'Gamble' using young players in V.League 2023/2024

Pressure for performance

In the 2023/2024 season, for the first time, V.League 2023/2024 stipulates that the 14 participating clubs must register at least 3 players of Vietnamese nationality aged 16-22. However, due to the pressure of pursuing achievements, only a few clubs really pay attention to this work, which areLam River Nghe An, Hoang Anh Gia Lai or Becamex Binh Duong.

Specifically, Hai Phong Club has not registered any U22 players at the moment. With an experienced squad, Hai Phong is temporarily ranked 4th in the tournament with 8 points after 5 matches. Similarly, MerryLand Quy Nhon Binh Dinh Club does not use any U22 players in the main squad or reserve. Instead, coach Bui Doan Quang Huy only registered defender Phan Ngoc Tin (19 years old) but has not played a single minute. The team from the land of Vo is currently ranked 4th on the rankings, a pretty good achievement.

The team currently ranked 2nd on the rankings is Nam Dinh Steel Blue with an unbeaten record, having 13 points thanks to a squad of many stars and experienced players. Coach Vu Hong Viet only registered midfielder Tran Ngoc Son in the list of players for 3 matches. However, this 20-year-old player only played a total of 59 minutes.

Even highly regarded training centers such as Hanoi Club or Viettel are under pressure to perform, so they limit the use of young players. The capital team has center back Vu Tien Long (21 years old) who played 4 matches, other young talents such as Nguyen Van Tung (played a total of 59 minutes), Nguyen Van Truong (played 29 minutes), center back Duc Anh (played 9 minutes) and almost only came on from the bench.

For Viettel, the talented Khuat Van Khang is the youngest player who has played the most with 5 matches, 252 minutes. Meanwhile, Phan Tuan Tai is the face who has played the most but is over 22 years old according to regulations. The rest, Viettel has not appeared any new young faces although registering Cong Phuong (17 years old), who has not been on the field. For a long time, Viettel has always been a bright spot in using young players, but in this period, Coach Thach Bao Khanh has a reason to choose the experience factor as the top priority.

Becamex Binh Duong, the team leading the V.League, has registered Vo Hoang Minh Khoa (22 years old), Bui Vi Hao (20 years old) and Nguyen Tran Viet Cuong (21 years old), all of whom are regularly given playing opportunities by coach Le Huynh Duc. The remaining Ha Trung Hau (21 years old) has not yet found a chance to play. In fact, Becamex Binh Duong is a team that balances experience and youth, although the number of young players is not large.

Adventurous like Song Lam Nghe An

With Song Lam Nghe An, 18/26 domestic players registered in Team 1 at V.League are under the age of 23 (born from 2001 onwards), Song Lam Nghe An this season has become the team with the lowest average age of 22.2 years old. And this could be the youngest squad in the history of the V.League. If considered by the age criteria under 22, Song Lam Nghe An has 11 players in this age group.

Among the young players given opportunities by coach Phan Nhu Thuat, there are notable faces only 18-19 years old such as Tran Nam Hai (born in 2004), Cao Van Binh, Le Nguyen Hoang, Nguyen Quang Vinh (born in 2005) who have all been given the opportunity to play as main players. They are players who have been "eating national team rice" for many years. And the players aged 20-22, such as Manh Quynh (born in 2001), Ba Quyen (born in 2002), Xuan Tien, Van Bach (born in 2003), Van Thanh (born in 2001), goalkeeper Van Viet (born in 2002) are considered "pillars".

Although the quality of the three foreign players Michael Olaha, Mario Zebic and Raphael Success is not too bad, it cannot make up for the weaknesses in mentality and experience. Football is a team sport. In the context of veteran players Trong Hoang and Dinh Hoang being on the other side of their careers. In the 0-2 loss to Hanoi in round 5, people compared the U23 Song Lam Nghe An team to the loss to the miniature National Team of Hanoi Club. Except for the three foreign players and Tran Dinh Hoang, the rest of the starting lineup of Song Lam Nghe An were all U23, notably the three players born in 2005 including Cao Van Binh, Le Nguyen Hoang and Nguyen Quang Vinh. In the 1-0 victory over Hoang Anh Gia Lai, the young players of Song Lam Nghe An also struggled to defeat coach Kiatisuk's team.

Obviously, the strong rejuvenation of the squad puts the teams at great risk. For young players, the distribution of strength, as well as the mentality when conceding a goal, the ability to regulate and control the game are not really perfect.

For example, in the case of Hoang Anh Gia Lai, although the average age is slightly higher than Song Lam Nghe An and there are still young faces such as Nguyen Quoc Viet (20 years old), Nguyen Duc Viet (19 years old) and Nguyen Van Trieu (20 years old) who have been given the opportunity to compete, the team from the mountain town is currently ranked at the bottom of the table.

However, risks always come with opportunities, being given early opportunities to compete and gain experience is really important for the development of young talents in Vietnamese football. With Song Lam Nghe An, with the development of young players like this, in the next 2-3 years, the Nghe team will have many choices and become more secure in the V.League arena without having to worry every time the transfer market opens.

This policy of Song Lam Nghe An may not bring immediate results, but over time, the benefits for clubs and Vietnamese football are huge. The most important thing is still the efforts of young players in each match, because there are not many opportunities for them and the patience of fans is limited. Pressure for performance always happens to any team and coach in V.League./.

Hoai Hoan