Saigon FC - SLNA: The poor meet the needy

(Baonghean.vn) - The home team Saigon FC, who have gone 6 consecutive matches without a win, will welcome SLNA, whose form is equally erratic. Perhaps that is why the match between the two teams in the bottom half of the rankings will be more evenly matched.

Blood transfusion failed

With the trend of "sending off the north, welcoming the south" in the 2017 season, Saigon FC said goodbye to a series of players who grew up from the Northern training camp such as center back Nam Anh, striker Trinh Duy Long, Nhu Tuan, goalkeeper Duong Quang Tuan, Duc Trung, Ngoc Nam and Van Thuan. And the club brought in Cao Van Trien from S.Khanh Hoa, Cao Hoa Ky from Vung Tau, U.23 goalkeeper Pham Van Phong, center back Tien Duy from Quang Ninh.

Letting go of 10 players and welcoming 8 new faces is a strategy to "renew" the squad to attract more Southern audiences to the stadium to cheer for Ho Chi Minh City's second team.

SLNA's defense struggled with an attack from the opposing team. Photo: Archive.

In terms of playing style, coach Duc Thang is not much different from the visiting team SLNA when using a 4-4-2 formation, with 2 foreign players Marcelo and Patrick. Saigon FC's defense also consists of all domestic players, in which Khanh Thanh and Tien Duy play as a pair of central defenders. The duo Ngoc Duy and Van Trien play as a pair of central midfielders, perhaps the Nghe An audience is not unfamiliar with Ngoc Duy's playing style in the Hanoi FC shirt, in the role of organizing the match. Van Trien, a player from S.Khanh Hoa, plays lower with the task of recovering the ball.

According to our observations, Saigon FC is still strong on the right wing where defender Ngoc Duc is guarding. When needing to disrupt the away team's play, coach Duc Thang will use Xuan Duong, when needing a cross, Tran Vu will enter the field.

Saigon FC's form, after 2 opening matches with all wins against Hai Phong and SHB.Da Nang, they have had a series of 6 matches with only draws and losses. The fact that in 9 matches they have only 2 wins and scored 7 goals shows that the home team's attack is not strong. If anything, the home team's foreign duo have each scored 2 goals and they are quite strong in aerial situations. The fact that captain goalkeeper Tong An is not sure to play, probably does not affect the home team much because in the match against Hanoi, goalkeeper Van Hoang played quite confidently.

Play for the audience

Perhaps the rule that SLNA is the away team is just a theory, because with 10,000 fans from Vung Tau, Binh Duong, Dong Nai and Ho Chi Minh City present at Thong Nhat Stadium, it is the Nghe An team that is cheered more enthusiastically. More specially, this time they also have Ba Ky, a paralyzed fan who traveled from Nghi Loc to Ho Chi Minh City to cheer. The 200m2 flag along with a series of flags and colorful streamers will turn Thong Nhat Stadium into a festival for those far from home.

Olaha jumped high to head the ball to threaten Binh Duong's goal in the SLNA - Binh Duong match at Vinh Stadium. Photo: Archive.

Perhaps, compared to the match at Vinh Stadium with B.Binh Duong, SLNA did not have many changes. Starting with a 4-4-2 formation, but because Olaha played low in the midfield, Duc Thang was actually directing the players to play 4-3-2-1. It is known that Tuan Tai is not a bad solution when this player just saved SLNA from a loss at home when he scored a goal in the last minute of the match after coming on to replace The Cuong. SLNA's coaching staff will continue to use this plan if Henry continues to have no luck scoring.

At that time, SLNA players will play 4-3-3 with 3 attacking players: Phi Son, Henry and Tuan Tai. The key to the match is how SLNA's midfield will operate with 3 midfielders who all tend to attack: Khac Ngoc, Van Vinh and Olaha. Perhaps SLNA's coaching board has recognized the problem in the match with B.Binh Duong, when the 3 midfielders huddled in front of the central area, Tan Tai, a rather cunning midfielder, moved to the right wing to hang the ball for the striker to score.

The two teams have the same number of points and are close to each other on the rankings, so the match promises to be exciting. People believe that SLNA, with the advantage of “away field, home audience”, will get points, even 3 points.

AT