Why is SLNA's "furnace" gradually fading from the national team?

Even the main player who is from Nghe An, only Van Dat entered the field in 2 consecutive matches but did not play well, and Van Cong only entered the field from the middle of the 2nd half of the match against U23 Chinese Taipei and could not be said to be successful!

Going back in time, at the 2018 AFC U23 Championship in Changzhou, Vietnam U23 had the core of the U23 generation from HAGL and Hanoi FC, but SLNA still participated with two "hardcore" names, Van Duc and Xuan Manh. The Nghe An army was even brighter with Cong Phuong and Van Hoang. Then, at the 2019 SEA Games, it is worth mentioning the number of playersSLNAIn the age group that can participate, only Trong Hoang, originally from SLNA, participated in the U23 + 2 team. And in the qualifying round mentioned above, although SLNA had 2 names participating, Van Viet and Sy Hoang, both of them were "settled" on the bench.

A training session of SLNA. Photo courtesy of Duc Anh

To see that, it seems that the golden age of SLNA youth training is having problems not only in a few generations but also more? Is that something worth thinking about?

Everyone knows that for a long time, SLNA's resources for youth training have always been stable in terms of budget, coaching staff, facilities, and reward policies. The question is why for many years, SLNA's academy has always "produced" many young talents, occupying most of the places in the national teams, including U23 or higher, the Vietnam national team, so why in recent years, that achievement has increasingly declined, even being surpassed by other academy?

In fact, the answer has been there for many years when the training centers of HAGL, VPF, Viettel, Hanoi FC... with abundant resources and new ways from the bosses have completely changed the quality of youth training in Vietnamese football. Meanwhile, the SLNA or Dong Thap training centers are lagging behind due to poor quality "input" (the big centers attract more strongly, select in a wider area), outdated training capacity (cannot compare with the team of foreign coaches and the best people in the country who are invited, modern and advanced curriculum and lesson plans). Of course, the SLNA training center with its long tradition is not easy to endure, there are still high-quality U-teams like U17 winning the championship "before the nose" of PVF or NutiFood of coach Graechen, but that is like a "good in the dark" story, the rest is still the "equally bad" situation for many years.

Young players practice with SLNA team 1. Photo courtesy of Duc Anh

And in the newly emerging training centers, along with Cong Phuong leaving SLNA to join HAGL, there are the Nghe An-born juniors who grew up from the VST center, graduated from the Hanoi center with high-quality products currently present in the U23 Vietnam and the Vietnam National Team such as Van Kien, Van Dai, Van Hoang and then Van Cong, Van Dat. In the V. League or in the First Division, it is clear that Van Cong, Van Dat play better, play more often than Van Viet, Sy Hoang. During the training process, that is even more evident, so here, we can trust in the objectivity and accuracy of the U23 coaching staff for each player to "bring the bell to foreign lands".

There is a more noteworthy fact that when youth training is no longer maintained as before, talent continues to be exploited, SLNA of course loses the "right to eat, the right to speak" in V. League and falls to the bottom of the rankings, fortunately not having to run for their lives in the recent humiliating relegation race.

When the new sponsor came in, it was clear that SLNA was being treated in a synchronous manner from facilities, materials to personnel and teams in a professional and advanced direction, trying to keep up with other leading teams.

The lovely sadness of Nghe An fans is well-founded and now there is a basis to completely resolve it. Accepting the reality that SLNA has failed for many years when it comes to U23 Vietnam, but that will be compensated and filled in the near future. By doing fundamental things such as taking care of accommodation, properly treating injured players, improving nutrition, training with advanced curriculum... to regain the prestige of youth training, regain the prestige of SLNA, the fact that Xuan Tien, Van Quy... will be selected for the national team and stay there is within reach in the not too distant future.

The more they love SLNA, the more Nghe An fans love U23 Vietnam and the Vietnam National Team. And if in the teams of the golden star warriors, if there appear many bright faces from SLNA, from Nghe An people who have grown up, the pride in each person will rise and resonate even more. That is the "personality" of Nghe An people, the lovely "extremism" of Nghe An people, contributing to the many aspects and colors of the never-ending love for football of the Vietnamese people./.

Phu Chau