Coach Guillaume Graechen: 'Please don't ask about Cong Phuong anymore'

French coach Guillaume Graechen had to exclaim like that in the press conference room after HA.GL's 0-1 defeat to Hai Phong in round 4 of V-League yesterday afternoon.

HA.GL’s striker wearing the number 44 shirt sat on the bench, only being brought onto the field in the second half and of course becoming the center of attention from the public. That is what made coach Graechen unhappy: “I want everyone to give Cong Phuong some space, there have been 5 questions about Cong Phuong already.

Ask about Thanh Tung, Duc Luong, our goalkeeper today. Minh Nhut played very well. My team does not only have Cong Phuong but also many other players. This is tiring for Cong Phuong.

Coach Guillaume Graechen said that we should not put too much expectation on Cong Phuong because that would create pressure. Photo: VSI

He is a simple player. He is not a superstar. You put this young player in a position too high and expect too much from him.”

The French strategist also confirmed that Cong Phuong being on the bench was not due to any non-professional reasons: “Cong Phuong was not in the starting lineup because he had poor performance in the previous match. Today he is on the bench, tomorrow another player will be on the bench.”

The absence of player number 44 immediately affected the visitors' attack: "It's not a small number, we hardly had any shots. The number of shots was too small compared to the amount of time we controlled the ball. HA.GL lacked strength in their playing style. If we had a foreign striker like number 9 (Fagan) or number 10 (Stevens) of Hai Phong, everything would be very different."

The former head coach of the Vietnam U19 team ended the press conference with an urgent appeal to the media. He asked the press: “This is your job. But our players are only 18, 19 years old. You should be fair. Instead of taking pictures of sad 18, 19 year old boys, you should take pictures of the older players on the other side (Hai Phong).

When young players have problems, you write many untrue things about them. That not only affects them but also their families. At HA.GL Academy, players are protected. But their families are not. You should limit this."

According to TTVH