SLNA 'go out the door, meet the mountain'

(Baonghean.vn) - The Nghe An team will meet their neighbor FLC Thanh Hoa in the opening match of V-League 2017 on January 8. Obviously, Duc Thang and his team will "go out and meet a mountain" because in terms of force, the home team Thanh Hoa is much stronger than SLNA.

Three weeks before the opening day of V-League 2017, while SLNA only had the return of The Cuong and Sy Nam and had not yet finalized their foreign players, the home team FLC Thanh Hoa had basically formed their main squad.

FLC Thanh Hoa's brightest star is the new Serbian head coach Ljubo Petrovic. This Serbian man was born in 1947 and has a rather impressive resume, having won the European Championship with FC Red Star Belgrade (former Yugoslavia).

New coach Petrovic of FLC Thanh Hoa won the C1 Cup (predecessor of UEFA Champions League) with Red Star Belgrad Club (former Yugoslavia).

In 2003, he also won the title of "Coach of the Year" organized by the Kazakhstan Football Federation. Last season, he also led PFC Levski Sofia Club to finish 2nd in the Bulgarian Championship. Ljubo Petrovic is also the "teacher" of many European football coaches, author of 2 famous books ""How We Beat All of Europe" and "How to Become a Good Coach". Coming to FLC Thanh Hoa, Coach Petrovic also brought with him a coach specializing in physical issues and opponent analysis.

So even though Club President Doan Van Phuong said that "The club's target for coach Ljubo Petrovic is TOP 3 of V-League 2017" but no one believes in that, because no one throws out a lot of money, has "good students, good teachers" in hand and only sets such a modest target.

In addition to the “Serbian blockbuster”, FLC Thanh Hoa also has 3 “big” contracts, including striker Uche (formerly a player of Sana Khanh Hoa Club), a striker suitable for defensive counter-attacking play. This will be an important partner, sharing the burden of scoring with captain Pape Oma.

To strengthen the right wing attack, joining forces with central midfielder Van Binh, Thanh Hoa has bought right midfielder Nguyen Trong Hoang from Becamex Binh Duong, who is playing very well for the national team at the AFF CUP 2016. Thanh Hoa fans are expecting a lot from the reunion of the "Nghe An-based car-cannon-horse" trio Hoang Thinh - Van Binh - Trong Hoang to help the midfield of FLC Thanh Hoa play with more iron, providing more balls for the double-barreled cannon named Uche-Oma. It is hoped that with improved long-range defense, the number of FCL Thanh Hoa's losses will decrease significantly in V-League 2017.

SLNA (red shirt) revealed many limitations that need to be overcome after participating in the FLC friendly tournament.

With the assessment that FLC Thanh Hoa is in 6th place in V-League 2016 with 42 goals conceded, the Thanh team has determined to strengthen its defense. Bringing Dinh Tien Thanh from XSKT Can Tho to Thanh Hoa Stadium very early proves this. The familiar center-back pair Van Bakel - Bat Hieu will have to try very hard, if they do not want to wear out their pants on the bench.

At the 2nd FLC Cup Friendly Tournament, SLNA defeated the host FLC Thanh Hoa of new coach Ljubo Petrovic with a score of 3-1. But that was a match without the service of 4 national players: Ngo Hoang Thinh, Tran Dinh Dong, Nguyen Trong Hoang, Dinh Tien Thanh because they were participating in AFC CUP 2016. If in round 9, V-League 2016, SLNA had a draw with a winning position of 2-2 thanks to the excellent performance of "veteran" Van Vinh, now, who is capable of controlling the midfield of the Nghe An team is still an open question?

Audiences look forward to the clashes of SLNA players in the Thanh-Nghe derby.

According to Thanh Hoa, striker Dinh Tung, who scored against SLNA, suffered a serious injury in the match against HN.T&T and will most likely not be present in the match against SLNA. Striker Uche also received a red card in this match after a collision with Dai Dong, making FLC Thanh Hoa's coaching staff restless. Meanwhile, Hoang Thinh has not been able to train hard and play to his full potential, and Dinh Dong is still in a bad condition after professional errors at AFC CUP 2016.

The host FLC Thanh Hoa does not have the strongest squad, but Omar, Quoc Phuong, Thanh Binh, Van Binh... are still quite good players. They, in a 10 vs 11 situation, still turned the tables and won HN.T&T 2-4 to bring FLC Thanh Hoa to the final match with QNK.Quang Nam at the 2nd FLC Cup. It partly proves the ability of coach Ljubo Petrovic to turn the situation around, even though he has only been in Thanh Hoa for a short time.

Obviously, at this time, FLC Thanh Hoa is still considered the upper hand, even stronger than the Nghe An team. Calculating how to get points after the first two matches against the host FLC Thanh Hoa and the guest team XSKT. Can Tho is something that SLNA's coaching board must consider carefully, the lesson of V-League 2016 is still hot.

AT