, the wingbacks' attacks have played an important role in Vietnam's attacking and counter-attacking style at the AFF Cup 2018. Besides the goal against Malaysia mentioned above, they also participated in many other notable attacking situations. Van Hau was the one who passed the ball to Anh Duc to open the score in the first leg against the Philippines, and was also the one who initiated the attack that led to the goal in the second leg of the final. Trong Hoang also had two assists, and his persistent runs up the flank were a highlight in Vietnam's playing style at this tournament.

The wingback position is very selective, because clubs no longer train this position. Both Van Hau and Trong Hoang, in fact, also play in the wrong position. But both have adapted very well, clearly understood the very complicated requirements of the new position, and basically, had a successful tournament. With the two names mentioned above, coach Park Hang-seo can rest assured about Vietnam's wings in the upcoming Asian Cup finals. At the Asian Games in August, he had to use defensive midfielder Duc Huy in this position.

Some instability in the central midfield position

Vietnam is perhaps a strange champion, because until the last match, it still did not show who the official central midfield pair consisted of. It is strange because the central midfield position always needs stability, not suitable for rotation or continuous experimentation, especially when entering the tournament. But in the AFF Cup 2018, Coach Park only kept the central midfield pair from the previous match once. And the central midfield pairs that started rarely appeared together when the match ended.

He really wants to build Xuan Truong - Quang Hai into an official central midfield pair for Vietnam. He wants the team to control the game better. Xuan Truong has good vision and coordination ability, Quang Hai is good at turning around in a small area, can carry the ball forward and has killer passes. Hai and Truong have also been together for a long time, so they understand each other and are more compatible.

But that was the coach's wish. In reality, the Quang Hai - Xuan Truong plan failed from the start, even though Mr. Park still tried to hold on until the end of the third round of matches in the group stage. With the Hai - Truong pair, Vietnam could not control, simply because there was no ball to keep. Truong was weak in the competition, while Hai lacked awareness of the position of a central midfielder. Not to mention that pulling Hai too low made the team's creativity near the goal decrease significantly.

Finding a stable central midfield pair will continue to be a headache for Mr. Park. Hung Dung with Duc Huy or Duc Huy with Huy Hung or Huy Hung with Hung Dung are options that bring peace of mind in the ability to support the defense. But all three lack the ability to regulate and lead the game. In the second leg of the final against Malaysia, Vietnam tried many times to coordinate to slow down the pace of the match, but often could not make more than five consecutive passes.

In fact, it is difficult to blame the players for this limitation. Because the task of the central midfield pair in a five-defender formation is too heavy, and usually only players with extraordinary physical strength and ability can handle it. When Antonio Conte's Chelsea won the Premier League with this formation, they had a pair of central midfielders dubbed "beasts", with N'Golo Kante and Nemanja Matic. These are people with more than enough energy to both sweep in front of the defense and close in on the opponent's penalty area to support the attack or counterattack. Such midfielders are rare in the world, so it is normal that Vietnam does not have them yet.

Without an optimal solution in terms of personnel, the team needs to make adjustments to the system to adapt to reality. That is what coach Park Hang-seo did in the last matches. There were small adjustments in the way he used the two "number 10s" Quang Hai and Van Duc. In theory, Quang Hai and Van Duc play in similar positions, but in reality, they are required to play in completely different ways.

In the above situation, in the first leg of the final against Malaysia, Van Duc moved up to play as a striker. Meanwhile, Quang Hai dropped back to play as a right-sided central midfielder in a formation with three central midfielders. With this arrangement, in theory, Vietnam can control the midfield better, especially against teams playing with two central midfielders, due to the advantage in numbers. When the players get used to this arrangement, move in sync and are more flexible, Vietnam can also transition more effectively, due to having more players playing closer to the center.

Center problem

On an individual level, veteran Anh Duc had a tournament that exceeded expectations. At important moments, he showed his experience and sensitivity in front of goal. The only goal in the second leg of the final showed all the strengths of the striker currently playing for Binh Duong. That is the ability to choose a position, the ability to make decisions, and finishing technique. In addition, Anh Duc also showed a very valuable enthusiasm for a 33-year-old player, when he was ready to retreat to his home field and tackle like a center back.

But in terms of playing style, it is difficult to say that Anh Duc has met the expectations of coach Park Hang-seo. This can be seen right in the second leg of the final, where Anh Duc deserves to be called a hero. Duc's task, as we know, is to press and hold the ball back to wait for the midfielders to advance and take important positions. But he often fails because of his heavy ball control and puts him at a disadvantage. In the rare situations where he can keep the ball, Anh Duc makes unreasonable passing decisions, or has technical errors.

In addition, Anh Duc's playing style also makes Vietnam's transition situations lack of suddenness. Realizing that speed is not his strong point, Anh Duc often drops down to receive the ball, instead of moving behind the opponent's defense. This way of playing causes Vietnam to miss the beat many times when counter-attacking. Many times Quang Hai intended to make a quick pass, but when he looked up and didn't see Anh Duc moving, he had to turn back to find another option.

The player most suited to this style of play is Duc Chinh. In the first leg against Malaysia, the player currently playing for Da Nang repeatedly made the opposing defense miserable with his smart movements. That was also Quang Hai's best match. The midfielder from Hanoi alone created five clear scoring opportunities. Duc Chinh's enticing movements opened up many spaces for Quang Hai to operate. And clearly, Quang Hai prefers to play with strikers who move away from him rather than those who move closer to him.

The striker position, therefore, is also a headache for coach Park Hang-seo. The person with the quality to score goals is not suitable for the style of play he wants to build. The right person lacks the sensitivity in front of the goal. Coach Park will have an even bigger headache when in the upcoming Asian Cup, Vietnam will have to face teams with superior physique and physical strength (Iraq and Iran). At that time, Anh Duc's slight advantage in physique will no longer exist.

Vietnam deservedly won the 2018 AFF Cup. The solid style of play based on a flexible five-man defence is a challenge beyond the reach of teams in the region, something that even a world-class coach like Sven-Goran Eriksson had to admit. But coach Park Hang-seo and his colleagues are certainly aware that Vietnam cannot stop here. Vietnam needs to aim for bigger playgrounds.And because of that, they know there is still a lot of work to be done.