Why is Southeast Asia helpless against Coach Park Hang-seo's 3-4-3 formation?

Trung Kien• DNUM_BCZAJZCABJ 14:57

(Baonghean.vn) – Based on the advantages and disadvantages of the 3-4-3 formation, we can easily see why Coach Park Hang-seo is loyal to his personnel choices. And this style of play is making Southeast Asia, even Asia, unable to find a solution.

The 3-4-3 formation is actually derived from the 3-5-2 formation, which has long been unpopular due to its risky nature and strict requirements for personnel. One of the coaches who successfully applied this formation was Antonio Conte when he led Chelsea to the championship in the 2014/15 season. To counter this formation, opponents were forced to use the same 3-4-3 formation to counter it. At the end of that season, 18/20 Premier League teams applied this formation, and there were 135 times when teams played with 3 defenders, 22 times more than the previous season.

Goalkeeper

Firstly, the goalkeeper in this formation requires long arms and good reflexes because the weakness of this formation is that he often has to take long-range shots. The reason is that the opponent is forced to shoot from a distance when facing a dense, multi-layered defense and midfield system.

Goalkeeper Van Lam has the advantage of height and long arms. Photo: Trung Kien

And that is the reason why Coach Park has called up Van Cuong (1m86), Tuan Manh (1m80) and Van Lam (1m88) even though Nguyen Manh (1m77) is in the best form in V.League 2019. With his long arms, Van Lam always creates a sense of security when having to fight in the air or being shot from a distance by the opponent.

Center back

The position of 3 center backs requires players who are good at anticipating the opponent, keeping good position and good at 1v1, especially the player playing in the center position. This player needs to have the ability to read the game well and be strong in covering. In particular, he must be someone with relatively fast speed to cover in time when counter-attacking.

Que Ngoc Hai is having to play in Dinh Trong's position. Photo: Trung Kien

When Dinh Trong was not injured, he was placed in the center, but in recent matches, Que Ngoc Hai played this position, flanked by Tien Dung (left) and Duy Manh (right). In the match against Thailand, Que Ngoc Hai did better with long passes over the line for Van Toan to accelerate.

Central midfielder 1

This position requires a player who is not too high up the pitch and often drops back deep when participating in defense. This player does not need to be too outstanding in intercepting from a distance, but needs to know how to cover the defense properly. If he has good long passing ability, he can create many dangerous opportunities for the strikers above. Usually, Coach Park uses Xuan Truong or Hung Dung for this position.

Central midfielder 2

This is the core position in the 3-4-3 formation, requiring a player with great physical strength, who can intercept from a distance and is also an advantage if he passes well. Being aggressive when needed and having the right mindset at the right time. Good coordination and the ability to move wide are top priorities for players playing in the midfield area. This position requires a fairly well-rounded central midfielder, both in attack and defense.

Midfielder Tuan Anh is a player who has the ability to escape "pressing" very well. Photo: Trung Kien

This position originally belonged to Duc Huy or Huy Hung, but surprisingly, in the match against Thailand, Tuan Anh was chosen and performed the above task very well. Tuan Anh's defensive ability made many people mistakenly think that Coach Park deployed two central midfielders with an attacking tendency.

Left and right back

Wingers are one of the players who can attack and defend well and have a good physical foundation. Good crossing is also a factor that coaches often consider. In particular, these two positions need to choose one side as a player with good defensive ability or comprehensive attack and defense and the other side as a player with a more offensive orientation who can easily create breakthroughs with individual techniques.

Trong Hoang meets the requirements because he is physically fit. Photo: Trung Kien

And Trong Hoang is the top priority for this position in the national team, the right wing of the Vietnam team also often moves higher than the left wing in the match against Thailand, despite Thailand's attacking power being concentrated on this wing with Titiphan, Phitiwat and Theerathon.

Left-right forward

This is a position that requires a more offensive-oriented player who can easily create breakthroughs with his own technique. Good shooting, fast running, flexible, skillful individual technique. In the match against Thailand, Quang Hai and Van Toan were the two chosen faces. Cong Phuong or Van Duc were also a good pair with Quang Hai at the AFF Cup 2018 and Asian Cup 2019.

The speed of Quang Hai and Van Toan is very suitable for the position of withdrawn striker. Photo: Trung Kien

Center

The most harmonious choice is still a striker who is good at aerial combat, good at making walls, capable of independent combat or has individual skills. When calling up the national team, Coach Park chose Anh Duc and Tien Linh, of course Ho Tuan Tai did not meet this requirement despite his performance of 8 goals in V.League 2019. Unfortunately, Tien Linh played poorly because he was inexperienced and could not operate independently.

In the match against Thailand, Tien Linh could not fill Anh Duc's role. Photo: Trung Kien

Although 3-4-3 only has three defenders, this formation is very solid in defense if you know how to choose the right players. The inherent weakness of this formation is that it is relatively poor at counter-attacking. The 3-center-back formation has never been highly rated for its ability to counter high balls from the wings.

This is also the reason why the Vietnamese team encountered many difficulties at Thammasat Stadium when the opponent counter-attacked, especially when Trong Hoang left the field and Van Thanh did not have time to retreat and could not maintain his position.

Coach Park also predicted that Thai players would often cross the ball from the wings and asked the goalkeepers to focus on dealing with high balls. On the contrary, the Vietnamese team is very strong in counter-attacking, proactive defense, and confronting the slow-moving style of play because they have Tuan Anh or Huy Hung, Duc Huy and Hung Dung in the middle to sweep.

"When it is necessary to attack, a full-back will join the attack and still keep enough people in midfield. If defending, these two players will become full-backs. This formation is not new, FIFA instructors have advised coaches not to play 3-5-2 because it requires full-backs to move a lot.

To play this tactic, the players must have good physical strength, especially the full-backs and midfielders. With Trong Hoang and Van Hau, Coach Park boldly applied and improved this formation to 3-4-3".

Coach Nguyen Thanh Vinh

Vietnam's starting lineup for the match against Thailand on September 5. Photo: VFF

Coach Akira Nishino is not an ordinary coach, the Thai players, especially Chanathip, exploited the space between Duy Manh and the other players very well whenever Trong Hoang or Van Thanh advanced. Because of this, Coach Park was forced to send Van Hau in to reinforce the defense in the 74th minute, when the defense was under the most pressure.

Conclude

At the M-150 Cup friendly tournament in 2017, Coach Park started to apply the 3-4-3 formation for U23 Vietnam. The characteristic of this formation is that the more the player plays, the better he performs, and to counter the 3-4-3 formation, he must either have a superior level, or have a very good foundation, tactical discipline and physical strength.

The 3-4-3 formation looks like an attacking formation, but in reality, it changes to a 5-4-1 or 5-2-3 when defending. The best space for the opponent to exploit is between the full-backs and the three centre-backs because the central midfielders are often unable to control.

The two most important players and also the weakest points are the two full-backs, but coach Park has "fixed" them with two all-round players, Van Hau and Trong Hoang. When they can drop back to support, this formation becomes very solid.

Coach Park Hang-seo is succeeding with the 3-4-3 formation because he chooses the right players. Photo: Trung Kien

When using the 3-center-back formation, Coach Park can serve all purposes, from defense, control, to attack. The unique feature of this formation is that there is no room for distraction. The 3-center-back formation will be very difficult to defeat if deployed correctly. But if operated incorrectly, choosing the wrong person, the consequences are unpredictable. With HAGL's attacking players, they not only have good technique and ball control, but also meet the requirements of the 4-midfielder and 3-forward formation very well.

The current tactical scheme of the Vietnam national team is clearly a very difficult problem for the whole of Southeast Asia. Not only that, many top teams in Asia are also facing difficulties. With the Vietnam national team at this time, when facing teams like Japan, Iran or Korea, we are being penetrated. With Thailand, despite having a strong midfield, good technique, playing with 2 strikers, it is understandable that we still keep a clean sheet.

Up to now, Vietnam's national teams have been using the 3-4-3 formation for 3 years, so the standard operating rate is even higher. In fact, with this formation, the Vietnam national team is not at a disadvantage in terms of tactics, but often only loses when the opponent is at a very high level, or a number of individuals simultaneously play below their ability. So fans can rest assured that in the 2022 World Cup qualifiers, whether they are ranked first in Group G or not, there is no way the Vietnam national team will lose easily or make silly mistakes.

Trung Kien