SLNA season 2020: Right winger, who are you?

In the last two seasons (2018 - 2019), Ngo Xuan Toan, Le The Cuong, Cao Xuan Thang, Nguyen Phu Nguyen, Pham Xuan Manh, Nguyen Quang Tinh, Ho Tuan Tai, Ho Sy Sam, Ho Phuc Tinh took turns taking charge. Each player left different marks, but no face made experts and football fans of Nghe An forget the figure of Tran Phi Son.

On the eve of the 2020 season, SLNA fans once again ask the question: Who will be the top choice for the right midfielder position of the home team? This is a question that even the SLNA coaching staff can hardly give the most accurate answer at this time. It all depends on the performances of the "candidates" in the coming time.

Tran Phi Son is SLNA's best right winger in the past 5 years. Photo: Archive

Currently, coach Ngo Quang Truong has many players who can play in the role of a right winger. In addition to familiar names such as Cao Xuan Thang, Nguyen Phu Nguyen, Pham Xuan Manh, Nguyen Quang Tinh, Ho Sy Sam, Ho Phuc Tinh and Ho Tuan Tai, coach Ngo Quang Truong also has young player Tran Dinh Tien, who has just been promoted to the first team.

In many aspects, Ho Tuan Tai and Pham Xuan Manh are the two strongest candidates to fill the void left by Tran Phi Son. In terms of talent and playing experience, Manh “Kalou” is not inferior to his senior Ho Tuan Tai. Even when he was playing for SLNA’s youth teams, the Yen Thanh player’s best position was winger.

However, the possibility of Pham Xuan Manh taking on the right wing position is quite low. Because Tran Dinh Hoang joining SHB Da Nang, it is very likely that the SLNA coaching board will have to pull the player born in 1996 back to play in the right wing back position, Pham Xuan Manh's familiar position at U23 Vietnam and Olympic Vietnam before.

Ho Tuan Tai will take on the right wing midfielder position for SLNA in the 2020 season. Photo: File

Although he is good at playing as a striker, the player born in 1995 has been arranged by former coach Nguyen Duc Thang to play on the two wings many times and has achieved very positive results. In V.League 2019, Ho Tuan Tai scored 8 goals for SLNA after 15 appearances. Of course, in reality, the "cousin of Pham Van Quyen" not only plays as a right winger, left winger, but also as an attacking midfielder and a striker.

In short, if he has a good physical foundation and in case coach Ngo Quang Truong uses a pair of foreign strikers, it is likely that the player from Hung Nguyen will take on the right wing position, to create a very anticipated wing duo of SLNA in the 2020 season, Ho Tuan Tai - Phan Van Duc. That does not mean that the opportunity to play in the main team is no longer available for Nguyen Quang Tinh, Nguyen Phu Nguyen, Ho Phuc Tinh, Tran Dinh Tien.../.