What does Song Lam Nghe An do without Olaha?

First of all, we must condemn the violent tackle at a time and place that no longer had any significance in winning or losing the match between SLNA and Ho Chi Minh City Club.

At that time, the score was 2-0, 90+2 and the ball was close to SLNA's right touchline, near the corner flag and was not a scoring attack from the home team.

Olaha was injured after a rough tackle by Dinh Luat. Photo: archive

After the match, Coach Miura also said: "To reach a higher level, Vietnamese players must be ready for one-on-one confrontations." But in our opinion, before reaching a higher level, if they continue to play carelessly like Dinh Luat, Van Hoan, Ngoc Duc, many players will quit their jobs and Ho Chi Minh City Club will no longer have players to play.

Returning to the Olaha story, this striker's injury comes at a time when SLNA is in dire need of a win, first of all in the match against newcomer Nam Dinh at Vinh Stadium on the afternoon of May 4, 2018.

No foreign players

Foreign player Olaha was injured at a time when the Vinh home team was facing difficulties in terms of personnel.

Currently, the injury list also includes Osmar Francisco, Ho Phuc Tinh, Le The Cuong and Le Manh Dung, and midfielder Vo Ngoc Toan's chance of playing against Nam Dinh is 50/50. In a match that desperately needs 3 points, coach Duc Thang has to field a team of domestic players and does not have the best force.

SLNA coach Duc Thang also could not keep his composure when faced with the tackle from a Ho Chi Minh City player. Photo: archive

Olaha is not the main goal scorer for SLNA even though this is the 2nd season that the 1997-born player has played for the Nghe An team. This foreign player also does not play the role of creating goals for his teammates, that is for Khac Ngoc to take care of. In the 4-4-2 formation, Olaha is responsible for putting pressure on the opponent's goal with long-range shots. So far, he has scored 1 goal while missing dozens of chances created by his teammates.

Olaha plays a defensive support role thanks to his physique, physical strength and abundant energy, moving all over the field. For the past 2 seasons, Olaha has been like the 3rd defensive midfielder in the 4-4-2 formation of the Nghe An team, dropping low to compete for the ball. He is present in the 5.5m area of ​​goalkeeper Vu Hai to defend high balls in situations where the opponent kicks free kicks because he is 1.80m tall.

With Olaha, "conductor" Khac Ngoc can play higher than usual, without fear of being counter-attacked by the opponent. In the defensive triangle, Khac Ngoc, Sy Sam, Olaha is operating quite smoothly, in attack, Khac Ngoc, Van Duc, Olaha are gradually understanding each other better. In the last 6 matches, SLNA players have not had the phenomenon of "running out of breath" at the end of the match, thanks in large part to this foreign player. Many SLNA players joke that "Olaha is the best foreign striker supporting defense" in V-League at present, for that reason.

If Osmar's absence caused great difficulty for SLNA to score, then Olaha's absence greatly affected the way coach Duc Thang and his team played the game.

Physical concerns

One thing is for sure, rookie Nam Dinh is doing everything to get points, even 3 points on Vinh field. Coach Van Sy decided to give up the National Cup when he accepted losing to first division team Binh Phuoc 0-2, he let both Benjamin and Henry rest to prepare for the match with SLNA.

Ho Tuan Tai has been in good form recently. Photo: Document

In fact, Nam Dinh did not have many options to attack SLNA other than passing the ball to Benjamin and Henry to "struggle" with the Vinh home team's defenders. Benjamin often played lower, leaning towards the right wing, where Xuan Manh was guarding. Henry, a former SLNA player, would attack directly with long-range shots. Benjamin and Henry were both in very good physical condition and the last 10 minutes of the match was when Que Ngoc Hai had to show his class as a national team player.

It is likely that to counter Nam Dinh's long, high-flying style of play, SLNA will play 4-3-2-1 with the appearance of Ngoc Toan. Xuan Manh will probably be arranged to play left midfielder to coordinate with Van Duc and Tuan Tai to form an attack, Khac Ngoc will play higher than Sy Sam, Ngoc Toan will be in support.

Certainly, the level of Nghe An’s domestic players will be rated higher, but with the high-tempo match, the role of the reserve players plays an important role. Without Olaha, SLNA’s coaching staff must calculate the playing style and how to substitute players so that Benjamin and Henry do not overwhelm them.

An Thanh