VFF is ruining the V.League.

(Baonghean) - CBy pursuing short-term achievements, the VFF is ruining a tournament once dubbed "the best in Southeast Asia".

After a two-month break to allow players to rest and invest heavily in the U22 team for the 29th SEA Games, the V.League 2017 will resume this Sunday (September 10th). Thus, within a single season, the V.League has had two rather long breaks: a two-and-a-half-month break between the two phases, and after the first three matches of the second phase, the V.League 2017 had to take another two-month break for the national teams to focus on the SEA Games and the 2019 Asian Cup qualifiers.

According to experts, a break between the two phases is acceptable, and this is also done in countries with developed football, as it allows teams to reorganize their squads and recruit new players to prepare for higher-quality matches in the second half of the season.

However, the 2017 V.League found itself in a paradoxical situation: after a two-and-a-half-month break, teams had only played three matches before taking another two-month break to focus on national team training. This was an unscientific approach by the Vietnam Football Federation and the V.League organizers. This resulted in teams having to spend money supporting players for an extended period.

The quality of the V.League is declining. Photo: Duc Dung

Not to mention that players who are in good form will experience a decline in physical fitness and technical skills after a long break from playing. The clearest evidence is in the recent ASIAN Cup qualifying match against Cambodia, where players known as "workhorses" at their clubs, such as Hoang Thinh and Huy Hung, were called up to the national team after a two-month break and were unable to maintain their fitness to play the entire match. Some even suffered cramps, while others were walking on the field just a few minutes into the second half. Meanwhile, Cambodia is not a strong team; their players don't play an aggressive style of football, and their ability to compete and engage in physical challenges is not strong.

Therefore, many people are concerned that this 17th round of the V.League will be difficult to have high-quality matches, because some players who were on the national team are in poor physical condition and tired after the unsuccessful SEA Games, while others who weren't on the national team have had too much rest and are therefore inconsistent.

Besides the lackluster performances on the pitch, after the recent unsuccessful displays by both the U22 and national teams, fans will likely become even more disillusioned with domestic football. As a result, the stands at V.League stadiums are likely to become less vibrant and less electrifying than before.

Images of passionate fans in the V.League stands will become increasingly rare.

It seems that by pursuing short-term achievements (we focused all our human resources, material resources, and investment time on the U22 team participating in the 29th SEA Games – a competition for young players where Thailand only needed to train their players for two weeks, and they didn't even need to call up their national team players for this tournament), the VFF is ruining a tournament once dubbed "the best in Southeast Asia." In the end, everyone is left empty-handed. The U22 team, once a SEA Games title contender, was eliminated in the group stage. The national team, which previously thrashed Cambodia 5-6 goals ahead, now struggles and is lucky to secure a narrow victory. Meanwhile, the top league, the V.League, is becoming increasingly lackluster.

Duc Dung