V. League 2018: SLNA and the chance to escape the bottom of the rankings
(Baonghean.vn) - Up to now, there are 4 teams participating in V-League 2018 that have not known the "taste" of victory, are at the bottom of the rankings and are quite surprising to see the names of HAGL and SLNA. The surprise is because these are the teams with the most players called up to the national team.
Of the 4 teams at the bottom of the rankings, HAGL and SLNA have only played 2 matches, the remaining teams have played 3 matches. Saigon FC of new coach Tai Em has lost 2 consecutive matches at home. The difficulties that have come to Mr. Dai's team have been predicted since the beginning of the season and the relegation battle has "heated up" coach Tai Em and his team.
 |
| Coach Tai Em's chair is "shaky". Photo: An Thanh |
Escape
The difficulties will be compounded when they have to play away at SHB Stadium. Da Nang, although not in form, is much stronger. Coach Tai Em's chances of scoring points are not high when their playing style still relies on many foreign players like Dugary and Da Sylva.
Both are wasting many opportunities created by their teammates, and captain Ngoc Duy this season has to "carry" additional defensive duties, so his ability to create is somewhat limited. It is difficult to get 3 points, or even 1 point when leaving Hoa Xuan Stadium, that is the opinion of many experts following V-League.
In two home matches, rookie Nam Dinh only earned 1 point, and worries gradually appeared on the face of coach Nguyen Van Sy. Although speaking to the press, this former national team player highly appreciated his students' fighting spirit, but that was not enough.
With only 1 goal in 3 matches, scored by a defender in a "twilight and dark" situation, the coach cannot help but worry. Compared to the opponents they have met, the playing style of the host HAGL is more unpredictable because the team from the mountain town has more attacking options.
The 90 minutes at Pleiku Stadium were truly a battle of wits. Nam Dinh had the advantage in terms of physical strength because they did not have any players participating in the national team and had to travel 7,000 km by plane. HAGL wanted to separate themselves from the group and show the audience that the draw at the beginning of the season with B. Binh Duong was just a temporary regret.
The spirit of HAGL players will certainly be much better after the turmoil, which could even cause HAGL to withdraw from V-League 2018 halfway, has been resolved satisfactorily.
Slow start
 |
| Song Lam Nghe An is ranked 12/14 on the rankings. Photo: Document |
Having a fairly successful start to the AFC Cup, meeting opponents of equal strength, it seemed that SLNA would have 4 points, even 6 points after 2 matches played at home, before coming to Thanh Hoa stadium, but in the end they only had 1 point and ranked 12th/14. In comparison, FLC Thanh Hoa, the home team, had a much stronger squad, former players such as Van Binh, Tien Thanh, Dinh Tung, and Quoc Phuong still had to sit on the bench.
Foreign player Omar has been playing on the Vietnamese football field for many years, and has the advantage of having naturalized center-back Nguyen Van Bakel. Head coach Mihail is clearly better qualified and experienced than his SLNA counterpart. Of course, the home field is a big advantage for head coach Mihail and his team. With 82% of the votes, Thanh Hoa fans no longer have faith in this foreign coach, he must win 3 points if he does not want to be fired soon.
 |
| With 82% of the votes, Thanh Hoa fans no longer have faith in this foreign coach. He must win 3 points if he does not want to be fired soon. Photo: Internet |
In recent years, although being the underdog, the away team SLNA often had good results when coming to Thanh Hoa stadium because of the confident playing spirit of the players. Foreign players Olaha and Osmar scored, although only getting 1 point in the last 2 matches, the Nghe team had a very good game.
The disadvantage is that the home team FLC Thanh Hoa, a strong candidate for the V-League championship after an unsatisfactory start, is also determined to get 3 points. In the Thanh team, there are players Van Binh, Dinh Dong, Hoang Thinh, who came from SLNA and are very knowledgeable about the away team's playing style.
Among the 4 teams at the bottom of the rankings, the home team HAGL has a great opportunity to break away, the 3 away teams Nam Dinh, Saigon and SLNA do not face many difficulties because they all face strong opponents. In particular, the match between FLC Thanh Hoa and SLNA is considered to be the most promising, dramatic and unpredictable.