Where will the 'bus' take Mr. Park and his students?
(Baonghean.vn) - If on the afternoon of January 16, they had another victory against U23 North Korea but were still eliminated, then Mr. Park and his team would still be great. For Vietnamese fans, whether the "bus" took Quang Hai and his teammates to the 2020 Tokyo Olympics or Noi Bai airport, the efforts of the young men at the 2020 AFC U23 Championship would still be recognized.
Stormy when going out to the 'big sea'
It is not difficult to understand why the road to the quarterfinals of the 2020 AFC U23 Championship for Coach Park Hang-seo and his team was so difficult. First, when deciding to focus on winning the first gold medal at the 30th SEA Games, it meant accepting a decline in performance in the tournament just 1 month later.
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| Where will the red “bus” take Mr. Park and his team? Photo: AT |
They are not true wingbacks but simply fullbacks in a 4-man squad. Many experts believe that if they continue to play with a 3-man defense, Mr. Park will have difficulty against his compatriot Ri Yu-il. Both of them will even go home early, because with better physical strength and a relaxed mentality, U23 North Korea is not an easy opponent to play against as people think.
Not enough flour to make the paste
Mr. Park has tried everything, "rotating the Rubick" both personnel and the 3-5-2 style of play to 3-4-3, but it is true that the current U23 Vietnam players are not as good as their seniors in the national team. Especially when they have to face the U23 UAE and U23 Jordan players who have quite good physical strength and personal skills. The opponents do not give the U23 Vietnam players space and time to handle the ball and Hoang Duc, the midfielders are not confident enough to hold the ball.
Despite having assembled and used 3 pairs of central midfielders, Mr. Park's students only did a good job of defending but could not provide enough balls for the front line. Mr. Park did not have the "children of the Wind God" Van Toan and Van Duc like 2 years ago, and did not have individual players with personal techniques enough to twist the flanks of West Asian players like Cong Phuong.
Quang Hai is the trump card in the hands of the Korean coach, but after the injury he still has not regained his form. The opponent attacked us heavily in both matches, but in the role of "spring", captain number 19 could not explode like 2 years ago in Changzhou (China).
Will there be any change?
With the Park-ball philosophy, the defenders and midfielders are the launching pad for attacking options, but the constant change of personnel makes the U23 Vietnam's passes in Thailand lack the necessary coordination.
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| The mission of Mr. Park and his team is to win, regardless of the result of the match between U23 UAE and U23 Jordan? Photo: AT |
In the context of needing to win and waiting for luck to get a ticket to the next round, Mr. Park and the coaching staff are facing no small difficulties. Meanwhile, having run out of goals, Coach Ri Yu-il is allowed to play ambush to find loopholes to score goals against U23 Vietnam.
After 2 matches, will the fact that many U23 Vietnam players are still confused with the 3-defender formation make Mr. Park change his decision? Will he be bold enough to send in reserve players to create a breakthrough? There are many problems that Mr. Park, who is known as the "wizard" of Vietnamese football, needs to solve.
But for many people, even if the red "bus" takes Mr. Park and his team to Noi Bai airport tomorrow and not the Tokyo 2020 Olympics as expected, he is still the one who has made great contributions to the process of raising the level of Vietnamese football.