Should SLNA use players from other localities?

However, in the club's new restructuring phase, it's quite possible that the aforementioned "tradition" will be broken, meaning that the coaching staff and the first team of SLNA will have new faces – not quite an "United Nations" army, but certainly some will have to learn to use informal pronouns like "tau," "mi," "mo," "te," "rang," "rua," etc., in their daily lives, training, and matches.

Actually, there have been times, seasonsSLNASLNA has had to borrow and buy players from many domestic clubs, all with positive results. Notably, after joining SLNA, the players' skills improved significantly, with some even winning the 2001 Vietnamese Golden Ball, such as goalkeeper Vo Van Hanh. Recently, SLNA has also recruited players from Nghe An province from other academies and teams, creating opportunities for them to develop their abilities, including being selected for the national team, such as goalkeeper Van Hoang…

Although SLNA still faces many challenges ahead this season, with the significant changes from the sponsor and the team, fans in Nghe An can have faith that in the not-too-distant future, SLNA will create new miracles. (Photo: Duc Anh)

That being said, the story of refreshing the SLNA squad and adapting its lineup to suit competition needs is nothing new. Perhaps with a new mindset, new capabilities, and especially new ambitions from the leadership and coaching staff, the SLNA identity will be supplemented and perfected with many new, advanced, and modern aspects alongside its existing achievements?

Serving these new ambitions requires constantly updated, advanced training methods, more refined tactics and techniques, and a more diverse and effective playing style for both individual players and the team as a whole. One of the key aspects is the emphasis on training and developing versatile players, alongside fostering the unique and exceptional skills of each player.

In the past, SLNA didn't have many versatile players. Fans knew that Trong Hoang could play right wing or center midfield, and even as a full-back for the national team; they knew that during the U23 Vietnam team's campaign in Changzhou, Coach Park Hang-seo sometimes moved Xuan Manh from wing to center back, while at SLNA this player could play right wing-back or right winger; or they discovered by chance that Nguyen Manh was switched from striker to goalkeeper and Ngoc Hai, a preferred center-back, could also put on the gloves and stand in goal when needed…

Can this young coaching staff revive the sinking ship that is SLNA? (Photo courtesy of SLNA Club)

From these fundamental elements, a new, more flexible and less "conservative" playing style will be built upon. Of course, the old "brutal" style of play will be left behind, but without abandoning the passion, fearlessness, and dedication of "the men on the pitch."

It's not just about disrupting the opponent's game, but also about imposing your own style, maintaining more possession, exploiting set pieces more effectively, and having better free-kick skills… This means adapting to the specifics of the pitch, rather than being rigidly bound to the defensive-counterattacking tactics we've been using for so long.

If the team plays well and achieves good results, it is the result of building and shaping a strong SLNA identity from individuals who are suitable and meet the requirements of the coaching staff. Barcelona's tiki-taca style of play was developed and perfected on the basis of the Catalan youth academy, but without players from Brazil, South America, or other European stars, it would not have achieved the resounding success we know.

Although head coach Nguyen Huy Hoang has only recently taken over as head coach of SLNA, he has already set the goal for the Nghe An team to successfully avoid relegation. Therefore, he wants the players to train actively and complete all training sessions set by the coaching staff. (Photo: Duc Anh)

SLNA's identity is similar; it cannot exist without talented players born from its youth academy, but if it were supplemented with talent from other academies, regions, and areas, it would be like beautiful flowers adding vibrant color to "Park No. 4 - Dao Tan." This is about enriching the identity, not diluting or fading it as some might suggest.

That's the right thing to do, something that must be done in the general trend of professional football. Didn't the Vietnamese national team suffer a defeat against the UAE due to deadly passes from the 1.65m tall naturalized player Fabio Lima, the Brazilian?

The reality is that youth training doesn't always yield abundant results every season or year. And even in seasons of high yields, there are still positions that lag behind compared to other academies or other places. Therefore, if you want to go the distance, there's no other way than to buy and strengthen the squad to serve the team's goals and ambitions.

Anyone involved in coaching knows that if a team has even one weak player, the entire team will suffer when the opponent relentlessly exploits that "Achilles' heel," leading to inevitable defeat. And of course, no one wants to see all their hard work go to waste because of flaws in a particular position at a particular time...