SLNA: Don't let the "rice be ruined and the popcorn burnt"!

The 2018 season opened with the Super Cup match between SLNA and Quang Nam. In terms of professional quality and the number of spectators attending the stadium, this was considered a successful match.

On the pitch, SLNA and Quang Nam players had a fair match, giving their all. In the stands, SLNA fans once again showed that they are still “the most enthusiastic and numerous fan club in V.League”. Hang Day Stadium once again became “Thanh Vinh fire pot in the heart of Hanoi”.

Thanks to the young players, including two U23 Vietnam stars, Van Duc and Xuan Manh, in SLNA's starting lineup, along with the beautiful girls of the passionate Nghe An fans, the match became more exciting.

Nghe An fans made the match more exciting. Photo: Trung Kien

However, it is regrettable that despite having the better position, more scoring opportunities, and a strong fan base, overwhelming the Quang Nam team, SLNA unfortunately lost the Super Cup.

Witnessing the match, many people felt sorry for the young SLNA players, agile, strong, well-adhering to the tactics, having clear intentions in the play, but lacking in cunning and not knowing how to seize opportunities. Then Quang Nam, a team with many experienced players, plus 3 foreigners (2 foreign players and 1 naturalized player) playing in a lurking style, took advantage of the opportunity very well to score the only goal of the match.

Foreign players and naturalized players helped Quang Nam win against SLNA. Photo: Trung Kien

From the result of this match, many Nghe An fans felt worried about SLNA in the new season, because SLNA participated in 3 fronts at the same time (V-League, National Cup and AFC Cup), but the force was too thin. If not careful, every arena put the main team on the field, just a few positions got injured, penalty cards, then coach Duc Thang will have a hard time finding a replacement.

The proof is that in the opening match of the AFC CUP, with the main squad, SLNA won 2-0 away, but they suffered a big disadvantage when goalkeeper-captain Nguyen Manh suffered a broken arm and had to rest for a long time. His position left a big hole in SLNA's defense that his replacement Van Hung could not fill.

As coach Hoang Van Phuc of Quang Nam revealed after the Super Cup match: "Before the match, I had my players practice set pieces to take advantage of SLNA's weak goalkeeper position because Nguyen Manh was injured."

The absence of goalkeeper and captain Nguyen Manh in the starting lineup makes SLNA's defense a weak point for opponents to exploit. -Photo: Duc Dung

The players who replaced the departing “Nghe Ronaldo”, such as The Cuong and Tuan Tai, although they tried very hard, still could not make Nghe An fans forget the image of Phi Son. Foreign player Olaha alone was not strong enough to stir up the opponent’s defense.

That shows that SLNA's coaching board must carefully calculate which arena is suitable for them to send their troops to battle, and should not follow the style of "reluctant to even let a rooster or a crucian carp play", putting the main team on the field in every match, which will lead to a situation of "powerlessness" and "spoiling the rice and burning the popcorn" at the end of the season.