Vietnam National Team: Difficulties in terms of strength and playing style

In which, the fire test atAFF Cup 2024Will this show that Vietnamese football is really at the top of the region, capable of competing for first and second place, or will it continue to be "kicked out" after Indonesia's rampant naturalization and Thailand's steady growth from a local foundation and selective naturalization?

After the second round of the World Cup qualifiers with the inevitable defeat against Indonesia mentioned above and the recent friendly matches of the Vietnam National Team, it is easy to see that Mr. Kim Sang-sik's team has two parallel stories: The national key players are in a period of really unstable form and the desire to contribute is gradually fading, while the path to finding young factors is still vague and unpredictable. When V-League 1 and 2 have just passed the first rounds and a series of famous stars from V-League 1 have landed in V-League 2, the process of "looking at the legs and feet" of the candidates is more spread out and harder to concentrate. Besides, whether Van Lam, Cong Phuong or Hoang Duc play well in lower leagues actually does not say anything important, if not to say that everyone knows in advance?

As for the matter of dedication to the national jersey, just look at Van Quyet's story to know that when the country's football loses direction, talented people sooner or later choose to serve the team that pays them daily, not something else far away. Hoang Duc's story also contributes to proving that, when the Golden Ball winner talks about "earning money for the family" and because no one dares to say that a football player's life is endless.

This is the thing that needs to be concerned about, in a proper place, so that when players enter the field, they naturally play their best to serve the audience, to serve the team; how to make the relationship between a team's players who compete every day and the players who are called up to the national team an honor, a responsibility, an obligation... a close relationship, binding each other, together raising each other to a higher and better level. For example, when and only when playing well at the club, will there be a chance to be selected for the national team, when playing better on the national team, will there be a chance to secure a place/increase the value at the club, the "price" or "status" of each player on the transfer market, to be watched by scouts, to be targeted more easily...

In any situation, the task of continuing the generation to stabilize and promote the human resources is always raised, especially with Mr. Kim Sang-sik today. Previously, Mr. Troussier eliminated some veterans of the Park Hang-seo era, but then Mr. Kim Sang-sik called back Ngoc Hai, Hong Duy, Ngoc Quang... to first strengthen the defense and find stability in the squad. For young factors, it is normal for one person to rate highly and another to rate low. Thai Son, Dinh Bac, Van Truong, Vy Hao are specific examples. The problem is looking back and forth, going back and forth, there are still the same specific people, we cannot find a few special, rare factors like the time of Quang Hai or before that Cong Phuong, Tuan Anh or further back like Van Quyen, Cong Vinh...

Another important resource is the repatriated Vietnamese players and naturalized foreign players. Will it be naturalizing foreign players with domestic blood, like Indonesia is doing massively with Indonesians, or naturalizing players of foreign origin after 5 years of living and playing in Vietnam like Nguyen Xuan Son (Rafaelson, Brazilian)? Whatever you say, in the context of falling behind Thailand and Indonesia and the international context for a long time, having Nguyen Xuan Son in the attack line, Jason Quang Vinh on the left wing (left wing and left midfielder), Adou Minh in the defense line and a few other positions in the squad will certainly increase the depth and strength of the squad to be able to compete with the top opponents in the region.

Finally, what style of play will Mr. Kim Sang-sik choose for the Vietnam National Team in this AFF Cup, after finding a satisfactory framework, a united and strong-willed team, a specific and feasible goal. Defensive-counterattacking like in the time of Mr. Park Hang-seo is not a new idea and certainly still requires knowing yourself and your enemy when entering the battle, especially in matches against top opponents. Controlling the ball and attacking like in the time of Trousier can still be operated against weak opponents, which is also something many people know. So what is the new thing, what is the new feature that is waiting for Mr. Kim Sang-sik to show?

The writer believes that Mr. Kim Sang-sik will not ignore the meaningful lesson from Mr. Park Hang-seo, building a combined old-young-naturalized squad, a playing style that changes depending on each match, each time to deploy troops, exploit the strength of each card...

The question posed today is waiting for an answer ahead, when everything is still at the level of conjecture and analysis, even though someone has quickly come up with a new lineup after the recent experiments of the young Korean coach. It will not be that simple when the V-League is just about to reach round 5, injuries and player performance are still unpredictable. For example, Nguyen Xuan Son was so eager to be naturalized, but when he reached the destination, he could not score in several consecutive matches, like a strange tease, a challenge, in the style of "saying before stepping". Talking about the difficult story of force and playing style, is also because of that fundamental, crucial reason./.

Chau Phu