SLNA- FLC.Thanh Hoa: Is the North Central Derby still hot?

(Baonghean.vn) - It was not SLNA but the visiting team FLC Thanh Hoa that made the derby at Vinh Stadium not as hot as the first leg. FLC Thanh Hoa was out of the Top 3 and the path to the throne became distant, while SLNA just made it to the Top 10. A match that was more meaningful in terms of honor than in terms of achievements.

Looking at the head-to-head record, it can be seen that FLC.Thanh Hoa, the "tough neighbor" has been getting better and better results when facing SLNA. At the beginning of the season, when they had in hand the trio of cars - cannons - horses including Nghe An players: Hoang Thinh - Van Binh - Dinh Dong, with the goal of winning the V-League, FLC.Thanh Hoa was the "rival of the season" and not HN.T&T or HAGL like in previous seasons.

In fact, up to now, the derby match at Thanh Hoa stadium, although tied 2-2, associated with the "wrong whistle" of referee Ha Anh Chien, is still considered one of the best matches of Coach Quang Truong. Facing a veteran coach Le Thuy Hai, SLNA's coaching staff had a reasonable strategy with the unbelievable sublimation of experienced midfielder Van Vinh.

Goalkeeper Nguyen Manh is still SLNA's reliable stopper.

Compared to the first leg, midfielder Ivan Firer has gone to B.Binh Duong, replaced by Sunday, stopper Hoang Thinh is in the recovery period, Omar is suspended. But they have the return of veterans Tang Tuan, Bat Hieu and the return of center back Nguyen Van Bakel.

But Nguyen Van Bakel is the weak point for HAGL to exploit, because after recovering from injury, this Dutch player has not regained his form. Coach Le Thuy Hai's keeping Dinh Dong on the bench in the match against HAGL means that he will "use Nghe people to fight Nghe people" and Van Binh and Dinh Dong will have the opportunity to "fight" with his juniors. It is not surprising that Dinh Tung will focus on exploiting the home team's right wing, where Dinh Hoang is still recovering from injury.

If not hot enough, FLC Thanh Hoa will send out the "super reserve" Quoc Phuong to focus firepower to attack this direction, or suddenly change the attack direction to SLNA's left wing with long passes from Mai Tien Thanh or The Duong. I don't understand what tactics SLNA's coaching staff will come up with, when Dinh Tung is not only a good domestic player but also can score goals himself. In my opinion, Dinh Tung will be the key for the away team, if they want to open the home team's goal when Minh Duc, Manh Hung, Sy Sam are injured, and Ngoc Hai is suspended!

Surely Quang Truong will have to consider many options to continue to let Baba play as a left midfielder to push Tuan Tai up to play with Odat or return to the option of using midfielder Van Vinh like in the first leg. As someone who has been following FLC Thanh Hoa for quite a while, especially their recent 1-3 loss to HAGL, we are inclined towards the option of using Tuan Tai's youth to break through the central defender pair Bat Hieu - Nguyen Van Bakel.

Another thing that SLNA players are very concerned about is that currently, FLC Thanh Hoa goalkeeper Thanh Thang's mentality is unstable, so he often makes mistakes when young HAGL players like Van Toan, Van Thanh, and Tran Vu continuously shoot from afar.

Tuan Tai needs to be more careful with his chances because in the match against Long An, he had 6 chances but only scored 1 goal, which is an indicator that does not truly reflect the young player's ability to score. Playing against FLC Thanh Hoa, if SLNA continues to waste their chances, they will have to pay the price because strikers Sunday and Dinh Tung are much more dangerous.

Will Tuan Tai continue to have his shoes shined by his teammates after scoring a goal at Vinh Stadium?

This year, right after receiving additional funding from the province and Bac A Bank, the SLNA youth team has shown great improvement and won medals. Is it true that the senior team only plays ups and downs like that? FLC Thanh Hoa is a "tough" opponent and plays at Vinh Stadium, with enthusiastic support from the home crowd. Let's play for the honor of Nghe An, SLNA players!

N@T