SLNA - Hai Phong: Physical battle

(Baonghean.vn) - Among the 14 teams participating in V-League 2017, Hai Phong is the most difficult team to play against, because in many matches, the players from Hai Phong only aim to destroy the opponent's playing style with energetic play, not afraid of collisions on the field.

Hai Phong is a team that plays quite erratically. At home, they unexpectedly lost to B.Binh Duong, who is at the bottom of the rankings, 0-2, but made the home team FLC Thanh Hoa struggle to get a 1-1 draw.

Although the team has a good physical foundation, the home team FLC Thanh Hoa was still beaten to a pulp by the visitors. Omar and Uche had to face Fagan and Stevens who were in good physical condition. It is not difficult to guess that coach Truong Viet Hoang will apply a similar style of play when playing away at Vinh Stadium - the style of play that helped them win 2-0 at Vinh Stadium in the opening match of V-League last year.

Two different football philosophies

If SLNA is a “pure Nghe” team, Hai Phong is the opposite. The team from the port city temporarily outsources all youth training to the city and only focuses on finding “drifting goods” from other teams to use.

Club President Tran Manh Hung has been quite successful in “rejuvenating” players who seemed to have passed their prime. These include central defender Diep Hoai Xuan (Dong Thap), defender Trinh Van Loi and midfielder Nguyen Vu Hoang Duong (all from Thanh Hoa).

Or before that, Quoc Trung, Dinh Bao or Anh Hung, who all came from SLNA. Striker Dinh Bao scored 10 goals in V.League 2016 despite having been “silent” for many years before that. Their coach Hoang “bot” is also a former player of The Cong, who had a relationship with Hai Phong and stayed there for a long time.

Truong Viet Hoang is a coach who often applies a style of play that wears down the opponent. Photo: Internet

Both the army and the generals of the Red Flamboyant City football team owe a debt of gratitude to Mr. Hung, so whenever they step onto the field, they play with all their might. The team, which consists of players from all over the world, almost won the V.League 2016 when they achieved the same number of points as the champion Hanoi T&T and were only inferior in goal difference. Meanwhile, SLNA has been struggling at the bottom of the V-League rankings for the past few seasons despite having all the national team players.

Physical torture

Starting with a 4-3-3 formation with 3 attacking strikers Dinh Bao, Fagan and Stevens, in which the foreign duo scored 16/29 goals for the Hai Phong team. The two foreign players Fagan and Stevens, especially Fagan, moved very wide to stretch the formation, disrupting the opponent's play.

When the opponent has the ball, Fagan often drops back to support central midfielder Vuong Quoc Trung, a player from Nghe An who also plays quite tenaciously in the midfield area.

In Hai Phong's defense, naturalized center back Le Van Phu is a defender who plays the "use flesh, press people" style of football, often having very strong collisions in the air to wear down the opponent's physical strength.

Khmer player, defender Trinh Van Loi, after leaving FLC Thanh Hoa to join coach Truong Viet Hoang, has gradually adapted to the team's playing style.

The Hai Phong team's style of play is quite simple, the players do not keep the ball for long but pass it long for Fagan and Stevens to race. Depending on the situation, these foreign players will pass the ball back to the second line or take the ball to break in.

Players Dinh Bao and Canh Duong often wait for the outside, waiting for opportunities. When facing SLNA, full-back Anh Hung often has the chance to score goals because he knows how to quietly penetrate the 16.5m area, behind the area guarded by Manh Hung.

Fagan (No. 60 - Hai Phong) will face Khac Ngoc in the midfield area. Photo: Internet

To win against Hai Phong, the opponent must not only have good physical strength but also know how to distribute strength and not get caught up in the opponent's fast playing style.

It is no coincidence that Hai Phong has 36% of goals scored in the last 15 minutes of the match (along with Hanoi, the highest in V-League 2017). If SLNA's defenders can block Stevens, it is considered that they can limit 50% of the attacking power of the Hai Phong team.

Nghe An audiences were a bit worried when in the previous match against HAGL, key players caught a cold, leading to an unusual drop in technical indicators: only holding the ball 37% of the time, 278 passes, and a target rate of only 77%.

If they do not recover in time, it will be a difficult match for coach Duc Thang and his team at Vinh Stadium. However, if they know how to attack first, the home team's chance of scoring points or even winning is not low. According to our statistics, Hai Phong is the team with 42% of goals conceded in the first 30 minutes of the match, the highest in V-League 2017 (SLNA is 21%).

* The match between SLNA - Hai Phong takes place at 5:00 p.m. tomorrow (October 20) at Vinh Stadium.

Catcosan Vinh