AFF Cup 2018: Myanmar's "trump cards"

Familiar diagram

The biggest advantage of the 4-1-4-1 formation that Myanmar is using is that the team has a midfielder who specializes in defense, so good blocking ability will ensure the team's safety, and the midfield has up to 5 people, so it can control the midfield.

Coach Antoine Hey affirmed: "Myanmar will preemptively attack Vietnamese players with a 4-1-4-1 formation." Photo: Internet

But because there is only one striker, this striker must be a player with enough qualities such as speed and goal-scoring ability. The midfielders must occupy the midfield and distribute well, otherwise the attack will be divided and completely deadlocked. When needed, this style of play can be transformed into a 4-5-1 or 4-3-3 thanks to the mobility of the anchor midfielder and 2 wingers.

During the time of coach H.Calisto, both the U23 and the national team used this tactical formation and the Vietnam national team won the championship at the AFF Cup 2008 with the 4-1-4-1 strategy. The defensive midfielder position, which is considered the hinge between the attacking line and the defensive line, was given by Mr. Calisto to Thai Duong (HAGL) and the second option was Vu Anh Tuan (Dong Thap).

Before that, he had given opportunities to Quy Suu (Dong Thap) or Cong Minh (SLNA), Minh Chau (Hai Phong) who are all extremely strong players, and to Van Binh who is very strange, holds the ball well and competes fiercely without lacking intelligence.

During Huu Thang's time, wanting to use the central midfield pair Tuan Anh and Xuan Truong, coach Huu Thang really liked to use the 4-1-4-1 formation and Ngo Hoang Thinh was the anchor midfielder playing above the 2 central defenders.

Two trump cards

Coach Antoine Hey has an anchor midfielder Hlaing Bo Bo (6) who does a good job of controlling the area in front of the 2 central defenders. This midfielder number 6 is young, strong and has a good tactical mindset, so in addition to taking on long-range interceptions, he also scored 2 goals himself. Thanks to Hlaing Bo Bo's mobility, the 4-1-4-1 formation quickly transformed into a 4-5-1.

Hlaing Bo Bo's equalizer was the key to Myanmar's 4-1 comeback victory and this player cannot be underestimated. The confrontation between Quang Hai and Hlaing Bo Bo therefore became more interesting than ever, because these are two players representing the young generation of football in the two countries.

Since Aung Thu (10) has just returned to the field after injury, the center forward position has been given to M.Zin (9) and Than Htet Aung (20). Up to now, from the bench, Than Htet Aung has scored 1 goal, while M.Zin has not scored any goals after 2 matches.

It is expected that about 2,000 Vietnamese fans will flock to Thuwunna Stadium. Photo: Internet

With the trial of both M.Zin (9) and Than Htet Aung (20) not being as expected, coach Antoine Hey considered the option of having Aung Thu (10) play as a striker. In the match against Laos, Aung Thu was pushed up to play as the highest striker many times and he was the one who equalized 1-1 for Myanmar before winning 3-1.

The reason why coach Antoine Hey did not want to arrange Aung Thu to play as a center forward from the beginning of the match against Laos was to take advantage of the speed of this number 10. Just by turning and passing the ball, Aung Thu can easily get past the Lao players and will be effective when standing about 30m from the opponent's goal. The playing style is quite similar to former captain Cong Vinh of the Vietnam team.

But when asked to play higher up, close to the Vietnamese team's goal, this is the name that our 3 central defenders must keep an eye on. Coach Antoine Hey instructed the wingers to pass 20-25 long passes into the area in front of the goal. When the central defenders were exhausted, the Myanmar players pressed in, taking advantage of the chaos to score.

With a team like Myanmar that conceded the first goal and still managed to come back and score 7 goals in 2 matches, no opponent would dare to underestimate them. Hlaing Bo Bo and Aung Thu are the 2 names that scored the equalizer in those comebacks, and Que Ngoc Hai and his teammates must remember them. On the contrary, if we could take advantage of the space in front of the 2 central defenders Pyho (27) and Zaw Min Tun (32) when Hlaing Bo Bolao attacked, we would have scored soon.

An Thanh