The difference between Coach Huu Thang and Miura

According to coach Le Thuy Hai, it's fair to acknowledge that coach Huu Thang's team has played well within their capabilities and maintained a stable lineup after the two matches played so far.

According to coach Hai "lo", coach Huu Thang has done better than Miura.

"In the match against Iraq, Miura drew while Huu Thang lost, but we shouldn't just look at the results. The main thing is about the players and the playing style; Huu Thang did better than Miura," coach Le Thuy Hai analyzed.

Having closely followed the Vietnamese national team's matches under Miura and Huu Thang, Mr. Le Thuy Hai believes that each coach has their own perspective and approach, but experts should be level-headed and discerning in order to support the perspective and approach that is suitable for Vietnamese football.

“Admittedly, Huu Thang lost to Iraq, while Miura drew, but to be fair, those were two different Iraqi teams. The Iraqi team that came to My Dinh Stadium that day was overconfident, careless, and malnourished. The Iraqi team that played in Iran yesterday was healthy and had to play, because only a win would give them a chance to advance. The nature of the matches was vastly different.”

Mr. Hai said that before the team went to the away game, he advised Huu Thang that they shouldn't play short passes and quick one-two combinations anymore, because Iraq would press them, they were stronger, faster, taller, and their technique was in no way inferior to ours. If we lost possession in our own half, we could immediately see that we would lose.

"Coach Thang was aware of that and instructed the players to play longer and more controlled passes compared to the match against Taiwan, not holding onto the ball for too long in dangerous areas, which was reasonable," the Thanh Hoa coach commented.

Based on his observations, Mr. Hai "Lo" noted that the Vietnamese national team, despite conceding one goal, maintained a stable defensive system. Although the opponent was superior in every aspect, there were still times when the Vietnamese team controlled the ball, built up play, and played short passes effectively.

"I have to clarify this: we shouldn't blame the pitch for not being able to play as we wanted. Iraq's long ball play was less affected. Iraq still played ground, short passes, and when they played ground, we couldn't steal the ball from them," Mr. Hai said, expressing his dissatisfaction with some opinions defending the Vietnamese national team.

Coach Huu Thang at his inauguration ceremony as head coach of the Vietnam national team.

Mr. Hai himself disagreed with the referee's perceived bias towards the "home" team, Iraq, especially in the situation regarding the goal. "It was a legitimate goal; they had better space than Nguyen Manh, that's all. I think the referee was too lenient. If he had been stricter, Dinh Luat would have been penalized, and Cong Vinh would have received a red card for elbowing."

According to Mr. Hai, it's fair to acknowledge that Huu Thang's team played well within their capabilities and maintained a nearly complete squad across two matches, but we are still far from reaching the level of our opponents. "Don't deceive yourself and the public with objective reasons; that will make progress very difficult."

"They were better, so they beat us. There's nothing to blame them for in this loss. I think Coach Thang is heading in the right direction. We need to fix and improve what's still weak and lacking. It's only been two matches, and we have a lot to hope for in the future."

According to Vietnamnet