Looking at Hamburger, I feel worried for Song Lam Nghe An
(Baonghean.vn) - At the end of the 34th round on May 12, Hamburger SV was relegated after 55 years of playing in the Bundesliga.
Pride is broken
As soon as they learned that in the same match, Wolfsburg, their direct competitor for 16th place (the position to play the play-off match with the 3rd place team in Bundesliga 2), had defeated Koln with a score of 4 - 1, Hamburger fans immediately lit flares to show their anger at their team. This was the first time the team at AOL Arena had to receive a ticket to relegation.
The above result is extremely disappointing for the team that won the C1 Cup in the 1982/1983 season, the C2 Cup in the 1976/1977 season, the European Super Cup in 1977, 1983 and won the Bundesliga 6 times...
Before this season, Hamburger had never had to say goodbye to Germany's most prestigious tournament. That pride even the mighty Bayern Munich team did not have.
However, the outcome that the AOL Arena team just received was inevitable. In the past 5 years, the former European Cup 1 champion has been in a terrible decline. The proof is that Hamburger had to compete in the play-off twice and won both times (with Gauther Furth in the 2013/2014 season and with Karlsruher in the 2014/2015 season).
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| The home team was relegated, Hamburger fans rioted in the stands. Photo: Internet |
Luck cannot help Hamburger stay in the Bundesliga forever while their financial potential is increasingly inferior to other opponents. In professional football, financial factors are always ranked first, deciding the success or failure of each team. Look no further than the dominance of Bayern Munich in the Bundesliga. Hamburger's relegation is a matter of course.
The anger of the fans of the AOL Arena team is completely justified. The Hamburger Club's leadership is the one who must bear the main responsibility when they were either too subjective or made a wrong plan in building the team. The consequences that Hamburger had to suffer are an obvious lesson for many teams in the world, including Song Lam Nghe An.
Lam River Nghe An in danger
Currently, the Nghe An team is playing poorly in V.League 2018. After 7 rounds, coach Nguyen Duc Thang and his team are "sinking" in 13th place on the rankings. If they maintain this position, SLNA will have to play a play-off match with one of the teams such as Viettel, Long An, Dong Thap, Hue... - the teams that are likely to win 2nd place in the 2018 National First Division.
In theory, SLNA is still highly appreciated in many aspects such as squad quality, battle spirit... However, in football anything can happen. In the past, there have been many V.League teams losing to first-class teams in the play-off match (Hung Vuong An Giang lost to XSKT Can Tho in 2014, Boss Binh Dinh lost to Cao Su Dong Thap in 2008...).
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| SLNA (yellow shirt) is going through a series of disappointing matches in V.League 2018. Photo: Internet |
That is in the case of standing at 13th place, but falling to 14th place is nothing to discuss anymore. With a gap of 2 points - more than the team at the bottom of the table, Nam Dinh, the risk of being pushed to the "bottom" position is extremely high for SLNA.
Just looking at the recent bad results (lost 3, drew 3 in the first 7 matches of V.League 2018), the door to playing in the First Division is quite open for the Nghe An team.
Objectively speaking, if that becomes a reality, it is not too surprising. In recent seasons, SLNA has not been able to maintain its position. At the youth level, SLNA has been continuously surpassed by the training centers of Viettel, Hanoi FC, PVF, HAGL... in the finals and has an overwhelming number of players in the national teams.
Without a good "foundation" and modest financial resources, the Nghe An team had to accept watching Hanoi FC, B.Binh Duong, FLC Thanh Hoa, SHB Da Nang... flaunt their prestige and strength in the V.League.
The 2017 National Cup championship cannot obscure the fact that SLNA has become a mid-level team in the fierce V.League arena. In the 3 seasons of 2015, 2016 and 2017, the Vinh team ranked 7, 9 and 8 in V.League respectively.
Seeing their team lingering in the bottom half of the rankings year after year, Nghe An fans cannot help but feel disappointed and worried. The pride of SLNA as a team that has never been relegated is being threatened every year.
Hopefully, SLNA's leadership will learn valuable lessons from Hamburger's "disaster"./.