After half way through V-League 2016, SLNA still has a lot of work to do.

(Baonghean.vn) - Not having to wait until the end of the first leg, but after the first 3 matches, Nghe An audiences thought that it would be difficult for SLNA to reach the goal of Top 5 of V-League 2016. In fact, only halfway through, it can be affirmed that if SLNA does not try to enter the Top 10 in the second leg, it will be difficult..

Fading identity

Up to now, after 13 matches, SLNA has won exactly 3 opponents: Binh Duong, Saigon and Dong Thap. To be fair, the match with B.Binh Duong is recognized as the effort of Quang Truong and the players, Dong Thap is the "point bank" for V-League 2016 (anyone can win), the victory over Saigon FC in the context of "moving house" is only considered acceptable. SLNA became the loser against Hai Phong, Can Tho, Quang Ninh and HN.T&T all with a difference of 2 goals, so it cannot be said that it was a mistake and the return leg will be difficult to collect the debt.

SLNA is increasingly lacking identity.

There are 3 teams LA, HAGL and Dong Thap with the worst defense in V-League 2016, conceding 29, 30, 32 goals respectively. Except for SLNA winning the match against Dong Thap by 3 goals, the Nghe An team's attack only scored 1 goal against Long An, unable to penetrate the Mountain City defense. "The attack hasn't been done yet but the defense has already broken through", so SLNA is 1 of 4 teams with a negative goal-loss ratio.

Overall, in the 13 first leg matches, SLNA had 3 matches against relatively strong opponents, B.Binh Duong, FLC Thanh Hoa and SHB.Da Nang, and 2 matches to forget against QNK.Quang Nam (draw 3-3), Long An (draw 1-1), HN.T&T (lost 1-3). The quality of SLNA players is not that bad, even better than Saigon FC, S.Khanh Hoa, QNK.Quang Nam, SXKT Can Tho, but they played erratically, lacking the traditional enthusiasm.

The style of play without a "conductor", the ball is passed to foreign player Odat Onoriode Marshal and then waiting for luck, making it easy for SLNA to predict and neutralize. Arranging 2 central midfielders mainly to recover the ball, SLNA's defense often has 6 players but is still "fragile, easily broken" when facing creative midfielders like Thanh Luong, Dinh Thanh Trung. SLNA defenders, including national players, often make elementary mistakes, mistakes leading to 11m penalties. Continuously losing from the left wing and when the opponent dribbles the ball in the air, 2 weaknesses that SLNA's coaching staff has struggled with for years without finding suitable personnel. Remember the situation where defender Vo Ngoc Duc made a mistake in marking Van Quyet in the situation where he "looked at the vegetables, picked up the meat" (his eyes looked in another direction but his feet passed the ball to Hoang Vu Samson to score) or later he jumped high to crush Van Quyet in the high ball situation in the 16.50m area leading to a penalty kick, then you can see that SLNA's coaching staff still has a lot of work to do.

It's not that Quang Truong and the SLNA coaching staff don't know their team's weaknesses, the proof is that they have continuously rotated the positions of center back, left back and central midfielder. Commentator Dang Gia Man shared: "The number of minutes that Ngoc Hai, Manh Hung, Ngoc Duc, The Nhat, Ngoc Toan and Khac Ngoc played together is not even 1/3 of the time that Luong "di" played with Quyet "trau", so it's right that he was manipulated by his seniors". It seems like "powerless"?

Things to do

When the main goal of Top 5 cannot be achieved, it is clear that SLNA still has the task of training the team to fight in the following seasons. Nghe An audiences really need an affirmation from the coaching board because more than anyone else, they understand the strength of their players, and the players themselves also need to relieve the pressure of playing. For Nghe An people, sometimes watching matches where 1 foreign player and 1 domestic player play with all their might is more enjoyable than a lucky win.

Coach Ngo Quang Truong is stuck in choosing a playing style for the yellow team.

With the situation of "climbing high is not enough strength, relegation is probably not the right part", according to the regulations of V-League 2016, there will be 14 teams and there will be 1.5 relegation slots, the team at the bottom of the table will be relegated to the First Division, and the team at 13th will wait to play the play-off match. If the last slot is reserved for Dong Thap, SLNA will not be too subjective, it will reach the safety threshold before a few rounds. Not only in competition but also in training, SLNA must have evaluation and innovation to limit elementary personal errors. SLNA's young players need to be put on the field more often with specific requirements, first of all, playing with enthusiasm, not afraid of any opponent. SLNA's coaching staff needs to experiment more with positions on the field, especially how to use Ouattra Baba Salia. In recent years, due to limited funding and not signing long-term contracts with foreign players, SLNA has always been in a situation where the team is completed at the end of the season (?!).

According to experts in Nghe An football team, Nghe An football team has the most draws in V-League 2016 because SLNA's coaching staff is too perfectionist, rarely daring to play "fairly". Now that they are mentally comfortable, who knows, SLNA, instead of "gradually slowing down" towards the end of the tournament, can win 50/50 matches.

An Thanh