Song Lam Nghe An needs to make an effort to avoid relegation.
This is the second consecutive season that the team from Nghe An has faced the risk of relegation. This result also shows that the Song Lam Nghe An management has not learned from the experiences of previous seasons.
2023/2024 season,Lam River, Nghe AnIt seemed as though they would have to play a do-or-die play-off match. Fortunately, thanks to Dong A Thanh Hoa's draw against Hong Linh Ha Tinh, the Nghe An team narrowly avoided relegation and successfully avoided relegation.
This season, financial difficulties forced Song Lam Nghe An to part ways with key players. These included captain Que Ngoc Hai, midfielders Pham Xuan Manh and Tran Dinh Tien, goalkeeper Nguyen Van Hoang, and young defender Ho Van Cuong... These players were the backbone of Song Lam Nghe An's domestic squad in the previous season.
However, Song Lam Nghe An could only rely on young players to fill those gaps. As a result, the lack of experience, squad depth, and poor physical fitness caused Song Lam Nghe An to falter at crucial moments.
Furthermore, the quality of the foreign players in the Nghe An team for the 2023/2024 season was also unsatisfactory. Mario Zebic only performed adequately, while Raphael Succes was one of the worst foreign players in Song Lam Nghe An's history. Fortunately, Michael Olaha had the best season of his career, saving the Nghe An team from a disappointing one.
It was thought that the near-death experience in the 2023/2024 season would teach the Song Lam Nghe An management a valuable lesson and lead to changes in the 2024/2025 season.
But no! It was still a farewell to key players with many years of experience fighting in the V.League. These included Mai Sỹ Hoàng, who had a very good 2023/2024 season with 2 goals and 3 assists, and Đặng Văn Lắm, the most experienced midfielder of Sông Lam Nghệ An at that time.
As usual, to replace these players, Song Lam Nghe An promotes promising young players to the first team in the hope that these talents will "develop quickly".
However, the question of who will mentor and guide these young players to help them quickly adapt to the V.League remains a difficult one. With a squad largely composed of U23 players, Song Lam Nghe An can only rely on young players mentoring and guiding even younger players, or less experienced players mentoring and guiding less experienced players.
It's important to remember that the progress of players like Nguyen Van Viet, Ho Van Cuong, and Nguyen Quang Vinh is thanks to regularly playing alongside experienced senior players like Que Ngoc Hai, Pham Xuan Manh, and Nguyen Trong Hoang.
Along with that is the weakness of the foreign players. This has been a persistent problem for Song Lam Nghe An in recent years. For the 2024/2025 season, learning from the 2023/2024 season, Song Lam Nghe An has finalized its foreign player selection early to stabilize the squad and avoid making hasty decisions like in the case of Raphael Succes.
However, the quality didn't improve much. Sebastian Zaracho only found common ground with his defensive teammates in the second half of the season, while Benjamin Kuku performed adequately. Meanwhile,Michael OlahaTheir performance has clearly declined compared to the previous season.
In particular, fans were somewhat puzzled when the Song Lam Nghe An coaching staff did not add any foreign players to the midfield, which consists only of young players and needs a defensive midfielder to maintain balance in their playing style.
The price paid was that Song Lam Nghe An fell into the relegation zone and coach Pham Anh Tuan lost his job. This was the third consecutive year the team changed coaches mid-season. The same old story repeats itself: poor performance at the start of the season, a new coach, improved performance at the end of the season, and the new coach is retained for the next season. This is also one of the reasons why Song Lam Nghe An has not performed well in recent years.
Returning to the second phase of the 2024/2025 season, the management of Song Lam Nghe An FC has taken steps to rectify mistakes and salvage the situation. This includes bringing back two former players, Hoang Van Khanh and Ho Khac Ngoc, to Vinh Stadium.
These were the right decisions as the duo added quality and experience to Song Lam Nghe An's squad. The defense played more solidly, and the team's playing style became more refined. As a result, coach Phan Nhu Thuat's team has earned 17 points after 14 matches compared to 6 points after the first 10 matches of the season.
However, the situation for Song Lam Nghe An remains very critical. The players and coaching staff...Coach Phan Nhu ThuatThey will have to put in their best effort in the last two matches to successfully avoid relegation.
If they manage to avoid relegation, the Song Lam Nghe An management needs to implement reforms to prevent fans from experiencing the heartbreaks of recent seasons.