National Cup Quarterfinals: Song Lam Nghe An fans look forward to Osmar's return

Currently, SLNA's mainstays such as midfielder Vo Ngoc Toan, defender Pham Manh Hung, foreign players Osmar and Phuc Tinh have all fully recovered from their injuries. And next, foreign player Osmar will also be put on the field in the second leg of the National Cup quarter-finals at Vinh Stadium.

stuntman

When foreign players Osmar and Ho Phuc Tinh were injured,Ho Tuan Tai was assigned to play as a center forward in the attack. Not having many physical advantages, and playing as the highest striker in the 4-4-1-1 formation is a disadvantage for SLNA's number 10.

When Osmar returned to play, SLNA had more attacking options. Photo: Thanh Cuong

Many times he plays the role of a wall, but because Olaha stays far away, Ho Tuan Tai has to fight independently or coordinate with teammates Van Duc, Khac Ngoc, Xuan Thang... In many situations when facing opposing defenders, Tuan Tai does not handle them neatly, and his decisions are often slow.

Meanwhile, this player's strength is the ability to accelerate short distances, requiring space in front. The two goals at Hoa Xuan Stadium in the first leg of the National Cup quarter-finals once again confirmed the strength of this striker. Currently, Ho Tuan Tai has 6 goals for SLNA, including 2 headers (matches with Johor DT and TP HCM) and 2 neat one-touch finishes (matches with XSKT Can Tho and SHB DN).

The story that makes SLNA's coaching board quite a headache is that if foreign player Osmar enters the field, where will Tuan Tai play, when Xuan Thang is also performing quite well on the right wing. Meanwhile, national player Van Duc is an irreplaceable midfielder on the left wing.

Overcoming obstacles

The National Cup achievements cannot be an accurate measure for V-League teams, not to mention SHB.Da Nang is facing difficulties in the locker room. People do not understand why Do Merlo, a good player, came off the bench to make SLNA's defense unstable but was not allowed to start.

What made the Da Nang audience shout “1,2,3 Minh Phuong go home”? This means that the victory over SHB.Da Nang is a good mental medicine for SLNA but they still have to prepare well for the upcoming matches in the V-League.

Tuan Tai is in the process of asserting himself. Photo: Duc Anh

Having enough players for the two away matches against Quang Nam and HAGL before returning to face Hanoi at Vinh Stadium is really good news for SLNA's coaching staff. In theory, even though he is a foreign player, when Tuan Tai is playing well, SLNA's coaching staff should still prioritize the current plan, only gradually bringing Osmar onto the field when the match is deadlocked or the goal has been achieved.

Even when Osmar plays as a center forward, SLNA's coaching staff can still let midfielder Tuan Tai play as a winger, this is the position that this number 10 played in previous seasons, to form a 3-point attack with Van Duc. Behind, Olaha and Khac Ngoc can move up to coordinate and take long-range shots when needed.

Football is a team sport, but it is clear that when Osmar returns, SLNA will have more attacking options. Especially when this team needs to quickly escape the "vortex" at the bottom of the V-League rankings.

The second leg of the National Cup quarter-finals is the right match for the Nghe team to practice and test their attacking strategies. Not only is it a victory, but the Vinh stadium audience really needs to see the quality of the Nghe team's goals before they cross the pass to Tam Ky stadium.

An Thanh